The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-10-10
BASKET MAKERS.
CURIOUS PEOPLE ATA CURIOUS
PLACE IN CONNECTICUT

The Colony of People Who Live at
Dantown-Homes of the Bas-
ket Makers-How Bas-
kets are Made.
You may look on the map and study
the Postotfice guide, and you will not
find Dantown; but there is Dantown,
and it is about as exclusive town as
was ever populated. 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, Conn. A colony OF basket
makers there inhabit district beylnnlng
about four miles north Of New Canaan,
running in length about eight miles, and
in width about three miles. In this bali
wick is included another settlement
called Jumptown, but the whole district
is known a. Dantown. The settlement
derives its name from the first settlers,
whose name was Dan, and ninety-nine-
hnndreths of the people who live there
now are also Dams.
The homes Of the basket makers are
old, tumble down, ramshackle affairs,
unpainted, built of oak shingles, one
half of them fallen off, and the balance IN
q state of irretrevable decay, fences
falling down, gates with no hinges, the
whole settlement looking as if cyclone
had struck it away back in Revolution.
ary war times, and not stroke of re-
pairs being put to it since. For furnl-
ture of these houses there is nothing but
the planest straight backed chairs, with
basket woven seats, some of them handed
down from great. grandfather's time, and
some of late domestic manufacture, but
all presenting the same style and discom-
fort. The old fashioned tireplaces 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 conventionalities
of table etiquette. The writer sat down
to dine, or, as the host expressed 1t, 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:
tSay, maar, eff it's dark t'night Pll 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 S. week,
and as there are generally dozen young
'uns" about the house, this does not 60
far, though the "young 'uns" were all in
semi state of nudity.
Yet these people are content with their
lot. 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 filled. The latter is of
more absolute necessity to the majority
of the Dantowners than the sack of flour
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 whiskey, and not the best,
either, and now that New Canaan is
prohibition town, they are sometimes
put to desperate stats for the where
withal to wet their whistles. There are
no organized workshops, and the bust
ness of setting up baskets Is carried on
in the kitchen, dining-room and parlor,
which is generally all in one room. They
are very particular about their timber.
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
OF, and the log, which is never over ten
inches through, is split into sections,
making it easier to handle. They take
section and pound it over log or rock
until it slivers. 1t is then segregated by
peeling the slivers off, which are used
for what is called "flling" for the
baskets. The ''standards" are peeled
much thicker and have the appearance
of 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
this wood themselves they are compelled
to pay $lG 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 basket makers, and competition has
cheapened their product from SIG
dozen twenty years ago to $3. 90 now.
And then woud was only S6 cord.
The mode of basket making is simple.
First the thick strips are cut to the re-
ouired 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 an
other one is 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, flat 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 on be.
fore the band is. These are made of
thick strip trimmed down smooth, with
a notch cut in them, which abuts against
the band. Then the basket is turned
upside down, and another star-shaped set
are pushed up through the woof 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 week. They mae all
kinds, the corn, the market and the
oyster basket, but the latter takes pre-
cedence over the two former, as the de-
mand along the Sound is never filled.
-Neu York Sun.
II