Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-10-10
THE BASKET MAKERS.
VISIT TO A COLONY lOF PRIMITIVE
AND UNREFlNED FOLK.

L
Homes Which Are Old, Tumble Down
and Untidy Adairs-view Of an Interior.
Table Etiquet.s-The Basket Maker ut
Work-Method of Manufacture.
Dantown is eighty-fv 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 inhajit district be-
ginning about four Iailss north OF New
Canaan. running In length about eight
/ niles, and in width about three miles.
In this baiHwick is included another set
Element called Jamptown, but the whole
district is known as Dantown- The set
Element derives it's name from the first
settlers, whose name was Dan, and ninety
nine h1ndredths Of the people who live
there NOW are also Dams
We drove over to Dantown to see II
thcy were really the uncouth people they
we're 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, ranshackle affairs, IN
painted, built Of oak shingles, one-haH
of them fallen of. and the balance in a
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 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 ate domestic
manufacture, but all presenting the same
style and discomfort. The old fashioned
frepiaces are built Of wood and plastered
inside and out. The Dantowners are not
high ivers. 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,
Ito take pot luck, and was told to pitch
bill of fare was pork and beans. potatoes,
bread and molasses, and apple sauce, the
young girl of the family remarking: Say,
maar. ef it's dark might I'll git nuther
bag o them there apples" Whereupon
The people live frugally. because they
are compelled. basket maker must
work early and late to make s. week,
and as there are generally dozen young
ms" about the house, this does not go
far, though the young 'uns' were all in
semi-state of nudity
Yet these people ara as content with
their lot as a 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 Dantowu-
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 its 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 WORE
| 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
, Der. 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 seq
lions, making it easier to handle. They
take section and pound it over q log or
rock until it shvers. Il is then segregated
by peeling the shvers of. which are used
for what is called filling" tor the baskets.
The standards" are peeled much thicker,
and have the appearance OF -four barrel
hoop. They are tied in bundles, and, if
not used when green. are soaked in water
over night, which makes them pliable ani
easy to weave. II they do not cut this
wood themselves they are compelled to
pay SIC cord for it; but it is said that a
great many cut their own wood and are
not particular whose land they cut IL
from Times have changed with the bas-
ket makers. and competition has cheap
ened their product from SO a dozen
And then wood was only Sc o cord.
The mode of basket making is simple.
First the thick sticks are cut to the re-
qr1ired length and laid on the ground,
looking Ike 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 Ia
Tapped on. As the weaving continues the
standards are raised and bent or shaped"
until it has reached the required height.
Then two thicker strips. fac on one side,
rounded with draw shave On the other.
are clapped on. The standards, which
project above this band, are twisted
around it and securely fastened. The
handles are put Oh before the band is.
These are made of a thick strip trimmed
down smooth, with notch cut in them,
which abuts against the band Then the
basket is turned upside down, and an
other star shaped set of strips Is pushed
up through the wool Of the basket This
Is done SO that the basket can sit On It's
own bottom A basket maker has to
hustle to make two dozen baskets in q
week. They make all kind-the corn,
the market and the oyster basket, but the
latter takes precedence over the two for
ner. as the demand along the sound is
never fged-Dantown N. y Cor. New
York Sun
Amazors to the Front.
The insolence and meHciency Of men
servants In England have long been so
wildly realized By au heads Of house