Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-05-14
WAR TIME IN GEORGIA.
Home Life Amid tbs Stirring Scenes
OF the Great Rebellion


The days of my childhood, SAYS NJ.
Nj. Folsom, in the Valdesta Times.
were spent amid stirring scenes and
trouoious times. Southern ports were
blockaded by federal gunboats and
the frontiers beleaguered by northern
armies. Did you ever see 'Georgia
button?" Those shirt~buttons were
queer,looking things. With their
own hands our industrious mothers
spun the thread, and needles were
needles In those days. Provided with
needle and thread, they selected the
site for the proposed button and be-
gan sewing IN and out and round and
round until, by simple operation
the button was made and sewed on
fast. The button was made altogether
Of thread, and possessed decided ad-
vantage-it never came off. It lasted
as long as the buttonhoie. Homemade
tumblers were an ingenious contrl-
vance. A round bottle, white if it
could be obtained, was selected, and
stout cord was wrapped once around
it. One person held one end of the
cord, another held the other, and
moved the bottle quite rapidly,
until the glass became hot, when
it was plunged into cold
water, which caused the bottle
to break in two quite smoothly.
Queer tumElers they were with their
snarp edges; but they did splendid
service. Out in the interior one may
find an old-fashioned spinning wheel.
An, ne! How sweet was the hum of
the old wheel as the shadows crept
slowly eastward, and the ''swish,
swish, swish," of the cards kept time
to the dreamy music. And the old
Georgia loom" vita its queer look
ing beams and well worn treadles.
The ''click" of the shuttle and muff1ed
''band" of the beam have lulled me
to sleep many time, as my dear old
mother worked with untiring energy
to furnish 'coppefas and checked"
| for my little treeches. In the man
ufacture of hats there was a wide
field for the exercise of their inven~
tive minds. The tender shoots of the
saw palmetto, plated IN round. square
or 'notchedy" strips, was most fire.
quently brought into requisition. But
then there were cloth hats made of
that same homespun by cutting conf
cal pieces of cloth, sometimes of diff
ferent colors, and sewing them to~
gether, the points meeting at the top
of the crown and the brim made sep
arately. These funny hats were worn
by some of the last conscripts, and
gave them the name of "fop>eared
milish." Shoe makers were exempt,
and they showed wonderful skill
in the manufacture of shoes.
The hides were tanned with
red-oak bark, and the shoes were
made for use ahd not for show. When
any one was SO fastidious as to desire
a solution Of vinegar and rusty nails
to blacken the leather Soap was
made from the ashes of oak and hick-
ory. Negroes and boys were sent to
the woods, where they cut and piled
great heaps of oak and fred then,
guarding the ashes carefully from the
rain until cool, when hey were taken
home, thrown INTO a hopper, and
leached the lye being used for soap
making and for setting" the dye In
coloring the homer made cloth. Going
TO Deadman's bay and other points for
salt was picnic for the boys. They
dug pits in the sandy beach, boiled
down the brine which arose in them,
and then returned after having made
a sufficient quantity to supply thq
neighborhood. But sometimes the
salt gave out and they hadn't time to
go to the coast, SO they just scraped
off the soil OF the dirt-foored smoke
house and boiled that down. True,
it was rather dark but it was sally"
There was one thing that we could
never find successful substitute for.
That was coffee. We tried corn,
wheat, rice, meal, bran, and other
Things. Okra see make the best imi-
tation coffee, but it was poor substi-
tute. It is amusing to think of these
clumsy efforts and curious con-
trivances; but there is pathetic side
of the question.
Grace at the Restaurant Table.