Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1925-08-06

Many obstacles were placed in the
road to prevent the groom and his
friends from reaching the brides
home, such as telling large trees
across the road, or stretching grape
vines along the way. The bridal
party, enroute. to the place where
the marriage was to take place,
fired off guns at each house and
was saluted in like manner by the
inmates. In 1884, a smock mar
riage took place in New York, on
gallows. A man about to be
hung for a crime was reprieved and
liberated by his marriage to a wo-
man clad only in shift.
Much Noise at Weddings
There was much noise and little
sentiment connected with the we'd
ding festivities, but when the
young couple set up housekeeping
with not much but wooden food
trenches, a slaWbunk, a spoon, a
small sack of cornmeal, malet
and mortar, spinning wheel and
yoke of oxen, they faced the stern
realities of life in good earnest
Men at that time were hung for
almost any crime and sold into
slavery for debt, the time of bon
dage being governed by the amount
of the debt. The only help domes-
tic or otherwise, obtainable was
from the. ranks of those sold to
service.
Stringent laws we're passed, reg
ulating the style of dress for both
women and men.
The only method of travelling
about the country was by stage
coach, and the two most important
men in the small villages were the
tavern-keeper and the stage-coach
drivers. The stage coach was
drawn by two or four horses, and
the driver brought the news from
the outside world, and the men of
the community gathered at the
tavern to hear it and while listen
ing they imbibel freely from the
vintage the houses carried.
cobblers Went Around
Boots and shoes were provided
by a cobbler who went from house
to house, with a roll of leather,
many times obtained from the In
dians, who were skilled in the
craft of tanning the hides from the
animals they caught. The cobb
lers, with a few simple tools, mem
ded the old and made the new shoe
for the family, moving on when his
work was finished.
The cloth for clothing and bed
ding was made in the home. Wool,
fax and Gotten were raised, cut,
bleached, spun, dyed and woven in
various kinds of material much of
it coarse but very warm and dur
able.
Food was coarse but wholesome,
consisting of coarse bread, meat,
fish and vegetables. The style of
cookery was many times peculiar.
They were slow adopting potatoes
and tomatoes as they were consid-
cred poisonous. The latter were
raised for their beauty, and called
love apples. After due consider
alton, the pumpkins appeared on
the table in the form of pie.
Tough on Babies
From the time the Puritan baby
opened it's eyes it had a Spartan
struggle for life. In the summer
he Jared very well but in the win
ter, the cold dark houses were ill
calculated to give baby a warm
welcome and on the first Sunday
after his birth he was taken to a
meeting house to be baptized by
EMERSON. When we remember
that at that time no fire was al
lowed in meeting houses, we don't
wonder that infant mortality was
not even greater than it was. Many
children were born, but compare
lively few lived to maturity. One
of the chief ailments of childhood
was ricketts,. The remedy was a
composition of garden slails, earth
worms, small beer, herbs roots,
spices, sweet (unsalted) butter and
oil. This was allowed to stand
and ferment, when it was stored
and given in two tablespoons to a
dose, morning and evening. 1t is
no wonder the child died.
Through all these hardships and.
through all this maze of ignorance
and superstition, the germ of
Christian faith survived, and leav-
'ened the whole and we of today can
well bow our heads in. reverant
gratitude to those hardy pioneers,
who blazed the path through the
wilderness and laid the foundation
for larger life, higher ideals and
greater civilization.