The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1901-01-12

IN small rude houses, but the,
were kept comfortable in the win.
ter time by the big wood fires We
We're able % have, But it was of,
ten inconvehient to secure water
as we had to depend on spring.
and creeks. which were frcqucn.
ltly some distance away and the
| water always had TO be carried ur
hill. We had 70 depend on oul
steel and flint or the fash in the
pan Of our flint lock gun to start
atire Our best lights In countr,
aud town we're tallow candles.
Now u is poor town that does
not hayewater works aud electric
lighess We sowed wheat by hand,
cut it with a reap-hook, threshed
It with afraii and wlnnowed the
chaff out with Il riddle and sheet
and carried il toa water mill on
horse back 20 have it ground into
-four. Now wheat is sown with
Il drill, bound by machinery,
threshed by steam with a self-ope-
fative stacker and on the eroat
! wheat fields OF the west cut and
threshed with the same machine
at the same time"
"Wc had but one post Office ia
Scott county. ut Georgetown, and
had TO 20 sixteen miles to send or
receive a letter. The postage on
a half-ouuce letter was 6t4c for
200 miles. Over that it was
doable. We had one mail Il week
and that carried by horseback.
Strange as the contrast may seen,
your little towns now hayc six OF
eight mails a day,.and your coun.
ty, though one Of the smallest in
the state, has sixteen postoiiices,
and will soon have rural delivery.
A letter can be sent any distance
for 2c--either Connection or
Alaska"
"We had no railroad or boats
or steam machinery of any kind.
The steam whistle had never been
heard, the cotton gin was un-
known and the telegraph and tele-
phone were never dreamed of.
When twenty years Of age / rode
horse back from Scott county to
Kaskaskia, Ill. ! passed through
Louisville, then but a town on
Bear Grass Creek at the head of
the great Falls, through Hardins-
burg, then but q little more than
| q fort, through the back part of
this county---almost an unbroken
forest. Hawesville was unknown.
III passed through Yellow Banks,
now Owensboro, and Red Banks,
now Henderson, each of which
were but small places, most of the
houses being built Of hewed logs.
| crossed the Ohio river at Shaw
ncetown and thence through d
vast uninhabited prairie. Kas-
kaskia at that time was the Capi-
tai Of Illinois. 1t was a French
town, with low tile. rooted houses
and narrow streets. Near the cor
ner of the main street was q conf
cal shaped stone about sixteen
inches square at the base and
standing three and one-half feet
out OF the ground. Near the top
was two-inch hole. This stone
was said to have been used by the
Indians to tic their prisoners to
when they would burn them. II
looked black and burned. Al
though ] had good horse. it had
taxed thirteen days hard riding to
make the trip. IL seems almost
beyond belief that you can now
sit in cushion scat in a warm,
pleasant car, or sleep in a comfor-
table bed, and make this this trip
in twelve hours"
"We had but few school houses
and but few books. Qualified
teachers were hard to find and
everyone had to pay the tuition
of'their own children. Newspa-
pers we're scarce and expensive.
Even as late as the forties the
weakly Louisville journal, q four
page paper, cost $3.50 in advance
or $3 at the end Of the year, and
the postage was 6hc a quarter.
Now you can getIthe Courier-Jour-
nal, six and eight page paper,
twice a week for SOC n year and
the publisher pays the postage.
We have good school houses ever
few miles, abundance Of good
book and plenty of we'll qualified
teachers and tuition is free to the
rich and poor alike. =
"The Kentucky troops suffered
great hardships out near the lake
in winter of 1912. The State
had to send -four and clothing to
them on pack horses an they
nearly starved before these sup
plies reached them. The morn
ing of the battle of the River Raj.
sin courier was started to notify
Gen. Shelby Of the great disaster
and to ask for rcinforcenlents.
He pressed fresh horses into SER
vice whenever he could and had
ridden three days and nights and
got to our house at dinner time
the fourth day. (My father kept
a country tavern lie ran in, ate
his dinnerand told us not to let him
60 to sleep. My brother helped
him on his horse. He still had thir-
lty miles to goto Frankfort. Now
THE Governor could hear the news
| in a faw nsinufaa and in less than