Milford chronicle., 1912-09-27
"REMINISCENCES OF FREDERICK.
b D. A. c.

New occasions teach new duties.
Time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still and onward
Who would keep abreast the TRUTH
Time makes many changes, and fifty
years OF time make not few. Compared
with the present fifty wears ago Fredeuca
may be said 10 have been in a primeval
state The old dilapidated buildings Of
that period have given place to more
modern structures and though the town
retains much of the archaic look the
change is very percepiable to those who
remember the past
Away back two score and ten wears ago
pine wood, black oak, Spanish oak and
peach oak bark, barrel slaves, spokes,
| persimmOn last blocks. hoop poles. with
hickory and oak wood, grain, apples and
small fruits constituted the trade; and the
wharyes and granaries were filled with
these articles for obtaining revenue. The
wood was low in price, and came from
the forest, and near and beyond the Mary
land line, hauled by the slow process Of
an OK team, taking a day TO make one
load of less than one half a cord and often
amounting to less than one dollar. Yet, !
as peoples wants were few at that time /
the heamount received jim goods, was enough 7
to satisfy them and they were happy with /
their neagre fare. On many corners in |
town, and at every cTOss-road near town, (
was a cake and beer sign where anyone, /
particularly on Sunday, could get a glass 1
OF beer and a square of gingerbread for
one cent each. These are all gone now,
and If they were not the fanatisism of to-
day would smash these poor old darkey /
Women's beer bottles in smlthereeus. 4
But my, that beer was good, and those
cakes were good, made by these old negro
women and eaten by we bows on Sunday
morning. At that time there was a large
fleet OF vesseis-siOOps and small schoOn-
ers, mostly s.oops, hoWever-that carried
the product OF the country, mostly TO
Philadelphia, that is the wood, sp0kes and
slaves. The black oak bark Was shaved
and shipped to Stamford. Conn.,, where 1t
was ground and used for dying purposes
The grain, mostly shipped in the winter,
was generally carried by the sloops to
Mahon's River and put on board of large
schooners for New York. The other /
freight, such as apples, grape, etc were
carried in smaller boats to Philadelphia. |
Frederica at that time, and later, was
to be the best grain market
south Of Wilmington, and after the Dela-
ware Railroad was run down the State
farmers hauled their corn to FEEDER ca II
and received a better price than the buy.
ers could pay at FELTON,, on the railroad.
This was in the days of grain raising. Aud ( /
Qr these country products, shipped by A /
water, the merchants received their stock /
If goods Beside the dry goods, which
we're many at that time, there was a line
If groceries that would appear unique at
be present day. For the winter stock
twenty-five barre Is of mackeral and fifty /
)arrels Of salt herring was not al uncom-
non order; and there would be a tier of
Darreis Of salt fish as long as the front of
.Re's tore and as high as a mans ht ad
lackera at s. or SO a barrel, and her
ing at s. or S. a barrel And the brown
ugar was always brought in hogsheads-
ever IN barrels -aud in the heads of the
Ogsheads were always large auger holes
lugged up with soft wood. When the
ogsheads we're hauled in front of the
tore they often remained there until
light before they were lowered into the
siiar. To make long paddle that would
asily 90 in and out Of these auger holes
as not much Of a job and several of
hem we're made. Then some brave boy
-ould creep around the hogshead and
lcceed in punching the plugs out Of the
edus, ana Inen the paddles came into 1
Sc, and if we succeeded without getting
lught we all got mess of sugar; and BY
ie time the owners were ready to put the
ogshead into the cellar they were two or
lree pounds lighter.
These industries of a former day are
Ow obsolete. The bark is no longer in
smand as a dye; the wood is scarce; and
lat fiom which the timber for vessel
lilding was formerly obtained is almost
me Wood has become so scarce that
ial is used almost entirely for burning
lrposes. As a consequence the wharves
ong the dock are in state of decadenee,
e gransries are diverted to other uses.
The steamer now does all the carrying
ade, and, as a matter in course, the yes.
Is that formerly traded from these docks
g engaged elsewhere, or have long since
en- abandoned to decay and rottenness.
e don't see any little boys nowadays
ddling along the creek-O, excuse NELL
-er, catching sunfish, in open boats.
le motor boat is now the go; it has taken
3 place of the half sunken canoe with
lich we boys used to labor so strenuously
getting up and down the creek-there's
ek again, when we mean river The
OK team is a relic only the bicycle