The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-03-05

wake up some cold morning and when he
tried to make 8 fire and stirred around
among. the ashes to find coal, be could
ent find one, and what then? Not q
match in the wide, wide world, for there
was none invented. Wouldent he. be in
u fix? Well, be would have to run over
to the nabors, if be was town boy, aud
borrow a chunk. If he was q country
boy he would have to walk a mile or 80,
maybe, and nearly freeze to death before
lie got back, and if it was raining his
chunk would be apt to 60 out on the way.
l would like to see these boys and girls
studying their lessons by the light of one
tallow candle. No gas, no kerosene, no
oil of any sort-only one Pickering light
of candle, or maybe only lightwood
blaze in the fireplace | reckon they
would study hard and study fast and go
to bed soon and get up early in the morn
ing and'try it again. | WOULD like to see
them sit down to write letter and find
nothing but an old gooue quill for a pen
mot steel pen in the world. l would
watch the ponr fellow as he tried to make
a pen out of the quill, and after he had
cut it to point see him try to split it in
the middle with his knife, and split il too
far or not far enough, or on one side and
then throw it away in despair.
1t would all be fun to us old folks, but
it wouldent be fun for the boys or the
girls to be set back. But there are old
people living now who do the same old
things and live the same old way. Col
onel Campbell Wallace still uses the
quill pens and makes them himself, and
wish you could see how nicely and how
quickly be can do it. Our school teach
ers had to make the pens for all their
scholars, and it took about half their
time, for they had to mend them oftener
than make them. When the frst.split
wore out he had to split it again and
rim it down to a new point. His knife
WAS always open and ready. Poor man
He died before the steel pens were in
vented and never got the good of them.
But we were used to these ways and
never thought hard of them. Judge
Lester used to run over to our house of a
cold morning aud say 10 my mother :
Please nam, lend me chunk of fire,
and used to go over to his house and
do the same thing. But We didn't let it
20 out often. We knew how 10 cover up
IRE in the ashes 50 as to keep it till morn.
ing. ] remember going over TO Forsyth
County once when an old Indian lived
there by the name ofSawnee. He didn't
20 off with the rest of the Indians, but
lived on a mountain called Sawnee's
Mountain, and be had some grand.sons
about our age. George Lester and Cicero
Strong were with me, and we gave an
Iudian boy some money to show US how
they got fire when their fire went out.
He took two dry hickory sticks about a
foot long and as large as roy thumb and
little bunch of dry grass, aud started
off on q run, and rubbed the sticks to.
gether 10 rapidly that you could hardly
see them, and the friction made fire and
caught the grass, and he came back in
half minute with blaze in his hand
used to 60 down to the store at night
with my father, and he had tinder box
nailed up by the door and would strike
the steel with the flint and make spark
and let it fall on q piece of punk and
light it, and then he would light biz
candle from the punk. But matches
came along after while and stopped al
that. remember the FIRST matches thai
came to our town. They we're called
Lucifer matches, for some folks thoug h
that the "old boy" had something to de-
with them and wouldn't use them. They
smelled strong of birthstone and were
sold at 25 cents box. Now ten times
as many sell for a nickle. But abou
lights. Dipping the candles was one o
the notable events of The year. 1t wa
almost as big thing as hog killing. Th'
boys prepared the canes or reeds ahou
90 in number, as large as the little finge
aud nearly a yard long. They wer
But6vheH az as p6fats Hna PIT aWSy il