CHAPTER XIII.

WOMEN'S WORK.

Our first stove was purchased some time after locating permanently. It was the high-oven, spider-legged make and was nicknamed the "step-stove." We used the cook. stove very little, preferring the more laborious fireplace methods. While romping about the house the children clambered over the stove as they did over the loom, rafters and beds.

When there was a houseful of company or work being done which required all available floor space some of the children, say a yearling, a two year old, and a three year old were permitted to play on the bed. The billowy feather beds and pillows were soft and warm and were greatly appreciated even by older youngsters.

The new stove was one step up to the hearth level, a second step onto the griddle surface and still another and higher step to the top of the oven; hence, the "step-stove."

The purchase money for this cook-stove was procured by digging, drying and selling gentian roots. On the upland south of Brewer's creek, and in the Huddleston pasture grew the finest field of gentian that white man or Indian ever viewed. The season after our arrival we marketed enough of the plant roots to buy a set of delftware dishes--twenty-four each of cups, saucers and plates. We also gathered the wild indigo plant which was used for bluing.

The women-folk, in addition to the regular routine of water carrying, cooking, churning, sausage making, berry picking, vegetable drying, sugar and soap boiling, hominy hulling, medicine brewing, washing, nursing, weaving, sewing straw platting, wool picking, spinning, quilting, knitting, gardening and various other tasks, found time to

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exchange work with the neighbors and to search the fields and woods for herbs, roots and fruits for sale or home consumption.

Corn Dodger.

The use of milk or soda in preparing corn dodger was the exception instead of the rule. We sometimes used, in lieu of soda, the white ash residue from burned hard wood.

The dodger batter was mixed stiffer than we mix it today. Sometimes a few cracklings, a little goose-grease or venison fat was added for shortening. We separated the mass into loaves and patted them into shape. Four of them were placed around the edge of the skillet and one in the center. This arrangement allowed a better heat distribution than if baked in one cake.

The corn pone, a sweetened, raised cake was baked in the skillet in one mass. Mush and milk, or fried mush, were staples which recurred almost with diurnal persistence.

We used for baking corn dodger an iron skillet eighteen inches across, with legs three or four inches high. A bed of coals from the fireplace was raked out on the stone or clay hearth, and upon it the skillet was set. The iron cover, the edge of which was rolled upward about two inches, was placed over the skillet and live coals were heaped upon it. The top heat helped to brown the dodger on the upper side; if one top-supply of coals died out and did not suffice to finish the baking, another supply replaced it.

When there was company, which was nearly every day, one skillet of dodger was not enough, and we resorted to the more primitive method of baking. The desired number of extra patties was prepared and placed on a smooth board which was adjusted in a slanting position in front of the fireplace near enough to the flame to dry and brown the dodger. When dodger material ran low we mixed it with crushed acorns, but the bread was not relished. Later

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we made an oat cake but with more hulls than meal it was not a gustatory success.

Corn, early in the fall before it was hard enough to grind in the coffee-mill, was reduced on a corn-grater-a piece of tin which had been perforated with a nail. During the immature, milky period of corn the grated meal was a sticky, pasty mass which soured very quickly and made fresh grating and baking necessary for every meal.

Buckwheat biscuit and flap-jacks frequently were on the breakfast menu. One pancake at a time was baked in the dodger skillet. So soggy were they that it was possible to carry to the table a leathery specimen doubled over a case-knife without cutting it in two.

Rolling Pin.

Salt-risin' and soda-biscuit were a better culinary success when baked in the cook-stove. For the biscuit, a new rolling-pin--a smooth pealed stick--was needed nearly every day. It had a way of disappearing known only to the smaller children. When it could not be found the biscuit dough was rolled with a fresh ear of corn-or, mayhap, the cob. Major Brassfield declared that three times a day, for more than seventy years, he ate hot corn bread or fresh soda biscuit dressed with sorghum, hog-grease or fowl-fat gravy. Cold dodger or yeast bread he would not eat.

A large cooking-kettle which was adjusted on the burning logs or swung over the flame from the mantel-hooks, served for meat, vegetables, succotash, dumplings or any other boiled-dinner preparations. Potatoes or eggs usually were baked among the embers, and roasting-ears were parched instead of boiled. If the pot "biled" over it made no difference.

The two or three gallon coffee-pot bubbled all day long on its nest of coals for the benefit of tired or belated hunters, but its contents often was only the liquor from boiled parched corn, rye or barley.

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Crab-Apple and Plum Butter.

Wild plum or crab-apple butter were sweetened with sorghum or honey and were simmered in the every-day iron pot. For hours at a time I have manipulated the wooden or horn-spoon to prevent the burning of these delicacies. Scorching, however, could not have added a shade to their sable hue and their bitter sourness when finished would have caused a self-respecting pig to squeal had he condescended to taste them.

The stirring spoons and paddles were like the "now you see it, now you don't" trick. When they were lost a quick substitute was made from a flexible but tough switch, say a yard long. The ends were brought together, tied with a cord and wound like a handle until the loop at the center diminished to the proper size. These willow loops served very well for stirring gravy or soup. If greater strength or stiffness were necessary several whips were bound together in the loop-shape. Like nearly all articles without value this cooking assistant usually could be found when others of greater efficiency were irretrievably lost.

These willow wall-decorations also furnished an appetizing and a convenient roosting-place for flies.

Hominy.

The hulling of hominy required more labor, skill and diligent attention than many of the other tasks performed by the pioneer house workers. We timed hominy hulling so it did not conflict with the many busy days when the iron pots were being used.

The kettles were a little more than half filled with shelled com. A medium-strength lye from the ash-leach was poured over it and the com soaked until the tough hulls cracked and loosened.

The lye then was drained off and there ensued a long process of washing and stewing the com through changes of waters to remove the hull and extract the lye. These wash-

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ings, often in the icy water of the creek, induced swelling of the hands to an unnatural size, and they seemed to acquire an unusual weight. The lye water likewise contributed to my discomfort by eating the cuticle from hands and arms and the interval from one hulling to another was required to restore them to normal size and condition.

The hominy was clean and firm when finished and if cooked and served with the gravy from home-smoked ham it was greatly relished by our family and the Indians who occasionally ate with us. A kettle of hominy did riot last very many days. Whenever the corn was in condition or the supply sufficient the preparation of hominy, practically, was continuous.

Sometimes in severe weather we soaked the corn, poured it in a coarse tow bag, and partially rubbed off the hulls on the washboard. We frequently were compelled, from pressure of other work and a long list of boarders, to cook corn without hulling it at all.

Vinegar.

A stone jar that carefully was handled throughout our journey from the East was the one which held the vinegar-plant. Our family never was without vinegar; and the "mother" brought with us supplied the neighbors with a start for their pickling requirements.

It was quite as essential that vinegar- "mother" be used for a starter as it was at that time thought to be necessary to supply a sick cow with a cud, or to slit and salt her tail as a remedy for hollow-horn.

Rain water and the late runs of maple-sap which became stringy were used for vinegar-liquor, and this was enriched by sugar-pot scrapings, sorghum settlings, "worked" preserves and discolored honey. In this congenial bath the vinegar-plant grew thick and tough and covered the upper surface of the sap. Shearing a piece from this "mother" as a nucleus for a neighbor's vinegar-jar was almost like cutting a piece of flesh.

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Our vinegar-vat and pickle-barrel were covered with a tent cloth and pieces of slabs held the covering in place; nevertheless, the sage who said that "Vinegar never catches flies" was very much. mistaken.

Vinegar pie-sweetened vinegar thickened with flour was considered to be a great delicacy by the children. They, however, scarcely ever received a piece, for when the appetite of company and the grown-ups at home was appeased the supply was exhausted or at least greatly diminished. But for mother's care in cutting, serving and saving we would have missed many a toothsome tidbit from the table. Waiting until the second or third table-serving was the common fate of pioneer children.

Cane-Molasses.

Our supplies of maple sugar and wild honey made it unnecessary to pay immediate attention to growing sorghum. Our neighbors, however, never failed to plant a patch of sugar-cane.

The first molasses-mill that I remember was operated by Uncle Ike Lyon by the well known armstrong-power method. The rollers were fashioned from two pieces of log, each about eighteen inches long and eight inches through and they were barked and trimmed to a smooth surface. The rollers were arranged on end, one beside the other, in a slab frame. A windlass handle was geared from the top to work on either side so an extra man-power occasionally could be utilized.

The cane in the field was stripped, topped, cut, hauled to the mill in wood-racks and fed between the wooden rollers a few stalks at a time, or in quantities to approximate the strength of the turners. A wooden vat beneath the machine caught the cane-juice as it was pressed from the stalks. This thin-as-water liquid was boiled, and boiled, and boiled in the sap kettles and skimmed, and skimmed. and skimmed until almost nothing remained of the original quantity. The residue, however, was sweet and a bright

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brown if not scorched; if burned the product was black, bitter, and a partial or total loss. A kettle of cane-juice yielded less than a gallon of finished sorghum.

Constant attention and consummate care were necessary to produce quality in molasses. Simmering to finish the syrup was done over a very slow but uniform fire, with continuous stirring, to prevent scorching. The faces and hands of "molassy-paddlers" often were seared or burned to blisters; either from the heat or a mishap in handling. Every run of cane-juice made necessary a resetting of the grinder and rehanging of kettles, as the refuse of pressed stalks littered the mill-yard and the area about the kettles became a trampled, gummy, sticky mass of dirt, leaves, grass, moss and molasses-skimmings. The helpers prevented damage to boots or shoes by working in the surface muck barefooted but the frequent frosty mornings induced them to move at a double quick gait. The hand-power cane-mill soon was improved in construction. A third roller was added and a sweep-a pole with the proper curve-was attached to the center of the frame and made ox-power available.

Many of our citizens remember the double horsepower cane-mill operated by Uncle Benny Millard, at the site of Bing Howard's residence on South Superior and East Walnut streets. The equipment of this mill-the furnace arrangement, the shallow evaporating and simmering pans, the means for drawing off and barreling molasses-was the most complete and efficient ever brought to this town. My education in the art of making sorghum was acquired in Uncle Benny's mill. Farmers from miles around brought their cane to be ground and boiled down into molasses. Great ricks were piled about the mill and the pressed stalks materially helped to fill the slough at the foot of the hill.

The price of molasses, notwithstanding the work of raising cane and the care required to produce salable syrup was from twenty to twenty-five cents per gallon.

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Hundreds of household brooms were made from the heads of cane-stalks which had been stripped of their seeds.

Preparation of Pumpkin.

The Yankee Red and Spotted Sweet were the varieties of pumpkins raised by us. Pie material, either for filling or crust, was not plentiful, although we have mixed some ingredients that would discount and discredit war substitutes. Pumpkin-butter, however, furnished a perennial supply for pie-filling.

A housewife who has superintended the stewing and simmering of fresh pumpkin for pies needs no reminder of care and time expended; but the time and care were doubled or trebled in simmering pumpkin-butter, as it was sweetened with molasses or honey and boiled down until it would keep in open crocks. The formation of a mouldy covering on the receptacles only indicated that the stuff was keeping--at least, it was not fermenting. Pumpkinbutter the same thickness as a slice of bread was the rule for sandwiches, and mother seemed always too liberal with the spreading. I did not like the pumpkin-butter.

The work of drying pumpkin was not so exacting as butter making but it was of longer duration. A cart load of pumpkins was dumped near the creek. They were rolled into the water and washed. If we were not pressed for time the pumpkins were pee1ed; otherwise, the rind was not taken off until winter when preparing for meals. The sections, moreover, held together better if unpeeled.

The pumpkin was cut in two in the middle the cross way of the grain and the seed cavity scraped out. Rings from these halves were cut from one-half to three-quarters of an inch thick and strung on poles. Hickory sticks long enough to reach from one overhead cabin beam to another supported hundreds of the pumpkin-rings. The small ends and broken pieces were thrown into receptacles and in the evening the whole family helped to string them on cords as apples were prepared for drying, later. Without exag-

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geration, the cabin ceiling-space was entirely decorated with the drying pumpkin-rings and festoons. The sticks holding the large rings were arranged in the back part of the space and the small-sized rings at the front, so tall members of the family or visitors would not have to stoop in passing under them.

Late dried pumpkin did not cure so rapidly as that prepared in warmer weather; but the fly proposition had to be considered. It is safe to say, with our best efforts expended in "shooing" them out and sleeping with open doors, that several millions of flies absorbed their meals from drying pumpkin for a greater or less number of days--until they were frozen out. The dried product was soaked and stewed after the supply of pumpkin-butter was exhausted.

Pumpkin-rings always were put into the cooking-pot with the boiled dinner. If an unbroken section reached the table the youngster with the least table manners fished it from the platter. With one end in his fingers, and head tipped backward the strip of pumpkin was held above the mouth and the gourmand seemed to swallow the whole piece without chewing.

Early pumpkin yields on the virgin soil of Iowa were phenomenal, and consumption did not fall below the supply.

Wild Grapes.

Wild grapes also were dried by us but there absolutely was nothing left of them when finished but skin, seeds and an intense sourness. Elderberries, likewise, receive drying attention and when mixed with the grapes furnished some substance for sauce or pies, but in my humble judgment, mixing them accentuated the worthlessness of both.

Fresh grapes put down in open jars, a layer of grapes and a layer of maple sugar, were relished by all if they were kept well cooled. If fermentation took place the juice was pressed out and used for wine or vinegar.

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Pie Baking.

Pies were baked in the dodger skillet or on plates which were set inside the skillet, and the lid covered with coals. If the bottom crust did not bake properly it was removed from the skillet, loosened about the edge of the plate, another plate was placed on top of the pie and all turned bottom side up. The first plate then was taken away and the pie replaced in the skillet until finished. Pie-crust usually was made from biscuit-dough and the above operation was not difficult. We preferred the skillet-pie as it was larger and the internal compartment could be filled to repletion.

Wild-gooseberries were not good drying material but during their season they were greatly relished for pies notwithstanding the inconvenience of picking and preparing. The prickly variety was not so sour as the smooth-skins hence their preference. The gooseberry bushes were studded thickly with briars and the prickly-berry itself was quite as profusely covered with stickers. Many of the gatherers wore mittens while picking. The berries were placed in a tow-bag and rolled or kneaded on the puncheon floor until the needle-like points were broken.

Gooseberry pie was baked without sugar but a thickened, sweet dip was prepared and poured over it when served. Often sweetened milk was used as a dressing. We doubtless were usurping the prerogative of the pigs but we relished the mixed mess and lived through the inflictions of indigestible preparations.

A lusty-growing gooseberry thicket was a fine sight but it was one of the problems of the pioneer with the grubbing hoe.

Spitted Pheasants.

Our bow and arrow huntsman one day brought home a brace of fat pheasants which he dressed for himself and placed on the open-tined roasting-spit at the fireplace. While we women were busy elsewhere Lockjaw, the bull

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dog, came into the cabin and appropriated one of the birds for his supper. The theft soon was discovered but knowing the dog never relinquished his hold on anything until it was dead or devoured we did not contest his possession of the pheasant.

A wild turkey we dressed and prepared for roasting in the usual way. A twisted cord was tied to his legs and fastened to the iron bar over the fire. The whirling motion browned him uniformly as the cord untwisted. The fire sometimes became too hot and the bird was charred by the blaze, in which case the string usually burned in two and the turkey had to be pulled from the ashes and coals and rehung.

The fireplace roasting process was not a satisfactory one. The juicy drippings were caught in the dripping-pan for gravy but the meat was rendered dry and unsavory. The string-hanging method was employed only when game was too large to be boiled in the pot or dodger skillet. When a fowl had reached such proportions it was so old and tough that even modern methods of cookery could not have modified its texture or taste.

Ham Roasting.

I recollect on one occasion I was instructed to prepare and roast a venison ham during mother's absence. I decided that it was an auspicious time for play. I prepared the ham but instead of the usual twisted string the dog chain was ultilized as a hanger. While this method did not furnish the rotary motion, I figured that it could be changed about occasionally and obviate the necessity for constant vigilance to prevent the string burning episodes. Happily I hitched the leg of venison to one end of the chain and the other end was attached to the cooking-bar over the fireplace. The crackling hickory logs were prodded, a fresh supply of fuel added, and I betook myself to the barnyard to participate in the sport with the younger children.

We played I spy, mumblety-peg, stalked about on forked-stick stilts, shinned up the trees, bent limbs for a

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teeter, climbed on and jumped off the stable roof, and in the excitement I forgot the admonitions of my mother and the needs of the stomach. Racing around the haystack I happened to turn toward the cabin and beheld great volumes of smoke issuing from the open door. I dashed forward in terror that the house was on fire, but as I came near, the odor of burning flesh offered the explanation. I knew before entering that the fine fat ham was burned to a cinder. Fortunately there was no inflammable material near the fireplace; and--fortunately for me--father did not beat his children.

Soft Soap.

Soft soap making, as we knew it, now is nearly a lost art. The next necessary structure after a cabin had been provided for the family was an ash-leach. Six-foot pieces of puncheon were framed into V-shape. The point, one foot from the ground, terminated in a slab-trough which carried off the lye. The leach was filled with hardwood ashes and water was poured upon it. The resulting seepage was a dark-colored, acrid, corrosive lye which we handled carefully or suffered severe burns from contact with the liquid.

Lye was considered to be the proper strength if an egg floated on its surface or if, when a feather was dipped into it, the barbs slipped easily from the shaft. The lye when boiled with a sufficient quantity of grease or .refuse of flesh made excellent soft soap although the often mouldy, illsmelling mass was not calculated to encourage the soap-maker.

Our stent in the soap line was about three barrels during the season. The first batch, made from selected soap-grease, was reserved for toilet use. "All was grist that came to our mill." Venison and mutton-tallow, the skin and trimmings of meat, fat from the hides or pelts of smaller varmints, likewise the "riddled" intestines of animals were utilized. The latter were prepared by ripping

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them open with a bowie-knife and washing them in the creek.

Empty soap barrels were used as receptacles for soap-grease until the next soap-making season which was whenever the supply ran short. If the shortage occurred when we did not have sufficient soap-grease for a fresh batch we killed a couple of pigs for the purpose. Housewives felt as much pride in taking off a nice batch of soft soap as they did in the conscientious preparation of other creature comforts.

When the youthful back was nearly broken with turning the grindstone to sharpen axes, grub-hoe, briar-scythe, adz, frow, draw-shave, wedges, etcetera, relief was gained by smearing soft soap on the frictional points. Occasionally we ran short of tar-grease and a substitute for lubricating the wagon wheels was found by applying soft soap to the hubs. Also, I suppose there was some mutual soft-soaping among neighbors and visitors. Soft soap was not used exclusively for washing purposes. It was a favorable as well as a sinister agent.

It remained for Mam Jenkins to make the left-handed use of soft soap. Instead of hickory-oil or birch-buds as truth-persuaders, whenever a youngster was found to have told a fib a spoonful of soft soap was placed in his mouth and retained long enough for the lye to have a biting effect upon the tongue. Mrs. Jenkins loudly praised and defended her treatment but she made no converts to soap. doping, perhaps because the mothers did not wish to waste the washing material. Father declared that if everyone who stretched the truth were soft-soaped not even Mam Jenkins would be left to administer the dose.
The process of soap making kept the hands clean for the time, at least, and it was necessary to keep the fingernails closely pared. The trimming usually was done by the following rule: "Cut them on Monday for health; cut them on Tuesday for wealth; cut them on Wednesday for news; cut them on Thursday for shoes; cut them on Friday for sorrow; cut them on Saturday, joy on the morrow; cut

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them on Sunday for evil, for all the next week you'll be ruled by the devil." Usually girls chose Saturday for fingernail clipping as it was understood that "joy on the morrow" meant the presence of a chosen young man.

Washing.

The work of washing for a large family, and transients, was not a light undertaking. My mother was kept constantly busy with the manufacture of household articles and the work of converting raw clothing material into finished raiment. I was the oldest girl so the weight of the common housework fell upon me.

A great pile of dirty garments--and I use the word dirty instead of soiled advisedly--was collected at the end of the week. The rule was once a week change whether it was necessary or not, and if one happened to get a wetting and it wasn't Saturday, he managed to survive.

Upon the stake-supported hickory pole was hung the water-filled iron kettles and a fire was built beneath them. One vessel was used for "breaking"--softening the water with lye--in the other the clothes were boiled. I am sure all will agree that without the liberal use of soft soap there would have been little effect upon such garments as hunting shirts and jeans britches. Had anyone then suggested the use of black goods or lighter weight material for men's working shirts he would have been loudly ridiculed.

Our clothes line was the rail fence; and the gooseberry bushes about the premises, likewise, were decorated with wearing apparel. A second round at the tubs the same day was not infrequent. If the garments became loosened from their moorings at the fence the hogs or dogs never failed to find and trample or wallow on them. We were glad, under such circumstances, if the clothes were found intact and not torn or chewed into strings.

Quilts or heavy bedding were placed in a barrel and covered with a liberal supply of water and strong soft soap. These articles were "tromped out" by the bare-footed oper-

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ator, instead of being rubbed by hand. Occasionally I could induce one of the boys, by the promise of an extra dinner dish, to help with the tramping but they did not like the skin-puckering and tender-foot effect after the work was done. Fortunately going barefooted toughened and protected the skin somewhat.

Changing the routine of kettle work was none too pleasant, for pot-cleaning then was necessary. Especially was this true at the "sugarin' off" season and after honeycomb had been melted and cooled for beeswax. The wax could not be removed except when the kettle was hot. I yet am unable to formulate a reason why I was not disfigured or burned to death while performing such heavy and dangerous work at the edge of, and over an open fire.

A young woman who was eligible to accept the attentions of the opposite sex could tell when she was to catch a beau, because of the unusual number of burs and brambles collected on her dress tail while working about the yard. It was a sure sign that a beau was due if a portion of the dress hem happened to become turned upward. It was, however, impossible to work about the premises or clamber over fences without acquiring the "beau sign," but the girl aspirant for honors was in danger of losing her chance of marriage if she were so careless as to step over the broom or mop in the presence of the young man, or if she made the beds unevenly.

Preparation of Flax.

When flax began to turn yellow at the base, it was pulled and left in the field a day or two to dry. Seed was collected by pulling the stalks through the ripple-a plank with wooden or wire teeth. The flax then was bundled into beats, arranged in tepee shape, tied at the top and kept dampened until rotting began and softened the fibre.

The stalks then were dried and broken on a flax-brake, and swingled-hacked with a dull knife. It was not always practicable to use approved kinds of flax-machines.

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Many times they were out of repair or loaned to the "neighbors. My mother often threshed small quantities of flax across the back of a chair or bench, or it was pounded with any implement at hand.
The woody bun, shives and remnants of bark, in the orderly process of manipulation, were removed. The strikes, or cleared fibres, were given a second round at the break-the heavy, flat, cog-fitting blocks for bruising. The mass was moistened and hetcheled with the wire combs and the long fibres were drawn out from the tow residue and refuse.

Several hetchelings--the more the finer--were necessary, and much sorting or drawing of fine and coarse fibres to produce the desired choice threads for spinning. The bulk of material at length was ready to be rolled about the distaff on the small spinning-wheel.

Spinning.

Foot-power, by means of a treadle, drove the wheel. With moistened and deft fingers the spinner held the twisting, lengthening, evening cord as it ran in a thin line to the bobbin. The thread then was wound on the reel, into knots of, say, forty or more strands each, with perhaps twenty knots or lays to the skein. The number of threads in knot or skein varied, however. An automatic mechanism on the reel clicked when the set number of strands was wound and the operator then tied the marker for division of the skein.

The finished skeins were taken through a long and laborious process of bleaching and softening. They were soaked and boiled in "broke" water, washed, rinsed, dried and made ready to bobbin for the loom. More than a dozen handlings were necessary before flax was ready to be woven, and after the weaving it was boiled, and beaten, and bleached before it was ready for the needle.

Linen wearing apparel usually was made up in the natural color, and it was about worn out before it became

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comfortably soft and pliable. Men's linen smocks and britches were worn without underclothing, and the proverbial hair-cloth shirt had little scratching advantage over the flax-fibre garments.

Flax refuse after the first hetcheling was spun and woven into coarse material for bags and tarpaulins. Ropes were made from the coarser refuse. The process of growing, preparing, spinning and weaving flax seemed almost to be a demonstration of perpetual motion for one season's work overlapped the cropping of the following year.

Spinning wheels always were carried among the early peddlers' supplies. The bulk was not great when knocked down and packed. All repairs were made at home except to the wheel itself. Skill in operating the spinning-wheel was acquired only after long and patient practice but the work was alluring and satisfying to the spinner.

Preparation of Wool.

It fell to my lot to pluck the coat or dead wool from sheep that died from exposure or accident. The fact that a sheep's carcass had lain until it was swollen, discolored and flyblown did not justify us in discarding the wool. Conservation and frugality were our watchwords all along the line.

Fleeces from the dead sheep were washed and marked, and with those periodically sheared, were sent East to be prepared for spinning. Consignments of wool were mixed bunches of bags and bundles with coverings of old quilts or petticoats secured with tow strings and buckskin bands, or pinned together with the immense thorns which grew abundantly in briar-thickets and on thorn apple trees. Supplies of wool often ran short, however, and the work was done at home.

Washing wool before it was shorn from the sheep did very little good but it was done. Wool-pickings, for me, were long to be remembered tasks. This clearing the refuse, burs and other foreign substances from wool was an

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occasion for getting together by the neighbors. Wool-pickings were in the lists with quilting and sewing-bees which were arranged simultaneously with wood-choppings, log-rollings or cabin-raisings, and these affairs were celebrated with an evening party.

Wool cards were fashioned from thin flat boards, say, six by twelve or more inches, with the handle extending from the center and on a line with the flat surface. The card-face was studded like the wire-tooth currycomb, with slightly bent steel teeth. The carder sat down. In her left hand she held one of the wool-cards flat on her knee with teeth up, and spread a bit of material on it. The right hand card was drawn across the other until the wool-fibres were straightened and parallel. They then were carefully removed from the teeth and deftly turned or turned between the backs of the cards and the fluffy rolls were formed about a finger size.

When a quantity of material was ready for spinning, an end of a roll was fastened into the spindle-slit. The spinner took hold of the long slender roll at a point which she estimated would lengthen to the desired size for yarn at the one drawing. A quick turn of the wheel, and the soft wool stretched as the spinner stepped backward two or three paces. When the rotation of the wheel had twisted the roll to the desired size and firmness, the operator briskly retraced her steps as the yarn was wound upon the spindle. Another section of the wool-roll was taken between the fingers as before, and the process repeated.

The reel, as its name indicates, was used to skein the yarn from the spindle. If pressure of work would not permit use of the ungeared wheel for the winding, or if visitors made extra implements necessary, the home-made niddle-noddle--a hand-winder with center bar and a cross piece on either end--was used, and yarn was skeined from end to end crossing in the middle and knotted with the usual loop of yarn into so many threads each.

When a skein was finished it was placed on the swifts or winding-blades and quilled--wound on headless spools,

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or sections of pithless elderwood--ready for the woofweaving shuttle; or the yarn was wound on larger spools or corncobs ready for the warping-bars, as the case required. For immediate use yarn was skeined from hand to elbow and hung from the arm while being knitted.

Weaving.

Loom-frames and ordinary fixtures were made by the men folks. The frame was about five or six feet, with six foot posts. The corners were fitted and pinned with wooden pegs which could be driven out and the loom removed when not in use. Our loom often was lent to the neighbors. We brought with us from the East the cloth and warp-beams, reeds, shuttles and other parts which required nicety of mechanical execution in making.

Reels, swifts and winding blades were susceptible of more or less modification in form and material. They were rigged with gearing, or with hand-cranks; with movable joints, or with holes in the frames for extension or contraction to accommodate the different sizes of skeins. Warping-bars were heavy, six feet square frames of peeled poles and wooden pegs. They hung from a fence post when not in use,

The filled spools or corn cobs wound from the skeining accessories were set in the spool holder in rows, on pins which held but allowed them to turn freely as the yarn was warped on the bars. The number of spools varied according to the width of cloth to be woven. If yarn was fine, several warpings were necessary to fill the reed. The thread-ends of warp from the spools were gathered in the hand, carried to and fastened on a wooden pin at the top of one of the bars. The warp was drawn across to the opposite bar pin; and the work continued back and forth to the bottom of the frame. The course then was retraced to the starting point, or until a sufficient length of yarn was unwound for the length of cloth to be woven. A little extra warp was allowed for possible shrinkage.

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A group of warp-threads was called a bout, and the bouts were carefully wound on the warp beam by turning it with the pole-lever at one end of the roller. The rake-a bar set with many wooden pegs-helped materially in keeping the bouts of warp from getting out of place and becoming tangled. Notwithstanding, before a weaving was finished the threads often became hopelessly crisscrossed; and "picking back the rods"--slats which were slipped between the alternating threads in front of the warp-beam-was an almost constant occupation for the half-growns.

When beamed, the bouts-a thread at a time-were brought forward and thumbed or, with a harness-hook, pulled through two sets of harness-eyes. The many singles which composed the harness were arranged at about the center of the loom space on the inch-wide heddle-bars, which were suspended from the top by pul1eys. The bars were in a horizontal position. The lower ones were fastened to the treadles below, and the harness hung vertically between them.

Harness making was done on an open, removable-end frame about a foot wide and the length for easy handling, with an inch wide strip of wood through the central space. One frame-end was held between the knees of the worker. A waxed tow-thread was looped over one of the frame-bars. The extension of thread was carried to the center-bar and a knot tied on either side of it. This loop formed the harness-eye. The thread was extended to the other frame-bar and tied, taut, at its outer edge. The frame-end was removed and the finished harness was slipped off. The number of harness varied with the width of cloth.

The warp-threads, after being harnessed, were drawn, with a reed-hook, through the reed which was set in the batten-two threads between each reed. They then were brought forward over the breast beam, spread out, turned under and backward, and fastened to the knee-beam, or cloth roller. Warp could be saved by attaching the ends to an old piece of cloth for extension over the breast-beam

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to start the new work to rolling on the cloth-beam, which was operated with crank and ratchet.

Reeds were fine or coarse as the case required. There were two parallel bars of wood, about four inches apart and about four feet long. Between the bars were set the reeds which resembled the teeth of a comb. The reed .was slipped into its grove in the batten, or beater, which was a swaying beam attached with side-bars to a rocking axle at the top of the loom. The reed in the swinging batten served to beat the woof firmly as it was woven by the operator.

Fastened to the loom-beams or to the floor, so it could not slip backward, was a high bench on which sat the weaver. One foot pressed a treadle. One set of harness and the alternate threads were depressed below the others, across the width of the warp. The shuttle was thrown from one side to the other through the shed, or opening between the alternate warp-threads. The reed-batten was swung, and forced the woof firmly into place. The other foot-treadle was pressed as the first was released, and the second set of harness crossed down the opposite, alternate warp-threads, and the work continued. If designs were woven, several sets of harness were used and many different colored bobbin-windings were necessary; but we did very little fancy weaving after leaving Indiana. We were fortunate if we kept enough plain material for immediate necessities.

Loom-temples, or tenter-hooks, were two or three inch wide strips of wood, with a center adjustment for shortening or lengthening in accordance with the width of cloth. In both ends were set several steel teeth. The breaking-joint at the middle was loosened, the end teeth were inserted in the selvage, the temples spread to a length for firmly holding the cloth at an even width, and they were pressed flat and fastened with a wooden button.
The work of carpet weaving was identical with that of cloth except for the coarseness of warp and filling. The bobbins and shuttles for cloth were too small for carpet

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use so simple slats with notched ends were wound with carpet rags and utilized instead of shuttles, although the motion was much slower. The brilliant and vari-colored, striped rag carpets were a delight to the eye. The "hit and miss" possessed the same quality of durability with the added advantage of using up all kinds of material.

Great satisfaction was evinced by women who produced unusual smoothness in texture, or accuracy in design when weaving either woolen or linen cloth. The fabric woven in linen warp and wool filling became the jeans for trousers. It sold freely among families whose members were less proficient weavers. The yellow or brown checked material was called linsey-woolsey, and also found ready sale.

One might think that homespun and home-woven linen sheets and towels would be indestructible, that they would wear indefinitely, but the old articles constantly were being replaced by new ones. If we wished to insure long life to a linen consignment, the filling was dampened before weaving. This method, however, made the cloth all but unmanageable in the wash tub, and about as good as a board for a towel.

All clothing was seamed with the hand back-stitch and with tow-thread, which hung in .a loosely braided skein about the sewer's neck. When the strands were clipped the threads were a convenient needle length. A bunch of tow furnished household cord. It was twisted by grandpap and the toddlers.

We did not use the small hand looms or frames for bands, suspenders or shoelaces. The former ornamentation was platted as we braided straw for hats. For the latter we used buckskin, and galluses were knitted with coarse yarn.

Spinning-wheels always were decorated with hanks of yarn, bunches of tow or rolls of wool ready for instant use. Visitors never were idle. Women either brought an apronful of wool or flax to be cleared and sorted, or at once offered their services to mother for any available work.

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Spinning and knitting were the perennially unfailing challenge for assistance. The buzzing hum of the wheels or the busily flying fingers did not detract from the social enjoyment of the producers of useful material.

The "spinster" still is honored with kindly remembrance in the effort to perpetuate the art of spinning. I bow in wondering contemplation of the tireless workers, who with peaceful resignation and conscientious devotion performed these painstaking pioneer duties.

Goose Plucking.

Goose plucking was an occasion of pleasure and hilarity quite as impatiently awaited as the date for the present day circus or menagerie. Instead of penning the geese at night we chased each victim about the premises until caught. A personal and strenuous encounter usually was experienced with the ganders of the flock. They gave battle with bills and wings while vociferously screaming and hissing, but when overpowered and plucked they, in disgust and humiliation, sought shelter for their half-naked bodies and refuge from the curious gaze of members of the flock whose smooth, shining coats of feathers were undisturbed.

Goose plucking was done by the women. The bird was grasped firmly by both feet, turned upon his back and the breast feathers removed. The work was carefully done to prevent tearing the skin and injuring the flesh of the fowl. We did not pull the back covering, for if heavy rains came on while unprotected by feathers, the geese did not thrive.

When the quill ends of plucked feathers were dry and shining they were "ripe." Early hatched geese were relieved of their feathers four times during the season. If one-half pound of feathers per goose was saved from the four scrimmages we were well satisfied with the yield of pillow and bed-filling material.

Sixty years ago the young woman of marriageable age who was unprovided with at least one or two feather beds

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as her contribution to household furnishing was considered to be somewhat improvident if not downright shiftless.

Garden Seeds; Storage.

The exchange of garden seeds among the neighbors was an indication that spring was approaching. Every cabin was a seed-house; and each parcel was known by the wrapping or its particular color or kind of string. Seeds were stored in piggins and the various sized gourds of which we raised an abundant supply.

Large, small, medium and immense-sized gourds decorated the inside walls of the cabin and hung alongside the stretched and drying animal pelts on the outside. The natural growth of gourds into shapes convenient for household handling, after being trimmed and cleared of seeds, made them very useful where kitchen utensils were not numerous. The calabash, dipper and sugar-trough gourds were of greatest utility.

The paunch of an animal, after being cleared, cleaned and dried, made a good hunter's canteen, or with a larger opening and a rawhide puckering-string it served as a receptacle for seeds or other dry material for storage.

The safe storage of seeds from the raids of rats and mice was next to impossible. Daily handling and watchfulness was our only hope, but many night marauders accomplished their work of destruction. If all the members of a family went visiting for a day they were fortunate if the pumpkin-seed supply had not disappeared or been destroyed by the rodents during their absence. The only safe place for seeds was inside the covered stone-jars or crocks but they induced dampness and mould, besides we did not have enough of them for our manifold needs.

Quilt Designs.

There was a commendable reciprocity in the exhibition and distribution of new patchwork quilt designs. The display was made with quite as much pride as is the showing

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of artistic fancy-work today. All plans, patterns, ideas or innovations were pleasantly passed along for community use, and sent to distant friends by mail or by travelers. This was true, likewise, of clothing cutting. Exclusiveness in the cut or trim of apparel was unthought of. Individuality in dress could not be maintained, and a new style was worn somewhat as it is today, regardless of the embonpoint or sylph-like proportions of the wearer.

The patchwork bed cover was sewn to the quilting frames and suspended from the overhead beams by ropes attached at the four corners. Under this canopy was a fine playhouse for the children, and many pricked fingers have resulted from bobbing heads beneath the quilt.

When the quilters were not at work the quilt was hoisted above our heads by winding the ropes about the crossed frame-ends. The youngsters tossed their playthings into the sagging receptacle, and if several days elapsed between quilting-times, the lost and found department was established. A quilt was well seasoned with smoke and dust before it was finished and one scarcely was removed from the rack before another was put on.

The quilters' fingers often were in a chronic state of tenderness from needle prickings. The women, to obviate this condition, seared the forefinger and thumb on a hot poker before beginning operations. Buckskin thimbles were worn. Quilts were generously used for bundling and wrapping up when traveling.

The fancy-work of today does not discredit the needlework done in the candle light by hard working pioneer women sixty years ago.

The "hope box" of the past generation was a chest full of homespun and home-woven cloth, patchwork quilts and wool-padded comforters.

Straw Platting.

Straw-platting for home-made hats was done entirely by the women-folk. If straw was cut after the grain had

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headed--when changing color from green to yellow but not ripe enough to be brittle-it would retain its pliability for a long time; and if dampened before using, could be manipulated easily. A braid, usually of seven to eleven strands of oat or wheat-straw, whichever material was more plentiful or in the better condition, made a plat the most convenient working width.

The sewing of the straw-trips began in the middle of the crown and the hat was rudely shaped as it progressed. Two hats apiece was reckoned as a starter. The second, or Sunday hat, was expected to last over into the next season and was then to be used for common; thereafter, one hat apiece each year kept up the perennial supply.

The preparation of material was pleasant work but required careful attention. After the grain-stalks were gathered it was necessary to sort, joint, strip and loosely tie them into bundles which were placed on a smooth surface to prevent bending or breaking the straws. Storing for future use was impracticable as the mice destroyed it as soon as placed.

If the demand for platting material exceeded the supply some of the "louse-cages" were finished only with eyeshades, visors or bills, and others without rim adornment.

Young women were really sincere when they sought to excel in the preparation of household articles. Their teaching was that such excellence brought its reward in desirable matrimonial favor and the final fulfillment of woman's mission in life.

Cheese Making.

Juice from the gooseweed or bedstraw plant served us in curdling the milk for cheese making when the regular agent, calf's rennet, was not to be had. This rarely happened, however.

When a calf or lamb was killed it was as necessary to cleanse, dry and save the stomach as to prepare any other part of the animal for food. Since but a small piece of

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the leathery substance was necessary for our cheese manufacture one rennet lasted a long time. Sometimes we borrowed a rennet "settin' "--say an inch or two square--from a neighbor. The rennet of a sucking pig sometimes was used for the curdling process. Many plant seeds possessed the quality of milk curdling but their use was not necessary.

Our cheese product would not pass muster in appearance or quality with some of the finely finished discs of today. There was a wide range of size, shape, color and consistency, according to the season, the receptacles, and the scald of the batch of curds. Mouldy cheese was the rule instead of the exception, and many persons who considered themselves expert judges declared cheese was not palatable unless it was infested with skippers.

The night's and morning's milk were used together, and scalds were made in the large iron kettles. The pressing out and curing was a tedious process, and the discs were stored on slab shelves in the smokehouse. Cheese at our home did not spoil with age. More often it was eaten too green than too ripe and the supply did not begin to approximate the demand.

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Chapter 14