Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1888-11-29
THE BASKET MAKERS.
VISIT TO A COLONY IOF PRIMITIVE
AND UNREFINED FOLK.

homes Wnlcn Arc OIOs IumDlo DOW1
and Untidy Affairs-view of an Interior
Table Etiquette-The Basket Maker .,
Work-NIethod of Manufacture.
Dantown is eighty five miles from New
York, and is reached by the New York,
New Haven and Hartford railroad, via
Stamford and New Canaan. A colony of
basket makers there inhabit district be-
ginning about four miles north Of New
Canaan, running in length about eight
miles, and in width about three miles.
In this bailiwick is included another set
tlement called Jumptown, but the whole
district is known as Dantown. The set
tlement derives its name from the first
settlers, whose name was Dan, and ninety
nine hundredths Of the people who live
there now are also Dams.
We drove over to Dantown to see If
they were really the uncouth people they
were credited with being. The roads are
narrow and full of rocks: in fact, the
whole country is nothing but rocks and
an almost impenetrable Jungle The
homes of the basket makers are old.
tumble down, ramshackle affairs, un-
painted, built of oak shingles, one-half
of them fallen off, and the balance in o
state of irretrievable decay, fences falling
down, gates with no hinges, the whole
settlement looking as if cyclone had
struck it away back in revolutionary
war times, and not q stroke of repairs
been put to it since.
VIEW OF AN INTERIOR.
For furniture of these houses there Is
nothing but the plainest straight backed
chairs, with basket woven seats, some Of
them handed down from great grand
fathers time, and some of late domestic
manufacture, but all presenting the same
style and discomfort. The old fashioned
ireplaces are built of wood and plastered
inside and out. The Dantowners are not
high livers. They eat because it sustains
life. They do not sit long at table, and
they dispense with all Of the convention
alities of table etiquette. The writer sat
down to dine, or, as the host expressed it,
"to take pot luck, and was told to pitch
in and help yerself," which he did. The
bill of fare was pork and beans, potatoes,
bread and molasses. and apple sauce, the
young girl of the family remarking: Say,
maar. eff it's dark t'night III git nuther
bag O them there apples" Whereupon
maar replied: DRY up yer yawp."
The people live frugally. because they
are compelled. A basket maker must
work early and late to make So week,
and as there are generally dozen young
'uns" about the house. this does not go
far, though the young 'uns" were all in
q semi-state of nudity.
Yet these people are as content with
their lot as North Carolina clay eater
There is always market for their baskets,
and they manage to squeeze along on the
commonest food so that they can indulge
In tobacco and get the little brown Jug
filed. The latter is of more absolute
necessity to the majority of the Dantown-
ers than the sack of -four or the fitch of
bacon. Years ago they were famous for
their store of Medford rum, but it is never
seen now. In it's place is rye whisky, and
not the best, either, and now that New
Canaan is a prohibition town, they are
sometimes put to desperate straits for the
wherewithal to wet their whistles.
THE BASKET MAKER AT WORK.
There are no organized workshops, and
the business of setting up baskets is car
ried on In the kitchen, dining room and
parlor, which is generally all in one room.
They are very particular about their tim
ber. They use hickory, white and black
ash and black oak. They use the first cut
of the log and no other. The bark is
peeled off, and the log. which is never
over ten inches through, is split into Sec
tions, making it easier to handle. They
take section and pound it over a log or
rock until it slivers. It is then segregated
by peeling the slivers off, which are used
for what is called filling" for the baskets.
The standards" are peeled much thicker,
and have the appearance Of a -four barrel
IL
not used when green, are soaked in water
over night, which makes them pliable and
easy to weave. If they do not cut this
wood themselves they are compelled to
pay SIG a cord for it; but it is said that q
great many cut their own wood and are
not particular whose land they cut it
from. Times have changed with the bas-
ket makers, and competition has cheap
twenty years ago to $3.50 dozen now.
And then wood was only So cord.
The mode of basket making is simple.
First the thick sticks are cut to the re.
quired length and laid on the ground,
looking like gigantic starfsh. At the
point of contact they are fastened, and
then comes the work of weaving the light
or side strips in and out. One strip is
woven in several times around the basket
before it gives out, when another one is
apped on. As the weaving continues the
standards are raised and bent or shaped"
until it has reached the required height.
Then two thicker strips, fat on one side,
:ounded with draw shave on the other,
ire clapped on. The standards, which
project above this band, are twisted
lround it and securely fastened. The
handles are put on before the band is.
These are made of thick strip trimmed
lown smooth, with a notch cut in them,
which abuts against the band. Then the |
'asket is turned upside down, and an
'ther star shaped set of strips is pushed
lp through the woof of the basket. This
8 done so that the basket can sit on it's
wn bottom. A basket maker has to
lustle to make two dozen baskets in q
veek. They make all kinds-the corn,
he market and the oyster basket, but the
after takes precedence over the two for
aer, as the demand along the sound is
ever flled.-Dantown On. " Cor. New
lork Sun.
War Upon Anglicisms.
Some of the French Canadian naners ara