Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1893-01-19
Old Times.


said it was to be burned up, and of all
the fifty-fve winters have lived in
this Valley, / think that winter was
the coolest ever saw in this country.
But the coolest winter ever saw in
my whole life, think was the winter of
'33 and "a; the winter following
the great meteoric shower of '33. /
think that was the grandest natural
display and most frightful sight ever
saw.
Just imagine yourself sound asleep
in bed, and all at once you are wakened
by such bright light. AS you spring
up in bed, you see the world all on fire.
Thousands and millions of balls of fire
come with swish through the air from
the sky. just as thick as you ever
saw snow flakes, each ball of fire with
a bright blaze. AS the balls hit the
earth they bounded along on the ground
and went out just like blowing out a
candle. But their was no heat in the
fire, if it was fire, and when the blaze
went out you saw nothing that looked
as if fire had touched it. The grass in
the yard was all fattened down. Oh /
never saw such a sight before or since,
and don't want to.
remember a great many people wei e
very much frightened. They thought
it was the last day, until they saw it
was not real fire. Then they thought
it was the forerunner of some great
war that some of the prophesies said
were to take place. remember there
was a great deal of discussion about the
signs of the last days, and reading of
the Bible
The following winter was one of in
tense cold. / remember early in the
winter, there came heavy fall of snow
with terrible wind,
which drifted the snow so that you
could not see fence in all the country;
and the snow froze so hard you could
drive an OK team with big log sleds
loaded with logs right over the tops of
the fences.
remember after the storm was over,
the sun shown out bright and clear and
not cloud to be seen for weeks. Yet
the cold was so intense, not drop of
water fell from the caves of the houses
for seven weeks. At the end of the
cold spell, the wind turned in the south
and as the ocean breeze came up the
valley from the east, dense fog come
ike solid wall, and so dense as to
shut out of sight everything. We were
eft in darkness, and such time; ev-!
erybody was laughing. remember at
church the next Sunday, they made
such a noise coughing, the minister had
10 stop preaching; and yet we did not
seem to suffer as we often do in the
winters that are warm to-day and cold
tomorrow.
Now to go back where I started, the
Miller winter. Although it was so cold
We could do no work, except get wood
for the fires and tend the stock; think
never saw SO much fun and jollity put
n, in the same length of time as saw
hat winter. There were about good
lezen boys and about as many girls in
he valley and around the edges. And
such jolly time we did have! We
would get together at some one of the |
houses most every night, and such a
playing, popping corn
With that old warming pan of my moth |
srs. And now do the readers of the |
REGISTER know what warming pan is?
Way back down East where it was SO
,old, and you had to go way up stairs |
20 bed in cold room where the frost
vas all over everything, and get into
bed with cold linen sheets, oh my!
And linen sheet in cold night is |
ust about as cold as frozen cake of |
,now, and to lie and shiver for half of |
he night before your body would throw
he heat out was not very comfortable, |
10 every family had big copper or
orass pan that would hold about a peck |
If Goals of fire, with a good tight cover |
hung with hinge, and a long handle. |
When it was time to go to bed, the |
mother would fill that pan with good
i've Goals of fire and after securing the |
cover, would run that pan, all hot, |
lown in the bed between the sheets. |
md all around in the bed until every |
nch of the bed was just as hot as punk, |
md so each bed was treated. And as |
fou jumped into bed, you were just as
warm as toast.
Well. when we came to Missouri, we
brought our old warming pan with us,
lot that we expected to need it, guess,
,ut as kind of keepsake. But that
winter we did find good use it. All
IT US neighbors had raised good crop
If pop corn, and SO at all of those
we took that old par and
popped corn with it. and of all the pop
,ers it beat all. You could put about a
inf of corn II, the ma +, ralxe ont 3, frrod