The Dickinson press., 1888-11-10
RURAL INDUSTRIES.
"GATlA'S" CHAT ABOUT SOME OF QUA
SMALL MANUFACTURERS.

i ran upon one of these only yesterday at n
obscure village which Is about fourteen mile
from any railroad, aud ut that distance lIa
three different railroads tantali2nclv de
scrloinS n kind of diamond around il, bu. no
one drawing any nearer The consequence
has been that the artisans of that little vii
laGo have adhered to the crafts of their fore
fathers. My wife wanted Il wagon and ha,
been to this village to sec the wagonmakcy'
assortment, and | drove eleven miles to looI
into her selection. There was a plam ma,
who hal lived through all the civil war
firm Cnionist, had manufactured from hi
youth up the different kinds of ridin,
wagons, and was still making them between
the intervals of his job work. Living re
mote from Il railroad, in Il country %
abundant food and wood and leather, h,
could afford 10 make Il wagon for 20 peI
cent. less than city work. His little warchc.s,
contained ten or twelve new wagons, anu
one OF these which had been transformed hat
been driven nineteen wears 10y its purchaser
who then sold it back again and got n ncv
ONE. Here, for $50, you could get Il hand
maic wagon quite rs cheap rs the ckcapcst
pattern miidc wagons in the western states
For $50 you could buy what is called IL Dav
ton wagon with two seats: for $40 YOU coulC
buy II tongue made TO order, and according
to the dimensions you NIGH, leave. Tho
tongue being set with all its para,hcrna.ia
with front and rear. For 81 You "ouli lay,
n brake put on any wagon. OF course tht
springs Ut these wagons are made at dliIcrcn,
places, sncia rs Wilmington, Del; the wheel.
are generally made in the adjacent country,
and sometimes rome from the west. All tho
rest of the machinery, except The iron liz
lures. like the steps, is made OH the spot.
w" are constantly saying that there are 10
American mechanics, but We are only talk
ing about the towns. In the country towns
Of the United States there arc just as many
blackSmiths, w~hcelwrishts, ETC.. as there
ever We're. These men, working alone and
making all parts of Il finished product, not
dividing their labor into a series Of SINGLE
dludgerie>, become intelligent and oh
servant and keep their eyes upon the mann
featuring ccn:erS of the country and know
whenever a new spring has come out or il i;
lev patent is better adapted to tneirLurlose
than an old one. In this way the old Ger
I!laiiic regions of the United States through
eastern Pennsylvania, middle Maryland and
central Virginia keep UP their little shops OF
all descriptions, and on emergency You
could collect a small army of country me
chanicS, every one of them old in this soil
and stock.
Again You will see, about twice ii week,
through the district l have described, the
chicken merchant come past with his WAGON
constructed 10 put chicken in the body,
turkeys towards the front and other sorts ct
fowl i'll about the rear. He goes surrounded
with cackling and growing, aud his little
game is TO forward the said chickens to the
city market i'll coops and crates made for that
rui.
ABOUT twice n week, also, You will see the
egg and butter man como along i'll n wagon
manufactured for his service. 1t contains a
refrigerator part for tho butter and Il saw
dust body for tho c@gs. lie buys chiefly
from the poor, and those who want ready
money, who would otterwio put in their
butter aud eggs ut the country store in the
way of bartcring, and thus suffer two sl,uvrs;
first the shave off their pr duet, and, seq
"ndly, the shave upon tho product they cx-
change for. Tic egg and butter man pays
re!igiously but s cents Il pound for butter to
the country people who keep Il COW or two.
He pays Il cents Il dozen for eggs at nearly
all times of the Year. He saves the w;,yside
- walk Of two or three miles to the next vii
laSo store. at tho present time eggs arc Is
cents Il dozen at the stores, and therefore
w SiiiiS u SSS 1ilu SullOulluS u uOZtil
eggs he las mado 10 cents.
You might not suppose that there were
country potters any more in this region, but
You would DO mistaken there. They have an
old pottery at Hagerstown, which is moro
than 100 years old, and ] know of ono in an
obscure part OF the country which has sup
ported two or three generations of tho same
family i'll respectable independence. That is
to say, they may make $500 IL year in cash
upon their pots, jars, etc. Tho man gets his
clay from some distance, and has IL little kiln
which you would hardly think to be more
than a Dutch oven, and he has Il small shon
where he sits at his wheel and makes his pots
and jars. Sometimes lie delivers them at tho
railroad station, and at other times the farm
cls come with their own teams and place tho
pots i'll the straw and take them home to their
wives, who fill the said pots with pickles, pre-
serves, catsup, apple butter, etc. Really our
largest manufacturers nave come from these
little beginnings. The majestic works of
this country. which employ 1000 hands, fire.
qucntly began with IL rural blacksmith.
Not long ago l drove to the only county
seat or court house town in PENNSYLVANIA
where it is said the whole county is destitute
OF railroad facilities. | had to cross IL mount
ain to get into this county, and there lay the
court house clustered in a beautiful but mar
row valley, with abundant streams. The
whole county was walled in by nature, like
some parts of the Alps. For fifty years the
people had conceived that railroads would
have to come to them some day, because
they were on one of the great lines of com.
municatim between tho east and west. At
last some OF tho Pittsburg people united with
the Vanderbilt family to run II railroad
through that region, and spent IL great deal
OF money i'll beginning the tunnels and build
ing tho steel towers to cross the clasms. But
tho exiSencies of many railroads united to
withdraw all this enterprise just as the con-
summation seemed within reach. The peo-
pic there have settled dow to tie convictio.,
that now they will never have any railroad
whatever.
The result is seen in the moving of every
young man to Kansas, Dakota and tho far
west. The young men stayed around as long
as there was a chance 10 work on tho railroad
and enjoy the fruits of its construction,
When they found the matter was knocked il,
the head, 50 to speak, they packed their
bundles and set oil for the excursion train
which. once u week or twice II month the
year through, runs iroll these old settled
parts to Kansas and Nebraska. You would
see i'll those trains tho DunkerS, the United
DietireH, lnc lIutner:tn, anu tho reformed
Brethren taking their lunches frequently
with them, going to Kansas under the charge
of Il guide which the railroad company EN-
p!oys, and they perhaps go out II return for
SO or even 'ess. They look ut the new land,
figure up on their old farms, and then
dispatch u son-in-law or Il son to the new rc-
Sloa to put i'll his crop upon those plains and
IralEleS, where no trees arc to be cut dow!
nor amy stones are TO be gathered from the
surIace.-Georse Alfred Townsend in Bosto:,
Globe.
II y2u are compelled to cat al q railroad
station take but a Light meal and cat i,
sloiTl.E. Drink milk instead of tea or coffee,
Retreat of Niagara Falls.
Although the retreat Of the fall is slow. i,
VIII Ill a Very brief time, in tie geological
sense of that word, lead to certain ,un,,a,.