Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 May 1919 — HISTORY SHOWN BY FENCES [ARTICLE]

HISTORY SHOWN BY FENCES

Various Kinds That Have Been in Use at Different Times Mark the Gauntry’s Progress. The progress and condition of our settlements can be traced Id our fences, writes Alice Morse Earle, tn “Home Life in Colonial Days.” As Indians disappeared or succumbed, the solid row of bales (stockade) gave place to a log fence, wfiich served well to keep out depredatory animals. The dangers from Indians or wild animals entirely disappeared, boards were still not over-plenty, and the strength of the owner could not be overspent on unnecessary fencing. Then (Sime the double-rail fence; two rails, held In place, one above the other, at each joining, by four crossed sticks. It was a boundary, and would keep in cattle. It was said that every fence should be horse-high, bull-proof and pig-tight. Then came stone walls, showing a thorough clearing and taming of the land. The succeeding “halfhigh'’ stone wall —a foot or two high,’ with a single rail on top—showed that stones were not as plentiful in the fields as in early days. The “snakefence,” or “Virginia fence,” so common in the southern states, utilized the second growth of forest trees. The split-rail fence, four or five rails In height, was set at intervals with posts, pierced with holes to hold the ends of the tails. These were *used to some extent in the East: but our western states were fenced throughout with rails split by sturdy pioneer railsplitters. among them young Abraham Lincoln. Board fences showed the day of the sawmill and its plentiful supply; the wire fences of todaj’ equally prove the decrease of our forests and our wood, and the growth of our mineral supplies and manufactures of metals. Thus even our fences might be called historical monuments.