Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-09-18
AN OLD FASHIONED APPLE BEE.
rhe Jolly Good Times the You're soahs
Cssd tn Have When Aptumn CA@s.

fhe Jolly Good TIm~s the Youno ss,hs
Ussd tn Have When A.,tams CnmA.
The march Of Improvement has swept out
Of existence many old time institution,
and the boys and girls Of today. who play
croquet and lawn tennis, in rsvixhtng COS
TUNES u stripes and checkx would doubles
turn up their no~ss at the mention Of the ap-
pie bees, and the hussings, and the raizings,
which were such = source Of enloyment 10
their fathers and nIothers
Once it ussi % be- considered necessary for
every family TO lay tn yearly a stock Of dried
apples for the construction Of q commodity,
formerly supposed 70 bs edible, and which
went BY the name Of dried apple pie II was
. highly respectable production and though
IL was often swallowed with q wry face, Ike
a purgative pill. no table was ever complete
without IL, and IL was always q reserve force
upon which the sorely prusd housekeepsr
could fall back when a case Of emergency
arose.
Canned apples and evaporated apples have
superseded 1t, and its familiar tan eolored
Spuutenance Is Eeen no more: but its memory
remains 10 cheer US
In the eariy fall Of the year every house
keeper commenced 70 dry apples. The first
wind falls Of the season were utilized; the
wormy and knotty places cut out with care.
and halved and qnartered, and cored, they
were strung on q string, about two yards
long, and their festoons decorated the sunny
side OF the farm house until the frost came.
And the wasps and flies took their late vaca-
ton seasons in buxzing over the festoons
aforesaid, and sucking up such juices as the
sun had left In the remains OF the fruit.
In large families, where an extra supply OF
pie making substance WAS needed, 1t WAS the
custom every fall to have apple bess," or
''apple parings, as they are sometimes called
A fine evening in September or Octobsr
was seIected, and all the young people in tbs
neighborhood were invited TO he present.
Care was exercised not 10 pass over any oL.e
In giving the invitations, for it was a terrible
slight" to he left out Of a merry making OF
that kind
The big kitchen was the place Of operation.
All the tubs and baskets In the house were
flled with apples yellow, and apples red, and
the young men who owned pairing machines
were out In force, each one anxious to Guido
the other, and thus gain favor in the eyes Of
the admiring young girls who did the coring
and the strn2ing.
What merry company it was! How the
laugh and joke and song rang out and the
machines whizlei of the curly parings and
snt them spinning over the big table, and
the girls threw them over their shoulders,
aud looked bushingly back to see II they had
assumed the form Of the first letter OF the
name of their favorite young man.
And when the tubs and baskets had been
empted and the strings Of apples hung from
the frames, all ready to be- given To the fin
ishinx process Of the sun and wind, in the
the table was spread with feast fit for .
king, and the hostess dealt out the baked
beans and Indian pudding with lavish
hand, and each young man waited on his
best girl, and paid her compliments while he
passed the doughnuts, and looked love into
her eyes while he held the slippery pumpkin
pie plate for her to divide the piece for them
both, and when he saw the blush on her
cheek, and felt the touch Of her soft fingers
on his hand as she passed him the pie, he
couldn't tell whether he was eating nectar or
sole leather-and, what was more, he didn't
care.
And when the supper was over, and the
old time games Of blind mans buff, and Co
penhagen, and hunt the slipper, were in full
blast, how the winged hours flew by, and no
body noticed that it was long past midnight
before the gay jewellers separated, and took
their way homeward by the light Of the
moon
Matches were made ut apple bees hearts
were lost, and hearts were found, barrels Of
dried apples were given to the world, and
busy hone wives surveyed with pride the re-
suits Of the evenings labors, as displayed
next morning on the frames hung up in every
available place where the sun would be likely
to fall
And when winter came and the fruits OF
the summer were all gone and the custard
and the mince pie had palled their taste,
the dried apple came manfully 10 the front,
and having been stewed, and sweetened, and
spiced, and put between the layers Of crust,
it was bakel; and II man had good cour
age, and good teeth, and faith in an overrul-
ing Providence, which was bound to him
safely through under any circumstances, he
might manage to worry down piece Of that
pie and still livel--Kate Thorn IN New York
Weekly.