The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1893-12-21

ments. Coffins ended In point at the
head. When made of light wood they
we're stained red, and polaheh WIN bees-
wax, presumably TO initiate the cherry
wood then in fashion In the east.
Houra OF labor were from sunrise to
sunae. On the farms the women passed
all the time not required ia regular houae-
work, at tue spinning wheel. In the fell
aud during the winter tue men made
hickory brooms and cleared the land, Ia
the spring before the weather broke, tue
log rolling would he held, and the timber
burned. This was done, as was all forms
of harvesting, 10y "frolicB,n on account OF
the scarcity OF labor for hire. Plows,with
the MOULDING DO nrd frame OF wood COW
cred wish the skiu OF the gar, which beN
came very hard when dried, were used.
Men wore clothing called bsise, and
the women lnsy woolsy, for ordinary
dress, aud for special occasions the men
had hroadcloth and tha women calico.
Mons hats were wooden, aud the women
h Ad Ieghoru, adorned with ribbon, A
yard of calico coat twenty-five TO Atty
cents, six 80 ten doz an eggs or half q dozen
pounds Of butter. Six yords IN ade dress
and IL was expected to last for year as
y special dress, aud then for every day
wear. The first article Of ornomcnt was
] ,weIry aud Il was placed on sale Ia the
town about as soon as possible. la Ihe
bomea the fret article for ornament wac
the tomato, then called the Jerusalem
apple, and unknown rs food.
According to present standard taxes
were ligbt, but having to he paid in bard
money, made them arevious burden.
Coined money was slously leid by for
taxes. After Ohio became state, one
half per cent, on personal property, aud
| ten cents q head on cattle, illustrates the
rate. Often men sought long time to
| get I advance OF from thirty TO nifty per
| cent. on the price Of wheat at twenty cents
IL a
| only on the assurance thatthe wheat would
| be redeemed. The tax collector OF those
| days made house to house canvass over
his districts. Liquor was sold at three
| cents n gill, under license costing from
| five to ten dollars year. Arecord cites o
case of a mau being found guilty OF illegal
selling, TO have been hned htty cents and
| the costs of prosecution.
Amusements consisted OF huotinE, hthN
| letic contests, aud the annual military
| muster for the mep, and singing hchool
| and an occasional dance in which the
| women participae ed. Aztec Ihe dey's
| work waI done, the men would gather at
the tavern and spend couple of hours in
gossip, the topics chiefly being eecret so
| cieIiss, tuttrnal Improvements Nud such
| obi scts as were brought 20 notice by lee
tusers. who began TO make an appearance
| about 1925. A brief outline OF some OF the
| lectures Of that date illustrates very
L
| opinion. One was in advocacy of she
Symmes' thsory in relation to polay
| opening. man named Symmes had
elaborated u theory that the earth was
| hollow and within the globe there were
continents, gardens, fruits and fl lDwers as
upon the outside, and that II was sopled
| with human beings. Eatrance wac
to he found 81 the north. II
found many admirers, and also people
| who embarked financially In the enter
prize Of searching for the opening
| Another lecture of the time treated OF
planetary motion. Gravi'ation DAD not
cause the earth 10 revolve, but II wac due
to electricity, positive and negative,
| two kinds being believed in
then. The suu, according to this theory,
was vast body Of positive electricity,
| and the earth being positive during the
day, and negative during the night, its
moIion was accounted for, part being at
trActed and part being repealed. The a.
traction Of tue negative part was the cen-
| tripetal, and the repulsion of the positive
the centrifugal force. Comets, at their
| perihelion, became positive, and were
consequently sent into the far-oH regions
| of space, where they cooled and became
negative, and were again attracted and
| returned. The nebular theory of La
Place was discussed from the lecture
| stand, and received an incredulous hear
| ing. Phrenology and magnetism, under
various names, were prominent subj scts,
| the latter creating especial interest.
Thoss were the days when the temper
| ance lecturer began to appear, and be re-
ceived opposition from all classes.
| The first temperance lectures, however,
only a1voc ated o moderate use of intoXi-
cants, but were regarded with suspicion.
The schools of the State were subscrip-
tion schools. The list of studies wac read
ing, spelling and arithmetic and the best
| student during the year expected TO be
teacher the year following. A regular
reader was generally used, though in
Aome places the New Testament was used
for most advanced classes. AT the back
of the spelling book was a list OF abbrevi-
ations, which was explained and this Was
called teaching grammar. When the queE-
tion of fin0uGuratinR public, or, as IL was
then called, . common school syetem In
Ohio, was brought before the Legislature
In 1922, intense opposition was aroused
because twas proposed to support the
schools by general taxation.
Throughout the state one event never
lost interest. That was the arrival of the
stage, for IL was the most rapid means of
communication. The eDevRy OF the gov
ernment in establishing mail routes aided
largely in the rapid Introduction OF stage
lineg. Postage then was Ga cents for dis
lances up to 80 miles: TO 200 miles l2L
cents; TO 500 miles 1871 cents; over 800
miles 25 cents. The rate wan for one
sheet of paper, each sheet constituting n
letter. Letters were called single double,
or triple, according to the number OF
sheets. After being written they were
hlotted with the sspd>cup, which was
tin can with perforated top and filled with
sand. The sand being sprinkled as one
would salt or pepper.
The early stage had window in each
door, and room for nine passenQers on
the inside, and two With the driver. They
were hung on leather thoroughSbr0ces,
causing a swinging motion, which gave
msny persons seEsickness, One place OF
manufacture Of the stages used in the
stale was Troy, n, Y and n famous fea-
ture OF the Troy stage was that the spin
dia woTkiog 10 the hub caused musical
sound, which could be heard a mile across
the open country on clear morning.
The Whip was tha stage driver's pride,a
proprietora of stage lines frequently com
plAined that men learned to uOe the whip
before they learned to drive. IL had
lash Of nine feet, and stock of four feet
and with Is n driver could bring "lhe red"
as blood was termed, with every
blow. Upon approaching town
the driver gave notice by
blowing his horn, which unlike the long
Alpine horn. with its poetic associations,
was a little tin thing costing ten ceDta.
As the stage drew up at the tavern the
door and always invited travellers to
Alight. The group of villagers peered
eagerly az the passengers and were ready
with = multitude of questions.
After pixies were extended into the state
the malls were carried on them under the
escort OF an armed guard. Each driver
cover ed three "trickF,"s dAY, she distance
"trick." The speed was ten miles an
hour and waa regarded az wonderful.