Chapter IV Continued PIONEER LIFE Of the young men who were born before coming to Cornish, now grown to manhood, there were four, Simeon, Salmon, Ithamar, Baruch; for these woods and streams furnished infinite delight, mingled with enough pleasure, while adding to the resources of the family by their tributes of venison and wild birds from the forest, and trout from the cool streams coming to meet the beautiful river from the north. No doubt the boys hunted for the wild honey which wild bees had stored for many summers in the wilderness, and searched and found where the hill strawberries grew and the wild raspberries ripened cool and sweet under the beech trees and in the partially cleared land, where sweet blackberries tempted their sisters into dangerous fields out of sight of the smoke of the big chimney at the home. In the winter, when the moon shone bright up and down the frozen river, what a pleasure, to slide or skate or drive a sled with all their might, their young hearts beating with joy of mere living! The humorous side of life gave these children a certain pleasure which any of the same class could not appreciate; besides, by some means, they had books, scarce as they must have been. Of newspaper there could have been none; what Deacon Chase knew about the Revolution was brought to his ears by transmission from mouth to mouth by settlers down the Connecticut. The farmer of to-day may profitably look back, through the vista of one hundred and twenty-three years, to the days when the farmer of 1780 worked his woodland acres by means of a rude plough, fashioned in part by his own hand, and propelled by an ox team. All the tools were more or less made at home, at least the parts constructed of wood. The grain, most of it, rye and oats, was threshed by flais (???) made of very hard wood, and fastened by leather thongs at the joint. These flails are curiosities now, but their cheery thump from the open barn doors on sunny days in winter is one of the memories of the childhood of people now living. "Faning mills" were not then invented, and cleaning the grain from fine dust and straws was done by means of a "cradle" manipulated by the farmer's strong arms. Added to these little inconveniences, matches were not in use for nearly sixty years after this period. The coals on the big kitchen hearth stone were not allowed to go out at night, but were carefully covered with ashes; or should such a dire accident occur, fire must be produced by means of a flint and tinder box, or the hot coals sent from the neighbors, if within reach. Imagine the situation in the dark night in mid winter with a child ill with a sudden croup! Smoking was not made easy in those days; the kitchen tongs, heavy as they were, held the hot coal to the plug weed, finely shredded, or the tallow candle was held to the cob pipe, ere the soothing weed might console its owner. But perhaps these stalwart young Chases were not addicted to or held in bonds by this habits. Mistress Allace for all these busy years was the mainspring in this extraordinary household. From 1764 to 1785 great changes occurred in her family. End Chapter IV Harriet M. Chase hatchase@uswest.net