The Springfield herald., 1913-06-27
TPIcAL NoUHTAMEEps Horn.

folk. and are told to have a seat. In
one end of the room Is a fireplace
with the old-fashioned nantel shelf.
After supper the fiddle comes down
and the whole cabin thrills to the old
Nellie Gray and Barbara Allen and all
the tunes that make home Of a will
derness.
Close to Nature.
The head of the house asks II you
would like to lie down. You are ready
enough. and you are shown a ladder
In one corner of the room. 1t leads
to a hole In the floor above, where
there are several beds in one of the
most home-like rooms imaginable.
Sinking lazily into feather bed which
hlls the old four-poster. the tired way
farer is soon in the land of dreams.
Awakened the next morning by the
Quack, Quack of geese-for this is
place of many fowls-the voices OF
ewes and lambs are heard calling
across the hilltop. The cowbells
tinkle cheerily. This Is mountain life.
| The housewife cooks the breakfast.
You are up. dressed and ready. Soon
one of the girls goes out to milk. She
uses cup to milk in. When 1t is full
1t is emptied into the bucket. Ask her
why she doesn't milk in the bucket.
and her reply Is: IF the cow should
kick, I'll lose only cupful OF milk
instead of bucketful.'
| In these mountain homes there are
many children. Usually one or two
of the older girls wait on the table.
and they press you always to have
| more. The children eat when the rest
do, every one sitting In his accus-
toned place on the long bench. but
| not until the guest is seated first.
In the center of the table is large
dish of honey. Near 1t Is pitcher OF
milk. The honey is passed first. for
the mountaineers are good livers"
and they believe in having the best
first. Next come the corn or wheat
bread. apple butter. peach butter.
stewed blackberries. pawpaw. ham
and eggs, beans and tree sirup.
The mountains have only bride
paths and trail ofttimes SO steep that
one misstep would mean death to
| horse and rider hundreds of feet be-
| low. The first automobile has yet to
come. The locomotive halts In a far
distant valley. The telephone does
not ring These trails wind and wind
until you have lost all points Of the
| compass, but are the main thorough
| fares OF travel.
Where they cross streams, notches
| are cut in trees on the river bank. II
| the water is above the notch cut in the
| tree, 1t is unsafe to cross at the near
| ~ TO- fou h<
! low the safety mark. At different
points along the larger streams dug
outs are used for crossing. They arc
logs chopped out. something in the
shape OF a boat. They are the ferries
at footpath crossings. as well as the
canoes of hunters and trappers.
| Down near the Kentucky line you
are liable. In the forest on the steep
mountainside. to meet man on horse
back. bag of grain in front OF him.
A short distance away. in deep ra-
vine. is log building about six by
nine feet. 1t is the grist mill. The
roof is covered with thin boards. split
out OF oak timbers. called Shocks"
They are laid like shingles. To hold
them down. a stifr pole is laid cross
wise in the center. and hole Is bored
in the end of the pole. A pin Is then
driven In to hold the shocks down.
The people come to the mill, carry
ing their grain on the horses. from
many miles. The mills are free for
them to do their own grinding. The
door, II there is one, is never locked
A small water wheel in the bottom
turns the burr stone. After the grist
Is ground, 1t is placed on the horse
and the miller returns. Sometimes It
| takes one day to come and grind, and
the shades Of twilight fall the second
: day before home Is reached.