Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1897-03-17
COUNTRY MADE NO MORE.
The Factory SupplantS the Farmers Wife
In Many Things,

In Many Things,
The tendency to DO things in the
shortest space Of time and to make the
best commercial use of every moment,
while it is held up us one of the com.
mendable features of the age, is a
source of regret to many people who
sigh for the times of long ago, and who
say that mixture Of the ways of our
grandfathers with those of the present t
In some matters wo I'D be an improve.
ment on the existing conditions.
1--WE don t object to the sewing ma.
chine. said an elderly lady from the
country, "even if it did settle quilting
parties forever; we cant help it if
home made preserves have become
scarce on account of the cheapness of
the factory article, and we must have
improved agricultural machinery at
the expense of the hdsking bees; but
the rush and hurry to turn money and
to make profits has made country
things, which were once looked upon
as better than city stuff, inferior, and
nowadays the term country made is
no recommendation for wares of any
kind.
In proof of the statement it was said
that the making of the table products
which were once the pride of the thrifty
farmers wife and were made for regu-
lar customers in the city was fast be-
coming lost art, and that the rising
generation knew little or nothing about
the secrets of pickles and jams and
pies and preserves.
THE factories said the woman
who bewailed the decline in the couu
try product, make tons of mincemeat
and oceans of sauces and sweetmeats,
and it is hard to find farm house now
where Country made things OF that
kind direct from the store can not be
found. The very people Who few years
ago made cheese for themselves and
for city customers, now buy inferior
stuff, which is made so cheaply that it
has crowded their own honest product
out of existence. Hundreds of city
people think with pleasure of the coun.
try dainties they formerly bought from
nearby farms, and would pay well for
them now if they were available"
But the hurry process has had de
terlorating effect on articles beyond
the table; among these the old fashion.
ed people mention soap and candles.
The modern means of illumination
have made candles rarity, but there
are still many candles sold, and those
who use them generally complain
about the inferior quality. They gutter
and splutter and burn unevenly, and
show in many respects that they were
hurried in the process of manufacture.
"As to soap" sa an enthusiastic
country woman, "if we were to use our
soap just as we receive it from the
store it would become a very expensive
item in house keeping. 1t is put upon
the market soft and unseasoned, and
good housekeepers are compelled to buy
it by the box and pile it up, log cabin
style, in dry places and give it the
seasoning which it should have had
before it was placed on sale. Poor
people can not buy in large quantities,
but take the article into use as they
receive it, and, of course, they are com.
PEELED to pay high price for neces.
sity-only because the manufacturer
has seen fit to rush his product"
The country" never made many
claims as a producer of wearing ap.
peral, but even the few articles which
came from the rural districts, and were
more valuable because they were
country made, have vanished from the
markets, and factory made articles in
imitation of them have taken their
places. Knit socks and gloves and
mits were once the chief source of
revenue for hundreds of New England
families, who made up large stocks of
these homely goods and disposed of
them either through peddlers or to the
stores direct.
The blue socks with the white dia-
mond toes became known all over the
country, and presently they appeared
in fancy boxes with embossed paper
bands around each half dozen, put up
in attractive form by the factories, and
the genuine article, which was deliv-
cred to the dealer in bundles without
box or tax, was driven out. Today
pair of home made socks or old fash.
ioned fringe mittens" are as scarce as
the country sage cheese, the mere
recollection of which brings the moist.
ure to the mouths of those who lived
when it was more than recollection.
Possibly the best illustration of the
tendency to hurry" said German
American, is the way in which lager
beer is made in this country. The
name of the article shows that it should
be stock beer, and those who make it
properly never tap it for consumption
until it is from four to six months old.
In this country it is sold when il is as
dnua cid npd .nhnA -.