It was all very different in the days of our grandfathers. Whiskey and the open vote were two very potent factors in keeping up the excitement. Instead of having several booths scattered throughout each township, there was only one in the electoral district. The principal village in the district was generally selected, but sometimes the only booth was set up in a country tavern, especially if it was in a central location and the proprietor could pull enough political strings. A platform was constructed out of rough boards and protected from the weather by a sloping roof. On Monday morning of election week the candidates and their henchmen assembled in the vicinity of the platform, which was known as the hustings. The electors came pouring in from all parts of the district. Each party had its headquarters at a tavern, or tent, or both, where the workers would lay their plans. The forenoon was spent in listening to the orators of the day, and at one o’clock the polling began. It is easy to imagine what would happen to the doubtful voter when he arrived at the village. As the poll was kept open all day and every day until Saturday night, it is not quite so easy to picture the scenes during the last day or two of a hot contest. Couriers with foaming horses were going and coming. Heated discussions frequently terminated in a rough-and-tumble fight, in which a score or more participated. Drunken men reeled about the streets until carefully stowed away by their friends in a tent or in a stall in the tavern stable. If the inebriate had not yet polled his vote, his whilom friends were most solicitous in the attention bestowed upon him. It not infrequently happened that the indifferent voter purposely played into the hands of both parties. It was a golden opportunity for free lunches and free whiskey; and the longer he deferred the fateful hour when he had to announce to the returning officer the candidate of his choice, the more difficult it was for him to choose. In his dilemma he would seek his solace in a little more whiskey, and, in the end, perhaps vote for the wrong man. If unhappily he did make such a mistake, his political guardians never failed to call his attention to the error in a manner not likely soon to be forgotten—such incidents were thereafter associated in the mind of the offender with unpleasant recollections of the village pump or the nearest creek. *CHAPTER V* *SCHOOL TEACHERS AND PREACHERS* The Loyalists were so busy in clearing the land and getting the new home into shape that little time was left for looking after such matters as educating the young. There were no laws regulating the school system, no buildings nor funds for school purposes, no officials to take the lead, and what was done was the spontaneous outcome of a desire to equip the rising generation for the duties of citizenship.[#]