The Arvada enterprise., 1914-07-02
''AC0MPT' OF I786
Yankee Blacksmith Was Exact In
His Bookkeeping.
Many Passs Of the Book Deal With
the settling ef Shoes, Msnd'ns
Axes and Tools, and the TeaNe.
poetatioN q Hay.

Mass, 10 the possessor of very inter.
esting and very old book-the account
book of Eleassr Loomis Of Partridge
neld. The book was begun BY that per
son in 1885. or ton years after the sign
Ing Of tho Declaration Of Independence.
Loomis was . blacksmith. and many OF
the pages Of the book deal with the
setting Of shoes. mendins axes and
tools, and the transportation Of hay.
All the "aoompts" In the nrst part
Of tho book arc reckoned In pounds.
shillings and pence. but toward the
end tho present system seems to have
come into general use and the accounts
Are then kept In dollars and cents.
Tho accounts, which are carried on
through = long period Of years that
were In themselves hazardous ones,
phow = painstakins care and an exact
ness to business detail which might
we'll BE- followed today. That Loomis
was . careful business man II shown
BY tho fact that he kept all his -
eeipts In the account book.
Tho book at frequent intervals was
audited by Loomis and an assistant
md 10 20 signed. Besides being Of his
torical value - . relic Of post revolu'
uonary days. II affords an excellent
means Of comparing the cost Of living
and the PRICE Of labor then and now.
30 much ID heard today Of the IN
creased cost Of living. Of the sxorbi
tant prices demanded BY manufae
turers and Of the ever Increasing de-
mands for better wages and less hours
BY both skilled and unskilled labor.
that It would bs interesting to note tho
difference in the values Of Loomis'
time and the values Of today. In the
beginning Of his "aoompt" he values
his hired labor at 81 cents daily. This
suddenly Jumps to 7S cents daily. To.
day the laborer. with . pick and shovel.
ID getting from - to $3.50 daily or
practically three times ~ much -
Loomis paid his assistants in black
Imithing. This 10 really . comparison
between skilled and unskiiled labor.
The difference in the price Of food
stufs 10 also very marked. loomis
bought 400 pounds Of beef for an
amount slightly over 81. or at about
hve cents . pound. Today he would
have been obliged to pay several timjo
that amount . pound for II He sot
butter At II cents . pound. now II 10 %.
Potatoes came At - cents bushsl OF
less than ons-third Of what they are 70.
day. Since the west opened up there
has bsen but little change In the price
Of oats. for our blacksmith paid 70
cents . bushsl for them. while they
are quoted At le cents today.
In the rental Of his horse and teams
It looks - II Loomis used very poor
Judgment or else tho ruling prices
were very low. for he took . load Of
hay to Pittsasld for 30 eents, . dis
tance Of 10 miles each way. At an.
other time he rented his ''hoss" 10 .
man for . day for q shilling. or IS
cents. A ton Of hay cost him II. about
one-fourth OF what II = today.
There are . number Of amusing %.
tries In the book, such - $500 pounds
Of coal for - and . days work for .
bushel Of potatoes. He shosd .
"hoss." mendsd . handel" made .
ferrel and msnded . shovel. all for %
cents. The spelling Of great many Of
the words = stranss-for instance.
horse. hoss: sleigh. siay; moving. NO
Ing: full. fooll; kettle. kettel.
These are only instances from many
hundreds in the account and they 90
10 show, what . remarkable change has
taken place since revolutionary days.
The book 10 In . remarkable state Of
preservation for such an old one. II
b bound in calf. The paper 10 Of
good quality and 10 we'll preserved.
The ink has ysllowsd and In some
places almost faded away. but for the
most part one 10 able to read all the
items.
There are only . few psrsons today
who would have the patience 70 keep
such an exact account Of receipts aud
expenditures % Loomis did. especially
through such . long period Of yssrs.
Everything 10 set down. even the
smallest Of items and the whole at
frequent intervals 10 balanced. AZ the
bottom Of each balance 10 the rsesips
Of tho debtor or creditor. whichever
10 was. usually signed By witness.