The Lucknow Sentinel, 1969-05-03, Page 13WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5th, 1969
THE; ,L,UCKNOW SENTINEL, .LUCKNOW, ONTARIO
QAsE THIRTEEN:
• • 'Radio, newspapers and ';letters
-' — ear Eme-to-thri-nk-tha-t- kiuron-and'- -
• :Sruce•.are having a real, Old-lash,-
toned
ld fash:-Toned winter these last 'few weeks:..
And.that sends my mind ibac°k more
years. than 1 'sometimes 'like to,.
admit;. ;We had real winters then,
. 'but not the modern ways; to combat
the storms and to make lifeless
'uncomfortable'. In those 'days our
,house did not have a furnace or
bathroom or electicity. We did not
have cars,•trucks.and tractorsy`let
Alone ski -do's, One year „',Lottie:
McfKenzie• rigged up a sort of snow
iribbile and it was the talk of the
community..There were no •County
Snowplows on our road, and • snow
blowers had not even been thought
of: We did not have friges. or .
freezer's. except Nature's freezer
which was sometimes a mixed,
,blessing.. We children did not have
warm, light, quilted', wind and'
water -proof snow .suits. No , life
was less complicated in many:
ways, .but a serious crisis such as a
•fire or:.illness could be fatal: 41
case of sickness, someone in the •
family or a neighbour, would
': ' drive to the village for the doctor,
.and then the doctor would have to
drive to the home. That took a '.
long time and much effort before
the days .of telephories: .But 'the `
country doctors answered the calls;
day 'or night.
The First Snow! We wouldlook •
forward•to it for weeks. And what a
thrill to '.waken some Morning toa.
world of n-iu.ffled.sounds Anda
strange white light , and find that it
• had been transformed' overnight . "Or
to'.watch all day asthe 'fence rails';
tr'ees., roofs and ground'weregrad,-
.wally covered w•ith•a fine. -w.hite
'emboidery ,which changed to 'a
thick,:, white blanket , or to watch •
those' tall white hats•, growon. the.
,pots sand pumps: Of course'we had,
' to •get taut and play Fox and. Goose,
• or just make tracks;' in .the snow . •
• Often we found, mysterious animal
tracks. to• speculate about.
Snowmen: were bu>:it i•t:the snow
would •pack and of course,'a°:fam=
ily of boys soon built a snow fort
and .there were glorious snow fights..
Then,; I remember the, beautiful
frost -patterns on the windows on;
.frosty mornings lovely, designs, of
• '' snow and bracken., '.so pure and
fragile.; A bf eath' on= them , and
they were gone.. But if intense cold
„continued for days •the Windows .
would • be So covered with thick
frost: that:Only . a. pale light .filtered
• through, especially upstairs where
there wasn't. much heat
• Our-house=-wa-s-in-three-parts- The_
brick part was built about 1860
•one of the first brick houses. in the:
• townsl ip:. The bricks wereinade'1n
a local`brickyardand.'were.: smaller,
• than today's -bricks. That was the'••
Warm pag of the house, .and 'during
a blizzardi. life was lived there .
We kept warm and cosy beside a
'curious, uptight , wood -burning
heater: Pipes' frorn it sent•sonie;
heat 'upstairs, 'The frame part was:
.nomuch snore:than a shell. ,M_
. ,t• y
grandfather. of involved financial -
.g
lyy with a stranger And was left to •
,.pkv off a note he had backed ,
justafter.the;frame tart was begun.
It:was finished the cheapest way .
possible and 'was very drafty in•a
north-west'blizzard, which the 'kit-
chen range
kit-chenrange did little to improve
Thehird part .was' also frame .su,
maser .kitchen and woodshed;; but
not used for much in winter.
Stoves kept the house reasonably
comfortable in the daytime, but.',
• the'fires •went,out'or nearly out at
•. ; .
BY—The
country Mouse.
only oil lamps so it was just •too,
bad.if the•'oil can went dry during
a. storm . There was no electric
pump and pressure tank. Our well
was just outside the front door but
in really bad 'weather , Dad 'banked'
snow up around the walls'and door
,*to keep.out drafts, so to„get•water,
'''we had to,.go"out the back door and
wallow through.snow to the pump.
There was a small cistern under:the
back kitchen floor which -had a ,.
supply of soft water for washing,
but not for cooking or drinking.
During the winter, we had no
radio 'warning of storms , . so there
had to be a .good stoc k- of food on
hand. There were bins; boxes.and
barrels of apples, potatoes, beets
and carrots -in thecellar., and
shelves of home -canned fruit',
vegetables and pic:kles. I often
wonder now how we avoided food'
poisoning eating such quantities,
.of canned•corn, peas and beans.
There wa's always a ;barrel or• more
of 'bread:flour on hand , ,a hundred
:of sugar and .plenty of porridge
meal, honey and other staples. We
butchered our own meat. Pork was
dry salted • or put in brineready for
smoking 1,,n the spring: We made
OUT own •lard , headcheese,
liverwurst and pickled 'pigs' feet.
The beef was hung Where it would
freezea:.hig h freeze not deep
freeze'.
Roads! When. they were drifted
and rail fences and: hedges really
c aught the snow -• they • were
DRIFTED. And`they stayed drifted
until the storm was over. Then the
farmers went mit with teams'and.
sleighs I have seen the horses.`
plunging: through snow :nearly .over'.
their, backs:'S'ome of the•farrners•
- had strange little -triangular'
:wooden, plows th t
to tae front runnersof the '
sleighs and they helped widen'the
track 'made by the horses :' .(Of
course;; it was Just :tingles lane
traffic) But' until.the roads were
opened any traffic there was, such
as the doctor, drove a good bit of
the way throughth'e:'fields where
thesnow: was not sodeep . •
ere attached
How many of our.ni4eces.and 'n'eph'-
ews.have seen the king of clothing,
•we wore ir win ?-Fi st of al
•
rather than sitting up on the: sleigh ,
Sore o not , we-chfldre were -a >
ways ravenously' hungry after our
winter games. Another favourite
was: hitching the hand sleigh
behind ,a ,cutter, or sleigh and 'riding
unti,we met another returning.
The bells oh the horses'made
winter driving a very ,musical
experience Our cutter ,bells were,
attached:to the cutter shafts The,
bells on, teams of horses were;'us-.
ual.ly larger and louder.
Originally,. I think, the
bells were necessary to.
war'd ot'approaching teams when
visibility was poor or the" roads
winding. A. thing I could not ;und-
erstand when•l was a child”
was that the horse was not hitched
in front of the middle of the cutter
as, it was 'hitched to a' buggy; but
rather ,.it went in front of the left
runner : (If you; want to understand'
my`next sentence „you hadbetter,
make a' picture!) When it had. to
;turn out to meet another :cutter or •
sleigh, the'horse• went: in what had
been the track of the right runner,.
while the right runner now went out
in: the deep snow at the side', and
upsets happened frequently; These
were not always, accidental., ,
either, when young:people were
out:. for pleasure drives in the. moor--
light!
•
: S'kiing was not a winter sport in:'
Huron:inthose:days, but map'y
young people went on longer .or ''.• •
'shorter snowshoe: tramps. I,'used to:.
envy them.their easy progress. over
the snow banks .., However• skating
was o �'ular; Befdre the da: .s of o
.P F; Y.
much tile drainage', nearly every
farm hada pond which froze•and -
made' a-very:adequate rink.'Ours
was just behind the barn-,'S-o-me-
lpublic' spirited Citizens -in the -
a;
village usuallyallowed the young
people to; flood a lawn or garden.
for.an :outdoor rink where they
skated by lantern or.. moon light.
Our first skates were •s'pring skates
w is c a mpe on :te, t e to es of
ordinary 'leather •shoes: by a spring
contraption -and then a strap
went around to held the skate, in• •
place.- They were often unreliable:
and,ex'asperating. •••
Winter,work!.:I suppose it was
'Much as itis today minus our 3Q:
or 40•electrical, labour •saving
devices :and appliances. Wates: was.
pumped•by: hand for the livestock.
Feed was all handled with forks,
1 , shovels ,,etc ;,:-and-'it-was-not easy: ,
digging Y
ha. from' the; loft whereit
•
'had beed•
been and had,settle.
The,stables were, cleaned with a:
fork :and a wheelbarrow. Of course. ',
there was .long ,sleeved , • long
legged ,'woollen underwear; :long,
black woollen stockings and wooll=
endresses or:suits. Most' of the •
schoolboys wore ;pants with a tight.
band just ,below the knee., When. • .
outdoors' we. had toboggan caps,'
woollen coats;; scarves and mitts-
-
occasionally with leather_pull-ons;
over - stockings or leggings, and
rubbers over:leather bcstits.',Some
children wore felt. shoes. They were
very' warm and were supposed to
prevent chilblains; and to be,very
comfortable. To me, they were k
fur.in of t -ort -woollen
1- wooelle'
clothingwas "- and still` is. As one.
of the young :fry said "It` itches me",
the average 'farmer' did not have as.
much live 'stock"as today, but the •
chores took .hours Of every day
But Dad's days.•were. not all spent
doing chores. Two:wood stoves
consumed an awful lot of fuel in. a.
''so •cuttin wood took many
year, g,
and many an afternoon. :We did,
not •have any. bush 'on our farm
rriy grandfather had made almost
too good a job,of clearing it so
n Did-us-ual�h t-a:pie-oe-af
standing bush and °cut down the
trees. Then the logs'were drawn
But Thadto wear it anyway,.
hadn't heard of allergies. When we
plunged through the drifts or roiled
in the,snow• qr made snow, .
angels'ihere were many chinks
where the snowgot in. and melted',
-We, usually got quite wet and cold!
and shivery,: but in spite of these—
discomforts, we had fun. We went
sleighriding in the hilly •field, or
if there was not much time, the
gangway would do. Later, we
radiiated •to Stewart's field at
RESISCAL
Lose Pounds and ' Inches, Reg. $2.98 Pkg.
Now §2.65: Pkg.
CEPECOL, Reg.. $1.40' '99c
CELLULOSE TAPE, :Re `59c'ea•
g. .. 3--99
` AGAROL FAMILY LAXATIVE,
Reg: $1.4$
BATH TOWELS 20' x 40 88c
NOXZEMA LATHER BOMB,..
`tiReg..,1$1:25 $1.09
HAIRBRUSHES- i PRICE:
POWER PUCK, ' Reg. $4.95 $4.45".
.NOXZEMA HAIR CREAM, Reg. $1.79
99c.
:. 90c.
L
Umbacb
Eimer..Pharmacy
PHONE 528-3004
Cosmetics:..— Free Film Plan Animal Health
wit gone. •However the skin was •
wind=proof and that was essential
when one rode ten Miles* 'in::a sleigh,.
facing 'a north wind, or walking
alongside,to' restore, circulation...
Trips, to the'local gristmill
.xnuch more pleasant; andso.cialilo:.,
occasions ;.•
--.S}opping-was done a mile•or so
away; 'so we usually. went with;
Prince and thecutter.Prince lived
to a great age.and was a favourite .
with ail the family in spite,of some
'ornery' ways.,(Myfirst literary
effort ; 'now lost:. in the past ; was
an. I -n e-mor-ra.rn--poe-in-when-ire
died.) I still remember how eggs
and butter •were'traded .for staple -•
groceries There were few luxuries
to :be. had ,.even if therehad been
enough tradegoods to:.pay for them:
All the village; storekeepers had ".
hearts of gold' and weretready to
carry for 'weeks or Months, the - rust•
•omers .who simply did not have the
tradegoods or money'to_pay for
necessities. I wonder how rnan:
Y.
super-Markets'would' d h
home, With special. thrillsas the
horse took the pitch holes with an-,,
extra burst of speed .. A:.series o'f•.
pitch tidies close together could
cause some excitement... So could`:.
race especially if an upset was
..the result of turning out toy
pass.By the•way, there .were no
g
ti
li hts. on: sleighs and.tutters.
•
As I said -earlier, :there were r o
radios. or TV and the young people,
• made their own entertainment.
Such games:as'checkers anddorn-
.inoesas ,well as the various'card
games helped, pass many a' winter
.evening either just fo rhe fa
or' when neighbours,dropped in
which happened frequently. There
were: many small community
dant=es,,,often in the homes also.
Then, there were church concerts*'`
and socials of various kinds -'rem-
ember' the'old Box Socials?` - .:not
tp mention debates aneven Choir
Practice:' Yes , inthose days, :Choir
Practice was a pleasure, not a;
Somewhat dubious duty. l l,any a
o that!, aomance_began a r+theseLsinipie_
Weather had to b'e, pretty bad; to
ke'e us home from school, or •
P. .
church. . We•• frequently walked'to
.ieaa
Sunday.Sctiool, abouta m 1 away,
and then came home after. church'
in the cutter or with a net hbour
s g,
'or. even 'hitched ,a "ride on'a
'runner'. I remember lore Sunday,
mysister and noun .est brother and.
Y g
a net hbour girl decided not.to stay
.for church. 'instead theywent to
•.
the.shed of Prince, and drove
.g
house . `The oldest of :the rebels shay
have'been eight! The horses Were
blanketed and tied in:the church
shed - the_blarl-ket_h:ad:...m.ade any•
We� ` iome ; and finally th e -was' -a -Bee
when the: ownerof the buzz saw,
came. (Almost the first tragedy I.
remember was. when the•loc;al
sawyer diedfrom a, fall on • •
the saw) After being sawn into stove
lengths, the wood was split and •'
piled to dry. A well-filled
woodyard :was usually considered
the sign of a provident 'farmer.
,Another big job which occurred
two 'or three 'times during the winter
was takin• the .•s to market - or
rug in the bottom of'the cutter'on
the, drive to church: Dad was :a
friendly -neighbourly man,so w.
usually had to'wait more or less pat•
iently after church while everyone,
else got,:away° until there was ,no'
one left for Dad to visit with : Sung
day' night.„ the church was• usually'
packed. A11 •the -young blades for
miles around came to, church with
e and•shinin cutters
their fast. horses g ,
gay�.with''colourful blankets hanging
over the backs' and cos buffalo
Y
'robes over their knees - real status
symbols! But l am 'not sure'- „•'
t ey came or mora e•t Ica z•n;
expect their eyes roamed over the
congregation' and' the choir de-
c"idin whore to *invite for the drive
g ,.
home., And each luck girl waited
at the church door until her swain
carne along. Then came the ;drive
social occasions.
Looking, back Winter was a happy
time in spite '.of • many ha•rdships
and discomforts.and there were
many rural pleasures which have
almost disappeared ;• I wonder how
people will look back'on'toda� ,
fifty years'bence%. when life, has
become the urbanized,
standardized, apartmentized,
co.mputerized. thing which -the
scientistsr predict:. „
;'The hih>jil-ly father was furious.
1
"Which one of you pushed the
house into the creek?"' he asked',`,
e, "Me paw", spoke up Zeke
".Wal, bey,...
conte into•the wood-.
shed ..I'm going ,ta tan your hide
g g y
real good
"But paw' ,''countered young
Zeke, ,"George Washington's paw,a
didn't-liek•him when he told the
"Maybe not"', replied the fattier;.,
"But when George cut down that'
cherry tree, his old man Wasn't.
settin' in the branches.."
You didn't just get u and :tutu u" Glenn's Hill, which had steep,
. �u ,p P
;the • t'hernlostat• or Open the furnace bumpy hills, I suspect the old
• P . ; j� ;� rrnn .
draft. bad -always k•e t'' the stubborn stumps ust• rotted , fo g all
d forburning . had 'the little. bumps. Rides werereally
knottyychunks of wood here were often a ,,
at so th few exciting there and very sore : ,
night
coals to start the morning fire, •� n i - stomachs resulted when we insisted,
ce there wasy
ncit , we had on going.down on our stomachs ' '
no elect
yn.,,etvi �tiez•..«Iry_..:�_+u:s�-�rrorir`.�_.�e:::,�.
rather'so Lucknow , to be shipped to
a •city market. Somehow , market
da y. for Dad seemed to be usually.
an extremely cold day,•so for prot=
croon he wore what we called.his.
'skin coat',; It had been a fur coag
:probably bear but most•of the fur
In renewing: her subscription to
the Sentinel:,.• Leila `Hoffman of
Dunnville +writes "The Sentinel has
never missed And'sometiines comes
on Thursday Ani pleased when I
see an occasion•al''farilia.r name"
t_�r�:•3z:^ :....cin-ar e__-:.rli-a.: ir+�:=.i ..�a.rc� �.s-wrwa::•w�:-+�� •
,.=AS Y.,:,'-Ei"i�'`aoi+"'.Y.:,�1Vk1Gilk'