, 1888-03-28
LIGHT OF H DAYS.

Ihe Tallow Candles OF our fathers.
Candles Nodded and dipped"
''There's a letter In the candle, Katy"
"Who it it coming TOT"
She gives the candle a light shake and
tie letter drops next to Katy.
""There's a shroud in the candle to-
night, Ellen"
"Oh, don't say so. Yes; it is there
sure enoughl Poor Jiml"
There will be divine worship next
Sabbath evening in the school honse at
Four Corners, Dec v~olente, at early
candlelight."
The above literature belongs to an age
that is past, but the old boys and girls
of today can easily recall the dialogue
and announcement as part of the house
hold conversation of thirty or forty years
ago, when the candle was not only the
light of the family but its oracle as well.
This was before the age of petroleum and
in the infancy of gas when .'boughten''
candles of tallow or sperm were used for
company, and the tallow dip was the
every day luminary.
Candle making was one of the indus
trial branches of housekeeping in those
days. A cake of tallow, made from fat
rendered in the house, and a ball of wick
ing, purchased at the general dry goods
store, furnished capital for the invest
ment. Then a set of molds, bought of a
tin peddler-such as Jim Fisk used to sell
from his wagon-and the work began.
The youngsters of the family were usually
chosen for this. They liked it. 1t was
easier han churning, and they had con-
siderable pride in pulling handsome can
dies, and there was just enough peril in
the undertaking to make it interesting.
If the tallow was not just right, or the
molds not prepared well, or the candles
not properly cooled, they ''acted.n Some
times, indeed, they seemed possessed.
This was when the six long wicks pulled
out, leaving the tallow in the molds to
be melted out and run over again. But
if all went right, and six elegant candles
were pulled, there was joy in the house
hold. The nearer they came to the
''boughten' article in appearance and
worth, the prouder the domestic candle
maker.
There was also a test in the burning.
They must not ''sputter'' nor ''gutter."
A certain amount of beeswax would pre-
vent this. They must not burn extrava-
gantly or to one side, nor be greasy to the
touch. And they must have preserva-
tive qualities and ''keep" well. There
was economy in those days in burning
candles, which extended to the way in
which they were snutfed. A family of
any ~pretensions always had several sets
of shutters. A silver tray and shutters
was usually an heirloom. a brass set,
kept in a high state of polish, was used
in the parlor every night, the silver ones
being kept sacred to company. Usually
a rickety snuffer without any tray did
duty in the kitchen. In many homes the
fingers did all the snuffing. They became
so hardened to it that no matter how hot
a pinch they took, there was no bad eff
feet.
We can afford now to smile at the
economy of light in those days, when we
had to light one candle to see if the other
was burning. Two candles meant com.
pany, three a crowd, six an illumination.
All the corners of the room were in
shadows in those good old days, when
| spooks and COLLINS were within easy
reach. After all there was the glow of
the fireplace, with its fitful shadows.
| We have lost that with the lesser light.
The odds and ends of candles were set
up to burn on the altar of the kitchen,
and on Saturday nights to light the hired
hand or the bound boy to bed. Other
nights they went to bed in the dark.
The tallow dip was an a~ttenuated OBJ
ject that tormented the family like q
poor relation. A lot of wicks were strung
together on a rod, the tallow was melted
and served in a tub of water. Into this
the wicks were dipped every little while,
then hung across the tub till they cooled
sufficiently to receive another dip"
When finished they look like the skele-
tons of candles eaten by rats. They
fared and guttered and made horrible
shadows, but were accepted as light.
Lessons in candle department were
given in those days. 1t may seem an
easy thing TO snuff a candle; SO it is-to
snuff it out. But to snuff it gracefully
and easily, using only one hand, and not
obscuring the light a moment, is a work
of art. Blowing the candle out was also
deprecated by the old timers. 1t was
either snuffed out or sextinguished by a
metal night cap, which is usually fast to
the handle of the bedroom candlestick.
The ease with which a candle went out
when q door was opened or a draught
struck it was almost phenomenal. And
it was equally hard to relight it. Do you
remember taking up a coal in the tongs
and blowing until you resembled a heav-
emily cherub trying to "a the smoking
wick back to a blaze? 1t was a common
experience .-Detroit Free Press.