, 1888-09-29
THE BASKET MAKERS.
VISIT TO A COLONY DF PRIMITIVE
AND uNREFfNED FOLK.

Dantown is eighty-fve 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 a dIstrictsbe-
ginning abTrt four miles north of New
Canaan, running in length about eight
miles, and in width about three miles.
In this bailiwick is inclnded another set.
Element called JumptCwn, but the whole
district is known as Dantown. The set
Element 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. sthe
whole country is nothing but rocks and
an almost impenetrable Jungle. The
homes of the basket makers are old,
tumble down, ~ramshackle affairs, an
painted, built of oak shingles, one-half
of them fallen off, and the balance in a
state of irretrievable decay, fences falling
down, gates with no hinges, the whole
settlement hooking as if a cyclone had
struck it away back in revolutionary
war times. and not a stroke of repairs
been put to it since.
I OF AN INTERIOR.
For furniture of these houses there IL
nothing put 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
fireplaces are built of wood and plastered
inside and out. The landowners are not
high livers. They eat because it sustains
life. They do not sit long mt table, and
they dispense with all of the conventions
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
in and help yerself. " which he did. The
bill of fare was pork and beans, potatoes,
bread and moiasses, and apple sauce, the
young girl of the family remarkng: Say.
maar. eff it's dark t'night III GIT nuther
bag O. them there apples" Whereupon
la replied: DRY up yer yawp."
The people live frugally, because they
are compelled. A basket maker must
work early and late to make So a Gyeek,
and as there are generally dozen young
inns" about the house. this does not go
far, though the young 'uns" were all in
n semi state of nudity.
Yet these people are as content wita
their lot as a North Carolina clay eater.
There IS always a market for their baskets.
and they manage to squeeze along on the
commopest 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-
crs 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 hat New
Canaan is a prohibition town, they are
cpn,a+tp,og nn4 20 Iasnorota g mite for tIa
wherewitha 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
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 sec
tions, making it easier to handle. They
take u section and pound it over q log or
rock until it ~slivers. 1t 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 flour barrel
hoop. They are tied in bundles, and, if
not used when green, are soaked in water
over night, which makes them pliable and
easy to weave. If they do not cut thi
wood themselves they are compelled to
pay SIG a cord for it; but it is said that a
great many cut their own wood and are
not particular whose land they cut it
from. Times have changed with the bas-
kct makers, and competition has cheap
cnod their product from S15 a dozen
twenty years 6 to $3.50 a dozen now.
And then wood was only Sc a 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 n gigantic Etarfish. 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
Tapped on. AS the weaving continues tho
standards are raised and beet or shaped
until it has reached the required height.
Then two thicker strips, fiat on one side,
rounded with a draw shave on the other,
arc c!apped ON. The standards. which
project above this band, are twisted
around it and securely fastened. The
handles are put on before the band is.
These are made of n thick strip trimmed
down smooth. with a notch cut in thera,
which abuts against the band. Then tho
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 its
own bottom. A basket maker has to
hustle to make two dozen baskets in o
week. They make all kinds-the corn,
the market and the oyster basket, but the
latter takes precedence over the two for.
mer, as the demand along the sound is
never flled.-Dantown IN. " Cor. New
York Sun.
Amazons to the Front.
The insolence and ineficiency of men
servants in England nave long been so