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Page 52 EARLY INDUSTRIES
"After this dipping, then they were put back on these racks and
allowed to dry. Many times they would catch fire in this drying
process, and the only way to put the fire out was to clap our bare
hands on the fire.
"Now the next process was to pack them ready for market.
"We would take one of these blocks, and of course they were already
counted in blocks of one hundred forty-four, but still had to be
pulled apart. The next thing was to take a piece of paper, they were
cut about four inches long and about one inch wide, and we wrapped
this around the heads and was folded over the heads to keep them
covered.
"We called this the capping. And, I can assure you, I capped many a
gross of them.
"After they were in this shape, then the next was to put them in
packages ready for market. There were twelve on these blocks, put in
a package and sealed shut with mucilage. Then it required twelve
cents of internal revenue stamps put on them, each one hundred
forty-four matches required a cent revenue paid. You could either
put a one cent stamp on each block or else seal twelve in one
package and put twelve cents stamps on the wrapper."
The manufacture of homemade clothing continued up to 1860, when
William F. Johnson built a woolen mill at his grist mill at Rockton.
To this mill raw wool was taken and carded into rolls for spinning,
from which stockings and mittens were knit. Mr. Johnson manufactured
cloth which was traded for wool.
At about this time the "wool peddler" commenced to roam through the
country. He carried woolen cloths and blankets made from wool, which
he traded for the raw wool of the farmers. The price per yard of the
cloth was fixed in pounds of wool. The wool peddler came in June and
July with his wagon loaded with piece goods.
Modern invention thus destroyed the hand loom, and in a short time
machine knitting superseded the hand knit mittens, stockings and
socks.
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