The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-10-20
SrSsssa Y:::a~s yesse Ago.
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 The women ot to-day know little of tho hard and continuous work which their uothers and grandmother did. especially thoee of them who were members of tArmer'e household. ln those days thero were no cArpets on the hoore, no smodern convenienceea h tho house, 10 butchers carts nor provision wagons Co bring food to the door, and few agricultural imple- ments on the farm. Evea ything was then done by manual labor and tho re- salta were % associated with hard work as to bring little satisfAction to man and woman. A writer in the Germantown 7tiegvupA thus dis courses upon . farmers household fifty yeArs ago:
 In the first place. when soap was needed the leach-tub must be cot up some time previously, and often ths housewife had to defer her plans un- til convenient season for the men to find the time to do tho Job. Then a great quantity of hot water must be applied so tho aahes to extract tho lye, and after waiting three or four days for it to commence to run, the process begins.
 All the grease pots which had accu- malated during the year wore brought out, tho biz iron kettle was hung on the crane and biz hot flre started. There was no rule or recipe to go by, only guoaa work,
 Put in some grease and some iye, boil, then add some more until the kettle is nearly full; boil, then dip out little to cool and learn what ia needed. Perhaps 1t ia moro iye, or water, or may be grcaee, and thus working over the Arc all day inhaling tho perfumes of the boiling mass, uu. til at last the compound ts thought to be all right; but when, after standing over night, 1t proved to be not of the right thickness, then it must Do boiled over again the next day.
 Then came the clearing up, which was no small job. A sufficient Quan- tity WAS made to last through ths year, for, remember, no soap pe.idles came around, and there was no hard soap except little sometimes for the toilet.
 Then therc was another dreaded day when the butchering was done. Nc meat carts to bring nice, fresh meat to your doors, but enough meat must bt picklcd and preserved in some form tc last through the year sausages wcrt made and hAms cured, . part stored away for the having season, when four or hv men were fed i've times day for as many weeks, for In those days men were up at i've o'clock in the morning to whct the scythe, before the dew was Of the grass.
 Cooking im thoss days meant hard work. Every Saturday, and often twice week, the big brick oven was heated and filled with beans, Indian pudding, four or five loaves of brown bread, two or three kinds of pies and a pot of spple-ssucc with bread crust over the top, called "pan- dowdy," and very good eating 1t was.
 All the other cooking was done at an open fireplace; an Iron tcekcttle,a pot for potatoes and larger one for boiled dinners hung on crane; . spider to fry the pork and sausage, . heavy iron bakc- pan to set over the coais to bake biscuit, with lid to cover it; a large iron shovel to haul out tho coals and some one to stand over the coals to attend to the cooking.
 The wife and tho mother spent most ot her time cooking when she was not washing, ironing and mending for the ,ainiiy. No hired girls to heic aa long as one could keep ofi the bed. Once or twice T year . woman came to help make the garments for the family and help get the children ready