Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-04-03
LIFE DURING THE CIVIL WAR.
Social and Domestic Customs Graphic
 ally Related by Prof Bancroft.

Last evening in Huntington hall, Prof Frederick Bancroft gave the sixth of his lectures in the Lowell in stitute course, his subject being s.So- c1al and Domestic Customs in the South During the Civil War" Follow ing is an abstract of what he said:
 Before 1861 the south was dependent on the north or Europe for almost ev- erything that was worn, eaten or used by the upper class. During the first year of the war the crops on most of the plantations were cultivated much as they had been before. Beginning with 1862, provisions were largely grown instead of cotton, because the blockade and the prohibition of com- merce prevented the exportation of cotton and the importation of the ne- cessities of life. On every large planta- tion not near the lines of invasion it was not difficult to raise or obtain corn, pork. beef, poultry, meal and several kinds of vegetables. Tn the country, therefore, certain articles of food were plentiful, but those that were lacking, or all but impossible to obtain, were very important.
 Coffee and tea soon sold at fabulous prices and coffee completely disap- peared from the tables of even the wealthy, except that small quantities were hoarded like fine old brandy. Substitutes, known as confederate cof- fee, were numerous. and even meal bran was Drowned and used for cof- fee, if other substitutes were not ob- tafnable. Later in the war there were parts of the confederacy where none but the rich could buy salt, and so widespread was the salt famine in some parts that the ground in the smokehouses where the drippings from salt pork had fallen, were dug up. Also It was difficult to obtain cloth, and even leather suitable for shoes; and many plantations improvised tanner les, and prepared the leather necessary Tor harness and other purposes Tn many cases the women made their own shoes and those of their children out of any kind of strong cloth. Wooden buttons were in the market, but even they were too dear for many persons, and persimmon seeds or several small round pieces of cloth stitched together 1 were found to be more durable, and safely went through the wash The question of having light at night was a serious one in every confederate household. and for dyes and medicines l the people resorted directly to the l trees and shrubs. The women made their own gloves of flannel or linen, or almost any suitable material
 Of the many admirable qualities l common among the non-eombatants were heroic fortitude and great gen. erosity to one another, and those who I in ordinary times would have supposed 1 themselves soon to suffer from hunger, frequently contributed to the support of those actually so suffering.
 1 Not even the horrors and sadness of war nor the anxious struggle to obtain food and clothing could keep the con- | federate sky clouded or the cenfeder- ate heart sad. Of course all social en- tertainments had military flavor, and handsome young fellows in new uni. forms gave every social gathering an unusually picturesque, coloring. The confederate girl was Intensely patri otic, and the war and the soldiers com, | pletely engrossed her attention. Al soldiers were heroes and ante-bellum 1 distinctions as to social standing were l largely obliterated Weddings were classed as necessary luxuries, and l matrimony increased with the sorrows and the forelornness of the confederate cause; but the celebrations became l quieter and quieter, for food was toe scarce to provide for a gay company l Tn those days many a valiant betrothe6 soldier in the ranks, finding himself q badly wounded. had the consolation that he would not need to postpone hif wedding until the end of the war, anc no true confederate girl, whose affec tions had been at all enlisted previous ly, would reject an admirer, no matter how seriously he had been rnaimed an6 crippled in the war.
 Whenever federal regiments, a times only companies, occupied some of the southern homes. it not rarely happened that very bitter confederate women were greatly surprised by thf 1 courteous treatment and generous pro lection on the part of the federal off cers; but the southern maiden who al lowed pleasant social relations to exis
 to the point of marriage was regarded as having committed against the con federacy an ohense that was akin t l treason.
 The nature and incidents of transpor tation by rail ha Ill changed in al
 most every respect by the war. II ante-bellum days the railroads of th' south were much inferior to those O the north. and less than a third as ex pensive; but as the war progressed
 many of the connecting links becam, broken and it became almost impos sible to obtain reliable operators ant skilled laborers, or the materials fo
 them to work with, and the tales O
 the traveller were doleful indeed All railroads were subject to militar.
 governmental control and the troop
 and army equipments always had th'
 right of way Ut the beginning O
 1862 it required from daylight unti dark to go from Charleston to Savan
 mad hy rail. one hundred miles, ant later in the war it took more than tive days and two nights to make the jour ney of about 400 miles between Sa
 vannad and Mobile. and one oftel
 counted himself lucky if able to fint
 standing room in a freight car
 Southern women of good breeding
 who had formerly never travelet
 without companions and escorts
 were compelled by circumstances t
 be independent and sometimes self
 assertive an. they were not at al
 times treated with as much gallantr,