The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-11-29
CHILDREN OF
THE AZORES
BY HARRY P. TABER.

The life of the child of TODAY in
those curious islands called ths
Azores, which lie six hundred miles
west of the coast of Portugal is little
If any, different from the life of the
child of the same islands in 1870. when
the volcanoes stopped resting. ana
broke into eruption, as Mount Peles
did a year or so ago.
And the life of the Portuguese child
of those islands, at the time of the
great earthquake, was little different
from the life of the child who lived
at the time described in the Book Of
Samuel in the Bible.
To this day there is the threshinp
fioor-a great stone-paved platfotm
out of doors. The wheat is threshed
by being trodden out by cattle, The
cattle-great calm-eyed beasts-are
driven around and around the floor bv
the children, the father, meanwhile.
turning the straw and throwing it in
the air to sift out the grain.
Little by little it is gathered to-
gether by the children, and piled in
heaps in the corners of the floor.
Then, when the winds blow, it ia
tossed in the air so that the chaff NAV
be blown away.
Most of this work is done by the
boys and girls, and in the Azores it is
considered a great source of fun to
work with father and the older per-
sons and the cattle in this way.
When the grain is sifted-as far as
tho wind ct if-if ;s
primitive method of purifying again.
1t is passed through a coarse screen of
woven wire, made by hand by the
native farmer. Then it goes through
finer screen till all the chaff is re-
moved.
Finally the grain is stored in the
cellars-or rather what we would call
the basements-for there are few cell
lars in the houses of Pico, Fayal and
St. George.
When the time for the grinding
comes, the grain is not taken to the
mill by the more progressive farmers.
Each has his own private grinding
machines, and these are very curious
to the modern eye.
In the basement of the stable, or
the house itself there are two great
miilstones, such as one may see in
some of the country towns of the
United States to-day, but much
| smaller.
To the upper milestone is secured
| the trunk of a small tree, turning in
a socket fastened to the ceiling of the
room. Extending from this is a limb
| maybe the limb left as it grew-and
| en- into the room-possibly the same
cow that trod out the Erain-and is
| hitched to the sweep. Then she is
| driven around and around, turning the
milestone.
Close to the little mill sits the moth
er, while the children drive the cow
about. Little by little the grain is
thrown into the opening in the middle
| of the upper stone. 1t is crushed be-
tween the two, and the crushed grain
is caught in a sieve at the side.
When the sieve is filed the cow
| and the children are allowed to rest
| till the mother Sits the meal, careful
| ly separating the finer flour from the
| coarse bran. Sometimes, though, the
crushed grain is not separated in this
| way, but is kept all together, and is
made into the most delicious cakes for
| dinner.
| The cakes are much like the hoe
| cakes of the Southern United States.
and are made by mixing the crushed
| grain with milk, and perhaps an egg,
| with some salt.
This batter is poured in a thin cake
into the bottom of a great earthen
bowl, put into the Goals of the fire,
and allowed to brown we'll. Then it
is turned over and Drowned on the
| other side.
The children. meanwhile, have Sc
cured fresh bits of the sugar cane, or
perhaps some loquots or figs, and with
brown cake of crushed corn or wheat,
| they have a feast that is about as de-
| licious as one can we'll imagine.
So the child of the Azores has help
| ed to make it's feast by carrying the
sheaves of grain to the threshing floor;
| driving the cattle when the grain is
| trodden out; driving the same beast
again at the grinding of the grain, and
rushing about to gather the fagots
which make the fire when mother
| bakes the sweet brown cake.
There are not many children in the
world who are jollier than these little
ones of the Azores. They have not
| much, in the eyes of modern children
| to make them happy, but they man
| age to get more fun out of their SIM
| pie pleasures than the child who mas
| all. the toys and dollhouse pleasures
| of other countries. What they get they
work for, and they are the happlest
| lot of youngsters one might wish 10
| see.