28 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



and for those who did not care for the stronger 

 drink, and a most acceptable drink it was. The 

 farmers had learned that when only water was 

 drunk, the stomach was in part paralyzed by the 

 large quantities taken to replace the excessive loss 

 of moisture due to the terrible work. This hasty 

 beer was made as follows : a pail of water from the 

 " northeast " corner of the well, a half gill of 

 cider vinegar, one gill of best New Orleans mo- 

 lasses and one to two tablespoons of ginger 

 stirred thoroughly and modified to suit the taste. 



Nearly every farmhouse was provided with a 

 tin horn from four to six feet long, and there was 

 always a rivalry to see who could blow the horn 

 earliest, best and longest. I have known our Penn- 

 sylvania hired girl to wind that mammoth horn 

 for fifteen minutes at a stretch. It was in reality a 

 challenge to all farm girls within hearing and, as 

 the farms were small and the horn could be heard 

 for more than a mile with favorable wind, and as 

 the fields were filled with harvesters, she had no 

 mean audience. 



I have before me several pages of an old account 

 book of the year 1818 which was kept by my 

 brother Ralph's wife's father, Mr. Grove, who at 

 one time kept a general merchandise store at Shel- 

 drake Point on Cayuga Lake, twelve miles south 



