The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-11-24
NO. So
WOMEN IL THE WAR.
How They Met Their Trials and Difficulties in
Times of idycrsity.

How They Met Their Trials and Difficulties in
Times Of idrersity.
Southern women are always interested
IN any incidents connected with the late
war; they are proud of every sacrifice
they were ever called upon to make, and
would willingly have borne ten times
more had it been necessary. The Phila-
delphia Times has two exceedingly pleas
ant correspondents, both Southern wo-
men, and both portray wildly many
scenes and incidents familiar to our
readers. One, lady who was teaching
school in Alabama, tells of the originali-
ty Of our women when necessity was the
law; it brings back the old times and old
times and old scenes; she speaks among
other things OF the substitutes used for
tea and coffee, and says: II was perhaps
most difficult Of ali to find good SUBJ
stitute for coffee, which was twenty-five
to thirty dollars per pound, and very few
had it or could get it at thatp price. Some
planted large patches Of okra, the seed
Of which when parched was often mis-
taken for pure coffee. Yam potatoes,
peeled, sliced thin, cut in small bits,
dried perfectly and then Drowned, were
thought by some to be better than
Drowned okra seeds. Drowned wheat
and burnt corn made passable bever-
age. For tea raspberry leaves did very
nicely. Many planted the raspberry
vine all around the garden fence, so as
to gather tea when wanted" :" Then she
goes On to tell how We managed in le-
gard to light: Gas neither candles nor
kerosene oil could be had we fell back
on moulding candles, which had long
lain obsolete. In lieu of kerosene, the
oil of cotton seed, groundpea oil and the
oil of compressed lard served well the
need of the times. When there was no
oil for the lamps or tallow for the can
dies, which at times befell, mother wit
would suggest some expedient. I re-
member one evening at a neighbor's
house being pleasingiy diverted on en-
tering the dining room at the improvised
lamp for the evening. It was simply
the round globes of the sweet gum
tree, placed in q shallow vessel Of oil.
The globes, becoming thoroughly satu-
rated with the oil, gave fairy-ike light,
beautiful to behold" Next she speaks
Of the ingenuity we exercised in regard
to our fancy articles, and how proud we
were of our homespun dresses; she says:
''We soon learned to make fans of the
wing feathers of the geese. When the
feathers were mature we would pluck
them, being very careful in plucking to
string the feathers one by one as they
were taken out. All the right wing
feathers were placed on one string and
the left wing feathers on another string,
so that when we arranged the feathers
for making the fan each feather could
be placed in its proper place and would
have the fitting curve. We soon be-
came quite skilled in the art of making
fans. Besides these for home use we
made and sold in the city of Eufaula
many fans for as much as $40 and Sl5
apiece. l made one for my mother of
the dark olive green feathers Of the pea
fowl. The handle j covered with piece
of dark green silk velvet. On either
side where l had joined the handle and
feathers l placed rosette made Of the
small green and blue variegated feathers
that adorn the neck and breast of the
peafowl.
FOUR HOMEMADE DRESSES.
We had all joined hands in the task Of
making the slaves winter suits and after
we had them finished Mrs. G. promised
us each a homespun dress. We set
about the task of making these last and
in few weeks had cur dresses ready to
wear. We had to begin at the founda-
tion and had hard work getting through
it, but we succeeded splendidly. A
neighbor made herself an elegant dress,
the material being an old, worn, black
silk dress and lint cotton. The silk was
raveled up, then mixed with the fine
white cotton and carded all together till
blended. When spun and
woven it formed beautiful texture OF
gray, soft and silkish to the touch. The
best Of the worn silk was put by for
cording and covering the buttors made
of pasteboard, and otherwise trimming
the dress. We soon found use for all
the worn merinos, cassimeres and silks.
When raveled up, corded aud spun
gloves and capes were knit of them"
And so on through long list Of how
Southern people managed domestic
affairs. The other writer, a Virginia
lady, brightens up the dark days of 81
by amusing incidents, showing that
every cloud has its silver lining. And
not only that, but that our Southern
women were brave, cheerful and willing
to endure, even unto the bitter end.