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PAGE A6, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 13, 2018 COOK, SANITARY: ‘This time period was smelly to begin with’ (Continued From Page A1) in the Smithsonian,” Makey said. “She was surprised when I said I wanted to learn the old- est techniques she knew so I could show people during re- enactments.” The Gullahs are descendants of slaves brought to the U.S. to grow and harvest rice. After slavery was abolished, the men turned to basketweaving as a way to provide for their families and, eventually, it morphed into a family-wide activity. Basket-making is almost a sideshow to Makey’s main role in the Union encampment. She regularly portrays a member of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. She found her role after her husband, Gary, decided to pur- sue tinsmithing. “Some of the wealthier ci- vilians were reading the writ- ing of Florence Nightengale and they were sure that the U.S. Government was going to make the same mistakes that the British government did during the Crimean War. But, by golly, they were going to straighten out the government,” Makey said. Members of the group that became the commission argued with President Abraham Lin- coln for recognition that fi nally came on June 9, 1861. “The men started inspect- ing the camps and would write long reports and submit them to commanders. But, they found that the camps that abid- ed by the recommendations were cleaner and the men were healthier,” Makey said. At the same time, the wom- en in the group were making bandages and lint to supply the front lines while taking note of other supplemental efforts. “Communities would try to send things to their soldiers. They would pack railroad cars full of supplies, including left- overs from last night’s dinner. All the glass containers broke and the cars would get side- tracked for two or three weeks. They would open the cars and they wrote that the smell was overwhelming. This time pe- riod was smelly to begin with,” Makey said. The Sanitary Commission KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald Gary Makey works on a heat refl ector for cooking in the Union camp’s tinsmith shop. created a collection and distri- bution system that started out fi lling the needs of soldiers on the battlefi eld and morphed into supporting the hospitals working with injured soldiers. The sanitary commission also turned the idea of fun- draising on its ear. They held Sanitary Fairs that started out earning just shy of $100,000 and fi nished earning more than $1 million when the last one was held. “By the end of the war, the Sanitary Commission raised more $4 million and collected and distributed more than $60 million of goods and services,” SURGEON, continued from Page A1 with some surgeries during non-presentations,” he said. Wetter can speak in depth about bone saws throughout the ages. “One of the things I had was four capital amputa- tion saws from four different periods in time. The quiz was to put them in order, oldest to newest. It was surprising how many people couldn’t really do it.” The trick, he said, is to look at the handle. Civil War-era bone saws have wooden han- dles, because they didn’t know the importance of steriliza- tion in medical practice and didn’t realize that wood holds bacteria. Later bone saws have metal handles, which can be sterilized. Wetter emphasizes how Odell takes great care to make meals for his “pards” in line with what would have continued from Page A1 been served during the Civil War, but it comes down to two I think she already had it in her things: “If I have fi re and water, mind to sign us up,” Odell said. I can make just about anything, but I research Five years what it was later, Odell’s that they ate daughters are and combine it in the process with what we of leaving the know about nest, but he germ theory.” still turned One of the out last week mainstays is to cook for Odell’s version the 69th New of hardtack, York Infantry complete with Regiment. caraway seeds O d e l l to represent embraced the the weevils that re-enacting — Doug Odell got into the scene with recipe during such gusto that the Civil War he has a two personas he performs with era. Hardtack is biscuit made some regularity. In Oregon, he’s of fl our and water with an the camp cook. In Washington, extraordinarily long shelf- where he travels to perform life. Some versions are barely under a reciprocity agreement, edible while Odell’s is softer he’s a newspaperman. As a on the tooth and more tasty. “I love cooking for this stay-at-home dad and author, both roles are equally fi tting to group because it brings some part of his modern-day us together as a club and community,” Odell said. persona. Makey said. The U.S. Sanitary Commission was disbanded in 1866. The group also kept a me- ticulous record of what worked and didn’t during its brief exis- tence, which came into play for another organization about 15 years later. “Clara Barton took what she learned from the Interna- tional Red Cross and the U.S. Sanitary Commission and cre- ated the American Red Cross,” Makey said. PAINTER, continued from Page A1 Nathaniel Hawthorne. But, it was the hand-paint- ed fashion plates that make each issue truly-unique. “They were done with watercolors and then bound in the catalog and published. It’s possible that no two are exactly alike because each woman would have had a dif- ferent set of colors,” Smith said. The publisher, Louis A. Godey, enlisted women who worked from home to color the plates at a cost of about “I research what it was that they ate and combine it with what we know about germ theory.” $8,000 per issue. At it’s peak, the magazine had 150,000 subscribers – subscriptions were $3 per year – but lost about a third of its readership during the Civil War because Godey refused to acknowl- edge the unrest between the Union and Confederacy in the pages of The Lady’s Book. Smith said her interest in the process by which the book was published arose out of a conversation among fel- low re-enactors about the trades and activities that got less notice during living his- tory events. “I can’t sketch, but I can color,” said Smith. KEIZERTIMES/Random Pendragon Bob Wetter demonstrates surgery techniques from the 1860s. few Civil War deaths were the result of battlefi eld casualties. “Of the 750,000-plus soldiers, sailors and marines who died during the Civil War, two- thirds of them died from dis- ease,” Wetter said. Even though interest is waning in the era, Wetter said it’s still important to un- derstand our nation’s history. “We’re here to remind people of what it was like to be in the 1860s,” he said. crossword LISTEN TO THE KEIZERTIMES PODCAST AVAILABLE ON TUNES AND SOUNDCLOUD
