MEMORIES OF THE 



they were improperly pickled through and would spoil as soon 

 as hot weather came. 



It was a custom in our neighborhood when a family '* butch- 

 ered " or killed a fat steer, sheep or lamb, to send a good, liberal 

 piece to the nearest neighbors who at that time were known not 

 to have a supply of fresh meat. There were no meat-shops, and 

 this neighborly courtesy was highly appreciated. Ice-houses 

 were uncommon, and in hot weather very little fresh meat was 

 had or used. In the cool weather of the spring, fall and winter, 

 there was always plenty of it, and in the summer-time occasion- 

 ally a lamb was killed, dressed and hung down in the cold well 

 to cool and keep — not in the water, but suspended above it. 

 There was never any scarcity of food; always plenty and of the 

 best quality. 



^ ^ 5 



TROUBLE 



My earliest memory of anything about home is of being 

 tossed up by my father when he came in from work, and of 

 being down and around the school-house which was on the corner 

 near our house. 



Sister Sophronia always claimed that I was sent to school 

 before I was weaned, and was obliged to go home at recess for 

 my lunch. That may have been her joke, or it may have been — 

 and probably was — something pretty nearly true, as I was the 

 only ''baby on the block" available for the use and amusement 

 of the school-girls. 



The days of babyhood on the farm were few and soon past. 

 The period of helpless, do-nothing existence was cut short at 



94 



