"I ain't hankering to die yet!"

By Charlotte Busby, The Yankee Teacher. Original story title: "Living Lore in New England," published February 24, 1939 by The Yankee Teacher.

The Yankee Teacher
Page 2, continued - Wal, one day Pa told us kids he would be gone a few hours. Beforehand he had taken out the old washtub, washed himself and dressed up in his best suit. One of the boys greased his cowhide boots for him.. Another kid brushed out the old buggy. I dusted off the old mare for him.

"Pa was gone a few hours and when he came back he brought a wife. But she was just a stepmother to us boys. She was kindhearted, but she had a bitter tongue and we were afraid of her."

"Tell about the marriage ceremonies in those days," I asked.

Gramp took a big pinch form his snuff box. "Marriages in those days were usually held in the office of the justice of the peace, or at the parsonage. The ceremony was short and sweet. They didn't have much of a honeymoon. Sometimes there were love matches, but usually it was a business-like arrangement. The parents and friends often arranged them, or the couples themselves."

The old fellow started to nod in his chair. "Good night, Gramp," I said, rising. "We'll talk some more tomorrow."

The next night he busied himself throwing pine logs into the fireplace in the living room as we sat before the blaze, while the wind roared and swirls of snow hit against the panes. The storm outside and the warmth and comfort within seemed to combine to encourage confidences.

"What do you consider the great moment of you life?" I asked suddenly.

"The greatest moment of my life was when every single thing was against me. The blackest and most dismal time, loss of family ties, position and money. A time when everything tottered and I almost went down into a pit too deeps to crawl out of. But I didn't go down.

"I prayed, too, I crawled cautiously up, foot by foot, until gradually stood on my feet again. You've heard Patrick who wouldn't cross the ocean unless he first went to the priest to ask the holy Saint Michael to help him. We're the same. We all need help both from within ourselves and from our religion, whatever it may be. We old-timers learned to rake for ourselves. We had to have plenty of hope, faith and courage. Just now the whole country is helpless. Would you like to know why it's helpless?"

"Yes, of course," I said, meekly. One gets a humble feeling listening to Gramp. He speaks with such assuredness.

"My solution of solving the troubles of the depression is that everyone should work, in the first place, and work hard. There is too much play, too much gambling and speculation. The panic was caused by the people depending on the country. It should be vice versa. The country should depend upon the people. Every family should try to own their own home and a little land. He should

plant a garden and raise enough vegetables to last through the winter. A wife should can everything possible. There should be a salt pork barrel and a pickle barrel. If possible, have two cows, and hens enough to have one's own eggs. Feed the hens some grain and, mostly, table scraps. Always raise a good, fat pig to be killed at Christmas time. A good heifer calf can be raised cheaply, with some work. The bull calves can be fattened, and eaten when cold weather sets in.

"Plant apples, pear and peach trees. Have a strawberry and raspberry patch, and if possible, an asparagus bed. Be sure to get a good job and keep it. If machinery replaces men, men must walk barefooted looking for something else. You know I think I'm a socialist. Be on time and work early and late. This money will pay taxes insurance and repairs, buy regular food not otherwise provided for, and clothes. Don't make use of installment plans in buying anything. Have the cellar full of fruit and vegetables, such as potatoes, cabbage, turnips, carrots, parsnips. Have plenty of stews; buy a few pounds of good meat and cook up a quantity of vegetables.

Buy or cut fuel for the winter in the summer and have it ready before it is needed. Dress children simply and warmly and have them in the care of a doctor and dentist, at regular periods.

"Teach the girls to cook and sew. Teach the boy to cut wood, take care of a garden, milk a cow, hunt and fish. Give the boy a boat and a dog and a gun, if he acts sensible. Teach him to use carpenter's tools. Give a girl a sewing machine. Educate your children so they can become wage earners. Girls need a college education, just as much as boys. Have parties at home. Don't buy an automobile unless it is necessary, or you can afford the luxury of owing one. Rise early and go to bed before midnight. The best sleep is before midnight."

Gramp was in one of his good moods for talking and he rambled on, but with certainty.

"When I was a boy I would run a mile for a penny, and now a is so lazy he will not even walk across the street to earn a quarter. When I was a boy, ice cream and candy were a treat. Nowadays they are not treats at all. Everyone is satiated with all the comforts of like imaginable, but still he is not satisfied. The rich man may envy the poor man but the poor man tries to act like a millionaire. There is hardly a middle man, except in the insane hospitals and jails, which are more crowded every year. There, at least, life goes on in some sort of even regularity. Those in charge live the best, but all the rest are on a similar plane, whether patient or guard. Americans strive to out-do each other, and a uniform unrest and real poverty will result, sooner or later."

Gramp seemed to enjoy talking on and on.

"This is a fast age. Look at the fast young men lurching along the streets. Look at the painted dolls mincing along on high heels, prancing along in overalls, or slacks as they call 'em, with bare back, humped up like kangaroos. A fast crowd in look looks at any rate. Perhaps in time they will grow up and look and act like sensible people. I like to see a youth wear a hat and I do not like greased heads. We used to grease shoes, not hair, except dowdies and dudes, perhaps. Look at the fast life on the highways. A spending whirl of life. Tipsy young people hurtling to their death against a tree or post.

"A school bus dashes into a flying train and the hopes of many fathers and mothers; and bodies of school children are strewn along the way - some in pieces to be picked up in buckets, as at a slaughter house. Too much haste, too much spirits in the stomach, and in the mind. Drunken drivers - death and sorrow for many families result. Speed in the air. Speed on the land. Speed on the sea. Speed on the screen. Money making schemes. Cities full of cars. People, People playing [beno?] - dollar entrance fees paid out weekly by people that haven't even an undershirt or a pair of garters."

We ate the apples that Gramp had handy, throwing our peelings on the fire, and watching them burn in fantastic shapes.

"In the old days family ties were very strong; relations used to be loyal and help each other out." Gramp remarked, after a minute or two of silence.

"Did you ever hear of Beartown? We used to call it Ba'rtown. It was a section of Great Barrington near South Lee. The ba'r himself was Judge Sumner. He had long, white hair and a big crop of whiskers. He used to shine at all the court sessions. Then there was Levi Beebe.

He was very active in town affairs and religious duties. Levi was witty, droll and charitable. His wife used to give money to the poor, and baskets of food to the sick and needy.

"For many years, old Levi kept a weather chart. He was quite a weather prophet. He had stacks of charts piled away and he spent all his spare time studying up on the subject. Levi was very slack. For instance, if he was getting in a load of hay and a shower was coming up suddenly, he'd stop and tell everybody it was going to rain, instead of getting his load of hay into the barn. In politics he was very much alive on every subject. This weather business was his weak spot.

"Beebe owned hundreds of acres of land. He had a fine saw mill. He had the first circular saw up thereabouts. The old kind of saw was the up and down saw. He used to boast loudly that at one time he had owned land in thirteen different states. Our cattle shows and fairs used to last three to four days. Beebe used to make a lot of speeches there. He was a would the orator on every subject. In fact, he tried to be an [expert] on all subjects."

"Isn't there a reservation called Beartown?", I inquired.

"Yes, there is. The people sold plenty of land to the government."

Gramp resumed his collection of old time families. "Now, there was another prominent family called the Culvers. There was a big family of them. One of them Ed Culver, was one of my schoolmasters. I remember one incident that happened during a winter term. Old Culver had a lot of trouble with some of the boys who were as big as he. The oldest were from eighteen to twenty-two. Not many went after they were twenty-one.

"One day the gang were especially unruly. [Ed?] dasn't fight the big ones so he picked on the little ones in a true cowardly fashion.

I was quite mischievous and he caught me up to some prank, so he make me do what they called in those days 'straightening or tightening the nails.' You had to put you toes on a line of nails on the floor and bend forward in good position. The teacher then gave you a good swat."

"What did he use?"

"Culver made a certain kind of a stick, shaved out of a hard slab board."

"Did it hurt much?"

"Wal, he usually was so mad that he broke his stick at the first whack. The women teachers used to have us cut our own whips. They were cut according to the teacher's orders and were of a size to suit the offense."

There was a rattle of the door leading to the porch - one of Gramp's few visitors had come to call. The interviews for the time was over. (cb)

Your Comments on this article - Subject: FEB 39 Way it Was 2safeschools Connections - Take the grand tour ... over 400 teacher, classroom and school bus driver websites nationwide ready to share their web pages. You'll find a nation's worth of ideas for all grade levels in these webrings." 2safeschools Awards Center - Does your web page include a safety suggestion, flyer or article. If it does, apply for your personalized 2safeschools "Helping Hand Award." No safety pages or flyers? Provide a LINK to 2safeschools free templates page or to our directory or other 2safeschools page of your choice, then apply for your award; Directory Link: http://www.delphi.com/2safeschools. Graphic links available at our Links Center. A Mother's Story - What this mom did when the school and therapy failed her out-of-control son. Excellent reading for Parents and School Staff dealing with an out-of-control teen and nothing else has worked. A Librarian�s Story - A 10-year veteran of the King County, (Washington State) Public Library resigned rather than carry out library policy of providing children with pornography. How to help keep your child's school bus safe - A short article from "In Loving Memory."

E-Mail your story

Every person has a great school or school bus safety story, idea, war story or "something funny happened today" story. Perhaps something for the rest of us grown-ups to think about or perhaps to affirm, encourage and support other adults.

When e-mailing or mailing a story please include your name, contact address and a little about yourself. If the story is controversial and you wish to remain anonymous we can often do that, depending on the story, or not print the story until it can be verified through another source.

For more about submitting stories, Click Here.