Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1886-06-02
JiM'S CABIN.
A Curious Picture of Primitive Life in the
North Carolina Highlands.

"A
North Carolina Highlands.
,Jim's cabin, like others in the mount
ain, is in hollow, so as to be close to
an ever-howing spring, says a writer
describing the life Of a North Carolina
mountaineer. Barn he has none. He
raises little corn and some of the
common vegetables. A sorghum patch
furnishes him with strip, and his bee
skips help to furnish sweets. The bull
tongue is his pillow and cultiVator. 1t
is single tooth, like a cultivator share
fastened to homemade beam. His
harrow is a scrubby tree-top. These
farming utensils and the household
furniture are the same his father used
q century ago. This is how his churn
was manufactured: A section of q sas-
safras log was bored through from end
to end with an auger. Then strips
were split out from the inside until the
shell was of proper thickness. This
was smoothed inside and groove was
cut out to hold the bottom, made from
dry board, which was closely fitted in
and the green shell left to shrink neatly
about it. The churn was perfectly
tight, although it was bound by no
hook. The ''lye gum" is another in
stitution made from hollow log. A
dug-out is anchored in the brook, and
in this Mrs. Railey stands when she
does the family washing. She first
dips the clothes in the clear water and
then, drawing them over the end of the
log, she belabors them with a paddle,
clean. Almost every thing used is
is from flax grown on the clearing, and
Jim tans the leather from which he
makes his own shoes.
A mountain loom is a whole show
and it plays a leading part in the
household economy. Jim split the
frame of his out of white oak and
shaped it with drawing knife. The
''quills" (bobbinS) are pieces of reed.
The shuttle is whitfield from the wood
of rhododendrom maximum. The spin
ming wheels are also handmade from
the tree. Leaves of symplocos furnish
a yellow dye; butternut root a brown,
and other colors are made from other
products of the forest.
Of course / took dinner with Jim,
and his table was beautifully furnished
with fried chicken and bacon, boiled
cabbage, baked potatoes and baked
pumpkin, hard corn-bread and butter,
sweet milk and buttermilk, coffee of
the blacklist and strongest, sweetened
with sorghum. The first meal at a
mountain board is trying experience
in one respect, for the table is built
very high and the benches low, so
that the edge of the table is on a level
with the shoulders. This arrange
ment enables the feeder to sip coffee
from his cup without raising it, and by
placing his mouth at the edge of his
plate he can shovel in his provender
without much effort 1t requires some
practice, however to accomplish these
feats with grace and precision. After
dinner we sat about the big stone fire.
place, while Jim smoked homemade
tobacco in homemade pipe, and
Mrs Railey took down from shelf an
earthern jar sealed with tarred cloth,
which she proceeded to open. The
contents, canned peaches, were
emptied into large tin basin, and
over these was poured a quantity of
honey, and afterward some sweet
cream. Several spoons were then
placed in the dish, and Jim, taking his
pipe from his mouth, handed one to each
of the youngsters and a larger one to
me, inviting all hands to clay too. +"
The order was promptly obeyed by
every one but me. l had eaten SO
heartily that the dessert could not ex-
cite my appetite. Philadelphia Press.