Potosi journal. (Potosi, Mo.) 1894-1929, 1912-08-21
Life In Washington County
Sixty-five Years Ago.

the Bonne Terre Register by D. H.
kirkpatrick. of Bonne Terre, and CO.
pied from that paper The writer
was born and raised in Concord town
ship, near Irondale:
In looking back over the past anf
noting the changes that impress tileii'
selves upon our vision in the country
and world at large, / will not waste
many tears over the passing of the
good, old times and vet their me-
mories are dear and never to be for
gotten.
SiXty-five years have made many
changes The country was then
sparsely settled, the whole state OF
Missouri having population Of hut
,4o. 900 Most OF the land was still
co, cred with a dense forest, we'll
stocked with game. and even the
small streams We're alive with ii~ii--
bass, perch, silversides. chubs ana
suckers (the latter still may be found
in large quantities even on landl We
had many different ways of fishing
in those days. After shower that
would slightly raise the creeks. the
country boy could easily make it
appear that it was too wet 10 nloW or
worl; in the field. The thing TO dC
then was 10 Gig a horn full of worms
and make, haste for the creek. 2nG
we got fish. Ne would often catch
| several Hith OF bait, We did not
have 10 sit for hours waiting io' a
bite. uud in an hour OF 50 at the
InCSt We had as many as We wanted,
When the water vas clear We ne1c
cur bows and "rroNs. gigs. graf
hooks or snares. and then we always
g0l tie fish And hunting W2s
equally a. good by GaE or hE night
Many q night myself and brothers
armed with AK ana rifle. acoonlra
MED by our canine friends. made life
| a burden fGrnaanN Il coon and pos
sim ara relieved nIanE ona Il that
burden Ne got many Wild 1uri,e=s
to-, on these rocturrsi hunts, he
sid $ los o. fun.
The sugar making N the river bot
| t MS afforded employment At q time
whrn farmers had plenty OF leisure
| ] viii give q brief description OF the
process Of making maj le sugar. t2e
camp Was 1orattd above high water
malH A ditch two feet wild aud
ten feet long was dug two feet doep
for Il fire pit or this the kettles
were set and the @p2c" rot covered
l'by them filled with :lat stones and
dirt leaving an oneninR for the
smoke to ESCAPE. y rude cover vas
then placed over tn" arranG"n12
Then enough small troughs We're
made 10 supply each tree t"npnd-
The trees We're tarred with q small
aueur. boring the hole with an ur-i
warl slant, and in the hole an ell
der or sumach srile was inserted,
from which :he sap dripred into the
trru2hs{ 1.-THE tree was large
one il would be tapped On both sides,
\ horse aud Sled was used to haul
the san to the kettles. The sugar
water was then put in the kettles
and boiled until it was sweet sy-
rub, which at a certain stage was
.cleaned,r which was done in spe-
cial kettle into which the white
of an egg was broken and brought
slowly to a boil This brought all
the impurities to the surface where
they were skinned OTTO After the
syrup had boiled slowly for a While
it was ready to grain. i his was uohe
bv pouring it into pans that had 1lrSt
been slightly creased TO Keep the
sugar from striking as II hardened
This was the whole process Inc
Young folks always made il conVe-
nienr 70 know the night when the
sugar was ready to stir off, as
the finshiing process was cai'ec
ard consequently there was more IMAM
one kind of sweetness present ms
worI was done in February ana
March.
In that day we made but little mo
nav and needed but little, but we had
much to enjoy that fonGly remeh'-
| Der And at the same time <"e r.
member many things OF that perlou
that we're not so pleasant. All hahdS
had to work. During crop time tne
father and the larger boys haa 70
plow. the smaller boy was not tne
s-Man With the Hoe but the boy
with the hoe Imagine yourseh d
bov whose chief delight was 10 l'sh
and hunt. having for no other feaaoh
than that he was "tCo sii'dh w
Wow. fo he sentenced 10 ten Gays
|.ac,ive operations in ten acre ilelu
| - aoro,,ts and in that splendid fish
;,e weather. witt, the aloTTs"i"
~nrou+s as thick as candidates before
+be nrir,arv election. Tell NE no MOI
~ child labor I was that Boy, ana
| 9lad today that / did have to "orN'
;netead of fish. But il is always oe'-
ter further on.
| When corn was aid by then W.
had fishing and hunting to our ne:fi
content The Saturday we fiHlohed
we celebrated our emancipation from
i the corn field with a whoop OF 1oE'
cot cur dinners and made oTedh
for the "old swinmln hole. 'hd'
Riley has inn}OrtdilZed, ana the di-
I,er1oon was spent IL the wafer OF
rolling on the sandy beach. >o.lie-
times some fifteen or twenty or d6
got together, excepting myself not one
of whom is alive today Two years
Iago | looked for the Old swimming
hole, but it was completely filled up.
Wheat harvest stopped our fun for
Ia wni,. Wheat was cut with
Iscythe and cradle O.: reap hook, a1c
was threshed by tranping it with
horses, often on q dirt floor, and
winnowed by holding in as high as
Ipossible and pouring it slowly OF
sheets. The wind blew the chaff
Iaway ana the wheat would fa!i TO
1.-The ground The wheat was badly