Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/500

 440 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI supply of fire borrowed from some neighbor to rekindle that which had gone out from carelessness. On many shelves, or mantles, there stood in these days a vessel containing rolls of paper called lamp-lighters, which were held in the fire that blazed on the hearth, and then used to light the candle or the lamp. Other articles of the most fre- quent use, and seemingly entirely indispen- sable, were rarely seen inside the houses of many people in this period. The houses of the settlers were, in the early part of the period we are considering, built very largely of logs. The same house plan followed in Virginia and the Carolinas and brought westward by the American settlers was still in use. By 1850, however, there were in operation saw-mills, enabling the more enterprising of the inhabitants to con- struct frame houses and, accordingly, we find that from this time on, frame houses became more and more common. These houses built during this period, while simple in plan, and free from much ornamentation, were usually built of the quality of lumber which it is now no longer possible to secure. Timber was the cheapest commodity on the market, and where a saw-mill was available at all, it was possible to secure at a very low cost, lumber sawed from the finest and straightest of trees. These houses, whether frame or logs, were still heated by the fire-place. There were a few stoves, for during this period the open iron stove known as the ' ' Franklin ' ' made its appearance in Southeast ^Missouri, and found favor in some places, but the great depend- ance was upon the open fire-place. The chimneys were built in some coimties of stone, but in most cases they were still of what was known as the "stick and dirt" type. Brick was coming to be iLsed for the same purposes in places, and there were occasional brick houses being erected, though they were as yet by no means common. The food of the people was simple, but abundant. In more remote settlements game was still to be found in very great abundance, and supplied, in considerable measure, food for the family. Wild turkey and venison, rnd some of the countless varieties of wild fowl, bacon, and less frequently beef, were the staple meats. Bread made from flour was used more and more extensively, but during all of this period the bread that was most commonly used by the American settlers was corn bread. There was as yet no general use of many varieties of vegetables or fruits. Orchards were planted in places, and kitchen gardens were cultivated by some, but these were the exception and not the rule. De- pendence was placed on the plainer and more substantial items of diet which we have men- tioned. These remarks, of course, do not apply to the French settlements, for they re- tained that taste and .skill in cookery and tlie preparation of food which has always dis- tinguished the French. The dress of the American settlers during a great part of this period was still of the home-spun cloth, such as we have described in speaking of the dress of an earlier time. Toward the close of the period, as we have indicated, there came more and more into use clothing made from cloth imported into the coimtry. Even at this time, however, the cloths themselves were cut and made up in the home. Not many of the people wore clothes made by tailors or in great manufac- turing establishments. This was especially true of the clothing of the men. Of course in the larger towns, where something of a