ices ranging
from three dollars per day up, be an exception. It has grown out of the
same conditions which transformed the farmhouses into boarding-houses,
save that it has never been managed at a profit, and they never at a
loss. It is, however, an institution by itself, and will be treated in
another place.

The Mizzen-Top Hotel has always been a sober institution, influenced
thereto by the pleasureless spirit of the Hill. Baseball, tennis, and
golf in their times have had vogue there, but under every management it
has been hard to arouse and maintain active interest in outdoor or
indoor sports. The direct road to Hammersley Lake, formerly called
Quaker Hill Pond, has made possible a moderate indulgence in
carriage-driving. The laying out of the golf links in 1897 set going
that dignified sport, just as the Wayside Path in 1880 occasioned some
mild pedestrianism. But the Hotel diminishes rather than increases in
its play-activities; and only games of cards retain a hold upon the
guests, who prefer the piazza, the croquet ground, the tennis court, and
the golf links in rapidly diminishing proportion.

Intemperance was common in earlier times, and drinking was universal.
Every household made and stored for winter many barrels of cider. Rum
and wine were freely bought at the store. Their use in the harvest field
was essential to the habits of agriculture which preceded the times of
the mower and reaper. This free use of cider, with accompanying
intemperance, survives in only two houses on Quaker Hill.

Miss Taber's account, in "Some Glimpses of the Past," describes the
drinking habits of the older period: "It was customary to have cider on
the table at every meal, the ladies would have their tea, but most of
the men drank cider largely, many to excess, consequently there were
great quantities made in the fall and stored in the cellars during the
winter. A large farmer would lay out a great deal of work, gathering
from ten to twenty cartloads of apples, hooping and cleaning barrels,
and many ground and pressed their own cider, then the large casks were
drawn to and placed in the cellars. This usually occupied a large part
of the month of October. In the spring a portion of the hard cider would
be taken to a distiller, and made into cider brandy to be used in the
haying and harvest field, at sheep washings, butchering, raisings,
shearings and on many occasions. Some was always on the sideboard and
often on the table. In