The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-05-06
WAR TINES IN GEORGIA.
Home Life Amid the s;irrfr Scenes OF the
Great Rebellion.

Home Life Amid the S;irrfr < Scenes OF the
Great Rebellion.
The days of my childhood, Gays NJ. NJ. Fol-
some in the Valdosta Times, were spent
amid stirring scenes and troublous times.
Southern ports were blockaded by Federal
gunboats and the frontiers beleaguered by
Northern armies. Did you ever see
Georgia butten?' Those shirt buttons were
queer looking things. With their own hands
our industrious mothers spun the thread
and needles were needless in those days Pro.
vided with needle aud thread, they selecled
TIE site for the proposed button and began
sewing in and out and round and round until,
by simple operation. Il button was made
ard sewed on fast. The button Was made
altogether OF thread, and possessed decided
sdvsniage-it never came otT-it lasted Just
IS long as the button hole. Homemade
tumblers were an ingenious cOutrivance. A
round bottle, white, II 1t could be obtained,
was selected, and a stout cord Was wrapped
once around it. One person held one end OF
the cord, another held ths other and moved
The bottle quite rapidly, until the glass bs
came bet, when it was plunged into cold wa
ter, which caused the bottle to break in two
quite smoothly. Queer tumblers they were
with their sharp edges; but they did splen-
did service. Out in the interior one may
stil find an old-fashioned spinning wheel.
Alb, me! How sweet was the hum of the
old wheel as the shadows crept slowly east
ward, and the swish, swish, swish" of the
cards kept time to the dreamy music. And
TIE old Georgia LOOM" with its queer-loak.
ing beam and well-worn treadies. The
click" OF the shuttle and mufflsd bang OF
the beam have lullsd me to sleep many
time. as my dear old mother worked with
untiring energy TO furnish "copperas and
checked for my little breeches. In tho
manufacture OF hats there was q wide field
for the exercise of their inventive minds.
l.. - A..
ed in round, square or ''notchedy" strips,
was most frequently brought into requisiton.
But then there were cloth hats made of that
same hOmespun by eating c0nioal pieces OF
cloih sometimes OF different colors, aud
sewing them together, the points meeting at
the top Of the crown aud the brim made sep.
arately. These funny hats were worn bg
some OF the last conscripts, and gave them
the name Of flop cared milish." 6noemaksrs
were exempt, and they showed wonderful
skill in the manufacture Of shoes The
hides were tanned with red oak bark. ard
the shoes are made for use and not for sho ".
When any one was so fastidious as 10 desire
black shoes the shoemaker employed q solu
ton OF vinagsr and rusty nails to blacken
the leather. Soap was made from the ashes
of oak and hickory. Negroes aud Buys were
sent to the woods. where they cut and piled
great hears OF oak aud fired them, guarding
the ashes carefully from the rain until DOL.
Wnen they were IsKen nome, tnr0Wn lDtO
hopper and leaohed the I've being used for
soap making and fer setting the dye in
colorng the homemade clota. Going TO
Deadman's Bay and other p. ints FOR salt was
picnic for the boys They dug pits in tha
sandy beach, boiled down the BRINE which
arose in them, and then ret1rned, after
having made sufficient quantity to supply
the 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 fioorad smOke-houses and boiled that
down. True, it was rather dark, but ii was
salty" There was one thing that we could
never find q successful substitute for. That
was coffee. We tried corn, wheat, rice,
mesl, bran and other things. Okra seed
MADE the best imitation Coffee bat it was q
poor substitute. Ii is smusing TO think of
these clumsy efforts and curious contriv-
ances; but there is pathetic side OF the
question.