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116 Pioneer History of Meigs County had weakened the pith or inside of the stem, or rotted it suffi- ciently to be easily broken when dry. It was then taken up and bound ready for the brake. The brakeman would take a handful of flax and place it under the brake, and with his other hand ply the brake till all the sheaves were mashed fine. Then the ends of the handfuls were slightly combed by what was called a hatchel, and the broken stems were thrown away as useless. Then both ends were thoroughly combed, and the tow saved for use. The flax that remained after these pro- cesses was fine, smooth and glossy. The tow was carded on hand cards into rolls, or bats, and was spun on a "big wheel" like wool; but the flax was spread over a distaff and spun on a little wheel, and operated by the foot on a treadle. This thread made the warp, and the tow yarn made the filling when woven into cloth, which was called "tow and linen cloth," and was commonly worn by men for trousers in summer. The linen warp was sometimes colored with copperas, a yellow brown, and filled with woolen yarn colored with butternut bark, and was called butternut jeans, and made winter clothing. For a change, both linen chain and woolen filling were colored with indigo and made blue jeans for men and boys, coats and trousers. Experiments were made with other material, as of buckskin, the hide of the deer, when properly tanned was a soft, pliable leather, made into gloves, mittens and moccasins, very rarely into the garments for men or boys. Attempts were made to raise cotton, but in such small quan- tities, and lacking proper machinery to take the seeds out of the cotton, the effort was unsuccessful. At a later period a few families entered into silk culture, planted white mulberry trees, and had rooms fitted for feeding the worms, but it was considered an unhealthy business, and was abandoned. Perhaps no article of household furnishings was prized more highly than the long pendulum wall clock. The firm of Reed |
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