The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1900-02-28
How the Natives Live.

! BY "native" l mean the poor class. On
the opposite side of The road from where
we live is large tract of land that is not
iarmed by the owner and on which many
OF this class have their homes. When a
! couple Of this class get married the first
thing necessary is to provide a home for
house-keeping,as all people recognize the
necessity of having "home." There are
several styles of houses o be consids red,
according to the means of the parties;
there is first the home with only the ga
BILE part, set on the ground, with ground
floor; then the one story of about five or
six feet, likewise built with a ground
floor: then the on story with a door.
These houses vary in size from sxlO to
lOxl5, partitiOned into two parts, one for
a sleeping room and the other for a liv-
ing room. Having decided on the style,
of a house, the next thing is to get the
material gathered tog ther for it, This
consists OF poles for the sides and roof,
and the proper grass for thatching, which
is long, wild grass which is cut and dried
and tied up into little bundles about three
inches thick; also a supply of native
nails, being composed of a vine that is
very tough. They commence by setting
up poles fOI the sides and binding them
to the rafter bearer with thongs made
of the vines; the rafters are fastened on
in like manner and then light poles run
around these at equal distances apart to
bind the thatching to. If the house is to
have floor, then the joist are bound to
the sides in like manner and the Dole
joist is laid on top of these. The house
is either sided up with palm bark bound
on or put on like basket work, many of
them only having three sides enclosed.
The partition is made in the same manner
and door out of palm bark, Lung with
vine hinges. The roof, made without
gables and quite steep, is then thatched,
and the house is then Fady for furnish
ing. For beds are used hammocks made
! from Old canvass, low beds are made by
binding poles together and tacking can
vas on to the side poles, and some are
made like a saw buck, with pieces run
across the tops on which is tackled the
canvass this is called a folding bed, as it
can be folded together, being fastened at
! the trotches with bolts, and therefore is
! much used il the pal ties are able to buy
the wood and bolts but s. ldom fonnd in
the natives cabin for this reason. They
| generally have one short wooden bench
for company, bedding they do not need,
and they dispense with the tables. The
cooking outfit consists of one iron pot in
which everything is cooked, Gipsy fash
! ion the dishwnre is made from the cali
bash nut, aud the tree must have been
! placed on earth for that purpose, as it is
good for nothing else the nuts grow to
quite large size and are pulled off when
they reach he proper size for the vessel
wanted; the shell being vely hard when
seasoned, they make very convenient
vessels of all kinds. pro, er supply of
these consists of one for each person to
eat their food from, and one or two to be
used in lifting it from the pot You will
notice from tins tina. they can build their
house and furnish it without having to
buy single article as they can go back
into the swamps and cut their poles and
grass wilhouC paying anything for them,
hence, all they are out is their labor, and
as they can thatch tte house and do the
balance at their leisure they would not
need to lose much time from their en-
ployment if they had any. AS for marry
ing, undei Spanish rule that was too ex-
pensive, hence, they just went on without
that formality, and as ar as / know are
doing the same yet. For food they use
bread. sweet potatoes and yams, rice and
Goldfish, principally sweet potatoes and
yams, as they are very cheap. These
they boil in their pot and dish each one
out bis share in one of the calibash dishes,
and they sit down on the ground, or a
seat, if fortunate enough to have one, and
eat their meal
As to how many of them live or get
enough to live on, am at loss to know |;
som0 manage TO plant small patch of
sweet potatoes; other more fortunate ones
manage to get four or five chickens, and
can live on the sale of the eggs, eggs bring
as rule four centavOs piece. | have
seen them take one egg to the store and
get four different items. The hens lay in
the house, and are taken in the house at
night, or otherwise they would be stolen.
/ might here say that all animals except
| the cow is taken in the house at night,
and many kept in during the day. goats,
pigs, chickens, all but the dog, he has to
hustle for something to eat at night. You
probably will ask "do they scrub?' l
must say | think not. have visited
their cabins vXy often and have never
seen any sign that would show any indi-
catation of water being used on the floor,
where they had wood floor, and of course
they could not scrub those that have only
! the ground for floor. There are people
| in the State who attribute sickness very
often to dirt. ! here may be sickness hid
away in some kinds of dirt ready to
pounce on person when they are not
/ looking, and eat them up but not in the
dirt around the cabins here, or they would
| be depopulated.
The weather here is delightful now and
has been since We came, aud our flowers
are blooming all the time.
Very truly yours,
CHAs. s. LEECH.