Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-05-27
EIETN YEARS AGO.

The winter apparel of boys even fifty
years ago would be an interesting subject.
We lack the pen of General oliver to DO 1t
Justice. The change from those days to the
present is something wonderful. India
rubber boots and shoes were not then IN
vented great coats were among rare things;
bows clothes were generally made over
from dads dress coat troWsers were cut
down and travelled through successive boys
and finally cut up to patch and piece other
clothes. Boy tailors were unheard OF.
Seamstresses passed from house to mouse
and fixed over the boys clothes, cut down
and made over, etc. If a boy had grand
mother, he could count, perhaps on pair
of v Woolen mits otherwise he went with
out. To purchase such things was little
thought Of In the house no furnaces, lew
stoves, bed rooms as cold and colder than
barns nowadays; warming-pans for beds at
night in constant use, as the bed CLONES
were like two cakes of ice. Washing was
done by first breaking through the ice found
in the pitcher over night. All cooking was
done by wood fires, and better done than
that of the present day, in spite OF our
modern improvements.
All that can be said of the boy of half a
century ago is that the tittest lived. NO
wonder that consumption claimed its thou
sands and tens of thousands, both old and
Young. The wonder to us Of to-day is how
any one ever lived through the winters OF
those days and yet the boys, in my opln-
ion. had better time, had more real enjoy
ment than is the case with the boys OF to-
day. Toys, sleds, skates, balls and maroles
were costly and rare. The boys saved their
pennies for whole year to be able to buy a
sled or pair of skates. Christmas presents
were unknown. New Year, perhaps
brought around something, and then, most
generally, something useful rather than
playful. To-day boys no longer treasure
their things. They get them for the asking
without effort on their own part, ana tneS
are consequently held in light esteem. Ihls
has engendered carelessness, dependence
and want of forethought in our boys. The
future seems all cut out for them. They
have only to sail along the placid stream o.
life and when trials and financial disaster
come, as they do to most all OF human klno
sooner or later in life, there is less manllnesS
and tenacity of purpose-in fact, less lnteg
ritv-than formerly. When l went tt
Charles w. Green's school in Jamalcs
Plains, l had six cents week pocket mon
ev. on condition 1 would put three cents
each week in the bank. There was no room
here for extravagant expenditure, and IN!
parents did not intend there should be, bu
| got more out of my three cents than boy
do to-day out of three dolars-that is, o
real satisfaction. The subject is an endles
one in all its bearings, and no less interest
ing than of advantage as displaying tn
trials and hardships of our fathers.
PUZZLED NEGRO FARM HANDs.--ll
many ofthe Southern States the negro farm
hands work on what is known as the shar
, system. The land owner furnishes the land
mules and farm implements and advance
, the supplies. At the end of the crop seaso
the laborer usually gets one-third OF tn
product of corn, cotton, &c. A farmer Il
| NJ;cciccinpi in rapOnt r9 ct