The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1907-04-25
TIE LOST LAKE AND COPPER
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CHATTER v.
Z Among their gang Of men Was al
mos, every iradesman, carpenter.
cooper. blacksmith. bcotmaker, bew.
ers. farmers, and one who had studied
medicine and WAS called the professor.
A. be had chemical education be be-
came very useful. Both their sugar
and salt bad about given out. and the
professor started on, 10 see what he
could do 10 alleviate this want Of salt,
for as all their meat was fresh, salt WAS
necessary both for comfort and health.
I After a weeks search he found small
salt spring on the east bank, just ut
the west end Of the reef. This he
found 10 be almost pure salt. Two OF
the copper pans were carried across
lhe island. a temporary arch made,
and in three days 800 pounds OF very
good salt Was made. The pans were
brought home and kept for sugar
making.
The coopers made lot Of pals,
some OF which were made Of cedar and
hooped and baled with copper. They
also made tabs and casks of different
s'zes, some TO salt fish and meat in,
some for use around the house, some
10 store the grain in that was being
harvested, and some large storage tubs
to hold sap and casks to hold sugar
and syrup If they made any. A big
thresbing floor was made by bedding
large slate stones on level piece Of
ground and cementing them together
with fre-clay. Here, with fails, they
threshed out the grain, and of the diff
ferent kinds they had about one hun
dred bushels, for most Of it yielded
very largely. OF vegetables they had
a goodly stock-potatoes about sixty
bushels, cabbages. turnips. etc., plenty
enough. These were stored in the
caves under the house. To grind the
grain was diff Guilty, but one of the
men having worked at stone cutting,
dressed fiat stone about two feet
across and fitted another, both of hard
granite, by drilling a hole through the
center for the grain to run through,
and into which clutch-ended crank
shaft was fitted. This shaft was fitted
into a frame above, the crank being
on top, and "A cross-arm lever with
cross levers at each end, so that four
or six men could work it, turning the
crank and stone, quite fast. This mill
was set in large, low tub, and it
would grind six bushels an hour if re-
quired to. The meal was sfted through
some fine wire netting they had brought
along for fly nets for their hats.
Plenty of wood had been cut for
winter. The professor found. on a
s,.ali, low islaaa a~.ti. - N~..uvH's
Island, signs of oil, and by digging
down ten feet they had pool Of oil of
good quality, which they burnt in low
copper dishes with rags for wicks
drawn through copper pipes inserted
in copper covers full of small holes.
This gave a smoky, dirty light, but
better than none, for the long winter
nights. The old fort had been loop
holed for musketry, and both above
and below these holes were plugged
up with the pieces sawed out. There
were no windows, only big door in
each end. What they would do for
windows in winter was question. But
it was solved by the professor finding
some mica in crack in the rocks over
on the main land. He got out block
about Is K 20 inches and it split nicely.
The carpenters got out their pit or ship
saw, where one man stands in trench
under the timber being sawed, the
other on top, and they run the saw mp
and down and saw out timber. These
men sawed up some pine into two-inch
strips, planed them out, cut and fitted
them for the glass, made them into
sash about five feet by six feet, and
put the mica into them, cut out holes
big enough to fit them, and they had a
light house with good window panes
that kept out both storm and cold.
This mica mine became source of
wealth 10 them later on.
CHAPTER VI.
Having secured the small crops they
built large ice house on the shore OF
the lake north OF the old fort in a
group of small spruce trees, cutting