Mirror to America : a history of New London, New Hampshire, 1900-1950, Part 2

Author: Squires, J. Duane (James Duane), 1904-
Publication date: 1952
Publisher: Concord, N.H. : Evans Print. Co.
Number of Pages: 632


USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > New London > Mirror to America : a history of New London, New Hampshire, 1900-1950 > Part 2


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62


2. Fraternal Societies:


218


King Solomon's Lodge No. 14, F. & A.M. - New London Grange No. 95, P. of H. - Heidelberg Lodge No. 92, I.O.O.F. - Crystal Rebekah Lodge No. 68, I.O.O.F. - Martha Chapter No. 34, O.E.S.


3. Patriotic Societies:


221


Anthony Colby Post No. 85, G.A.R. - Stephen R. Swett Camp No. 32, Sons of Union Veterans - American Legion Post No. 40 - New London Unit No. 40, American Legion Auxiliary - Other Patriotic Affiliations of Town People


4. Youth Organizations: 223


Troop No. 71 Boy Scouts of America - Campfire Girls - Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. in New London - The Girl Scouts - The Kearsarge Hiking Club - B.Y.P.U. and B.Y.F. - The Order of Rainbow for Girls


5. Women's Groups: 225


The Pleasant Street Helpers - The New London Woman's Club - The New London Garden Club - Other Women's Groups


xix


226


6. Other Groups in New London:


The Elkins Fish and Game Club - The New London Branch, A. R. C. - The Scytheville Technical Society - New London Branch, N. H. League of Arts and Crafts - New London Old Home Day Association - Political Clubs in New London


CHAPTER XIII


NEW LONDON IN THE SERVICE OF THE NATION


1. The Impact of World War I on New London: 233


The Coming of the War in 1917 - The Draft Registration - New London's Service Roll - Home Front Activities -New London's Support of War Bonds and Red Cross Campaigns - Welcoming the Veterans Back in 1919


2. The Effect of World War II on New London: 237


Preliminary Activities Before Pearl Harbor - The Service Roll, 1941-1945 - Organization of Civilian Defense - New London's Support of War Bond, Red Cross, and United War Fund Campaigns - Colby Junior College Contribution to the War Effort - Welcoming the Men and Women Back in 1946


3. New London in the National Mobilization of 1950 245


Conclusion


CHAPTER XIV


MIRROR TO AMERICA: A HALF CENTURY OF CHANGES AND ENDURING REALITIES


253


XX


Appendices


I. TABLES OF OFFICIALS ELECTED BY THE TOWN, 1900-1950, not previously listed in the text 265


Helen Kidder Greenaway


II. THE HOUSES OF NEW LONDON BUILT PRIOR TO THE CIVIL WAR Mildred Crockett Tunis


280


III. SOME NOTES ON THE WEATHER IN NEW LONDON 331


IV. THE DATES FOR THE BREAK-UP OF THE ICE ON LAKE SUNAPEE, 1900-1950 335


V. THE GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY PROJECT


OF 1912 AND NEW LONDON


337


VI. RELATIONS OF THE N. H. HIGHWAY DE- PARTMENT TO NEW LONDON 340


VII. FAMILY RECORDS, 1900-1950


342


Nancy Lord Daniels


Index


xxi


ILLUSTRATIONS


WHIPPLE MEMORIAL HALL AND THE TOWN MONUMENT FRONTISPIECE


Between pages


LOOKING TOWARD THE FOUR CORNERS IN 1900 8-9


THE FOUR CORNERS IN 1900


8-9


THE HOTEL SARGENT 8-9


NEW LONDON'S DRUG STORES


8-9


SOME BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS IN 1950


104-105


OTHER FORMS OF BUSINESS ENTERPRISE IN 1950 104-105


VARIOUS ASPECTS OF COMMUNICATION AND TRAVEL 120-121


HOSPITALITY IN NEW LONDON IN 1950


120-121


HOSPITALITY IN NEW LONDON IN 1950 (continued) 120-121


TWO OF THE OLD DISTRICT SCHOOLS


120-121


HOSPITAL DAY IN 1950


136-137


VACATION, RELAXATION, COMMEMORA- TION 136-137


TWO WAYS OF DISTRIBUTING IDEAS 136-137


SUMMER AND WINTER SCENES 136-137


THE BOYS' CLUB OF NEW LONDON, 1951 152-153


xxiii


SWIMMING, SAILING, SKATING, SKIING 152-153 SOME TOWN GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES 152-153


PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOL 152-153


HOUSES OF WORSHIP IN NEW LONDON 168-169


SOME REPRESENTATIVE PUBLIC BUILDINGS 168-169


COLBY PANORAMAS


184-185


DR. HERBERT LESLIE SAWYER


184-185


COLBY JUNIOR COLLEGE IN 1950


200-201


WHEN CLASSES ARE OVER!


200-201


SOME OF THOSE ACTIVE IN NEW LONDON'S AFFAIRS BETWEEN 1900 and 1950 272-273


AN OLD NEW LONDON HOME AND ITS RESTORATION 280-281


DETAILS OF SOME OF THE OLD HOUSES OF NEW LONDON


280-281


DETAILS (continued)


296-297


DETAILS (continued)


296-297


LOCATION MAP OF OLD HOUSES IN NEW LONDON 296-297


xxiv


Introduction


-- --


1


New London at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century


"The primary Yankee virtues are resourcefulness, originality, thrift, integrity, simplicity, and stability; and I submit that these are qualities badly needed in a world in which docility, extrava- gance, exhibitionism, suspicion, and greed are altogether too common."


-Claude M. Fuess


1. Population, Area, and Government


The U. S. census of 1900 recorded the population of the Town of New London as 768. This was the smallest decennial total since the census of 1810, when the figure had been 692. The westward movement of people following the Civil War and the economic effects of closing the scythe works at Elkins in 1889 had not yet been countered by new trends of popula- tion growth. Of the residents in 1900 there were only 198 who paid poll taxes, for women had not yet achieved the right of suffrage. The total valuation of the Town for tax purposes was $394,601, and local taxes in 1900 aggregated $6,905. Appropria- tions for roads, sidewalks, and bridges that year totalled $986, and the tax rate was only $1.75 per $1000 of assessed valuation.


The people who paid these taxes were not, of course, dis- tributed with mathematical evenness over the Town. In 1900, as was the case a half century later, there were two village centers which contained almost half the total population.


3


4


A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON


The village of Elkins, at the foot of Pleasant Lake, had been so named in July, 1896, in honor of the late and well-loved Dr. John P. Elkins; previously, in recognition of the flourish- ing industry which was its principal reason for existence, it had been known as Scytheville. Some three miles to the north and west was the slightly larger village of New London itself. Its center was the "Four Corners," the intersection of Main and Pleasant streets. The region of the Town near Soo-Nipi Park Lodge had a unity of its own, symbolized by the phrase, "West Part." So did the residents of the Town who lived along the outlet to Little Lake Sunapee; this small community was known as Otterville. Other neighborhood groupings in the days before speedy transportation bound the whole Town together were on North Pleasant Street; in the "Low Plain" area close to the site of the Lake Sunapee Country Club in 1950; among the residents of Knight Hill, and of Burpee Hill; and in the "Hominy Pot" district. Although even in 1900 much of the Town was still timber, swamp, and hill slopes, there were flourishing farms along the principal roads and a beginning of summer home development on the shores of Lake Sunapee, Pleasant Lake, and Little Lake Sunapee.


New London in 1900 had the same extent and boundaries which it possessed fifty years later. Its land surface was calcu- lated at 14,144 acres, while its water surface totalled 2,048 acres, making a Town area of almost precisely 25 square miles. Its curious irregular shape was the result of historic com- promises with its neighbor towns, made respectively in 1793, 1804, 1807, and 1817.1 New London's boundaries touched five sister towns; clockwise, beginning with Springfield on the north, these were Wilmot, Sutton, Newbury, and Sunapee. Its highest elevation above sea level was the 1600-foot Morgan Hill in the extreme north corner of the Town. The road to Potter Place (in 1950 State Highway 11), in Elkins at the Wilmot Town line, was barely 800 feet above the sea. The splendid sweep of mountains seen from New London Hill, so memorably described by the late Dr. William P. Houston, was the same in 1900 as in 1950.2 This unforgettable panorama


5


NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900 -1950


has been pictured by Agnes Drown Gay in her verses entitled, "Mountains as Seen from New London":3


New London Hill is broad and fair No finer view, no purer air Can anywhere be found. The lakes that nestle at thy feet Make all the scenery more complete And Echoes there resound.


And all around the mountains rise, Until they seem to touch the skies In Majesty sublime.


Look to the east, old Ragged stands,


A sentinel to o'erlook our lands


And far beyond, down through the gap You see the Belknap Hills o'erlap.


Then turn a little to the right Old Kearsarge looms up in sight And still a little more and see The Mink hills in their revelry; King Hill always stands in line With Knight and Burpee all the time


While Sunset Hill seems quite alone Guarding Mt. Sunapee on his throne


As he keeps watch of Sunapee Sending her waters to the sea; And as you turn into the west And see old Croydon's lengthy crest Through purpling haze you will see The lofty heights of Ascutney.


While in the north so blue and bold Mt. Cardigan you may behold. And there are places in the town Where Washington always looks down But look you east, or look you west, You see some mountain's noble crest.


The appeal of unspoiled Nature was as great in 1900 as a half century later. During the entire period covered by this book, numerous publications extolled the charms of the central lake region of New Hampshire. All have stressed the natural attractions of the New London area.4 Among these are the Aureolus or Golden trout of Lake Sunapee, the more than two hundred observed species of birds in New London, the mineralogical wealth of the Town's hills and valleys, the botanical riches of forest and meadow, and the invigorating climate both in summer and in winter. The height of land


6


A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON


between the river systems draining respectively into the Merri- mack and the Connecticut rivers winds across the Town from east to west; so that the drainage from Pleasant Lake, by way of the Blackwater and Contoocook rivers passes into the Merrimack, while the outlet from Little Sunapee and Otter Pond leads into the Connecticut. This interesting phenome- non, plus abundant evidences of glaciation, have been a per- ennial source of New London's appeal to those concerned with topography and geology.5


In 1900 New London had the traditional town govern- ment of that period. The Town Hall then was a wooden structure, standing on the site of the Whipple Memorial Hall used in 1950. Some of the offices familiar to the present genera- tion had not been established, but various quaint agencies of the past were still in existence. There were three selectmen: James F. Hayes, Frank W. Knowlton, and Evarts W. Messer. The Town Clerk was H. S. Adams, and the Town Treasurer was George Thurston. Road Agent was Allen O. Crane, while Library Trustees were Mrs. Mary B. Macomber, N. W. Colby, and John D. Quackenbos. Tax Collector was Baxter Gay, and Town Auditor was O. D. Crockett. Town Constables were Edwin R. Ashby, Richard Morgan, Warren Bickford, and Sidney Pedrick. Hogreeves were George Fifield, Hiram A. Eastman, and George R. McFarland, while George Thurston, Allen O. Crane, Horace Hurd, and Frank P. Messer were the official Surveyors of Wood and Lumber. Frank O. Dow acted as Sealer of Weights and Measures; Alfred J. Davis was Sexton; and Allen O. Crane was Hearse Driver. Horace Hurd served as Fish and Game Warden. Dr. Charles A. Lamson was chair- man of the Board of Health. Warren Bickford, Fred O. Pres- cott, and Sidney M. Pedrick were Fence Viewers. Charles W. Gordon represented the Town at the General Court; John K. Law was Town Moderator; and Joseph W. Clough, N. W. Colby, and Allen O. Crane acted as Supervisors of the Check List. Members of the School Board were John D. Quackenbos, Mrs. Abbie J. Fifield, and Mrs. Martha H. Pillsbury, while with them J. H. Todd served as School Treasurer.6


7


NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900 - 1950


2. Transportation and Communication


The year 1900, as we have been recently reminded, was the height of the "horse and buggy" age. It has been estimated that there were in that year fewer than 8,000 automobiles in the entire United States, but at least 20,000,000 horses. In 1900 New London citizens owned 299 horses, 50 yoke of oxen, and no automobiles. The carrying of people on public high- ways was entirely by horsedrawn vehicles. Many New London families owned their own horse and carriage, and among the summer population there was keen rivalry for the best in animals and equipages. The roadsides had watering troughs at convenient intervals, - as late as 1912 there were still an even dozen of these in New London. Every public place was furnished with hitching rails or horse sheds; not until 1932, for example, were the horse sheds at the rear of the New Lon- don Baptist Church finally removed.


The principal figure in transportation activities in New London in 1900 was Charles E. Shepard. One of the few per- sons of that day destined to be alive, vigorous, and resident in the same house a half century later, he and Arthur Gould in 1900 bought out the older business of W. C. Leonard, then located in the rear of the property in 1950 occupied by Dr. William P. Clough, Jr. In the summer of 1900 the partners built a large barn behind the Shepard home on Main Street. Until its sale in 1947 to Colby Junior College, this barn re- mained in approximately its original form. At the peak of their business, Shepard and Gould could put thirty carriages on the road at once, all properly equipped. Their four-horse teams brought most of the heavy freight from Potter Place to New London; they had an extensive livery business and a riding school with a score of fine horses available; and they contracted for many hauling and lumbering jobs.


Perhaps most interesting of all, Charles E. Shepard direc- ted the daily passenger stages to Potter Place. In 1900 he was almost precisely at the midpoint in his stage activity, for he had instituted it in 1888 and was to continue it until 1911, at


8


A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON


which time he began the use of automobiles. In the winter he used a large sleigh; during the rest of the year the vehicle was a Concord coach. The latter was often pulled by five horses, three in front, and two next to the stage. The coach was a product of the famed Abbot and Downing firm in Concord, N. H." The normal trip from New London to Potter Place required about an hour, but the return took somewhat longer. In inclement weather difficulties multiplied, and there were often delays in transit during "mud-time" or on stormy days. There were two round trips daily between New London and Potter Place in the winter and three in the summer. A single round trip on week days between New London and Bradford was handled by Frank Pressey.


The horse and buggy age required many business estab- lishments auxiliary to the stable proper, and in 1900 New London was well-equipped with such enterprises. There were then four blacksmith shops in the Town, viz., that of Frank Andrews, whose building was later remodeled into the struc- ture which in 1950 served as the infirmary for Colby Junior College; that of Lowell Ray, later used as a garage by his sons, Will and Weston; that of Eugene Adams, burned later that year, located adjacent to the 1950 residence of Morton Walker in Elkins; and that of Ed Dion in Otterville. There were also excellent carriage shops owned and operated respec- tively by Claude Goings in the "West Part," and by John Dow in the structure in 1950 utilized as a paint shop by John Ed- munds. Robert McConnell had a flourishing harness business in a building which in 1950 was still in use by the plumber, Henry Robbins, on Main Street.


Roads in New London in 1900 were rudimentary by modern standards. The first local road scraper had been pur- chased about 1880. The Road Agents who operated it were often assisted by citizens who thus "worked out" all or part of their taxes. During the 1890's four snow rollers had been secured by the Town for winter use, and at the March Meet- ing in 1900 a fifth was authorized. These rollers were wooden cylinders, eight feet in diameter and six feet wide, pulled by


LOOKING TOWARD THE FOUR CORNERS in 1900 The Colby Academy, Old Town Hall, and New London Baptist Church Dura P. Morgan House, A. J. Kidder House, Adams Brothers General Store, and Christopher Gardner House


ADAMS BROS


TL


THE FOUR CORNERS in 1900 Election Day in 1900 and the Morgan House Adams Brothers General Store, showing, left to right, Elmer Adams, Stanley A. Spiller, Herman Adams


THE HOTEL SARGENT


Looking North Toward the Hotel (note the kerosene lamp post) The New London Cornet Band passing the hotel in 1908. Among those in the picture are Page Colby, Fred Quimby, George Quimby, Elmer Messer, Ransom Sargent, Chester Morgan, Herman Adams, Herbert Smith, Ralph Keil, Walter Leach, Winfield Call, Dr. Cooper, Sidney Smith, and Luther Ray


1


NEW LON.


PILARMACY.


NEW LONDON'S DRUG STORES W. C. Leonard's Drug Store in 1900, Oscar Crockett in foreground The New London Pharmacy as it was in 1950


9


NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900 - 1950


four or six-horse teams. The idea was to pack down the snow so hard that sled runners could move over it easily.8 The Town's highway system in 1900 was somewhat less extensive than it was a half century later, but none of it then was "State road."


Supplementing the highway system of New London in the summer time was a medium of transportation which by 1950 had disappeared. This was the steamboat traffic on Lake Sunapee. Daily from late June to mid-September the Wood- sum Steamboat Company, "the only steamboat line doing passenger and freight service on Lake Sunapee," offered trans- portation from Lake Sunapee Station at the lower end of the lake to several points on the east and west shores of the "Loch Lomond of America." So far as New London was concerned, the principal stops were Hastings and Lakeside, on the north- east shore of Lake Sunapee. At the last-named place carriages and coaches met the summer tourists, transporting them and their baggage to the several hotels of the Town. In 1900 the Woodsum Steamboat Company was operating one wooden craft, the "S. S. Lady Woodsum," and four steel steamers, the "S. S. Armenia White," the "S. S. Kearsarge," the "S. S. Ascut- ney," and the "S. S. Weetamo." The "Armenia White" was the queen of the fleet, and could carry six hundred passengers at a trip. From the deck of this ship in the course of a summer, many visitors saw New London for the first time.ยบ


Communications facilities in New London in 1900 paral- leled transportation. The original telephone connections with the outside world had been established in 1888. In that year four men - James E. Shepard, Amos H. Whipple, Walter Carr, and Frank Coffin - each subscribed $200, and built a line from New London to Potter Place. In the beginning there were four telephones on this line: the railroad station at Potter Place, Howard Greeley's store in Wilmot Flat, Dr. Elkins' office in Scytheville, and Whipple's Drug Store in New Lon- don. Slowly additional numbers were added to the exchange, until by 1900 there were twenty-six telephones in the Town. In 1897 connections had been made with the New England


--


10


A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON


Telephone Company. In 1901 the Kearsarge Telephone Com- pany was formed, and service extended to parts of Salisbury. "Central," i.e., a clerk who had time to answer the phone, re- mained in the drug store until 1906. It is thus clear that tele- phone service in New London at the beginning of the century was limited. But rural free delivery of mail was non-existent. Although authorized by Congress in 1896, R.F.D. service did not begin out of the New London Post Office until Febru- ary 2, 1903.10


Two other adjuncts of communication in New London in 1900 may be noted. The first effort at sidewalks had been made in 1892 and 1893 when $200 each year had been ap- propriated for the purchase and installation of granite slabs from the Four Corners to the grounds of Colby Academy. Except for some short stretches of wooden sidewalk in Elkins and elsewhere, these granite slabs were the sole attempt to aid the pedestrian at the beginning of the century. Street lighting was similarly rudimentary. In 1900 there were five kerosene lanterns affixed to poles for all the streets of the Town: one in front of the Hotel Sargent, in 1950 known as the New London Inn; two along the Main Street in front of the "lower campus" of Colby Academy; one in front of Burpee Homestead; and one in Elkins. For decades after 1900 the darkness of the streets was to be the subject for chronic com- plaint by New Londoners.11


3. Other Aspects of Earning a Living in 1900


Before discussing further the ways in which New London's citizens earned their living at the turn of the century, it will be profitable to consider certain general matters affecting not only the residents of a small town in New Hampshire, but all the 76,000,000 Americans recorded by the census of 1900. In that year the family dollar went more than three times as far as it did in 1950. For example, an income of approximately $1,200 annually then provided the same relative standard of living that $4,000 gave fifty years later. Any one with money in his pocket could take it to a bank and receive gold in return;


11


NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1900 - 1950


the total cost of the U. S. government in 1900 was only $250 million; and the entire national debt was less than $1.7 bil- lion. A loaf of bread cost a nickel; a pound of lard was a dime; a pound of butter was not more than a quarter. A quart of milk varied in price from five to eight cents. Haircuts were fifteen cents; a man's "Sunday suit" might cost all of $10; while a good shirt was priced at eighty cents. A thrifty house- wife could buy an excellent cotton dress for $1.50, and bed sheets for sixty cents each. Wages averaged about 23c an hour in the cities, but fell as low as 15c per hour in the rural regions. A large house could be built for $4,000. On the other hand, in 1900 sugar cost as much as in 1950, and automobiles then were more costly than similar models fifty years later.12


It is against such a price level that one should consider the ways of earning a living in New London at the beginning of the century. In an enumeration of the adult males in the Town at that time, more listed themselves as farmers than as working at any other occupation. Among the 198 who paid poll taxes in 1900, at least 70 were engaged in farming, and still others were described as "laborers" on farms. Active farm- ers in New London in 1900 included the following:


Charles W. Bucklin


Seth Littlefield


Charles F. Putney


Colby Homestead


G. R. McFarland


Merrill Robey


O. D. Crockett


Adelbert Messer


Levi Sanborn


Fred Farwell


Alvin F. Messer


Ransom Sargent


George Fifield


Edwin F. Messer


James E. Shepard


Fred Fowler Baxter Gay Herman P. Messer


Frank Messer


Benton M. Stanley


Asa N. Todd


Charles W. Gay


J. H. Messer


Edward A. Todd


Charles W. Gordon


Austin Morgan Frank W. Todd


James F. Hayes


Fred and John Morgan Jacob Todd


Nathaniel Knowlton


John D. Pingree


Charles Whitney


Willie M. Knowlton


J. D. Prescott


Ai Worthen


For the products of these farms in the summer of 1900 New Londoners paid 22c a pound for butter; 14c per dozen for eggs; 50c a bushel for potatoes; 10c for a dozen ears of "sweet corn"; and 25c a peck for pears.18 Help was reported as being scarce. That autumn J. E. Shepard loaded a car with apples at


12


A HISTORY OF NEW LONDON


Potter Place, and received for them the price of 80c per barrel!14 The following spring those with "sugar bush" were able to get as much as a dollar a gallon for first-grade maple sirup.


When the New London farmer came to town, he found several places of business anxious to serve him. Coming up from Crockett's Corner, he would note the store of Knight, Palmer and Chase, located near the 1950 site of the Crane- hurst. Proprietors were Robert M. Knight, Charles Palmer, and Linley Chase. This establishment went out of existence in 1904, and the building was torn down by Arthur Roberts, who used the material to build his home on the Hominy Pot road. Later Robert Knight built the store used by the First National in 1950, and for a number of years conducted a grocery business there. At the Four Corners on the site of the 1950 Market Basket, H. M. Fales and Elmer E. Adams had been in the general store business since 1897. Shortly after 1900 Mr. Fales retired, and Elmer E. Adams was joined by his brother, Herman S. Adams. The resulting firm was called the Adams Brothers General Store. In this structure, finally destroyed by fire in August, 1949, was located the New London Post Office. Elmer E. Adams was New London's postmaster in 1900, and the store and post office comprised the social center of the community on the hill.


It was the kind of establishment to which people a half century later looked back as "an old-fashioned country store." A large box stove furnished heat. Adjacent to the stove were several chairs, egg crates, and apple boxes. On these the local oracles - such men as "Captain Jack" A. J. Sargent, General Joseph Clough, Frank Andrews, Ransom Sargent, Ai Worthen, and Jacob Todd - frequently held forth of an evening, to the delight of all who assembled to listen.15


"I wish I could smell once more that fragrance of the old time store. There was molasses, kerosene, salt codfish, cheese, hemp, rope, tar, rubber boots, woolen pants, straw hats, plug tobacco, candy in wooden buckets, butter and spices. We used to grind all our coffee, and after an hour or two of grinding, the smell from the coffee was enough to make one hungry as a bear. The minute you opened the store door, that smell assailed




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