CHAPTER IV.

ILLUMINATION, CABIN CONDITIONS.

Our first provision for lighting was a receptacle usually a saucer-filled with grease. A twisted rag wick rested against the ironstone edge, and when charred with the flame it was snuffed with shears or the fingers. Sometimes two or three wicks were placed in one dish to increase the lighting surface. We called them the Betty light, although a long way from the original.

The button light was prepared by wrapping an end of the wicking around a button, securing it with thread, and loosely winding the short length of wick so it would stand erect. The button end was placed in the dish, and the wick stood above the grease surface for lighting.

Other luminaries were prepared with turnips and beets as tallow receptacles. One-third of the white or red globe was cut away and the center flesh scraped out. Three sticks were stuck into the bottom surface for legs. A wick was tied loosely to a supporting upright stick which was thrust into the bottom flesh at the center of the beet or turnip cavity. The receptacle was kept well filled with lard or tallow-sometimes with goose grease or venison fat. Two generations ago mother did much of the family sewing beside the feeble ray of this type of light.

Tallow Dip.

A homemade method of candle making was to prepare a wick and dip it into cooling tallow, lift out and allow the grease to congeal on the string. Repeat the process until the desired size of candle was secured. They were made more symmetrical by lightly rolling under the palm on a smooth surface, while the grease was hardening. This

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product was called the tallow-dip. Tallow-dips were more easily broken than the molded candles, but they were an improvement on the open grease-dish methods.

Candle Molds.

Our first device for molding held but two candles. We brought with us from Indiana a goodly supply of tallow. When the material was exhausted and we could not replenish our stock from Des Moines, we had recourse to mutton-tallow or venison-fat mixed with beeswax; the latter furnished the texture for solidity. The illumination from this mixture was not so brilliant, but the candles possessed the merit of lasting longer than our full-strength tallow cylindricals.

We procured a set of molds, within a year or two, with a capacity of twelve candles. The possession of these molds satisfied us and we wished for no greater convenience and hoped for no improvement in the method of candle making. The utensils were in almost constant use either in our own family or among the neighbors.

Candle-molds were metal tubes about a foot in length, fastened together in groups of from two to twelve tubes. These receptacles when standing ready to fill were a trifle larger at the top than at the bottom. An inch from the tapering end there was a conical shaping of the tube which terminated in a small opening at the bottom of the cylinder. The tapering cone-shaped lower end was the top of the candle when finished.

The candle-wicking was twisted and doubled and the cut ends threaded through the hole in the bottom of each tube. Where the wick doubled a wire was thrust through the loop and rested on the upper surface of the molds. The wicks then were pulled taut through each tube and a knot tied close to the metal; this knot closed the small hole at the cone-shaped end, and prevented loss of the melted tallow when the receptacles were filled. After filling the molds with grease they were set aside to cool and harden.

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The finished product usually could be removed from the frames without difficulty, by first clipping the wicking-knot at the conical end, and gently lifting on the wire at the top of the cylinders; if the contents adhered, the molds were passed through the flame at the fireplace which at once released them.

Not many candles were molded at one time; for if stored for future use the mice made havoc with the supply. They also ate the raw candle-material, but in that case our work and time were not wasted.

Cabin Cleanliness.

There is a wide difference between the present means of contributing to conventional comfort and the methods of pioneer existence under the stress of necessity; nevertheless, large numbers of early settlers lived to an advanced age and health rules, daily, were "honored in the breach instead of the observance."

Cabin conditions, during the early years, would have caused despair in the mind of a sanitary commissioner. A bath tub was unheard of, and the natural natatorium -- the river -- served only during the summer season.

Cooking, eating, sleeping, washing, dressing, nursing the sick, laying out the dead-these things all were accomplished in the one-room cabin.

Field workers seemed to seek the accumulation of mud or clay to shake from their boots in the house. The wet and reeking socks or jeans "britches" were given preference to the coffee-pot and meat-skillet on the hearth, while the unfortunate owner of the apparel was sentenced to bed during the drying process.

Unfavorable weather made game-dressing and fur-preparation a necessary but sanguinary and odorous occupation at the fireside.

Flies.

Two generations ago door-screens were unknown in this neck-o' the woods. The common house fly and the big

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"blue-bottle" doubtless often left the cabin in disgust and sought the tanning-tub, stable-yard or the accumulation of fish-refuse as a respite from in-door activities. The swarms, however, at meal time settled upon the victuals with such voracity that one of the family was kept busy with a "shooer," not to protect food from the pests, but to prevent the diners from devouring flies. These now declared germ-distributors at night roosted contentedly on the overhead festoons of drying pumpkin; and they began their buzzing morning song before the nocturnal activities of the mosquito and other vermin had ceased.

Sleeping Ventilation.

The system of ventilation, in winter, was through the fireplace; but with a sleeping contingent of from ten to twenty, the odor of bodily emanations and the varied but unclassified assortment of other smells must have taxed even its wide capacity.

The now jocular expression: "two in a bed and three in the middle," was no joke then. The assignments were made according to size. Two grown-ups and one child at the head, and two half-grown children at the foot of the bed; while three or four in the trundle bed was the rule instead of the exception. Many a night travelers have slept soundly rolled in a quilt on the floor of the cabin, and Indian transients slept before the fire wrapped in their blankets.

All extra floor-space, during severe weather, often was piled with game carcasses awaiting preparation for market; and not infrequently the newly dropped calves and lambs occupied a place on the warm hearth and expressed their gratitude by plaintively bleating or calling "maa." It should be recorded, however, that the dogs slept out of doors in the warm corner by the stone chimney; although they had the habit of sneaking into the house at every opportunity and disposing themselves under the bed or table.

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Under-the-bed space, ordinarily, was taken up with household plunder or the trundle-bed, which the linen bed-curtains discreetly screened from view.

The present rules for preventing the contamination of milk supplies were inoperative in the "airly" days. The crocks of lacteal fluid sat jauntily on the salt-fish or sauerkraut barrels and these receptacles were covered with tablecloths, mercifully, to prevent the drowning of rodents. While this method may have saved the mice it shortened our supply of milk, as morning often disclosed the adhesive qualities of butter-fat by the perfect attachment of cream to the table-cloth.

Mice.

There were so many mice and they courted the company of the family so persistently, they made a playground of the benches, beds and tables at night. They scurried about the floor and cupboards in the daytime; and although slaughtered by the score, like a company of war-zealous soldiers, there was no noticeable diminution of numbers, for recruits filled the ranks before the victims could be thrown into the fire.

The wool-sack and the meal-sack were rivals for the attentions of the rodents. The twin instincts of nature, self-preservation and reproduction, strove for precedence. When these sacks of supplies were placed on chairs or barrels, or suspended from the rafters, it was not with the idea that we hoped for immunity from the mice, but it was a simple question of the smaller number of marauders which were agile and persistent enough to secure the prize.

The mice of our early acquaintance were the common white-bellied field breed, and they were larger specimens than the house-mouse of today; if one were to express an unprejudiced opinion it would be that they were beautiful and cunning little creatures. Rats, fortunately for us and the household supplies, did not appear until some advance of settlement.

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The stories of women mounting chairs and tables to escape from mice must have originated since pioneer times. Had we resorted to such methods we would have occupied a permanent place on top of the furniture; no work would have been done and even in such an elevated position we could not have escaped the presence or attentions of the active little pests.

Mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes, like mice, were busy both day and night. The humming of swarms of mosquitoes sounded like the approach of a coming storm; and indeed, there was a storm of protest in preparation for defense. All day long the smudge-pot industriously was supplied with material. It was moved about the house as the wind changed or our working positions shifted. Everything about the cabin acquired a smoky look and smell. This condition, notwithstanding, did not destroy the mosquitoes, but it did discourage their activities somewhat. Without smoke protection clouds of mosquitoes fairly darkened the atmosphere; and in going about the premises bunches of leafy hazel-brush were threshed about the face or bare legs to lessen the painful inflictions of the blood-thirsty insects.

There were mosquitoes of immense size which we called "gal-nappers." When a girl was persistently sought by the gal-nappers she was said to be old enough to accept the attentions of the opposite sex; if already engaged she was listed for matrimony very soon.

Bed Bugs.

The historian usually is discreetly silent regarding the courteously named "crimson-rambler;" but the bed bug is so cosmopolitan in his wanderings, so insistent in activities and insatiable in appetite, that he compelled a painful and luridly wordy recognition from the pioneers.

One would have been considered mildly insane had he

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declared that rodents, winged insects or vermin could be exterminated or excluded from the house; indeed, until the domiciles were improved it would have been impossible. Our efforts were directed merely toward "reasonable restraint," and these pests gained an unreasonable monopoly in many households on account of the relaxed vigilance of the women-folk.

Wash Basins.

Our wash dishes were the usual tin milk-pan shapes. Several soldered sections formed the upright side-circle. The bottom also was soldered to the rim. After a short time in use they leaked at every joint and age opened the rusty seams at various intermediate points.

Tufts of yarn were pulled into the holes to stop the leaks until there was not enough solid material to support the sections or bottom. Large gourds, however, made good substitutes for the tin wash-basins.

A post was set in the ground beside the rain barrel -- later beside the well -- and a short, flat-surfaced slab nailed to the top for the wash-pan and soap-gourd. Workers, on the way home, often washed their faces and hands at the spring or creek,

A hurrying bunch of boys sometimes took turns pouring water on the hands and heads of one another. This method saved some wear on the pan, but it maintained a mud-puddle in the dooryard. Visiting young women usually offered their services for the water-pouring work, and of course, several boys would try to catch the same stream at once. The pushing and pulling usually culminated in promiscuous water throwing which ended only when the supply of water was exhausted.

When there was a working-bee, the tub was filled with water and the whole force performed their ablutions at the same fount, and two or three at a time used the long tow-towel. The wooden-stave tub was a perennial example

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of constancy, for the hoops were always loose and it leaked at the stave openings.

A few families used crocks instead of wash-basins. They were more serviceable and sanitary, but the thought of a milk-crock or the dough-bowl as a toilet accessory was not pleasing and they did not grow in favor.

When regular wash-pans were offered on the market, they were so small that by the time a couple of splashes of water were made on the face and the head stuck into the receptacle for a more thorough wetting the pan was empty. More water was necessary unless the half-washed candidate removed the rest of the dirt with the towel. Late in the season or until it was too cold to leave water in the barrels, the boys, before breakfast, broke the ice and washed in the freezing water. Some of them preferred rubbing the hands and face briskly with snow. The practice "waked-up" the washer and seemed to satisfy the mentor of cleanliness.

The Toilet.

Small children were combed by the older, ones, and the older ones by mam -- first with the "reddin-comb" then with the fine-tooth. The hair was worn long and was very thick. The combing was not done for pleasure nor to improve the appearance; it was a measure of precaution that permitted little relaxation from its daily duty. I do not remember any men with very thin hair or bald heads, although a few old women had thin hair. Hair-combing was not so difficult as at first appears. The youths kept the hair oiled and the young women "did up" the hair so smoothly and tightly it combed without trouble. It was the small children who suffered from the straightening of snarls and the necessity for keeping quiet during the operation, which was performed while sitting on the floor with the head between the knees of the operator.

There were other niceties of the toilet, however, which were neglected entirely. I do not remember ever to have seen an early settler clean the teeth. On the other hand, I

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do not remember ever to have seen an early settler with poor teeth. A mouthful of decayed, broken or false teeth was unknown. All the care that was given teeth was "picking" them which was done with a sliver, a straw, a sharpened goose-quill or a table-fork; and I believe the "picking" was done more for after-meal pastime or habit than from necessity.

When the children's temporary teeth became loose, a tow-string was hitched on and Mam yanked them out. The child who was reluctant or whimpered was called a "fraidy," a "cowardy-calf" or a "cry-baby" by the other children. Infants, even, were shown little consideration in this field of endeavor. If a "teething baby" was fretful or cried with swollen gums, mam or some neighborhood old granny busied herself with the rusty iron thimble and rubbed the gums until the teeth grated upon it. As usual the infliction was worse than the affliction, but we did not know about, and therefore did not fear the possibilities of blood poison. A resistible tooth pap pulled with the bullet molds.

The teeth of "grown-ups" not only were neglected but they were misused. Threads or cords always were "bit off" with the teeth. When it was necessary to hold an article securely and steadily and which could not be done with the hand grip, it was held with the teeth and jaw-grip. A "stuck" rifle ball was released by the same force. The ramrod-worm was screwed into the bullet, the rod end which extended beyond the gun muzzle was taken between the teeth and the ball twisted out.

More hazelnuts and hickory nuts' were cracked with the teeth than were crushed with a mallet or between two stones in the regular way. Teeth were very generously used as a defensive weapon, not alone in the scrimmages of children but by mature fighters. The loss of teeth in the olden days was due either to accident or was the result of a well directed blow from a "fist-i-cuff" opponent.

The stickler for his own tooth brush would not have found favor with us. No one owned a quid of gum - "to

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the victor belonged the spoils." The older members of the family chewed the food for the little fellows; one or two spoons went the rounds of the table and men, women and children used the same drinking cup.

The teeth of my parents were strong, even and beautiful throughout their lives and my mother lived to a ripe old age.

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Chapter 5