| Fannie talks about herself
Death in a cellar
[Q=Len]
[Later] I remember when I fell down [into a cellar] It wasn't really... I didn't get hurt because the first few steps were wood, but the rest of them were made... cut out from the dirt, you know. So I looked in to see... I looked so long until I fell in. You know, I turned over.
But the reason I looked, ’cause I wanted to see what’s in there, is because on the outside there was a long box, you know. A long... about this wide, and that was supposed to bring in the light ’cause I asked her why did they put that in now. I mean, I saw it before.
So the brother told me that once upon a time there was... down the street there was an old lady who had a place... a cellar, and it led very far. All the way to the marketplace, that was how big it was. Gas accumulated in there.
And one woman that, she owned it or something, went down, and she didn't come up. Her husband went down, and he didn't come up again. So they sent down the strongest man in town, and he didn't come up. So then they dug the outside, and they found out it was kind of a gas in there. That the woman was overcome by the gas. Her husband went, and he found her. He got her hand. Got a hold of her hand, but she didn't say anything. And he got down too. I mean, he collapsed. They both died from the gas. And they sent down that strong man. He died too. So they dug up the outside and found them all dead. They just didn't know that there was such a thing as gas. I hope I'm telling it truthfully.
Q. This was at your grandmother's house.
A. Yes.
Q. Well, what did she keep in the cellar?
A. Well, you know, they didn't have ice boxes at least at that time. So they used to take down...for instance, they'd make sour cream. They'd take along... used to buy the long... not in the house. They didn't use them. But it was made by the peasants. It had two little ears to held them with. It was a long earthenware thing. And they did put things up and put them down there in the basement to keep cool, and they did. So that's what I meant.
The woman went down to get something, and she was overcome by gas. That's all I know about that. I was told about it. The Baba told me. I asked her. Something came up... what it was all about, and she was... (long skip in audio. Other side of tape)
A. ...after that, they used to have a sort of a long box about nine inches wide...a square, you know. And that permitted the air to come in and also that bad air to go out. I don't which it was. And also the light to come in. |
