The Republican journal., 1913-05-15

purpose, at pinch If it was.sa two-story
Westinghouse the quantity was dupli-
Gated; unless the raising was in a time
of drouth, when still larger quantity
was required. If the owner was reputed
to be wealthy, or the building was of a
public character, it was always found
necessary to subtitute for "Whiteface"
mixture called rum punch" Half a
dozen pailfuls would raise a dwelling
house, ell and barn; nothing less than
barrel full, per diem. would raise a
Westinghouse; as late as 1918 it required
two barrels-full to raise the Unitarian
Westinghouse; the compiler had to use
two paifuls to raise his barn; but that
was in very dry season.
After the frame was raised it was the
custom to ''name it," as the perform
ance was styled. Two of the parties
engaged would bestride the ridge-pole,
one at each end. One of them would say
"Here is fine frame,
Without any name,
| And what shall We call it?
To which the other would reply IN equal
ly poetical language, but without answer
ing the main question. After passing
numerous questions and answers of the
same character the frame would be
"named." Three cheers were then
given, parting cup taken, and that was
the end of the ceremony. In the raising
of a frame all services were rendered
gratuitously. The approved recipe for
the mixture above referred to was Zone
sour, Two sweet, Four strong, Eight
weak" the art of compromising it is
now, probably, one of the ''Lost Arts.
Soon after war was declared the brig
ing, the major part of her owned by
parties residing here, commanded by
Capt Robert Patterson and manned by
a crew the most of whom belonged il.
Belfast, was captured by British fri
gate, sent to Halifax and condemned
Her officers were liberated in few days
and sent home on a cartel-ship; her crew
remained in prison about four months
and were then exchanged. She was on
her voyage from Liverpool to New
Orleans, was spoken by the frigate and
the inquiry made if war had been declar-
ed between Great Britain and the United
States; the master of the brig replied,
of course, that he had not heard of any
such declaration. The frigate left, but
soon after fell in with a British mer-
chairman who reported that she had
been fired into by an American cruiser;
of course the frigate 'bout ship and
captured the illumination. Such was the
story told, for the accuracy of which the
compiler does not assume to vouch.
This event, involving as it did the total
loss of property belonging to parties re-
siding here, served to impress the minds
of all more deeply with sense of the
uncertain tenure by which they held what
remained to them. Shipping deteriorat-
ed in value at least fifty per cent; YES
sells were hauled up and stripped. The
ldLdlO dLICUblllS AOA ClSH wy N6So PAt Oil
end to all enterprise in that direction;
even the coasting business, light as it
had become, was still farther checked by
the presence of British privateers hover
ing on our coast. The sloops Mary and
! Washington, both owned here, were cap
turned and burned, and another brig,
principally owned here, laden with spars
and beef, was captured early in 1913, sent
to Halifax and condemned. Extravagant
prices were demanded for most arti-
cles of foreign production. Flour and
other bread stuffs commanded very high
prices, and in consequence of the I'M
favorable season for crops there was
much suffering among the poor here and
in the surrounding region. Coffee which
before the war sold for eighteen cents
per pound ran up to thirty-five cents;
carrots, beets, barley, and rye were
roasted and used as substitutes very ex-
tensively; indeed there were very few
families in which one or the other was
not used. Tea advanced from one dollar
and eighty cents to three dollars per
pound; as an almost absolute necessity
there were myriads Of families in which
the use of it was entirely abandoned; in
others it became the occasional luxury in
lieu of the daily beverage. Molssses adj
vanced from sixty cents per gallon to
one dollar and fifty cents; other articles
of domestic consumption in the same
proportion.
The year 1918 dragged slowly, gloom
lily along, unmarked by any local event
that left any impression on the memory
of the compiler. He remembers 1t only
az a season of general dependency and
acrimonious chickering's between the sup
porters and opponents of the national ad-