The first men and women who came to Cape Ann had lived in comfortable homes in England, where plenty of food was raised on broad farms, here the climate was mild, and where there was much to make life easy and pleasant. When they landed on the shores of Massachusetts Bay, they found the soil was stony, the winters long and bitter, and life meant very hard work. Behind them was a wide ocean; before them a vast wilderness, full of strange, wild animals and savage Indians. On the few spots which could be cultivated, these earliest set-tlers built their houses, rude ones of logs, with chimneys made of stones and clay. The doors always faced south, because that was the warmest side and in winter would not be so easily blocked with snow. Each house had, perhaps, one small window, covered with oiled paper. For some years the settlers sent to England for this oiled paper; but when glass came to be used in windows, small panes took the place of paper. These first houses were probably lighted at night with pine knots, and were heated by fireplaces. The furniture was very simple. There were tables and beds, stools instead of chairs, and chests to hold the small stock of household linen. It is said that every family who came to America brought one or more chests, which were used for trunks and packing cases as well as for furniture. The settlers ate from dishes of pewter and tin. They all had huge brass or copper pots and iron kettles in which to cook the food in the fireplaces. The kettles were often big enough to hold fifteen gallons, and the iron pots sometimes weighed forty pounds each. The settlers handed these kettles down to their children and grandchildren, and boasted how many years they had been used by a single family. What hard work it must have been for the women and children to lift these heavy pots and kettles! We may guess how large they were from the story about two Boston children, who, left alone in the house, saw some Indians coming, and not knowing where else to hide, turned two kettles upside down and crept under them. There the children were found safe by their parents, who came home in great fear lest the Indians had killed or stolen them. These earliest houses and furnishings were not worth much. A yoke of oxen was worth more than a man's house and barn together. Later on, frame houses were built. These dwellings were daubed with clay, and had roofs covered with thatch, or reeds ; but in a short time the settlers stopped using clay on the walls and used it only for the chimneys. When more people came to Cape Ann, larger and better houses were built, some of which are standing today. These had sloping roofs and low ceilings, with great beams across them. Nearly every room contained a fireplace. All the Massachusetts Bay settlers suffered very much from cold during the long winters. One well known colonist had nineteen fireplaces in his house; and yet he says, in a book that he wrote, that one winter day while he sat beside a roaring fire, the ink with which he was writing froze in the inkstand. I think that the babies must have felt the cold more than any-body else. They did not have the woolen blankets and warm cloth-ing that our modern babies have. They wore chilly little linen shirts and caps, and thin dresses, sometimes beautifully embroidered, but offering little protection against the cold. As long as someone held the baby in the fireplace, it must have been comfort-able. Then, too, baby was warm in its wooden cradle, with a big hood at one end to keep off the drafts, but probably only the strongest babies could survive the long, cold winters. The first men, women, and children who settled here and founded a new country had to work hard. The great wilderness could give them wealth yet, the simplest, everyday living meant a great deal of labor. When we want a fire, we light a match, but the colonists had to spend a. long time striking flint and steel together to make a spark to kindle a bit of tow. They tried to avoid this hard task by keeping the hearth fire burning day and night. if it did go out, they went to the nearest neighbor's and brought back red hot coals on a shovel, although sometimes they spilled the coals and burned down the houses. When we want new clothes, or a cake of soap, we buy them at a store, but this could not be done by the first settlers. If new clothes were needed, the women must comb, card, spin, weave, and dye the cloth, which was then sewed by hand. Beside their usual daily tasks, the women made soap and cooked herbs for medicine. The pine knots used to light the log cabins soon gave place to oil from fish, which was burned in a sort of lamp. Afterwards candles were used for many years. This meant long hours of dipping a piece of string over and over in grease and tallow. The children helped make the candles, and probably thought it great fun, as they had little to amuse them, there being few books and pictures, and probably no toys. In those days it was thought wrong to allow children to spend much time in play. The boys helped father on the farm or in the fishing boat; the girls helped mother in the house. We can imagine how the children must have enjoyed the few pleasures that were allowed them. The earliest colonists, who were called Puritans, did not believe in celebrating Christmas. Thanksgiving, training, and election days were the only celebrations, and even on these days not many amusements were permitted. When we look back and see how plainly the first settlers lived, how hard they worked, and how great was their courage in facing life in a strange country, three thousand miles away from home and friends, we realize that their lives of toil and sacrifice laid a firm foundation for the great nation which we are today.
ABBIE F. RUST.