The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-03
LIGHT OF OTHER DAYS.
How the Pioneers Wives and Children
 Made Tallow Dips.

In no other way can the changes
 which tave taken place since the pio-
 neers came to Wisconsin be better H.
 frustrated than by the story of the
 means they had for purposes of illu-
 imitation. The chief reliance of the pi-
 oneers in this line was the tallow can
 de, and it was considered q very good light in those times. Man has always
 known how to make light for himself
 since the discovery of fire, and he has
 utilized many different materials, all
 ways taking the best that could be
 found. In the pioneer days that best
 was tallow, and the pioneers bred cat
 tie for sustenance and light. For this
 reason, in addition to others, beef cat tie were haised and slaughtered by the
 early settlers, and the killing" was one
 of the features of the early winter sea- son,
 | The pioneers did many things in com
 mon, and the killing of the cattle and
 hogs they raised was one of them.
 'Butchering day. was considerable of
 an event on the new farm. When the
 killing was completed it was customary
 to distribute portions of the beef | dIOuHll lllG HelSuUOIuOOu, lO DG ic-
 turned in kind as the process was re-
 peated on the other farms, and thus the people solved the problem of fresh
 meat supply for themselves. The same l was done when other animals were
 slaughtered, and with what was left to
 go into the beef or pork barrel the far
 mer provided for his winter supply.
 The tallow was turned over to the fe-
 male portion of the family and used l for the making of the winter supply of
 candles. These were made in various | ways, sometimes by running into molds
 and sometimes by the dipping process. | The "tallow dip' was one of the pio- ! neer institutions, but as the settlers could afford it the more scientific mold
 ed candle took its place. This change came about gradually, Sometimes | there would be but a single set of | molds in a neighborhood, but like ev- erything else, they were at the service of everybody and they went from farm to farm until they had accomplished their purpose. It required no small de-
 gree of ability to perform these opera tions, and the first efforts of amateurs
 at making candles usually resulted in failure or needed the hand of an eX- pert to save the day. Under the tute- lage of the mother the children soon be- came expert enough in the various parts of the operation to be entrusted with the work and under their hands the candle box became gradually filed though there was many a sigh and groan at the long-continued application that was necessary. But the children of the pioneers learned to carry their share of the family burden, and they thus learned habits of industry that
 showed good results in later days.
 Then nothing that could be produced at home was bought, for there was lit- tie money and many ways for it to go.
 The candle making had to be done in cold weather and the colder it was the faster the work proceeded. The big copper boiler was placed on the stove or hung over the fireplace and in it the tallow was melted While waiting for 1t to reach this stage the wicks were measured off and cut to the proper length. When molds were used the wicks were placed in them, supported at the top by small pine sticks and knotted at the bottom to keep the melt ed tallow from escaping. Then the rnolds were filled with the melted tal- low and set in a cold place to harden, When ready to draw the knots were cut and the candles were pulled out, leaving the molds ready for repetition of the process. Sometimes the wicks would break under the strain and then it was necessary to pour hot water on the outside of the mould, which were made of tin, thus melting the tallow sufficiently to permit the extraction of the candles. The wicking had to be soft to give good light when ignited, and because of that fact 1t could not stand a strong pull and had to be han dled very carefully, thus teaching the | operator the necessary lesson of pa tience which helped to make up his ed- | ucation.
 Under the dipping process number | of wicks were ranged on stick as long | as could be dipped into the boiler, and | after each immersion in the melted tal- | low they were hung in cold room for | the tallcw to harden, the process being | repeated until the candle grew by sue cessive additions to the required di- |
  ing wicks were provided at the outset, | so that the dipper could keep busy | while another gave attention to the tal- low that it should be kept from hard ening in the boiler. This process was more rapid than the other, but the out put was not so presentable, and conse- l uuently the nodded candles were pre- ferred It was their practice In making tallow candles that gave the farmer boys the idea in later years, when coal oil became the general iluminant, that | they could combine their experience with the new agent so as to provide a lamp for night fishing in he lakes and streams around them.
 Sometimes the store of candles showed signs of exhaustion before the long nights of winter had passed away, and as there was often no tallow at hand for another supply other expedi ents had to be used for lights. One of { llese was to paceas rip of soft cloth in shallow dish, one end hanging over the edge. Then the dish was filled with lard, and the combination made very light for those days, though hardly suitable to be placed be- fore company In some cases cam phene was burned in lamps, but it's eX- plosive character caused many people to regard 1t with suspicion, and it did not come into general use. The tallow ,andIe of inc niuneehs served a very