Ah, ah, our washing was done- we had- first of all we did not have a cistern for catching the soft water from the roof. But my father built- that was one of the first things my father did was build a cistern in the basement. And the wood, ah- the water from the- the, um, rain, ah, provided us with, ah, water to wash with, I mean, everything excepting cooking purposes.

Speaker: Ah, ah, our washing was done- we had- first of all we did not have a cistern for catching the soft water from the roof. But my father built- that was one of the first things my father did was build a cistern in the basement. And the wood, ah- the water from the- the, um, rain, ah, provided us with, ah, water to wash with, I mean, everything excepting cooking purposes. Interviewer: Yeah. Now that would have been caught from the- Speaker: From the- from the, ah, eaving at the edge of the roof and the conductor pipes that took it down into the- Interviewer: Into a tank? Speaker: Into a- yes, a large cement cistern. Interviewer: Oh. Speaker: Well it was a stone cistern, a stone built cistern lined with cement. Ah, then- Interviewer: You drinking water, where would you get that? Speaker: We- we had a well on your property.

Speaker: There would be a cistern in the cellar too. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: So I guess that would be rainwater pretty much.

Interviewer: What would they- what did you call the part of the house though that was on the edge of the roof that collected the water to lea-- Speaker: No, we had the r-- railings- (inc) all around our house, you see. Interviewer: I see. Speaker: And it just come into the barrel. Interviewer: I see. Speaker: But the- in the- in the cistern it come off the roof too.

Interviewer: What um- ah what- what about the water when it came off? Did you put anything on there that-? Speaker: Well, for years it just run down the ground. Well then, we got eavestroughs put on, you-see. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: Running the barrels for a while and then we got it galvanized cistern. And it- Interviewer: (overlapping speech) Did you- did you have w-- ah any side things that went down from the- Speaker: Well- Interviewer: From the eavestroughs w-- Speaker: The- the eavestroughs, they were around the outside. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And went down into the wall into the cistern.

Interviewer: Yes. Uh, in some houses, I understand, they did have a way of storing water. Speaker: Yeah, they had a cistern. Interviewer: Yes, that would be- Speaker: Sister-- it would usually been- well, usually it was in the kitchen, you-know- Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: Under, under uh, the kitchen- Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And they had what they called a cistern pump- Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And they used to pump the water from the cistern. The cistern would be anywhere from ten to fifteen feet square in the cellar and would be about four feet high and the water they got in the cistern came off the roof, like the rain in the fall and then they had a- they had a- pipes, like what they called uh- for carrying the rain and everything down into the cellar- Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: Into the- into the cistern-

Speaker: Yes and they- they would drain from the- from the eaves-troughs and uh, usually they had eaves-troughs on both sides of the house and uh, it would come down and uh, go in probably two different- if- if the kitchen or-something was between, they couldn't- they couldn't put the troughs in so they put them in- one on each side into the cistern and uh- Interviewer: Mm-hm, mm-hm. It was a very efficient way of collecting- Speaker: Yes. Interviewer: Extra water, wasn't it. Speaker: Yes.

Speaker: Oh, usually for washing just before meals, like the warm, because it- it was warm, it wasn't hot, and ah, we had a big cistern, it would hold about a hundred barrels of water, so we used that for washing, but then to heat the water for washing, we used a boiler full of hot water. And it was put on top of the wood stove. [0:30:21.0 ] Interviewer: Mm-hm. Ah, the water from, ah, the tank would be used for dishes too. Dishes- Speaker: Probably, yes. Interviewer: Ah, how did the water get into the cistern? Speaker: Oh, from the eavestrough, that drained off the roof, and um, the who-- there was eavestroughs right around the whole house. It ah- it caught a lot of water. Interviewer: Mm-hm. And how did you get that water from the cistern up to the kitchen? Speaker: With a little cistern pump, and ah a s-- ah a sink. And ah, the sink was there, and then we drained it ah into a big pail. It had to be emptied.

Interviewer: Yeah. Yeah. Um what do you call a kind of a peach where the flesh is tight against the s-- stone. Speaker: That's a clingstone.

Interviewer: What do you call um a hen that's sitting on eggs? Speaker: Clucking-hen.

Interviewer: Oh, I see. What did you call a hen that was sitting on eggs? Not- Speaker: Ah, as- as, ah- that was a clucking hen. (laughs) A clucking hen.

Speaker: The clucker. Interviewer: The one on the- on the nest? Interviewer: The clucking hen was the only one, you-see.

Interviewer: Did you go and call them? Speaker: Oh, well sometimes they'd come and sometimes they wouldn't. Interviewer: How did you call them? Speaker: Ah, coboss, coboss, coboss.

I think it was within a year, ah, when they landed here, with what they called consumption in those days. They call it T-B now

Interviewer: Who got the meals? Speaker: Um, th-- there'd be a cook and two cookees, a cookee he baked- baked the bread and- and uh, done the cooking of the meat and the beans an- and he- thee- would make pies and cookies and then the cookees they were- they were uh, responsible for putting on the- the food onto the tables and washing up the dishes-

Speaker: No, they didn't have uh, they heated their water on the stove. Interviewer: Mm-hm. What in? Speaker: In big um, big uh, vessels I- I- not familiar too much with the- with the cookery. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: Not- not being a- a cook. Interviewer: No.Speaker: Or not being a cookee. Interviewer: N-- of course you wouldn't be too familiar with that. Speaker: No.

Speaker: Who got the meals? Interviewer: Um, th-- there'd be a cook and two cookees, a cookee he baked- baked the bread and- and uh, done the cooking of the meat and the beans an- and he- thee- would make pies and cookies and then the cookees they were- they were uh, responsible for putting on the- the food onto the tables and washing up the dishes- Speaker: Mm-hm. Interviewer: And uh, taking in the wood for the cookery- Speaker: Mm-hm. Interviewer: And uh, carrying the water for the cookery.

And the- the teamster's are alone and uh the cookery, it was- it was by itself. It was a big cookery.

Interviewer: Yeah. What kind of um wild animals did you have around the farm? Speaker: Oh we had ah- well before I left there the wolves was out, and there was ah the bobcats, oh there was coons and-stuff-like-that, but you wouldn't ca-- I wouldn't call them wild.

Speaker: Brown. Interviewer: Yeah. And black. Speaker: Not groundhogs? Interviewer: No. Much more than that. They eat nuts and store things away. Speaker: I can't think what that would be now. Foxes and 'coons? Interviewer: No, this is just a tiny little fellow. And he can really run. I've seen them running along a wire.