Confederate Makeshifts [pp. 71-79]

Cotifederate MIake-Shzifts.
and there was a wholesale slaughter of
every dog that could possibly be spared,
as soon as it was known that from their
hides could be manufactured leather of
the softest and finest quality.
Remembering the sabots of the French
peasantry, some one introduced shoes
with wooden bottoms. Happy thought!
- here was a great saving of leather.
Wood was cheap and more durable than
leather: a man could now make as much
noise when he walked as a horse,- with
one kick a man could kill a dog. Why
had not somebody thought of wooden
bottoms long ago?
The wood was cut or bent into proper
shape for bottoms; the upper leather
was secured by tacks, and thus a cheap
and durable shoe was made; they were
very widely used, and were not so uncomfortable as might be supposed. They
had broad, low heels and were very well
suited for out-door wear, and being
almost water-proof rendered overshoes
unnecessary; but in the house their clatter was something terrible, and their
tramp, tramp upon the floor was enough
to ruffle the temper of a Job. Many
persons wore them no farther than the
hall, putting them aside as soon as they
entered the house, and replacing them
with slippers or cloth shoes that sat in
the hall, and were used only for house
wear. If the wags of the present day
are to be heeded, it would pay to reintroduce these well-ballasted shoes to
aid the stern parent in assisting out of
the house the unfavored suitors for
his daughter's hand and fortune.
It was a very dull and unaccomplished
girl who could not plait straw and make
hats during the war, for the women had
to make hats for themselves and for the
men. It was often the employment of
winter evenings, and as the hours passed
and the pine knots burned, yard after
yard of "rough and ready "- a pointed
braid woven with four straws- was
plaited by the nimble-fingered daughters
of the Confederacy. Wheat straw being
most plentiful was most used; rye straw
was longer, whiter, and better suited for
plaiting, and it was frequently cultivated
expressly for this purpose; the soft and
light oat straw made a pleasant hat to
wear, but it was short and coarse, and so
dark that dyeing was usually necessary.
Children's hats were also made of the
inner shuck of the Indian corn. A fabric
whose warp was the hair of horses' tails,
and whose filling was made from the flag
leaf, a common swamp plant, came from
the loom like a coarse cloth, and was
made into bonnets and hats for ladies.
Flowers, leaves, tassels, and like ornaments for trimming hats were also made
of straw. Feathers were used for the
same purpose, and largely for making
fans.
The finest grades of Confederate writing paper were inferior to good manilla
wrapping paper of today. The ink had
a haggard and exhausted appearance, and
was not as good as that made in the
country from "ink balls," -balls that
grow on red-oak trees. The juice of poke
berries was used for red ink. Boxes could
not be afforded for matches; blocks of
soft wood about an inch and a half
square, and the length of an ordinary
match, were submitted to longitudinal
sawings parallel to all sides; at one end
a section of the block about a quarter of
an inch thick was left uncut, thus forming a base which held the matches in
place, and from which they were broken
as needed.
Nothing suffered waste during these
days of struggle; everything was saved,
and sooner or later some use was found
for it. A stray nail, a screw, a scrap of
iron, a bit of wire, the merest trifle, was
treasured up and ultimately utilized.
Rags were worked into bed-quilts, rugs,
and occasionally carpets; pieces of lead
pipes were melted into bullets; gourds
were cut into circular disks and covered
with cloth for buttons; and coon skins
were made into caps for winter. A
lengthy volume might be written on the
78
[Jan.