Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-01-02

The pessimist who has observed lit
tie progress in the world has not corr
rectly read ancient history. The civili-
cation. or rather the barbarism, Of q
cation Of today Is as different from the
CIVILIZATION, or rather the barbarism OF q
day. Fol q thousand, years, known as
the Dark Ages. the population of
Europe was stationary. The surface
OF the continent vas for h most part
covered with painless forests; here and
there 1t was dotted with monasteries
and towns. In the loWlands and along
the river courses were fens. sometimes
hundreds Of miles In extent. exhaling
their pestiferous miasmas, and spread
In gagues far and wide. In Paris and
London the houses were of wood
daubed with clay, and matched with
straw or reeds. They had no windows,
and until the invention Of the saw mill,
very few had wooden floors. The
luxury of a carpet was unknown; some
straw, scattered In tho room, supplied
Its place. There were 10 chimneys; the
sm0ke OF the ill-fed, cheeraess IRE
escaped through q hole In the roof. In
such habitations there was scarcely any
tempt was made at drainage, but the
putrefying garbage and rubbish were
simply thrown out Of the door. Men.
women, and children, slept In the same
apartment, not unfrequently domestic
animals were their companions; in such
confusion of the family. 1t was impos-
stble that modesty or morality could
be maintained. The bed was usually q
bag OF straw. q wooden log served as a
pillow. Personal cleanliness vas utter
~ unknown: great officers OF state,
even dignitaries 30 high as the arch
bishop Of Canterbury, swarmed with
vermin; such. It IL related, was tho
NNNHNAt~~ 40 H. A.
antagonist Of an English king. To
conceal personal impurity, perfumes
were necessarily and profusely used.
The citizen clothed himself in leather.
q garment which, with its ever-accum-
ulating tmpurity, might last for many
years. He was considered to be In cir
cumstances Of ease. IL he could procure
The streets had M sewers; they were
without pavement or lamps. After
nightfall, the chamber shutters were
thrown open, and Stops unceremoni-
ously emptied down, to the discount
ture Of the wayfarer tracking his path
through the narrow streets, with his
dismal lantern In his hand.
Aeneas Sylvius, who afterward be-
came Pope Plus III. and was therefore
g very competent and impartial writer,
left US a graphic account of q
journey he made to the British Islands.
ABOUT 14SO. he describes the houses OF
the peasantry as constructed of stones
put together without mortar the roofs
were Of turf, a stiffened bull's-hide
served for a door. The food consisted
OF coarse vegetable products, such as
peas, and ven the bark Of trees. In
some places they were unacquainted
with bread. Cabins OF reeds plastered
with mud, houses Of waffle stakes,
chimneyless peat-fres from which
there was scarcely an escape for the
smoke. dens of physical and moral pol
luton swarming with vermin, wisps Of
straw twisted round the limbs to keep
on the cold. the ague-stricken peasant
with no help except shrine-cure! How
was it possible that the population
could increase?
Shall we. then. wonder that, during
cooked and sold; or in that of 1888.
fifteen thousand persons died Of hunger
IN London? Shall we wonder that, in
some Of the invasions OF the plague,