Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/23

 A RETARDED FRONTIER

A HOME-MADE COTTON GIN

more like rustic summer houses than places of manufacture. Although the family ordinarily depends upon the water-mill, now and then there is a hand-mill near the cabin door, as a last resort in case the domestic economy, never very carefully organized, has failed to maintain its supply of corn meal. Iron work- ing is largely given over to log blacksmith shops in the small settlements and at the crossroads. But on many of the iso- lated farms there are forges for domestic use. Tanning seems to be a rare industry among the mountaineers, who have come to depend for sad- dle and harness upon the

storekeepers. Portable steam saw-mills have almost wholly superseded the old-time saw pit, with its "top-sawyer."

By far the most interesting industry is the making of textile fabrics. The men are now more rarely clad in home-made jeans, which they have exchanged for " store clothes." But the women still wear very generally, and always for common use, "linsey" gowns of their own weaving and making. Almost every cabin among the older mountaineers has its spinning- wheel and hand-loom. Many of the younger generation show a disposition either to buy store goods or to depend upon older and more skillful neighbors for the weaving of their cloth, if not for the carding and spinning of their wool.

The linsey is not, as we had fancied, a plain dull brown or gray. The yarns are dyed brilliant red, green, yellow, and blue, and are oftentimes woven in really complex patterns of checks and stripes. The rather brilliant, crude colors of the new material yield gradually to water and sun, softening frequently into pleasant and subdued tones. The mountaineers also raise