Some crazy running around

"March 16, 2002:  A 9:30 breakfast in the Party Room for St. Patrick's Day.  Mitch and Anna here in evening.
March 17, 2002:  Nancy brought pizza for our dinner.  We played several games of Rummikub.  I took a shower while Nancy vacuumed.  Talked to Greta in a.m.
March 18, 2002:  Merilyn left yesterday to go to Tacoma.  Maria is scheduled for back surgery this week.  Played Seven Up this evening."

Pretty normal stuff from Grandma.  So, it's Winside history again.  This article does not have a source, so I can't say who wrote this piece.  Not that we would know them, but it might shed some light on any biased reporting.

1927 Foot Race

December 25, Irvin Leary, better known to his friends as "Farmer" and Louis "Butch" Ehlers seemed to have difficulty in deciding upon the price to be paid for two calves that Farmer wanted to buy.  They were still about $10 apart when the thought of running it off was suggested by Butch.  At first they thought 100 yards was long enough but it was finally changed to about a mile and a half.
Butch only weighed about 225 pounds while Farmer was built along the lines of Nurmi or perhaps Hahn or Ritola, but Butch's confidence was supreme and the race was going to be run.

They started from the crossing near the Winside cattle yards and after starting out at a brisk dog trot, tired and fell into a walk until they reached the Frank Dangberg farm.  From this point both decided to make one supreme effort for victory, the finish of the race being on the summit of the steep hill south of the Dangberg place.  Both dashed forward about the same time, Farmer gradually leaving Butch in the rear.  It appeared that both might collapse before they reached the top, so groggy from exhaustion were the two principals, but Farmer was not to be denied and kept pressing forward until he crossed the line, but he could not have gone much farther as he had nothing left.  Butch was game but about half way up the hill, he fell from sheer exhaustion and lost the race.  Farmer won but insisted afterwards that no more disagreements will be settled by the "Marathon Route" as far as he was concerned.

Okay, so I had to look up Nurmi and Ritola and Hahn.  I didn't find a Hahn that had the proper birth year to be considered, but Nurmi and Ritola can both be assigned to Finnish runners who were alive and running in 1927.  Both were slender guys.  So, I am thinking that Farmer was a big guy and Butch was most definitely not, which does add quite a bit to the story if you visualize the race that way.  They sure knew how to have a good time in Winside back in the day.  I wonder how many spectators there were.

The photo is of Ville Ritola.

A wild time in the old town

"March 12, 2002:  Mary took me for my weekly shampoo.  Julie will graduate so I'll have a new girl next week.  Deloros called this evening and I went to her apartment to play Cribbage.
March 13, 2002:  Nancy took me to the doctor for a 10:00 appointment.  He increased one of the pills to two a day.  Home in time for Mary to come for lunch and I had my shower.  No Book Club meeting tonight.
March 14, 2002:  Myrtle called this a.m.  A "blah" day.  In evening Deloroes called -- she came and we played Scrabble.
March 15, 2002:  Another "blah" and dreary day.  I sorted a little of my accumulation of "stuff"."

I added a fourth day in this post when I normally have been using just three.  I saw that Grandma described her day on the 14th as blah and I felt badly that she had a blah day.  But the 15th seems to indicate she was probably remarking about the weather, so I didn't want to leave a different impression until tomorrow for my dear readers.

You will note that Grandma's friend's name spelling changes from post to post.  I seem to recall it was spelled other than the usual Delores, but since I do not remember how she spelled it, I am just going with whatever Grandma has.  I bet we get it right some of the time.

Continuing my Winside history theme, here is another feel-good story.

Armistice

November 11, 1918 -- Germany Signs Armistice -- Winside "tore loose" about 4 o'clock Monday morning, when the news was flashed into town that Germany had signed the Armistice offered them by the allied nations.
Never again will we live to see such a spectacle in Winside.  Bells ringing at the three churches, at the school house, the fire bell and the fire whistle, linked with the hum drum of pistols, guns, gongs, tin pans and a score of other noises.  Nearly 300 men, women and children were on the streets by 5 o'clock and they passed back and forth on Main street, flooding forth the joy that welled up within them, because the great war was over and the Kaiser and his evil powers lie in abject surrender at the feet of the world.

In the afternoon the Home Guards did some drilling at the town hall square and then headed a parade through Main street.  Rev. J. B. Wylie and Rev. Wm. Smith then gave talks from an automobile.  In the evening the crowd delighted themselves with fireworks and the burning of boxes -- and of course the shot guns and revolvers were in for their share of the celebration once more. -- Winside Tribune.

I don't think much more needs to be said about that.  I think the Winside Tribune did very well for itself.

Here's Anna enjoying(?) some 4th of July snakes some 80 years after the big day in Winside.

Winsiders (?) are clever

"March 9, 2002:  Clear and sunny this morning but only 14 degrees.  Anna and Mitch here this evening.
March 10, 2002:  Nice day.  Nancy came for dinner.  I took a shower and then we went to Diane A.'s home (Allen's wife).  Saw Diane's 13 birds -- all had names -- parakeets and cockatoos.  Nancy and Diane went over the names of those attending Allen's funeral.  The largest cockatoo called, "Mom! Mom!" when Diane left the room when we were going home!
March 11, 2002:  Nine people played Seven-Up this evening."

I am thinking Nancy remembers this day.  Since we aren't "bird people" in our family, I imagine Grandma got a kick out of seeing all those birds.  Her exclamation point rather makes my case, I think.

I am enjoying the Winside history book, so here's some more.  I had the pick of a fire, some gruesome murders, or this story.  I picked the happier one.

Stored Oats -- 1895

In 1895 everyone had a fair crop of corn and an exceptionally good crop of oats.  Oats being low in price, R. R. Smith, the manager of the P. V. Elevator Co., stored 5000 bushels in the bin for higher prices.  Later when the oats were still in the bin, Mr. F. H. Peavy, the president of the company came down to see Mr. Smith about it as it did not sound reasonable that he could possibly have that much oats in a bin of that dimension.  The Bonding Company and the Insurance Company representatives also came into town and asked about it, figured, stormed around, told the town people that the man was crazy.

Mr. Smith, (commonly known as P. V. Smith, as there were several Smiths here at the time) had been studying up on elevators and equipment from magazines and books and had come across a device a man had made to measure oats in the bin without removing them.  He went over to Frank Tracy's Hardware and had him make a funnel device that could be run down in the oats bin, which was about 18 feet deep and very little head room above, that would take a test of the oats.  This was done by using pump rod in short sections and added as the test device went down into the bin.

Mr. Woodard, the superintendent under Mr. Peavy, was here at the time, and he donned overalls and went with Mr. Smith to the top of the bin that was to be measured with this "new idea".  They spent about a half a day testing in different spots, going down to the floor each time and placing the samples that they brought up in a test measure.  This was taken down and weighed, upset on a paper and examined for sand and dirt.  There was no sand or grit in the oats and it weighed 48 pounds to the bushel.

A little later this oats was shipped out by rail to the Great Lakes for European export and it weighed the same amount, 48 pounds to the bushel.  -- R. R. Smith.

One must note that the author of this submission to the history book is R. R. Smith, the same Mr. Smith in the article, or a relative, so there may be a teensy bit of bias in the reporting, but I do not care.  I love this story and I think Grandpa would have gotten a kick out of it.  (Perhaps he read the same history book and knew this story.)  I can somewhat visualize the suspicious company folk and the calm, mild-mannered Mr. Smith getting the job done in spite of them.  I think I may watch too many movies . . .

But I digress.  The mention that R. R. Smith was known as P. V. Smith (from the name of the elevator, obviously) put me in mind of family talking about nicknames for people back in the day, again because there was more than one person with the same first and last names.  The only ones I remember are Whistle Pete (who whistled), Fiddle Chris (who played the fiddle) and I believe Forty Pete (who owned 40 acres).  Gotta love it.

Blizzard

"March 6, 2002:  Mary came at noon.  While she ate, I showered.  Went to Book Club in the evening.  Delorus U. came here after the meeting and we played Scrabble.  I had a good evening.
March 7, 2002:  Back in 1950 on this day we had a real blizzard!!!  Helen called this morning.  I called Myrtle in p.m.  I made cereal snacks.  Tom came after work and brought Runza food.  We played Rummikub.  He took my laundry home with him to wash it.
March 8, 2002:  Cold, cloudy and dreary today.  Had a sleet storm this evening.  Really rattled on the windows."

That must have been a really memorable blizzard.  I don't recall hearing any talk of it growing up, yet 52 years later Grandma is mentioning it.  And such a nice segue into my second installment of Winside history.

The Blizzard of 1888

Frank Perrin and I owned a corn sheller in the late eighties that was the old fashioned horse powered type, using eight or ten horses depending on the corn.  We had been shelling during December and January in Brenna precinct and had all of the work that we could handle.

January 12, 1888, we were to shell for a Mr. Delehoyde not very far from the Perrin farm.  After setting up the machine Mr. Delehoyde said that we had better go in the house and wait a little while and see what the weather man had in store for us that day as it was blowing from the south and east.  Frank and I went into the house and proceeded to play checkers, our favorite pastime in those days, with the Delehoyde boys.

After we had played a few games, Perry, my brother, came over after me as our grandmother, Mrs. Rachael Benshoof, had passed away and the family wanted me to come home.  Frank and I hitched up our teams and proceeded to his place first, and then I started from there to our house which was south and east from the Perrin farm.  We had not gone very far when the wind changed from the southeast to the north and west and blowing a regular gale.  We managed to follow the fence and got home just in time before it had drifted very much. 

My father, William Benshoof saw the storm coming and immediately ran to the school near home to tell the teacher Mate Pittenger to dismiss as he thought the children would have time to get home if they hurried.  Some of the parents also saw the storm approaching so came for their children and managed to get home safely except the Splittgerbers, so Mr. Benshoof took them home with him.

The following morning the snow was very deep, but the wind had subsided enough that a person could get around and try and take care of the stock.  Mr. Splittgerber came early to try and find his children at the neighbors or at the school house.  Stopping at the Benshoof place he was so overcome with joy at finding his children that he dropped down on his knees, took his children in his arms, Hugo, Willie and Lizzie, and cried like a child.

After grandmother passed away on the morning of the 12th, Uncle Bob Perrin and Joseph Gray went to Wayne after a casket and got as far as the Jim White farm, seven miles east and one north Winside, when the storm compelled them to stop for the night.  The following day they tried to make it to our place and succeeded in getting home about dark.  They shoveled snow many times that day in order to get through as the roads had drifted.

My father saw that there was no sign of the storm leaving this area, so he said that we would have to put grandmother in a cold room and let her freeze as it was impossible to bury her right away.  About a week passed before the storm had subsided enough to remove the drifts in the road with the help of the neighbors.  A short service was held at the house and she was hauled to Wayne in a bob sled preceded by the neighbors with scoops to clear the road, and buried in the Green Wood Cemetery.

-- C. E. Benshoof

There is another re-telling of the blizzard that mentions a man named Frederick Haas that tried to get home from the William Hoffman place after looking for his hogs.  He was found 10 days later when his elbow was seen sticking up from the snow.  He had wandered about three miles east of his farm and had frozen, as had his hogs.  The hogs were found south of the Hoffman farm.  Without knowing where these farms were located, I can't tell how far Mr. Haas was from the hogs he was trying to save.  The same re-telling also mentioned that many rabbits were found frozen in the fields since they were unable to find shelter in time and the extremely high wind and driven them onward.  Crazy stuff indeed.

Here is a photo of "my" wild turkeys that have adopted us.  There is nothing close to blizzard-type snow on the ground, but they look a bit put out, I think.

A bit of history

"March 3, 2002:  Talked to Greta in a.m.  Nancy brought a beef stew dinner about 2:00.  In the afternoon, I took a shower and she vacuumed.  Then we played Rummikub.
March 4, 2002:  I called Arlene R. in a.m. just to visit -- did that rather than write.  Played Seven-Up in the evening.
March 5, 2002:  Mary took me for my weekly shampoo and set.

Sorry for my absence yesterday.  I was in Omaha at an all-day training -- would much rather have been doing almost anything else since the training was about lead-based paint.  Snoresville.  But, I am done learning about it for another three years, so that is great.  I was late getting there due to some not-quite-so-perfect directions and also the fact that I could barely see the street signs as I headed east because the sun was in just the wrong spot.  But, if that is the worst thing that happens this week or month or year, I will be in fine shape.

I don't have anything to comment regarding Grandma's comings and goings, so I'll include something I thought was a bit funny from the History of Winside book (the 1942 edition).

The First Court Case

The first case tried in Justice of the Peace Court in Winside was on January 25, 1887.  M. H. Dodge, a young lawyer who had studied law by correspondence, was the judge.

August Krueger was the plaintiff and the defendants were Julius Krueger, Otto Krueger and Herman Krueger.  There were no lawyers on either side.

Both sides called for witnesses and a jury.  Those on the witness stand were:  August Deck, Herman Krueger, Chris Krueger and Ed. Krause.  Jury:  Warner Starr, Wm. Averill, John Cherry, John Batte, F. Shinn, James Elliott.  John Cherry was excused from jury duty on account of sickness and F. Muehlmeier took his place.  Warner Starr refused to appear so a bench warrant was issued for his arrest and he was fined $5.00 and costs.

The bill of particulars alleged the defendants owed the plaintiff the sum of $24.00 for hay and house rent.  The jury's verdict was in favor of the plaintiff August Krueger.  An execution was issued to Ernest Nehring, constable and a chattel mortgage note was given the plaintiff for the judgment and the plaintiff agreed to pay the costs.

I find a couple of things interesting and/or humorous here.  The amount of money involved causes a bit of a chuckle now, but it was obviously enough to go to court over back in 1887.  The fact that the "judge" studied law by correspondence is a nice touch.  I wonder what Warner Starr knew or didn't know or what else he had to go that day that he refused to appear.  His fine and costs was a goodly sum of money compared to what the lawsuit was about, so he must have felt strongly about things.  It is a nice touch that the plaintiff agreed to pay costs after his big win.  Since the defendants were likely related to him, maybe this was a peace offering on his part.

For no particular reason, I have dusted off the butts photo to use today.

Banana bread!

"February 28, 2002:  I baked banana bread today.  Tom came after work.  We had chili soup and then played Rummikub.
March 1, 2002:  Wrote seven thank you letters.
March 2, 2002:  Dale brought Dane, Mitch, Kyleah and Anna here about 6:00.  We had supper.  The kids watched TV and goofed around.  Dale came for Dane and Kyleah about 9:00 and Mary came about 11:00.

Gosh!  I haven't made banana bread in a while now.  And I must confess, I don't use Grandma's recipe, unless she uses Norma B.'s recipe.  I have nothing against other recipes, but I get rave reviews and am something locally known for my banana bread.  Well, known around work anyway; that's probably the extent of it.

Duane T. was the recipient of some of Grandma's banana bread.  I found out from someone in the family that he liked to take it for lunch with peanut butter on it.  I thought that sounded odd until I thought on it a bit.  As a kid, one of my favorite treats, usually at Christmas, was the little jellyroll-style candies Grandma would make.  Two of the ingredients were bananas and peanut butter.  So, I gave Duane's idea a try and of course, it was excellent.

Here's a photo of those same kids a few years earlier.

More normal stuff here

"February 25, 2002:  Had prescriptions delivered from National Pharmacy.  Organized my birthday cards.  Played Seven-Up in party room in evening.
February 26, 2002:  Very cold and windy today.  Mary took me for my weekly shampoo, etc.
February 27, 2002:  Called Marjorie C. this morning for her birthday.  Mary here at noon and I took my shower.  Book Club tonight."

I was surprised when I learned (prior to today) that there were still pharmacies in Lincoln that made deliveries.  I figured that was something that had gone by the wayside over time.  I imagine there is a fee, but I do not know that for sure.  Regardless, it is a very nice service that I am sure many people appreciate.

I had forgotten that for awhile there I took Grandma to her hair appointment one day and then came to lunch the next.  I know eventually we got down to me picking her up from the beauty college and having lunch the same day.  Grandma didn't shower those days since we visited over lunch.  I think I still was there for a shower now and then, but I just don't recall how that worked.  I suppose I will find out in time as I go through the journal.

I am trying to figure out which photos I may not have used at all, or used only once.  I believe this is one of those.  Grandma Anna's husband is in the middle.  He is with, as I understand it, other members of a threshing crew.  It may be Uncle Chris, his brother, there on the left.