Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-06-20

And another type-the Virginia planter. He was proud, God-fearing lchivalrous, generous, grave, and usu- ally incapable of fear or of mean ness. Homer, Horace. Virgil, Ovid, Shakespeare, Milton, Goldsmith were his poets Plutarch, Bacon, Burke and Dr Johnson his philosophers. To stranger he was always a host, to lady always courier; he was the exponent of that grave and knightly courtesy which under all conditions had become associated with the title, Virginia gentleman"
 The mistress of the mansion, what she was only her husband divined, and even he stood before her in dumb, half-amazed admiration, as he might before the inscrutable vision of a superior being. What she really was, was known only to God.
 Alas when we lost our honest forefathers, we indeed lost much. They are sleeping now, as they have slept for years-in death-waiting to hear called out to them with clear voice "at break of day" from another world, "A fair morning, and all's we'll"
 Let us visit the storehouses of our fathers. The cellar and the garrett were the most useful rooms in the house. In the cellar were great bins of apples, potatoes. turnips, beets and parsnips. There were hogsheads of corned beef. barrels of salt pork, tubs of hams being salted in brine, tonne kins of salt shad and mackerel, firkins of butter, kegs of pigs feet, tubs of souse, kilderkins of lard. In strong racks were barrels of rum. cider, vinegar and beer. In the attic by the chimney was the smoke-house, filled with hams, bacon, smoked beef and sausages.
 The kitchen in all the farmhouses of all colonies was the most cheerful. homelike and picturesque room. They were often bare; the rafters dingy; the windows were small: the furniture meagre: but the kitchen had a warm glowing heart that spread light and welcome. and made the poor room a home. The chimneys and fireplaces were vast in size. sometimes so large that the fore-logs and back-logs for the fire had to be dragged in by a horse and a long chain.
 Over the fireplaces and across the top of the room were long poles on which hung strings of peppers, dried apples and rings of dried pumpkin.
 The kitchen was, too often, the only comfortable room in the house in winter weather. Children suffered bitterly in these cold houses. The rooms were not warm three feet away from the blazing fireplaces. We read in the dairies of those days that ink froze in the pens while the trembling penman sought to express his thoughts. as he wrote within the chimney side. One man writes that he noted when a great nre was built upon the hearth. the sap forced out of the wood by the flames froze into fee at the ends of the logs. Water froze immediately if left standing in the bedrooms. President John Adams SO dreaded the bleak New England winter and the ill-warmed houses that he longed to sleep like dormouse every year. from autumn 10 spring.
 Perhaps no greater difference ex- is,s between any custom of the olden times and that of today. than can be seen in the manner of serving the meals of the family In the hrst place the very dinfns-;able of the c0lonis,s was not Ike our present ones. it was long and narrow board, sometimes but three feet wide. and no legs attached to fl. If was laid on supports or trestles. shaped us- ually something like a sav-horse. Thus it vas literally board. and vas called a tsble-board. and the linen cover used at meals was not called a tabIecIoth. but board-cloth, or board clothes. One of the most important articles for setting the table was the trench CT. It vzs made of wood. about ten or twelve inches square and three or four deep. beloved down into sort of bori fn the middle In this the food ves placed Each person did not hsse one Of these simple dishes, us4zllr rr0 children or a man and wife ate out of one trenches
 The ckzrxer or large round platter fo1rd cx erery dining tnbfe WnB ol