The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1905-12-29

their clothes and join the party,
and by daylight there would be
a lively crowd. Wine and cake
were not handed as they went
from house to house, but taste
of corn whiskey was taken now
and then. Often they would
have "a stew" after the shoot
ing of the Christmas guns. A
stew was made by pouring whis-
key into a pot and adding spice,
ginger and other condiments and
bringing it to a boil. 1t was
sweetened according to taste.
After the morning celebration
the men would divide into parties
and go out to hunt such game as
was to be killed. The shooting
OF squirrels was a favorite sport.
Very often several dozen would
be killed by a party Of hunters.
They never shot quail, or par
tridges, pathridges'' as they
were called then. The principal
guns were rifles. There We're
few muskets that came down
from the Revolution, and a few
English single-barrel shotguns,
the barrels being 48 to So inches
long. All locks were flint and
steel. Hunting was the princi-
pal outdoor sport. The hunters
of that day shot off hand. Their
rifles weighed 9 to IL pounds,
but they would have been
ashamed to. shoot with a rest. 81.
CALVIN WHIT.
| Some of the hunters of that
day believed in witchcraft. Cal
vim Whit was an old-time shoe
maker. Tall, straight, very
muscular, he weighed about 200
pounds. He was a great marks
man. He liked hunting better
than anything else, unless it was
fighting. The writer when a
small boy saw him shoot twice
at a squirrel and miss. He gave
his head a shake and said: my
gun is bewitched." He spoke
with the assurance of one who
knew it. He put in the charge
of powder and the bullet and cut
his patching. He took from his
pocket a silver coin and cut off
a small piece with his knife and
placed it on the bullet and
rammed it home, saying, / will
bring you down. With steady
aim he pulled trigger and the
squirre1 dropped with a hole
through his head. The teachers
of psychology can explain why
that piece of silver removed the
spell from the gun or marksman.
1t certainly did the work.
| Very often in the old days
cuttings were given during
Christmas week. The young
people would come in from the
neighborhood. The girls would
quilt during the day and the
young men would come in before
night. When the quilt was
| finished and taken from the
| frames some of the bolder, boys
would wrap it around a girls
head and he would not release
her until a kiss was secured. 1t
had to be taken by force, of
course, for the girls were always
opposed to such fun. At one of
these cuttings a school teacher
from the north showed how the
: yankees kissed. He selected a
pretty girl and her beau and,
placing two chairs back to back
in the middle of the room, he
caused the two to be seated.
; After explaining the difficulty OF
kissing in that position, he saic
it was easy enough when one
knew how it was done. Just as
the young mans mouth was wa.
tering with expectation, the
! yankee stopped down and gave
the handsome girl kiss to bt
; remembered. 1t took the young
} man sitting with his back to hel
some time to find" where he was
: att
GAMES IN THE OLDEN DAYS.
ii Playing thimble, Sister Phoebe
+ classification and other innocen
amusements were enjoyed. DC
! casionally there would be a regu