The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1885-09-04
UPPER CANADA.

. A Country Which Had Slavery Until 1893
The Days of No Stoves-The Old-Fashion-
ed Fireplace Baking in the Ashes-Leeks
as FOOd-Popular Beliefin
Witchcraft.
In former letter, writes a CORE
spondent to The Toronto Globe, brief
ly spoke of slavery as once existing in
Ontario. Many persons who have not
looked into the history of our country
closely have been almost disposed to
doubt my statement. The subject is
SO interesting that will speak more
fully on the point. Great Britain abol-
ished slavery in the British West In
dies as late as 1888, and paid 100000, :
900 for the slaves to their owners. 1t
is difficult al this time to tell why our
forefathers in Ontario were so much
in advance of the mother country as
we'll as the United States, for we find
that they abolished slavery from Upper
Canada in July, 1898. OF course there
were not many slaves in Upper Canada
at the time; still there were some, but
it seems no compensation was ever
paid to the owners for such slaves.
just think what a fearful cost of treas
ure and precious lives the United
States were called upon in the late
war to stand, in order to rid their
country of slavery. Had they abolish
ed slavery at the time our forefathers
did, no doubt the great war of the re-
bellion would have been averted, and
besides, in 1898, when we abolished
slavery, they could not have had very
many slaves at the most, and even if
they were paid for they would not have
cost anything like SO great sum as
Great Britain paid for her West India
slaves in 1888.
Then l maintain that our forefathers
in Upper Canada in 1898 were far in
advance in public spirit and true phi
lanthropy OF our American cousins, for
we do not find that the Americans at
this time made any great agitation to
RID their country of the curse of slave
ry. If there were no other fact to be
proud of in our early history OF proud
of our country, this act of our fore
fathers is one in which we can Justly
take pride and makes us more fervent-
ly prize our peerless Upper Canada.
Not wishing to be too elaborate on
this subject, yet / feel that I must in
sert the act abolishing slavery in full.
Upper Canada, at its full session, called
together at Niagara by Lieut.. Gov.
John Graves Simcoe, passed an act as
follows:
CHAPTER Z, SECTION 1. Hereafter
40 person shall obtain license for the
Importation of any negro or other per-
son who shall come or be brought into
this province after the passing of this
act, to be subject to the condition of a
slave; nor shall any voluntary contract
of service be binding for longer term
than nine years.
Sec. 2. This clause enables the pres
ent owners of slaves in their posses
sion to retain them or bind out their
children until they attain the age of
p years.
SEC. 3. And in order to prevent the
continuance of slavery in this province
the children chat shall be born of
female slaves after the passing
of this act to remain in the service of
the owner of their mother until the
age of % years, when they shall be
discharged.
Provided, that IN case any issue shall
be born of such children during their
servitude OF after, such issue shall be
entitled TO all the rights of free-born
subjects.
BY this simple act of our first parlia-
ment our country was effectually rid
of this pest without shedding drop
Of blood or the expenditure of sin
gle dollar in money. All honor to our
forefathers and a thrice for our ban
ner free province. Our forefathers at
this time and long after had no stoves
in their Lighthouses. All cooking as
well as heating was done by the fire.
place. A crane swung on hinges into
this great fireplace, which could be
swung out from the fire at pleasure.
Attached to this crane was an iron
having notches therein, and fitting
over this pendant iron rod was an
other shorter iron, with link as of a
chain on the end thereof. This link
fitted into the notches on the first men
toned iron. By this means the lower
iron could be raised or lowered. Now.
by hanging pot on the lower end of
the shorter iron rod it could be raised
or lowered into or above the fire at
pleasure. Thus our forefathers did
their first cooking in Upper Canada.
The corn cake, or wheaton cake, when
tney naQ IL. was Daheu III tue dSneS,
and wonderfully sweet old persons
thought it. The fact that it was COW
cred with some loose ashes did not de-
tract from it's sweetness; these were
soon brushed away, leaving the tooth
some cake within.
The first improvement in the culin-
arv art of our forefathers came the
bake-oven. These were tin trays, as
it were, open on one side. They
would be set before the fireplace, with
the open side fronting the fire. Thus
the rays of heat would be collected,
and in a measure confined within the
oven, and the bread or cakes within
were soon nicely Drowned and baked.
1t was considered an immense stride
by our forefathers when they got these
bake-ovens, and for years they did not
aspire to anything better.
Ovens out of doors were built by
some of stone. Such were conical in
shape and open in the center. An
immense fire would be built in this
outdoor oven and. when burnt to zeal
live Goals, would be all drawn out. Its
stones would thus be thoroughly heat