The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-10-01
fAvERNs SIXTY YEARS AGO.
Their Accommodations We're Ordf--
nary, but the Guests Were Wei
come to French BRANDY.

lHeiT were OTQ1~
nary, but the Guests Were Wei
come to French Brandy.
In the course of some interesting
"reminiscences of the hotels of the olden
time, a correspondent of The lamp
shire County (Mass.) Journal shows
now much more numerous were the
taverns of sixty years ago than now.
In 1928 there were sixteen licensed in
Northampton, which then contained
not over $500 inhabitants. Those out
of the center were only stopping-places
for travellers who wished for a "toddy''
or a .horse-baiting," and generally
served only as a makcshift for eeking
out the maintenance of the farms at
tached to them. The central taverns
were the stopping-places of the through
stage travellers going east and west
and north and south. They were also
the resort of traders. and Others coming
from the neighboring towns to pur-
chase supplies, and were the good-na-
tured prey of a host of "spongers''
among them, who used all the accom-
modations of the inn, and brought
their own food and their horses prov
cnder with them, never spending a
penny for the privilege.
The accommodations OF these hotels
were of the most ordinary character,
excepting only the beds and the table.
The furniture was of the plainest kind,
that of the sleeping-room consisting
only OF the bed. two or three chairs,
mirror, and in spec al cases only, of
the now usual washing facilities. The
great majority of male guests went to
the Mushroom in the morning for neces-
sary addition. and at some places wiped
their faces upon the towels that added,
rather than removed, dirt. When
Oliver Warner took charge of the old
Pomery tavern (now the site of the
present Mansion house), there was not
a carpet in the house. not a caster on
the table, not a napkin for a guest, no
jce-water, net a bell in = chamber, nor,
with rare exception, a Fireplace in a
sleeping apartment; there were no.
stoves in that day for heating sleeping,
apartments. But, with all these limit
ed accommodations, the taverns in the
center were nightly crowded, with
guests in the business season. The
summer months brought crowds of WIS.,
itors from the far south, who sought
the cool shades of Northampton for a
seasons retreat from the burning sun
of their homes. They spent money,
the accumulation of the slaves unpaid
toll, in the most lavish manner. The
daily lines Of coaches east and west.
north and south poured their daily
freight OF passengers for a few hours of
sleep into these already crowded re-
c~eptacles, and it still remains to ME a
mystery how, in the name of comfort.
convenience, and all that is now ex--
pected from a modern hotel, the guests
could be satisfied with the
dations furnished at that time.
But it must be recollected the.
wants of the public were not
then so numerous or unreasonable as
now, while the substantial elements Of
food, cooked in good and appetizing
form, were never wanting. Another
and now unknown element of the table
was then as common as water X two,
three, or more decanters of French
brandy, to which the guests were well
come. and to which a large portion Of
the diners paid due devotion. The
customary price for transient guests
was $1.50 per day, or 81 per week.
though regular boarders paid only
~. 90 or $3 per week. Provisions Of
all binds were exceedingly cheap, conn
pared with present rates, beef 6 to s.
lamb 8to 10, mutton 4 to 6, pork 6 to
8. butter II to Ia. eggs s to 10 cents,
hay So to $40, oats 20 to 20, and so on.
The bars at that time were furnished
with the best imported liquors and
wines. The adulteration of drinking
fluids so common nowadays was then
unknown, apd drinkers had one excuse
for tippling: the wine was pure. "A
Fourth of July celebration at the Old
Coffee House. was lavishly furnished
with old Madeira and port that had
been quietly refined for ten years or
more. Toast-drinking. as may be seen,
by reference to the Journals of sixty
years ago, was al indispensable requis-
tie for all public feasts. The old War
ner coffee-house was the customary re-
sort for the balls for the Fourth Of Ju-
ly and Thanksgiving evenings, and
were attended by all the local dignita-
ries and prominent men. On Saturday
nights at shutdown the bars were rigidly
closed, not again to be opened until the
following Monday. Guests were fur
nished with seats in the church if they
desired them, and the hotel had on the
Sabbath the appearance Of a quiet
clearinghouse than d public hosiery.
One Of the Tests.
.sYou saw continual the lawrer In