Reminiscences of Newcastle, Iowa, 1848; a history of the founding of Webster City, Iowa . few years later Cy. Smithcame to us with the more pretentious peddlers-wagon. Hewas so well pleased with the country and the towns pros-pects that he decided to remain. As the town grew andbusiness expanded Cy became one of our prosperousmerchant-bankers. The saddle-bags of sixty years ago were leathern side-pocket receptacles with a flap protection over the smaller pocket inside the larger one furnished a con-venient place for money and small valuables. These bagseither were fastened directly
Reminiscences of Newcastle, Iowa, 1848; a history of the founding of Webster City, Iowa . few years later Cy. Smithcame to us with the more pretentious peddlers-wagon. Hewas so well pleased with the country and the towns pros-pects that he decided to remain. As the town grew andbusiness expanded Cy became one of our prosperousmerchant-bankers. The saddle-bags of sixty years ago were leathern side-pocket receptacles with a flap protection over the smaller pocket inside the larger one furnished a con-venient place for money and small valuables. These bagseither were fastened directly to the saddle or hung fromthe ends of a strap across the saddles center. Sledding. The use of a lizard was an early method of transpor-tation if snow was thin or sufficiently packed to prevent itspushing ahead of the contrivance. The lizard was madefrom the part of a tree where the branching of two boughsformed an acute angle resembling the letter V. Theprongs were about five feet long. The junction-end wasdressed to an upward point and finished with a bolt and MODES OF TRAVELING 131. OX-YOKE. LIZARD. NATURAL SLED BENTS. 132 REMINISCENCES OF NEWCASTLE, IOWA chain for hitching the oxen. Slabs were fastened acrossthe body on which the load was placed. This primitive contraption behaved very well as longas the snow surface was smooth and oxen furnished motivepower; but to stay aboard a lizard when roads were roughor haste was required would have taxed the agility of thewestern bronco-buster. Like a living thing it would, with-out warning, rear its head into the air and the next momentplunge its nose into the snow in a seemingly studied attemptto turn a somersault; or, with untiring energy, it wouldslew sidewise and unexpectedly and completely dischargeits load of live or dead freight. The persistent effort of the lizard to travel on both sidesof the road instead of in the middle was modified some-what by arranging at the V-point a cross-slab from whichthe chain traces were attache
Size: 1253px × 1994px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectfrontie, bookyear1921
