Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1885-01-30
SALT IN THE CONFEDERACY.
How Precious 1t Was, and How Difficult
to Get.


Historical society, of Providence.
The 'saltine down" of this firearm in
the cabinet is directly traceable to the
lack of salt in the confederacy.
Salt, generally, is cheap article,
and in the ordinary run of lfe's affairs,
it is not counted upon much, for ii is
counting on it. So universal is it that
nobody thinks of designating it except
by the plebean word common, and
common salt is one of the commonest
expressions we have. There are no
grades to salt. Salt is salt all the
time. The only way to adulterate
New England rum is to add water to
1t; anything else would be more ex-
pensive than the rum. The only way
to adulterate salt is to put more salt
with it, for there is nothing cheaper
than salt, except dirt, and that wouldn't
work. If you want to say man is not
doing anything, that he is loafing, or
is not rendering an equivalent for the
wages paid him, you say he is not
earning his salt, which is about the
same as saying he is eating his head
off. This expression. earning his
salt. may seem to most people to be
modern one, and they may suppose
that it always has been used as a sort
of cOntemptuous application to express
an idea Of shiftlessness of bad work
man or q poor wage Garner. He who
thinks thus makes big mistake, for a
great many years ago, long while
ago, somewhere about the Romulus
and Remus time, either before or after,
in rtoi, Ha,
Rome, money was scarce, and SO was
salt, and payments for services were
made with salt in lieu of money;
hence the soldiers were paid in sal.
(salD, and hence the word salary.
They didn't understand in those days
how to manufacture paper currency.
Perhaps many of the Johnnies would
have been better off if pecuniary-per-
haps impecunious would be better
wOrd-ingenuity had not invented the
method to this day, and they had re-
ceived their pay in salt instead of con-
federate scrip. In the confederacy
salt was scarce and scrip was plenti-
full, and, as said at the beginning, the
scarcity of salt caused the final deposi-
ton of this carbne with the society.
So scarce was salt that every sort of
means were resorted to to obtain it.
Many man undoubtedly sighed to be-
come a second Lot that his wife might
cast her eyes back. Old salt bags
were gathered up and boiled out, old
beef, pork, and fish brine evaporated,
end the barrels that contained it were
soaked. Even the earth in and around
the smoke-houses, where hams and ba-
con had been salted and smoked. was
washed to dissolve out of it the salt that
had become mixed with it through pre-
yious lavish use or impregnation from
brine dripping.
When access to the sea could be had
there was no trouble in making salt,
though, owing to the limited resources
of the confederacy, its manufacture
was upon small scale and by prim.
tive methods. The blockading fleet
broke up all such establishments rs
soon as they were discovered, and the
sait-makers had pretty sorry time of
it. 1t was a hide-and- -go-seek game
with them all the while. They would
not much more than find good hid
ing-place when the marines from a
blockader would be upon them, and
they would be forced to seek another
refuge and start anew. Thus the
game went on, and there was no rest
for the wicked rebel salt-maker.
Although the watchful fleet could keep
them from coming to the sea, for Il
protracted stay at least, they could
not keep the sea from going to them
when it got chance, or, in other
words, when the Typographical feat
ures of the coast were such as to per-
NIT it, The Nansemond river is in the
southeastern part of Virginia. 1t