Mary Baldwin College - Bluestocking Yearbook (Staunton, VA)

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20 The Augusta Seminary Annual. Everything is still now save tlie rustling of tlie brandies and the occasional thnd of a falling apple. Sometimes a shrill whistle is heard or a snatch of song, which sends the startled hirds away in terror from the swaying treetops and from the new inhabitants who have taken possession there. Now and then a picker descends his ladder and goes to empty his load of fragrant frnit in the boxes in the cellar. When the snn is high in the heavens, and the air is no longer frosty, the children are permitted to come and watch the work. Now they gather np the fallen ap])les and vie with one another in making the largest heaps, chattering meanwhile like magpies, guessing how many bushels the Belleflower box M ' ill hold; wondering ' ' bout how Ions; it nll take John to finish the ' Wine- saps. ' Xow they play hide and seek behind the trees and scream with laughter as an apple falls alraoston some unccjvered head. Busy all day long are the pickers and the children, and wlien night has come their work is done; while the satisfied farmer turns his key upcjn the well-lilled apple cellai-. First the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear is the thought that comes into the mind as one looks across the ripening corniields. The tassels tliat floated so gaily a few short weeks before are brown and I ' igid, and the blades, which waved gently in the breezes of early summer, clash harshly as tlie strong !Se})tember wind rus- tles through them. Around lie the brown stubble lields, the tields plowed for the autumn sowing, and beyond the forest just tinged bv the earlv frost, where the wilv crows caw lazilv, their eyes lixed upon the corn fields awaiting the time when the corn is to be cut. Nor need they wait long. From the far end of the field comes the sound of voices, and as they draw neai-er and nearer one may hear tlie strokes of the cutters ' blades and see the heads of the tall stalks as they trend le and disappear. And now the ends of the rows are reached and the cutters come into view, their wrists and necks well protected, for the corn does not yield vitliout a struggle, and its dry, rough Idades know how to wound. The line of workers turns, and, as they go back across the field, their voices and the rustling of the fodder die

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The Augusta Seminary Annual. 19 eniMcli, cinuu ' li, the .ipples are slowly ground. Then the piiin- mies are placed in the trough, the lieavy beam falls upon them, and when it rises every particle of juice has been pressed out. In the meantime at home the tire has been kindled in the husje fireplace, an abundant su})ply of wood has been brought in, and when the wagon returns with the cider, tlie kettle is tilled and hunij in the midst of the llames. By this time night has come, and, provided with knives and plates, all gather around the cheerful blaze and make an attack upon the tub of apples placed before them. The kettle bubbles on in a most satisfactory way ; the firelight flashes over the happy faces, and stories follow one after another until the last apple is peeled and the jars of white quarters are set away to be cooked in to-morrow. It is late, and all go to rest except the one who stays to attend the kettle, and as fast as the cider becomes strong, to take it out and put more in. IVIorning usually dawns before this task is finished; then the kettle is half -filled with the strong cider, and as many quarters are added as the vessel will hold. The stirrer is then put in — a fiat, broad piece of wood attached to a long handle and in shape resembling a hoe. All day long the stirrer goes the rou nds of the kettle, never sto])ping for a single instant, while the one who guides it watches that the flames do not grow too hot. By three or four in the afternoon the butter is sufficiently cooked for the spices to be put in. Shortly after the steaming mass is removed, from the fire, the crocks are cautiously fiUed, and, after they have been allowed to cool, are carefully covered and stored away for the winter ' s use. The shortening days and cooler nights of earl} ' October remind the farmer that it is time to gather his apple crop, and just as the sun is rising from ])ehind the autumn woods the pickei ' s go forth to their work. Here and there they scatter through the orchard, each carrying a bag under his arm and dragging a step-ladder after him. Hav- ing placed their ladders in position, the men fasten the bags over their shoulders and begin to rob the trees.

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The Augusta Seminary Annual. 21 away togetlier. Scattered here and tliere over tlie field lie tlie yellow jniinpkins and streaked kershaws wliicli have grown unseen aniontjst tlie corn, and when tlie day is over the o;reat farm wa oii, with its load of merry chihlren, rumbles in through the hars to carry them homo, iany and swift are the hands that gather them, and soon the h(. rst ' S are turned home, the burdened wagon rolls slowly away and leaves deseited the field where the shocks appear like dusky wigwams in the light of the harvest moon. Ruth See. A Visit to China=Town. NO visit to San Francisco is complete without a sight of Cliina- T(»wn by midnight, for it is then that the Chinese may best be seen in their gambling and opium dens, their shoi)s and tem- ples. About eleven o ' clock our guide took us by cable-car to this little Chinese city of thirty or forty thousand inhal)itants. His tongue never stopped ; he knew everything, at least in his own estimation. We first entered a china and curiosity shop where everything, from back-scratchers and chop-sticks to the most beautiful china, might be bought. The old proprietor understood English well, and told us that he had been in San Francisco twenty-seven years, during which time he had made three visits to his native country. Then we entered a Chinese drug store, and here we saw curious preparations of herljs ; pills as large as birds ' eggs, and dried frogs prescribed fV r rheumatism. As we went through the streets we saw these curious people in all their occupations and employments ' , in their grocery stores with pressed ducks and frogs brought all the way from China ; in their dirty, narrow homes filled with boys in queer caps and red trousers, and i)oor little girls with their tiny feet in cruel, wooden shoes ; in their gambling-dens, crowded at that time of night. These gandjling holes are strictly against the law, and watchmen were stationed at every corner ; if a policeman came in sight they