Arctic Expeditions

While searching a bit further on the 1852 Winter I came across this list of expeditions to the Artic. I was personally surprised to find the list dated back to 1848. It lists Ships, Captains, and deaths as well as how many days in Melville Bay.

Arctic Expeditions (from the Times, December 29, 1874).—"The following is a list of ships, comprising Government and Private Expeditions, British and Foreign, which have been on exploring service within the Arctic Circle since the Franklin Expedition sailed. It will be seen that the crews of all these vessels have returned in safety to their respective countries, with only such loss of life as might well have occurred had the men stayed at home :—
1. 1848 to 1849—H.m.'b ship Enterprise, Sir J. C. Ross. One winter, 26 days in Melville Bay.
2. 1848 to 1849.—H.M.'s ship Investigator, Captain Bird. One winter, 25 days in Melville Bay. Seven deaths (one officer) on board the Enterprise and Investigator.
3. 1849 to 1850.—H.M.'s ship North Star, Mr. Saunders. One winter, 57 days in Melville Bay. Four deaths.
4. 1849.—H.M.'s ship Plover, Captains Moore and Maguirc. Three winters. Three deaths.
6. 1850.—H.M's ship Enterprise, Captain Collinson. Three winters. Three deaths.
6. 1850.—H.M.'s ship Investigator, Captain M'Clure. Four winters. Six deaths (one officer).
7. 1850.—H.M.'s ship Resolute, Captain Austin. One winter, 45 days in Melville Bay. One death (accident).
8. 1850.—H.M.'s ship Assistance, Captain Ommanney. One winter, 45 days in Melville Bay. No death.
9. 1850.—H.M.'s ship Pioneer, Lieutenant Osborn. One winter. No death.
10. 1850.—H.M.'s «hip Intrepid, Lieutenant Cator. One winter. No death.
11. 1850.—Brig Lady Franklin, Captain Penny. One winter. No death.
12. 1850.—Brig Sophia, Captain Stewart. One winter. No death.
13. 1850.—Schooner Prince Albert, Captain Forsyth. Summer Cruise.
14. I860.—Schooner Felix, Sir John Ross and Captain Phillips. One winter. No death.
15. 1850.—Advance (American), Lieutenant Griffith. One winter drifting.
16. 1850.—Rescue (American), Lieutenant Dehaven. One winter drifting.
17. 1851.—Schooner Prince Albert, Mr. Kennedy. One winter. No death.
18. 1852.—H.M.'s ship Assistance, Sir E. Belcher. Two winters, 38 days in Melville Bay. No death.
19. 1852.—H.M.'s ship Resolute, Captain Kellett. Two winters, 38 days in Melville Bay. Six deaths.
20. 1852.—H.M.'s ship Pioneer, Commander OBborn. Two winters. No deaths.
21. 1852.—H.M.'s ship Intrepid, Lieutenant M'Clintock. Two winters. No death.
22. 1852.—H.M.'s ship North Star, Mr. Pullen. Two winters. 38 days in Melville Bay. Three deaths.
23. 1852.—Steamer Isabel, Captain Inglefield. No detention in Melville Bay; summer cruise.
24. 1853.—H.M's ship Phoenix, Captain Inglefield. Nine days in Melville Bay; summer cruise.
25. 1854.—H.M.'s ship Phojnix, Captain Inglefield. Took the pack—30 days; summer cruise.
26. 1854.—H.M.'s ship Talbot, Captain Jenkins. Summer cruise.
27. 1853.—Advance (American brig). Dr. Kane. Two winters. Took the pack—10 days.
28. 1857.—Steamer Fox, Captain M'Clintock. Two winters; first winter in pack, second season through in nine days. Three died.
29. 1850.—Schooner United States, Dr. Hayes. One winter, two days in Melville Bay. One death (accident).
30. 1871.—Steamer Poluris, Captain Hall. Twowinters; no detention in Melville Bay. One death.
31. 1873.—Steamer Juniata, Lieutenant Merriman. No detention in Melville Bay ; summer cruise.
32. 1873.—Steamer Tigress, Captain Green. Summer cruise.

Electric Lamps / Lights

Yesterday I posted about the early part of the 19th century and specifically the oil lamps. In addition to oil lamps there were gas lights and electric lights. Below is an outline of the history of electric lamps throughout the century.

1801 First electric arc lamp was invented in England by Sir Humphrey Davy.
1854 First true lightbulb invented by Henricg Globel of Germany
1857 Fluorescent lamp was introduced in France by A.E. Becquerel
1875 Henry Woodward and Matthew Evans patented a lightbulb.
1879 Thomas Edison improved the incandescent light
1880 Edison's patent was granted.

Practically speaking you won't have electric lamps in the homes of your characters set prior to the 1880's. Another interesting texture to oil and gas lamps is the smell, keep that in mind when writing as well. Remember to use the five senses when describing what your characters are experiencing.

1857 Fabric Advertisement

Below is an ad from the New York Daily Tribune Nov. 30, 1857. What is curious for me is the India camel hair shawls. They sound scratchy to me but apparently they were the rage in 1857 in NYC, along with Chantilly Lace Flounces. On the other hand with the reduction of cost perhaps they were no longer the rage.

Chicken Pot-Pie

This is one of my family's favorite meals. I put chicken, a broth-gravy, potatoes, carrots, peas an various spices cover with biscuits or pie crust. However, as I searched recipe books from the 19th century there were no vegetables added to the dish. Personally, we love our veggies.

Below are various recipes:

Veal and Chicken Potpie. Joint the chickens, if made of them, and boil them till half done ; take them out; put them, dry, into a pot, making alternate layers of crust and fowl, seasoned with pepper and salt; then, pour in the liquor in which the fowls were boiled, upon the upper layer of crust, which covers the fowls. If a brown crust is desired : with a heated bake pan lid, keep the pot covered. Add, from the teakettle, boiling water, as that in the pot wastes. Raised piecrust , *- * is preferable to that made for fruit pies, though, if but, little
shortened, that is good. For raised crust, mix a teaspoonful of salt, and a teacup of melted butter, with three pints of flour, and then pour in half a teacup of yeast, adding cold water to make it stiff enough to roll out; placing it where warm, it will require from se'ven to eight hours to rise, unless you use brewer's yeast. Roll it out, when risen, and cut it into small cakes.
Potato pie crust is good. Peel and mash fine eight boiled potatoes ; mix with them half a pint of milk, a teaspoonful of salt, a hen's egg size piece of butter, and flour enough for rolling out. Put with the meat, the cakes after rolled out and cut.
By working into unbaked wheat dough, a little melted lukewarm butter, nice crust may be made. Before putting it with the meat, let it lay ten or fifteen minutes, after it is cut and rolled into cakes.
Source: The Improved Housewife ©1847

Chicken Pot Pie.—Cut a chicken in pieces; if it is not a young chicken parboil it in water enough to cover it, with half a pound of salt pork cut in slices, or a tea-spoonful of salt in it. Skim it carefully. Make a paste with half a pound of sweet lard rubbed into one pound of flour and a tea-spoonful of salt; add enough water to work it to a smooth paste ; roll the crust about half an inch thick, and line with it the sides of n stew-pan nearly to the bottom. Lay the chicken in the crust, and add a piece of butter the size of an egg rolled in flour; put in the water the chicken was parboiled in, and if necessary add more hot water till the stew-pan is nearly full. Cut part of the paste in small diamonds, and put them in the pie. Put on the top crust, first laying skewers across the top of the stew pan. Cut a slit in the centre. Put on the lid of the stew-pan, and let it boil slowly three-quarters of an hour, or more, if necessary. When the crust is well done the dish can be served.
Source: Mrs. Hale's New Cook Book ©1857

A CHICKEN POT-PIE.
Mrs. F. D. J.
Cut in small pieces one chicken, not too young; wash and put into a stone or earthen basin with sufficient water to cover, set this on the stove and let it cook until quite tender; then add to this broth (which will have cooked away a little,) half a pint of sweet milk, (perhaps not quite so much,) and one-half a can of fine oysters; season with pepper and salt, and mace if liked; put in bits of butter, and two tablespoons of flour. Now make a nice soda biscuit crust; roll out about an inch-thick and cover the meat; cut a hole in the middle of the crust, and put in the oven. When the crust is baked a rich brown set the dish on the stove, where the meat will gently simmer in the gravy, and steam the crust, (with a tin cover over,) for about ten minutes. Serve in the dish in which it is cooked, with a knitted cover.
Source: The Home Cook Book ©1876

Chicken Pot-pie.—Clean, singe, and joint a pair of chickens. Pare and slice eight white potatoes; wash the slices and put with the pieces of chicken into a stewpan lined with pie-crust; season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and cover with water. Cover with-paste, making a hole in the centre; cover the kettle, and either hang it over the fire or set it in the oven. If in the oven, turn occasionally to brown evenly. Two hours' cooking is sufficient. When done, cut the upper crust into moderate-sized pieces and place them on a large dish; with a perforated ladle take up the potato and chicken, put it upon the crust; cut the lower crust and put on the top. Serve the gravy hot in a gravy tureen.
Source: Our New Cook Book ©1883

Best Cement for Jars (Preserving)

You read that title right. "Cement" for jars had me smiling. In Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book ©1857  pg.645 she gives instructions on a substance for sealing canned foods, like wax on home-made jellies today. Today the idea of cement covering and protecting our perishable food doesn't sound appetizing however to those living in the 19th century it was practical and descriptive of the function it did. Below is the excerpt from Miss Leslie's book:

THE BEST CEMENT FOR JARS.—Before preserving and pickling time, buy at a druggist's, two ounces of the clearest and whitest gum tragacanth. Obtain also two grains of corrosive sublimate, (indispensable to this cement), and having picked the gum tragacanth clean, and free from dust and dark or discolored particles, put it with the sublimate into a very clean yellow or whiteware mug that holds a small quart and has a closefitting lid belonging to it. Then fill the vessel more than two-thirds with very clean water, either warm or cold, and put on the lid. Let it rest till next morning. Then stir it with an unpainted stick, that will reach quite down to the bottom. Repeat the stirring frequently through the day, always replacing the lid. In a few days the cement will have risen to the top of the mug, and have become a fine, clear, smooth paste, far superior to any other; and, by means of the corrosive sublimate, it will keep perfectly well to an indefinite period, if always closely covered, and having no sort of metal dipped into it. On no account attempt to keep this paste in tin, or even in silver. Both paste and metal will turn black and become spotted. Remember this.
Whan going to put away your sweetmeats or pickles, this paste will come into use, and be found invaluable. It is best to keep all these things in small jars, as opening a large jar frequently, may injure its contents by letfing in the air. In a large family, or where many pickles are eaten, those in most frequent use may be kept in stone-ware jars, with a wooden spoon always at hand for taking them out when wanted. On the surface of every jar of pickles, put one or two table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and then cover the top of the jar closely with a circular piece of bladder or thin leather. Next cut out a narrow band of the same, and cement it on with gum tragacanth paste, (made as above), and let it remain till you open the jar for use.
For sweetmeats, have glass or white-ware jars. Lay on the surface of each a circular paper, cut to fit and dipped in brandy. Next, put on an outside cover of bladder or thick white paper secured with a band of the same, coated with tragacanth paste. When this cement is used, the jars will not be infested with ants or other insects, the corrosive sublimate keeping them out.
This paste should be at hand in every library or office, when wanted for papers or books. It requires no boiling when made, and is always ready, and never spoils. For a small quantity, take an ounce of the best gum tragacanth and a grain of corrosive sublimate. Get a covered white or yellow-ware mug that holds a pint; such a mug will cost but twelve cents. Dissolve in less than a pint of water.

Milk Toast, Milk Biscuits & Yeast

Today I'm including an old recipe for Milk Toast and Milk Biscuits from Mrs. Hale's New Cook Book ©1857

Milk Toast.—Boil a pint of rich milk;  then take it off the fire and stir into it a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, with a small tablespoonful of flour, and a teaspoonful of salt. Let it come again to a boil. Have ready two deep plates with 6 slices of toasted bread in each. Pour the milk over them hot, and keep them covered till they go to table. Milk toast is generally eaten at breakfast.

Milk Biscuit—Take three-quarters of a pound of flour, and put in a wine-glassful of yeast, half a pint of milk, and a little salt. Roll the dough into small balls, and set them to rise. When risen sufficiently, bake them in a quick oven.

I have to wonder from the above recipe what the size of their wine-glasses were. It seems like a lot of yeast. Today, I use one or two teaspoons for an entire love of whole-wheat bread. Mrs. Cornelius in The Young Housekeeper's friend ©1846 says 1 teaspoonful of saleratus (baking soda) for butter-milk biscuits. However in The Improved Housewife ©1847 it says a half pint of yeast.

So I searched further and found this information in Mrs. Hale's cookbook about Yeast:
Yeast.—It is impossible to have good light bread, unless you have lively, sweet yeast. When common family beer is well brewed and kept in a clean cask, the settlings are the best of yeast. If you do not keep beer, then make common yeast by the following method :—
Take 2 quarts of water, 1 handful of hops, 2 of wheat bran: boil these together 20 minutes ; strain off the water, and while it is boiling hot, stir in either wheat or rye flour, till it becomes a thick batter; let it stand till it is about blood-warm; then add a half pint of good smart yeast and a large spoonful of molasses, if you have it, and stir the whole well. Set it in a cool place in summer, and a warm one in winter. When it becomes perfectly light, it is fit for use. If not needed immediately, it should, when it becomes cold, be put in a clean jug or bottle; do not fill the vessel, and the cork must be left loose till the next morning, when the yeast will have done working. Then cork it tightly, and set in a cool place in the cellar. It will keep 10 or 12 days.
Obs.—Never keep yeast in a tin vessel. If you find the old yeast sour, and have not time to prepare new, put in saleratus, a tea-spoonful to a pint of yeast, when ready to use it. If it foams up lively, it will raise the bread ; if it does not, never use it.
To Preserve Yeast.—Lay the yeast with a brush on a board or tub, and as it dries, lay on more, and continue to do so till it cracks and falls off; put it into clean bottles, and cork it well. This is excellent for taking to sea, where sugar-beer with little trouble might be made in any quantity, and always fr«sh.
To Assist Yeast.—When there is a scarcity of yeast, use the following method: Work into half a pint of water a spoonful of flour, until it becomes smooth, and boil it; put it into a jug, and stir it till it cools. When milk-warm, put in a spoonful of yeast, and a spoonful of moist sugar; stir them well, and put in a warm place, and if well made, there will be as much in a short time as will raise 3 pecks of flour; the bread made of this yeast requires to be laid 5 hours before it is baked.
To Extract Bitter from Yeast.—Beat it up with the white of an egg; add a double quantity of water; beat all well together : cover it; let it stand all night, and pour off the water, when it will be sweet; 1 egg is sufficient for a quart of yeast.
Milk Yeast.—Take 1 pint of new milk; 1 tea-spoonful of fine salt, and a large spoon of flour—stir these well together: get the mixture by the fire, and keep it just lukewarm ; it will be fit for use in an hour. Twice the quantity of common yeast is necessary ; it will not keep long. Bread made of this yeast dries very soon; but in the summer it is sometimes convenient to make this kind when yeast is needed suddenly.
Hard Yeast.—Boil 3 ounces of hops in 6 quarts of water, till only 2 quarts remain. Strain it, and stir in while it is boiling hot, wheat or rye meal till it is thick as batter. When It is about milk-warm, add half a pint of good yeast, and let it stand till it is very light, generally about 3 hours; then work in sifted Indian meal till it is a stiff dough. Roll it out on a board; cut it into oblong cakes about 3 inches by 2, and half an inch thick. Lay these cakes on a smooth board, over which a little flour has been dusted; prick them with a fork, and place the board in a dry clean room, where the sun and air may be freely admitted. Turn them every day. They will dry in a fortnight, unless the weather be damp. When the cakes are perfectly dry, put them in a coarse cotton bag ; hang it up in a cool, dry place. If rightly prepared these cakes will keep a year.
Two cakes will make yeast enough for a peck of flour. Break them into a pint of lukewarm water, and stir in a table-spoonful of flour, the evening before you bake. Set the mixture where it ceo be kept moderately warm. In the morning it will be fit for use.

Salamander

Yesterday, I received an email request for information concerning the 19th century salamander. In Mrs. Hale's New Cookbook ©1857 I found a diagram and brief description of a salamander, pictured below. This 19th century kitchen tool was the beginnings of what Salamander ovens are used for today. Enjoy.

Roast Goose

Over the years we've seen the movies and televisions shows of older times and a Christmas Goose was often on the menu. Below is a recipe from Miss Leslie's New Cook Book © 1857 by Eliza Leslie  on how to prepare Roast Goose.

ROAST GOOSE.—A goose for roasting should be young, tender, and fat; so tender, that the skin can easily be torn by a pin; the bill and legs smooth and of a light yellow color, and the toes breaking when bent under. If the skin is thick and tough, and the bill and legs a dark reddish yellow, rough and hairy, do not buy the goose. It is old, and no cooking can make it eatable. A goose, from its profusion of feathers, looks like a large bird when walking about; but when plucked and prepared for the spit, it will be found very deceptive. It is much more hollow than a turkey; and, except the breast, there is but little eating on it. In large families it is usual to have a pair of roast geese, one not being sufficient. Geese are not good except for roasting, or in a pie.
In preparing a goose for cooking, save the giblets for the gravy. After the goose has been drawn, singed well, washed and wiped, inside and out; trussed so as to look round and short; make a quantity of stuffing, (as its hollow body will require a great deal.) For this purpose, parboil two good sized onions, and a large bunch of green sage. Mince both the sage and onions, seasoning them with a small salt-spoon of salt, half as much black pepper, and still less cayenne. Add a hard-boiled egg finely minced (yolk and white;) the chopped egg giving a nice smoothness to the sage and onion. •If your gooseis large, take two chopped eggs.
To make the stuffing very mild, fif preferred so,) add a handful of finely grated bread-cruru Ds ; or two or three fine juicy chopped apples. Fill the body and craw with this stuffing, and secure it with a needle and thread from falling out. Set the goose before a clear, steady fire—having a little warm water in the dripping-pan to baste it till the gravy begins to fall. Keep it well basted all the time it is roasting. It must be thoroughly done all through. * Ro;ist it according to its size, from an hour and a half to two hours or more.
Boil the giblets in a sauce-pan by themselves, seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and having among them a bit of butter dredged with flour. When done, remove the neck, and retain the heart, liver, and gizzard, cut into pieces, and served in the gravy, which should be well skimmed. Also, skim carefully the fat off the gravy in the bottom of the dripping-pan. Put the two gravies together, and serve them up in a gravy tureen. To eat with the goose, have plenty of apple-sauce, made of fine juicy apples, stewed very dry, well sweetened, and flavored with the grated yellow rind and juice of a lemon; or with some rose-water and nutmeg stirred in after the sauce is taken from the fire. Rose-water evaporates in cooking, and should never boi i or be kept on the fire. A bain marie, or double kettle, is excellent for stewing fruit; putting the fruit inside, and the water outside.

For a family dinner a goose is very good stuffed with well-boiled potatos, mashed smooth, with plenty of fresh butter or gravy. Sweet potatos' make an excellent stuffing. So do boiled chestnuts, mashed with butter or gravy.

Another Day, Another Dollar

This phrase actually came from a phrase from the 19th century. "More days, more dollars." I've found the quote in several books and magazines in the 19th century. The oldest I've come across is 1853 Adventures in Australia pg. 38 and in 1857 in Nine Years a Sailor, pg. 273

The phrase refers to how the sailors were paid and the monotony of their days at sea.

Here's the quote from Adventures in Australia
A Calm at sea is, when it continues for several days, a most wearisome and monotonous occurrence. Every sail flapping lazily against the mast, the rigging creaking and straining with the heavy roll of the ship, and to no purpose, as far as regards the attainment of our object, the completion of the voyage. It is what is called by Jack himself, a sailor's wind, because their axiom is " more days, more dollars," especially at the high rate of wages they are now receiving on board of the ship in which this is penned. But even he gets tired of it, the pulling and hauling of the ropes for every shift of light airs, is what he calls " humbugging;" and it does not generally improve the temper of the " skipper," i. e., commander; his perceptions are doubled, and he sees faults where, under a fine stiff slashing gale, he would have seen none. All seem alive and exhilarated, when going along under a ten-knot breeze ; even the mates throw the reel over the side of the vessel with a swing of satisfaction and excitement.

Thoughts about the Railroads from 1856

Here's an excerpt from the "Incidents of Western Travels" by Rev. George Pierce. The letters were written in 1856 and published in 1857.

Here are his thoughts on railroad travel:
I should cheerfully resign all my interest, as a traveller, in horses, buggies, and steamboats, to be assured on every route of a railroad. It is a grand invention. A pyramid is a regal toy compared with this modern contrivance for getting along. I trust that all which have been built will last for ever; that all in progress will go on to completion; that those which have been talked about will become realities, and that thousands more will be projected and finished. Success to them all! Highways of travel and commerce, they facilitate intercourse, enrich the country, save time, and enable a man to see as much—to go as far in a few months—as in the ordinary lifetime of our grandfathers. What a boon to a man who has been long from home ! How swiftly they bear him on his way! The iron horse seems to sympathize with his impatience, and, breathing smoke and fire, bounds along his destined track as though he were glad to confer a favor. I acknowledge my indebtedness for his help on many a weary journey.

Galveston 1856

Below is an excerpt from the "Incidents of Western Travels" by Rev. George Pierce ©1857 These letters were his reflections on his travels from GA to Nashville, to Oklahoma, to Arkansas, to Texas and back to GA.

Galveston, the " city of cottages," is a charming place. Open to the winds on every side, with wide streets and sandy soil, and a soft and balmy climate, it is eligibly located for a great and nourishing mart. Orange and lemon trees are found in almost every garden. They grow luxuriantly, and were laden with fruit when I was there in December last. The oleander is the common ornamental shrub in the town. It flourishes even along the sidewalks. The plantain, too, with its clustering fruit, is successfully cultivated. What the temperature may be in summer, I know not; but a visitor in winter would conclude that the good people had the productions of the tropics, without the accompanying fervor of a tropical climate. It is wellnigh impossible to conceive of a finer beach than the one around Galveston. An evening ride on these surf-beaten sands is a delightful recreation. The beautiful and the sublime, nature and art, the works of God and the inventions of men, combine in panoramic order. The island, with its human habitations; the Gulf, with its ever-heaving waters; the steamship, bannered with smoke, proudly defying wind and wave; the sea-birds, with tireless wing fanning the air, or descending to ride upon the billows ; the merry voices of the gay and the glad, as they gather shells upon the shore, mingling with the everlasting roar of the tide in its ebb and its flow, constitute a scene where one may well pause to think and feel, to admire and adore.

Galveston cannot be a sickly place, unless it be by the criminal.carelessness of the city authorities, or the bad habits of the people. Yellow-fever certainly cannot originate there, and if it prevail at all, it must be by importation. When Texas shall count her citizens by the million, and communication with the interior by railroads shall be opened, this city on the Gulf of Mexico will become an emporium of wealth and commerce.

Coffee on the Trail

Below is an impression about Coffee taken from the "Incidents of Western Travels," letters written by George Pierce a Methodist Minister on a trip out to the Indian Mission in Oklahoma in 1856 and published in 1857. I'm supplying the context for you to enjoy his comments about coffee.

A little before dark we came to an Indian cabin, and by signs and gestures made known our wish to tarry for the night. By signs and gestures we were made to understand that we could stay. We were left, of course, to wait upon ourselves; so we stripped our horses and led them to water; and when we returned, our host had brought to the lot a turn of corn and fodder, and as he let his own horses out, we put ours in and fed them to our hearts' content. Now we marched to the house t* see about our own prospects for food and rest. There was but one room, but this was neat and comfortable, save that there was about it an undefinable odor, any thing but pleasant. It is common, I learned, to Indian habitations. The man, his wife and children, were well clad, and were attentive and polite according to their notions. N"ot a word of English could we get from any of the household. They could speak it, for they understood us very well in much of our talk: that was very obvious. My good friend, McAlister, undertook to secure us a good supper by giving special directions, more particularly about the coffee—with me, when good, a favorite article. But, alas ! he succeeded better with every thing else than with this necessary beverage. By the way—pardon a little digression on this interesting theme—bad coffee is one of the afflictions of the land, and it is one of the miseries of travel. We find it everywhere—in taverns and private houses—among the rich and the poor. Often, when every thing else is clean and well prepared, the coffee is execrable stuff. Weak, or black, or unsettled, it is enough to make a well man sick. Why is this ? It is not stinginess, for there is often enough of the raw material, if it had been boiled and cleared. Sometimes, it is true, a man has to drink a good deal of wate» to get a little coffee ; but, generally, the difficulty is that the fluid is.muddy, the grounds all afloat; and then "the cup cheers" not, but sadly offends sight, smell, and taste. The country needs a reform. It is more necessary to the welfare of the people than some other things that agitate the nation. In these days of Womens' Rights I will not invade their province by pretending to give a recipe. I will only say, there must be good grains, well parched—not burnt—well boiled, and well settled; and then, as the cookery-books say, cream (not milk) and siigar "according to taste." A lady of my acquaintance says it takes a tablespoonful of coffee to every cup; a little more would not hurt to make the article decently good. I wish the people—Indians and all—would try her proportions.

Quicksand from a travel journal

Below is an excerpt from Incidents of Western Travels by a Methodist Minister, George Pierce in 1856 and published in 1857. These letters are a brief account of a trip he took from Georgia to the Indian Mission (Oklahoma) to Texas then Arkansas and back to Georgia. I've found it fascinating reading. Here's a brief description of an account about quicksand.

On Monday morning, the 15th of October, we left North' Fork with Brother McAlister and Brother Ewing, for the Choctaw Agency. The latter brother was expecting to be transferred from the Arkansas Conference, and to take work among the Indians. Tahlequah was left to be supplied by him. The brethren were on horseback, and the roads being very rough, they outwent us a little. By-and-by we saw them ahead on the bank of a river. Brother McAlister dismounted, punching about in the edge of the water up and down the stream with his umbrella. "What is the matter— what do you mean ?" said I. " We are looking for a place to cross." "What, you are not afraid to plunge into this little branch! Why, it is not knee-deep !" "Ah !" said Brother McAlister, "the quicksand—the quicksand: all these streams are dangerous. Be sure you do not let your horses stop to drink, or you may be swallowed up. Once sink a little, and you are gone." Thus admonished, we drove quickly over the wide but shallow stream. Our travelling companions entertained us with several stories about these quicksands—some serious, some ludicrous. We passed them all in safety; but I will say I never saw such sand-bars and beds anywhere else.

Curing Pork

Preserving food was a changing art in the 19th century, and very different from today. Today we simply go to the market and purchase whatever variety of meat we'd like for our dinners. Butcher Shops were not uncommon in the 19th century but many also had to prepare their own meat from the farm. Below is a section from Mrs. Hale's new cook book: By Sarah Josepha Buell Hale ©1857 It's a good description of the various ways to prepare pork.

Curing Pork.—The pork being killed, several points require attention —first, the chitterlings must be cleaned, and all the fat taken off; they are then to be soaked for two or three day* in four or six waters, and the fat may be melted for softening shoes, &c.; the inside fat, or flare, of pork must be melted for lard as soon as possible, without salt, if for pastry. The souse should be salted for two or three days, and then boiled till tender ; or fried, or broiled, after being boiled. The sides for bacon must be wiped, rubbed at the bone, and sprinkled with salt, to extract the blood : the chines, cheeks, and spare-ribs, should be similarly salted. On the third day after pork is killed, it may be regularly salted, tubs or pans being placed to receive the brine, which is useful for chines and tongues. December and January are the best months for preparing bacon, as the frost is not then too severe.
The hog is made into bacon, or pickled.
Bacon—(The method of airing Malines Bacon, so much ad mired for its fine flavor).—Cut off the hams and head of a pig, if a large one; takeout the chine and leave in the spare-rib, as they will keep in the gravy and prevent the bacon from rusting. Salt it first with common salt, and let it lie for a day on a table that the blood may run from it; then make a brine with a pint of bay-salt, one-quarter peck of common salt, about one-quarter pound of juniper-berries, and some bay-leaves, with as much water as will, when the brine is made, cover the bacon; when the salt is dissolved, and when quite cold, if a new-laid egg will swim in it, the brine may be put on the ba con, which after a week must be rubbed with the following mixture:—Half pound of saltpetre, 2 oz. of sal-prunella, and 1 pound of coarse sugar; after remaining 4 weeks, it may be hung up in a chimney where wood is burned; shavings, with •awdust and a small quantity of turf, may be added to the fire at times.
Westphalia Hams—Are prepared in November and March. The Germans place them in deep tubs, which they cover with «vers of salt and saltpetre, and a few laurel-leaves. They ar« left four or five days in this state, and then are compk-tcly covered with strong brine. At the end of three weeks, they are taken out, and soaked twelve hours in clear spring water • they are then hung for three weeks in smoke, produ"-.ed from the branches of juniper-plants.
Another method is to rub the leg intended for a bun with half a pound of coarse sugar, and to lay it aside for a night. In the morning, it is rubbed with an ounce of saltpetre, and an ounce of common salt, mixed. It is then turned daily for throe weeks, and afterwards dried in wood and turf-smoke. When boiled, a pint of oak saw-dust is directed to be put into the pot or boiler.
Obs.—Dried meats, hams, &c., should be kept in a cold bui not damp place.
Smoked provisions keep better than those which are dried on account of the pyroligneous acid which the former recei\v from the smoke.
Hams superior to Westphalia.—Take the hams as soon as the pork is sufficiently cold to be cut up, rub them well wit! common salt, and leave them for three days to drain; throw away the brine, and for a couple of hatns of from fifteen to eighteen pounds' weight, mix together two ounces of saltpetre, a pound of coarse sugar, and a pound of common salt; rub the hams in every part with these, lay them into deeppieklinf;paus with the riud downwards, and keep them for three days well covered with the salt and sugar; then pour over them a bottle of good vinegar, and turn them in the brine, and baste them with it daily for a mouth; drain them well, nib them with bran, and let them be hung for a month high in a chimney over a wood-fire to be smoked.
Hams, of from 15 to 18 Ibs. each, 2; to drain, 3 days. Common salt and coarse sugar, each 1 Ib.; saltpetre, 2 ozs.: 3 jays. Vinegar, 1 bottle: 1 month. To be smoked 1 month.
Obs.—Such of our readers as shall make trial of this admirable receipt, will acknowledge, we doubt not, that the hams thus cured are in reality superior to those of Westphalia. It was originally given to the public by the celebrated French cook, Monsieur Ude, to whom, after having proved it, we are happy to acknowledge o'tr obligation for it. lie directs that the hams when smoked should be hung as high as possible from the fire, that the fat may not be melted ;—a very necea. sary precaution, as the mode of their being cured renders it peculiarly liable to do so. This, indeed, is somewhat perceptible in the cooking, which ought, therefore, to be conducted with especial care. The hams should be very softly simmered, and uot over-done. They should be large, and of finely-fed pork, or the receipt will not answer. We give the result of out first trial of it, which was perfectly successful.
Leg of farm-house pork, 14 to 15 Ibs.; saltpetre, 1^ oz. • strong coarse salt, 6 ozs.; coarse sugar, 8 ozs.: 3 days. Fine white-wine vinegar, 1 pint. In pickle, turned daily, 1 month. Smoked over wood, 1 month.
Obs.—When two hams are pickled together, a smaller proportion of the ingredients is required for each than for one which is cured by itself. .

Panic of 1857

The history of a Panic run on banks is much the same no matter what time period. However, in 1857 it was caused by a quick downward turn of the economy, embezzlement, fall of grain prices and land speculation. Sounds some what familiar to today's economic issues doesn't it?

Wikipedia has a nice article for fuller details about this panic.

America has prospered from the gold pouring into the economy from California, inflating prices and currency. The SS Central America a ship with 30,000 lbs of gold was lost at sea off the coast of NC during a hurricane in 1857 also contributed to people's fears and lack of confidence in the government. The ship and most of the gold was recovered in 1987. At that time the value of the gold was 100-150 million USD.

The panic itself was short lived but the recovery didn't fully happen until after the Civil War.

If you want even fuller details there are a couple of books at Google books. One is The banks of NY, their dealers, the clearing hous, and the Panic of 1857 by Robert Morris

Or something written many years later The Panic of 1857: an analytical study by George Washington Van Vleck.

Gypsum, Plaster of Paris

Below is an account of Gypsum & Plaster of Paris from the Kansas Cyclopedia 1912 giving a history of the product with regard to Kansas. Plaster was used long before this period but it is important to the history and development of the product here in the United States. In fact, history tells us that it came into use in Paris, France in the 1700's, which is where the term Plaster of Paris comes from.

Gypsum was first discovered in Kansas by Thomas C. Palmer, who settled in Marshall county in 1857. Noticing that some rocks he had used about his camp fire had burned to lime, he used the product to "chink" his cabin. Subsequent investigation disclosed the fact that the rocks were gypsum. The following year Gen. F. J. Marshall burned some of the same kind of lime and plastered a house at Marysville. In 1872 Judge Coon and his brother began the manufacture of plaster-of-paris with a five barrel kettle at Blue Rapids, and three years later a stone mill was erected, which was conducted for about twelve years. In 1887 two companies were organized at Blue Rapids for the manufacture of cement plaster, and one was organized at Hope, Dickinson county. A mill established at Salina in 1889 furnished the plaster for the buildings of the Columbian exposition at Chicago in 1893. This brought Kansas gypsum to the notice of builders, and in 1898 the American Cement Plaster company was organized at Lawrence. Factories have since been established at Burns, Marion county; Kansas City, Mo.; and Wymore, Neb., all of which use large quantities of gypsum from the Kansas deposits. The United States Gypsum company, with offices in Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Minneapolis, Minn., and San Francisco, manufacture a gypsum hollow tile for fireproofing, which has found favor with the architects of the country, and it is certain that the next few years will witness a great development of the Kansas gypsum fields.

Pages 799-800 from volume I of Kansas: a cyclopedia of state history, embracing events, institutions, industries, counties, cities, towns, prominent persons, etc. ... / with a supplementary volume devoted to selected personal history and reminiscence. Standard Pub. Co. Chicago : 1912. 3 v. in 4. : front., ill., ports.; 28 cm. Vols. I-II edited by Frank W. Blackmar. Transcribed May 2002 by Carolyn Ward.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne, Wyoming was established in 1867 mainly due to the expansion of the transcontinental railroad. The nickname for the town's founding was "hell on wheels." 4000 wild and rowdy men came into town quickly. Half of the town's businesses were saloons. It took a few years for the town to settle down and become respectable. In 1880 they had revamped their image. It became a wealthy town from Cattle Barons. Arts & Culture moved in. IN 1890, when Wyoming became a state, Cheyenne became the capitol. By 1893 large churches were being completed. Oddly enough by 1897 the cow barons were gone and the town folk were feeling nostalgic for the good old days and started the tradition of Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Below is a link to a photo of Cheyenne in 1876
1876 Cheyenne Wyoming

Note the order to the buildings, streets and pens for the cattle.

Motions of the Earth

Taken from "Things Not Generally Known" by John Timbs, David Ames Wells ©1857

MOTION OF THE EARTH AROUND THE SUN.

The motion of the earth around the sun in round numbers is 68,805 miles per hoar,—so that while we are reading, or cogitating npon this statement, we are at the same time whirling along at a velocity of more than a thousand miles a minute, and nineteen miles between two beats of a pendnlnm, or in a second of time. The motion of Mercury in its orbit is much greater, being upwards of 100,000 miles per hour. If we are disposed to regard this as a rapid motion round the sun, what must the inhabitants of Neptune, who travel only three and a half miles a second, think of us, who are whirling round the sun at six times the speed of Neptune!

THE THREE MOTIONS OF THE EARTH.

The Earth is believed by all astronomers to have, at this moment, not two motions only, but three !—one round its axis, which one can make evident to the very eye; another round the sun ; but what of the third? A most remarkable, and equally mysterious fact; that the sun and all his planets are moving with prodigious velocity through space at the rate of a hundred and fifty millions of miles a-year, towards a particular point in the heavens, a star [X] in the constellation Hercules!

Men of Straw

Taken from "Things Not Generally Known by John Timbs, David Ames Wells ©1857

Many years ago, men could be easily found to give any evidence, upon oath, that might be required: and some of these persons walked openly in Westminster Hall with a straw in one of their shoes, to signify they wanted employment as witnesses; hence originated the saying "he is a Man of Straw." But the custom has high antiquity. A writer in the Quarterly Review (vol. xzziii. p. 344), on Greek Courts, says: "We have all heard of a race of men who used in former days to ply about our own courts of law, and who, from their manner of-making known their occupation, were recognized by the name of straw sheet. An advocate or lawyer who wanted a convenient witness, knew by these signs where to find one, and the colloquy between the parties was brief. 'Don't you remember? ' said the advocate—(the party looked at the fee and gave no sign; but the fee increased, and the powers of memory increased with it)—' To be sure I do.' ' Then come into court and swear it 1' And straw shoes went into court and swore it. Athens abounded in straw shoes."

Though a straw in the shoe has ceased to be the distinguishing mark, the records of many of our courts show that " men of straw " still exist, and are easily found by those unprincipled enough to require their services. They are now, however, principally employed 09 bail; and " straw bail," has become a familiar word in all our courts. Their false oath of the possession of property is often a ready means of snatching felons from the custody of the law.

Filibusters

Taken from the book "Things Not Generally Known" by John Timbs, David Ames Wells. ©1857

FILIBUSTERS.

The title of Filibusters is a mere corruption of the English word freebooters—a German term imported into England during the Low-Country wars of Elizabeth's reign. It has been erroneously traced to the Dutch word/r/JoaJ; but the Jesuit traveller Charlevoix asserts that, in fact, this species of craft derived its title from being first used by the Flibustiers, and not from its swiftness. This, however, is evidently a mistake, as Drayton and Hakluyt use the word; and it seems to bo of even earlier standing in the French language. The derivation from the English word freebooter is at once seen when the * in Flibustier becomes lost in pronunciation.—C. W. Thorribury.
End Quote

The term was revised in the mid 19th century to describe the actions of adventurers who tried to take control of various Caribbean, Mexican and Central-American terrorists. (According to Wikipedia)

The first well known political filibuster was U.S. Senator Henry Clay with regard to a bank bill he was in favor of. This filibuster took a month in 1841 and ended on March 11th.

Filibusters continued in the Senate's history during the rest of the 19th century by the end of the century the term was in common usage.