"Halfway up the flue, wide-throated, "Now that cabin in the clearing Is but dust, blown here and there, Breathe their darkness on the air; COSTUME AND FURNITURE. The comparative newness of all the material changes called by the general name of "improvements," in the Central West, may be brought vividly to the imagination by considering how recently the site of the great city of Cincinnati was in the thick woods. Timothy Flint tells us that in 1790 (not a century ago) "twenty acres in different parts of the town were planted in corn. The grinding was done with hand mills. Flour and bacon, now in such abundance, were then imported from the older settlements. The tables were of split planks, and the dishes were of wood. The men wore hunting-shirts of domestic fabric. The dress was bound with a belt, or girdle, in which were a knife and a tomahawk. The lower part of the dress was of deer-skin, and after the Indian fashion; in fact, the dress of the backwoods people of Illinois and Missouri at the present day." This was written in 1832, only fifty-six years ago. Another chronicler of old customs informs his readers that the early settlers of Illinois wore "mawkawsins" on their feet, and covered the head with the red skin of the prairie wolf; that buffalo hides were cut into strips for ropes and traces, and that the skins of the buffalo, bear, and elk were used for beds. The cramped limits of the ordinary log house forbade much ceremony, by compelling the members of the family to share promiscuously in miscellaneous duties. Necessities were provided for, but amenities were not. Social life, under such circumstances, suffered many inconveniences. But families learned to accommodate their wants to their means. For toilet purposes a small looking-glass was placed at an angle above the paste-board comb-case. The men and boys always went out into the yard to wash their faces. Usually a spinning-wheel and a flax distaff formed part of the house furniture. Of course the historic buckeye broom or its hickory rival kept the cabin clean; and of course the necessary rifle, with accompanying powder-horn and bulletpouch, hung upon wooden hooks against the wall. LIGHT, FIRE, FOOD, AND WATER. Pine-knots, tallow candles, and lard-oil lamps furnished light. The embers in the fire-place were seldom suffered to burn out, but when the last coal chanced to expire the fire was rekindled by striking a spark from the flint into a piece of tinder. The tinder-box was to our ancestors what the match-box is to us. Sometimes, when the fire went out, a burning brand was borrowed from the hearth of a neighbor. 1 66 bake Bread was baked in "Dutch ovens," or pans," set over beds of live coals raked upon the hearth, and meats and vegetables were boiled in pots hung by hooks upon a strong piece of green timber called the "lug-pole," which was placed across the wide chimney-flue, just above the blaze. In time the lugpole gave place to the iron crane. There was invented also a cooking utensil of tin called a reflector, by means of which biscuits were baked. The flesh of the deer and the wild turkey furnished a staple of food in the backwoods. Beans, pumpkin butter, and dried fruits were much used. Corn-meal was the common bread-stuff, and, mills being few, the corn was often ground by means of a pestle in a wooden mortar. Corn bread was often prepared in the form of a johnny-cake-a corruption of journey-cake-a loaf baked upon a "johnny" board, about two feet long and eight inches wide, on which the dough was spread and then exposed to the fire. In Kentucky, the slaves used to bake similar loaves on a hoe, and called them hoe-cakes. The early settler sought to locate his cabin near a spring or a running stream. When he dug a well, the water was drawn by means of the old oaken bucket, hung by a grape-vine from the "sweep," or by a windlass. WAR ON THE WOODS. Food, clothing, shelter, are the undowithoutables. A venison steak in the skillet, a suit of buckskin, a hut to shed the rain, and the man is comfortable. Starting with these essentials, he sets about gaining the superfluities. He begins the aggressive struggle for power and possession. The trees are the backwoodman's enemy, for they occupy his ground. They will not run away, like the buffalo and the Indian, so they must be hewn down and cremated. The labor of clearing, like that of building, was lightened for each by the union of all in the war upon the woods. "Choppings," and "log-rollings," were among the toilsome pleasures of the settlers. A small army of stalwart men, with strong muscles and sharp axes, soon cut away a regiment of trees, and let daylight upon a plot of ground large enough for a "patch" for planting corn, beans, and pumpkins. The trees were felled, their branches were lopped off, their trunks were cut into lengths of from twelve to twenty feet. Then came the log-rolling. Ox-teams and handspikes dragged and rolled the slain giants of the forest into high piles, which, when dry, were burnt to ashes. When the task of the day was ended, such games as racing, wrestling, and boxing were in order. THE CORN-HUSKING. By slow encroachment on the woods, the tillable fields were widened. Barns to garner the harvests rose when the necessity for them was felt. Then the custom of holding "husking bees" prevailed in the Ohio Valley, as it had prevailed long before in the East. But the mode of conducting the husking was changed. Doctor Daniel Drake gives a vivid description of corn-husking in Kentucky about the year 1800. He says: "When the crop was drawn in, the ears were heaped into a long pile or rick, a night fixed upon, and the neighbors notified rather than invited, for it was an affair of mutual assistance. As they assembled at |