State

Making Do In War Times By HILLY Л11ТН1 К "How could you do this to me." I wailed. "Now my friends can't call me. I won’t have a date all summer. I 'll just die." Well I lived through the summer and even through college, where we had only one phone down a long hall in the dorm. Today each student has a per¬ sonal phone. _ Л few years ago the telephone com¬ pany made another big change. Instead of dials they now have push-buttons. All the repair trucks and taxis have phones, and even some private cars have them. Hut the change I like least is the recorded message you get when no one is at home. At first I am startled, then I feel intimidated. They tell you to leave a message at the sound of a beep. I feel so silly talking to a machine. I usually just hang up. The first phones did away with friendly letters. Now they do away with friendly conversation. I found these hints for using the telephone in an old book: 1. Speak directly into the transmitter. Your lips should be about half an inch from the monthpiecc. Use a normal tone of voice; loud talk distorts and blurs the voice over the tele¬ phone. (Remember how we used to shout?) 2. Allow ample time for your party to answer. 15 rings is not too long to wait. (Five rings seems long enough today.) 3. In signaling the operator, move the receiver hook slowly three or four times. If you jiggle it too rapidly the operator cannot see the signal. 4. Answer the telephone promptly. In answering, it is a good idea to give your phone number rather than simply saying hello. This saves time and often embarrassment. (Remember telling it all to someone on the phone only to find out it was a wrong number.) Of course these hints were for women. Men only used the phone for business. Now I don't know if I own my phone or not. My bill looks like I may be buying a new phone each month. Maybe Ma Hell owns me! CRYING SHAME III Sb e*rtr«- здеммлаал *' <олв4,оо*« — fwu 0"V>C<« 1 Gul* St'**" FiHfc-a Tn(H Doc *4 * S«4 A»t« -A- on Att*olK Bo*:* C»u5*«»i <r* 1 «»irvj ’84 i*»*'v»1ion» 919/247-F.I.S.H. I.ive-at-home and do-it-yourself were absolutely necessary in North Carolina during the Civil War. When communication with northern manufacturers and markets was cut off. the state fully recognized its de¬ pendence on the outside for essentials. Hxcept for cotton and tobacco, it had scarcely any factories and they were pressed into the war effort; blockades made foreign imports virtually impos¬ sible; and prices rose because of the scarcities and a depreciating currency. So. expedients and makeshifts were required. Ihe first needs were salt, clothing and shoes. Dirt floors of smoke houses pro¬ vided some salt. 'Hie earth which had become saturated from salt dripping from hanging meats or from spillings over the years w as dug up and leached. The brine was concentrated by boiling, then allowed to crystallize. Squeamish? Salt was still salt. About the only cloth was homespun. Old time spinning wheels and hand looms again were put to use to make clothing materials. Rough cotton was both outer and under wear, even for the ladies. To repair corsets, splints of elastic white oak substituted for whalebone so often that, finally, no pan of the gar¬ ment’s original structure remained. Rolls of straw were braided to be made into hats and bonnets, and their ornamental flowers were made from dyed or natural feathers. Young belles preferred the natural and brilliant tail feathers of a barnyard rooster. Corr espondence was on any kind of paper, which was folded and sealed with mucilage made of tree gum dis¬ solved in vinegar, then addressed. Goose quills served as pens when dipped into an ink made from an astringent berry juice with copperas added. Pencils were sharpened bars of lead or pieces of slate whittled to a point. Kerosene lamps were replaced by tallow candles, made from a wick of loosely woven cotton being repeatedly drawn slowly through a pan of melted wax and rosin till the desired si/e was attained. Another light source was a dry ball from a sycamore tree floating in a saucer of melted lard. I he ball acted as a wick, and the heat kept the lard melted. In the winter bla/ing pine in lire places provided illumination al¬ most everywhere. Sorghum And Shoes Rye. wheat, okra, persimmon seed and even finely chopped sweet potatoes were roasted and boiled as coffee substitutes. In place of sugar, sorghum syrup — known also as black strap and long-sweetening were used as sweetener. Hccausc heavy leather was unob¬ tainable. shoe soles were carved from maple or gum wood. I he sole and heel was one piece, turning up toward the toe like a sled runner, and grooved so that the edges of the "vamp and quar¬ ter" of the upper leather could be se¬ cured by tacks or pegs. Го prevent rapid wear, oftimes the entire sole was protected by forged iron strips, all of which made the shoe heavy, noisy and clumsy. The upper portion was made from any salvageable leather, preferably from carriage tops and curtains, plus skirts of riding saddles which were a popular item for thievery. Skirts were oftimes stolen when thieves cut them off at hitching posts, and it was said that ihe best place to find a concentra¬ tion of hitched saddle horses w as in — would you believe it? — the church¬ yard. TAR HEEL QUOTES Some fools are born that way. Others are self-made. —James Larkin Pearson. The Fool Killer (1910) A country doctor on being asked what was the best way to cure a ham remarked that before answering the question he would want to know w hat ailed the ham. —Reidsville Times (1X84) THE STATE. FCOHUARY 1984 21