The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1892-02-11
Old Times in the Country.

To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL: The
a neighbor dropped in and passed the
evening in social chat During the even
ing he talked Of old times and how poor
people lived in those days He spoke of
a family in an adjoining town and of what
he observed in their home forty-tve years
ago. The family consisted of nine per
They lived in log house having rock
chimney about fifteen feet square at the
base, the top made of sticks and clay
Think of hitchin@ the horse or oxen on to
a large LOG and drawing it into the house
for back log and another for 4 forestick.
with some cord-wood on top for an even
ing tire-one in fact which would last two
or three days before they had to draw in
another log. What comfort to sit before
slch Il fire and listen to tales Of the olden
times. Before this fire all their cooking
was done. On the day in question the
FAMILY had soup for dinner, When the
soup was done the parents turned out
enough for themselves III square bake
pan. and from this they turned out for
each into a hole dug out of the table about
the size of a plate. and they each had 4
spoon to eat Will. The pot containing
the remainder Of the soup was placed on
the hearth before the fire, and the seven
children squatted down around it, They
had half of an iron spoon-l say hall, be
cause the handle was half gone With
this the eldest took one dip from the ket-
tie and then passed the spoon to the next.
and 50 it went AROUND the circle. One Of
them took two dips trom the kettle. but
he received a blow from the next, with a
caution not to repeat that again each then
took Two dips around to cQuaiize. and then
resumed the former custom until the meal
was finished
Around the chimney was an open space
about , feet wide. This was filled in with
straw, and the children slept there at
night They had no bedclothe@. After
eating the children took ramble around
the chimney until they had settled their
dinner and then laid down to sleep in the
straw. The floor boards had knots in
them and the wood Wore away faster than
the knots. They took a large stone LUG
such as you have seen, larger in the mid
die than the ends, put in their cream and
drove in stopper tight Then the jug
was laid down on its side and rolled length
wise of the floor, and the rolling. together
with the knots in the floor, gave it such a
shaking that in a short time it would be
churned
Shoes We're scarce in those days and the
poor were obliged to 90 barefooted most of
the time. A lady with pair of calf bus
kins was classed with the high toned peo-
pie, and they used to go most of the way
to church barefooted and then put their
buskins on and walk into church The
men also went barefoot, and our neighbor
ssid that many a time he warmed a large
chip and carried it out in the winter to
stand on while he cut firewood At seven
years of age his parents kept him at home
to hoe potatoes, and when he left off going
to school he could not cypher in long di-
vision.
These statements, with many more
have not the time to write, | listened to
during the evening and thought they
might be of interest to your readers in
comparing the past with the present And
of many at the present day we might say
These are they which came up out of
great tribulation'
WAYLAND KNowLToN.