31 Jul. 1947
This has been an odd season. There have been no potato bugs or
insects that is of the garden variety. Not a pound of paris green has been sold
in the village: something that has never happened before.
---
An Indiana woman poured gasoline on her sleeping husband, then set
fire to the gas and watched him squirm. She should be given a stiff jail
sentence. Wasting gasoline is these days a serious offense. She should have
used a hammer, but look at the fun she would have missed.
---
The scarcity of pheasants this year in Murray county is worrying
the sportsmen, sportsmen, that is, not hunters. Ninety-nine percent believe
that the season should be closed and some of them have written the game and
fish department expressing their wishes. The best effort for a crop of
pheasants for 1948 to take of what few pheasants we have and to arrange feeding
places and shelter for them in the coming winter.
---
Doc Suedkamp has just completed a fine new barn on his farm just
across the village line. The sides which are eight feet high are of cement
blocks. The top part is of the popular round roof type and is covered with
aluminum. He has a herd of fine dairy cows for the new barn which will be
equipped with new fixtures. The barns of today have more modern conveniences
than the farm homes had thirty years ago.
---
Crops at this writing are in critical condition. The soybean crop
has never been better. Flax is uniformly good. Oats, that was the main crop
years ago seem to be "running out" just like the wheat. Corn is a
problem and a real one. Some fields look good but all are spotted. The corn hit
the worst spring weather in history and due to cold weather, its growth was
retarded until too late in the season. All are wishing for showers and rain and
hot days and nights. Remember, August has always been the corn making month in
Murray county.
---
A disgrace to Murray county is its treatment of its pioneer dead.
In the first cemetery which lies alongside one of our highways, lies veterans
of the civil war, the first school teacher and other pioneer men and women of
the late sixties in a mass of tangled weeds, falling monuments, all choked with
underbrush and creeping, crawling vines. A few years ago a Scotchman who had a
relative buried there sent over money for the erection of a fence around the
cemetery, our first burying grounds. When a man thousands of miles away is
interested in maintaining this spot, there should be an organization of some
kind in the county that would see that it is decently cared for.
---
Young man, when you write those heart throbbing letters to the
girl you love, be sure and use one of the new fangled ball point pens. It will
save you some irksome moments. In decades gone by love sick swains wrote
endearing letters to their sweethearts, epistles, besides being full of love
were full of promises of things they would and wouldn't do. They forgot all
about the darned letters during the fleeting years, they had passed clear out
of their memory until one rainy day Grandma brings out a package of faded
letters, tied with a baby blue ribbon and surrounded by her daughters and
sometimes granddaughters, proceeds to read them aloud with a sort of impish
glee. Grandpa stands it as long as he can and sneaks out to the barn wishing he
had lived fifty years later--in the days of the ball pointed pen that uses an
oil that fades and will cause Grandpas no stammerings, no redness behind the
ears and leave many matters open to debate. Buy a ball point pen today, boys.
---
Well the bunch that has been after Claer Dethmers scalp for years
got it last week. Not for any wrong doing in the game and fish department but
because he solicited funds for his old friend Harold Stassen. The civil service
law in this state forbids soliciting funds by employes who are under civil
service jurisdiction. The funds that Dethmers collected went to B. Le Vander
who besides being head of the state central committee of the republican
committee runs the Stassen show. Some of the commercial fishermen gave as high
as $100 several months ago to the Stassen campaign. When Le Vander found out he
sent the "tainted" money back to the contributors. It a dirty mess at
best and 'twill take a lot more than Vel and Duz to clean it up. A certain
group don't like the way the coarse fish situation is handled in Minnesota and
the above disclosures are the result. Dethmers was doing what thousands of men
and women in the U. S. are doing today and every other day. This man Youngdahl
who ordered Dethmers fired, evidently "does not give a damn for the whole
state of Michigan," or did he know where he was throwing the ball?
========================
August 7, 1947
No wonder the average European gets confused and looks dazed by
our American "Democracy." It is blared at him over the radio,
speakers extol it, in flowery orations and the press is full of the blessings
it brings ravaged Europe. Then the folks over there read about the last
election and how the people elected representatives to go to Washington and
make changes in the laws. Congress obeyed the mandates of the people and passed
these laws by big majorities but when the measures came to the White House they
were vetoed by the president of our "Democarchy" the same as Hitler
and Mussolini had vetoed the wishes of the people In Germany and Italy and the
little folk across the sea are starting to wonder what is the difference
between a democracy and a dictator. Can you blame them?
---
Why all this furore about schools, teachers wages and education,
The Roamer was over at Sioux Falls, S. D. lately and while there visited the
Morrel packing plant and found that the pay for young lads that never seen a
packing plant was $1.02 an hour; girls start in at 96 cents. White collar
workers up town, college graduates were getting less money. Does education pay?
The Morrel plant is the economic heart of Sioux Falls. When the plant is
running full capacity, cash registers jingle, but when the plant closes down,
you can cut the gloom with a knife: The Morrels however have had but few
disputes with their help, all of which means better times for the help, the
company and Sioux Falls, while at the Morrel plant at Sioux Falls the Roamer
visited two former Slaytonites. Doc Richardson is in charge of the medical
division assisted by a bevy of good looking nurses and young Lowe is head of
one of the departments in the main office.
---
There's been a lot of changes in the economic and industrial worlds
in the lost fifty years but none of the changes compare with the changes in
human relations. Fifty years ago the male was boss, his word was law: now it is
the opposite. Half a century ago there was only one henpecked man in this
vicinity. When the family came to town, the wife walked ahead on the wooden
sidewalk carrying the baby and behind her, about three steps in the rear came
the depressed and doleful husband carrying the little black "didie"
bag. What a lot of sport the young fellows had with the poor guy with the bag,
little dreaming what was in store for them. Thank your lucky stars men that the
method of handling these "dainty underthings" has been modernized.
What a lot of little black bags it would take today.
---
The water tower and the schoolhouse have just been brightened up
with a coat of paint. What powder does for the female paint does for buildings.
Both the tower and the schoolhouse needed the paint but like everything else
these days beauty comes mighty high.
---
For several years back, reporters on a Minneapolis daily have
flooded their columns about the carp fishermen: never coming out in the open
but always insinuating that the rough fishermen were a bunch of crooks and
thieves. If they are law violators why not lay your information before the
county attorney. Get them arrested and have it over with. If rural papers would
continually harp about the two Minneapolis reporters who were covering up some
of the gambling and drinking joints there would soon be a howl.
---
Jim Farley reduced his stature when he attacked the late President
Roosevelt in his articles. Digging up corpses either human or political is not
popular with the American citizens. The articles seem to have flavor for cash
and the opportunity of a woman scorned to get even for some fancied slight; and
when they strike they hit with more potency than an atomic bomb. You shouldn't
have done it, Jim. It didn't help you and it didn't hurt Roosevelt.
---
Queer things happen even in our local cemetery. A number of years
ago a well known man died and was buried In the cemetery. An ornate tombstone
or perhaps monument appeared on the grave. In a short time the stone was
removed by the company that sold it. Anyway the man's memory was kept green for
a couple of years— that would be a long time in these days.
---
Put this in your hat Mr. Taxpayer. You are going to pay more taxes
next year. In the school district, teachers wages are up, a new boiler was
installed, schoolhouse painted, higher prices for fuel and in addition there
are still some of the old bonds left and now Is a mighty good time to fill up
the sinking fund so we can absorb them when they come due. The same conditions
exist in the village only there no bonds. Everything has gone up and taxes must
go up with the times.
========================
August 14, 1947
THE ERADICATION OF CLARE DETHMER AND
THE ERADICATION OF THE CARP
The case of Clare Dethmer, the deposed game warden is still the
subject of discussion wherever sportsmen meet. Clare was raised in this section
and naturally is well known here. He has his faults: they all do except you and
I.
He made an outstanding record as a game warden while here. Of
course he pinched some violators who have not forgotten and they have been
after him ever since. He was interested in conservation and his fine work in
urging and getting the farmers to raise broom corn and other seeds for the
pheasants and constructing shelters for them and feeding the birds during the
winter is not forgotten. The writer holds neither briefs for Clare or the
commercial fishermen but Dethmer's record for honesty and sincerity is not
doubted even by his enemies.
There's evidently more back of this deal than most folks realize.
The state has two methods of control of carp one is by the commercial fishermen
and the other by a number of state crews. Both these outfits have done fine
work in carp control. In one of the state crews last fall an employee was
removed for the "good of the service" and it wasn't for collecting
money for Stassen either. Why did not Detective Jack Connors of the Minneapolis
Journal give it as much publicity as he did to Dethmers climbing a ladder near
Morristown. When an investigation gets under way at the next session of the
Legislature the county of McLeod is going to get as much spotlight as Howard
Hughes. We want to repeat that if Dethmers and the commercial fishermen have
been guilty of violating any laws relating to the taking of rough fish they
should be punished.
Carp eradication like the weather is talked about profusely but
nothing seems to change anything for the simple reason that the eradication is
impossible. Every bit of water that empties into the Mississippi river is
infested with this species which were imported from Germany to fill a
"long felt want" in a state whose waters really teemed with game fish
at that time. Why they were brought here is a state mystery.
The eradication of carp is impossible unless you dam up the
Mississippi rivers and tributary streams with a high dam far above flood water.
The best informed fish specialists in the middle west have studied the problem
from every angle but they can find no solution to eradication, so these carp
infested states use a method known as carp control. They seine the larger carp
during the winter months, both the state and commercial fishermen sharing in
the profits. The popular question generally asked "Why don't the state
make the commercial fishermen use a smaller mesh in the net and take out the
little and big carp?" For the simple reason it is impossible to get enough
power to drag a net of any size through a good sized lake with a small mesh: it
would need a seine of steel with heavy wire cables. Dragging a seine of this
type would mean that the small holes in the seine would soon fill up and the
fish, bullheads, carp and game fish would come in a mass which would be death
to all the big and little game fish. Just imagine pulling a 12 foot seine three
quarters of a mile long across a lake with every mesh filled up. It just can't
be done. Like every other fisherman, the writer is hoping that day will come
when the carp can be eradicated.
Under the repeated criticism the rough fishing law was changed and
you Mr. Reader may become a 'commercial fisherman' tomorrow. Costs you nothing,
all you need is a permit. You can then construct a fish trap and when weather
conditions are right you will get carp in your trap. They are yours to sell,
give away or use for fertilizer.
The active market for carp thirty years ago was New York, the Jews
were the principal customers, using them for "gefelthy" fish at
religious feasts. Now a days the main market has turned southward and trucks
come up from Louisville, Ky., Memphis, Tenn. and other southern points every
winter for Minnesota carp. The cold northern waters produce a better flavored
fish than the sluggish Mississippi.
---
Saw the following item in an Edgerton Enterprise last week.
"Guana Jelly, 15 oz. tin, 25 cents." Getting pretty close to the
unpalatable division, ain't It?
---
Hughes' story about Senator Brewster telling him to join air forces
don't ring true. No man in his sane mind would make a deliberate threat like
that: and then try to go through with It.
---
The old fashioned saying "You can't have a good small grain
crop and a good corn crop the same season" is certainly proving true this
year.
---
Did you ever stop to think what a popular man Joe Ball would be if
he had one tenth of the publicity given Harold Stassen.
========================
August 28, 1947
Mrs. Edith Rogers congresswoman from Massachusetts wants to print
currency in colors so that people would know their value; it's the figures on
the bill that we're interested in.
---
This has been the worst year for tomatoes. In bye gone years
tomatoes used to sell for 75 cents a bushel. This year there are practically no
tomatoes and the stores are selling imported tomatoes for 15 cents a pound.
---
Notice the state game and fish department is planting a lot of
pheasants throughout the state, grand idea, because they are sorely needed, but
would it not be more practical to keep these birds until spring: a severe
winter might take a heavy toll of birds.
---
Was at a neighboring city, real early one morning. Stepped into a
restaurant and found the long counter filled with business men, young and old
getting their breakfast. Bet every one of them had planned hard on that nifty
"Breakfast Nook" in their homes. What a real handy thing it was going
to be, etc. "Breakfast Nooks" are about as practical as twin beds.
---
Many schools will open this term with vacancies In the faculty.
This teacher shortage according to an old school director, can be put at the
feet of the state board of education and a willing legislature. When the two
ganged up to take the normal department out of the county seat schools they
killed the source that produce young teachers with new ideals and vision. That
two year training period meant everything to the girl what had ambitions to
teach Now he said "We have to go back and take what we can and at what
price they demand."
---
County fairs are sure up against it this year. Everything they
contract for is sky high, acts, material, and labor have risen about five times
the price of a few years back. Acts that cost $750 a few years back are now
$1,500. Union labor handles the musicians for the orchestra and likewise for
the acts. Everything from flax to the woman who sweeps out the buildings and
wants $15.00 a day seems to have reached the top. But fair admission prices
have not increased in proportion. If they had, the admission would be $2.50 and
wouldn't there be a howl. About the only thing that hasn't changed is the pay
of the directors: they get $2.00 a meeting and $3.00 a day during the fair:
might be more than they're worth.
---
If you want to see "modern" railroading at its worst just
hit the 'Northwestern' at Worthington some hot day when No. 3 and No. 4 meet.
The modern plan is when the trains meet there, if you are in the depot and want
to take the other train you take your suit case and start walking clear around
the train that stands in front of you, to the one on the other side. The air
was sultry on an August day, the sun beat down in the yards: close to 100 and
an uppity porter was asked could we not use the steps on your car to cross
over. He airily said "No," adding with a grin, "The walk will do
you good," which observation was not relished by the panting and
perspiring passengers: It Just isn't funny. If this is modern railroading, to
heck with it. It's lousy. The old Gould slogan of forty years ago "The
people be D- - - - -," is coming back.
---
Andy Anderson and his wife were down from Flint, Mich. visiting
friends here a while back. Andy is pretty closely associated with the early
days in Lake Wilson. Back In 1883 his father who was then section boss at Heron
Lake was sent here to put in a side track at the budding village of Lake
Wilson. The branch only extended as far as Woodstock in those days, and there
was no place here to unload the lumber and materials for the new town. Andy was
born in Pipestone county and moved to the Lake Wilson area when a youngster.
About forty years ago Andy started working for the Roamer as printing devil at
the munificent sum of $3.00 a week. He gradually advanced until he was getting
$8.00 a week. An ambitious lad was Andy. He wanted to see the world so he
traveled west working in Seattle and other points. He got the land fever and
took up a claim in Saskatchewan, Canada. 'Twas one hundred and fifty miles from
a railroad and during the spring and summer he really roughed it. In the winter
he crossed over the line into Flint, Mich., and started work for the Buick
company in the forging department. He changed from the homestead to the plant
and has been with the Buick folks ever since. He has risen steadily as the
years went by and is now an assistant supt. His ability and his willingness to
co-operate and advance, won him recognition from the head officials and Andy
now draws as much pay as a justice of the supreme court in Minnesota. Another
Lake Wilson youngster who has made good and we're all proud of him.
========================
September 4, 1947
There's a lot of Hughes, in Mayor Humphrey of Minneapolis. When he
headlined and stomped his way into the governor's office recently demanding
that aid be given to the housing situation in Minneapolis, he knew just as well
as you that the governor was unable to give him any aid. But Humphrey just
loves the spot lights Out In the sticks when we read of the dilemma of the Mill
city in its housing and school situation, one thinks of the garish and
dazzling, glaring Aquatennial celebration with its bathing beauties, movie
queens. blaring drum corps and parades that shone and glittered: great
celebration and the next day the citizens of Minneapolis were out with a tin
cup in their hands begging for dimes to keep their schools open. Somewhere
along the line it don't spelt sense.
---
Lake Wilson folks and many fishermen in this vicinity are bitterly
criticising the Minnesota state highway department for the continual dumping of
black dirt into the lake along the state highway. Thousands of tons of black
dirt were placed in the lake last fall and hundreds of tons have been hauled in
this summer all ready to be dumped in. This mud makes a covering of slime for
hundreds of yards in the lake. Many towns in Minnesota have been using dredging
outfits to get the mud and silt out of the lake bottom to make better fishing
but the thing is reversed here and our state highway department keeps dumping
in mud. The sides of the long grade should have been rip rapped with rocks when
the grade was constructed. It was not done and if more dirt is needed along the
grade the department should get a drag line and haul that material out of the
lake bottom. Thousands of fishermen enjoyed fishing for bull head in Lake
Wilson but if this filling goes on the bull head will have to be taken with a
shot gun. The state conservation department is receiving its share of criticism
in not making some effort to stop this act of vandalism by the highway
department.
---
In spite of the rumor, Dr. Hugh Paterson who discontinued his
office in the village house in order to provide the new school supt. with a
house to live in stated last week that he wants to come back to Lake Wilson
just as soon as he can find suitable quarters. The doctor who is much
interested in Lake Wilson highly appreciates the fine patronage tendered him
since he first opened up his office.
---
Much ado is being made by a Minneapolis paper over the opening of
an open air movie You'd think it was something brand new. Lake Wilson had open
air movies nearly thirty years ago in the park a block east of Main street. The
folks who had cars enjoyed them fully: the folks that did not have cars sat on
the grass. All went well for several years until some of the merchants who were
doing the donating for the free movies, said most of the folks who attended the
shows sat in their cars until the show was over then drove home: so the movies
were moved up on Main street. Not much new under the sun.
---
A scientist declares that while fresh coffee stimulates, warmed
over coffee is deadly poison. He claims that warmed- over coffee causes
hardening of the arteries, etc. If what this bird says is true there should not
be anyone living in Leeds twp. That township was solidly Scandinavian and all
of them in the early days kept the coffee pot on the back of the stove. Some
added coffee each day and then more water until the pot was nearly full of
ground coffee and it had to be pretty well soaked out when it was thrown away,
for coffee was hard to get in the late seventies.
---
Down in Chicago there's a pleasant looking, gray haired woman on
trial for her life. She said her husband contradicted her so often that she got
tired of it and killed with a hammer. Not wishing to go to the fuss and expense
of a funeral she took a butcher knife and the family meat saw, cut up the old
man and threw the chunks in the river.
Poor old man. He should have known better. A man who argues with a woman always
loses.
---
A number of Lake Wilson folks and some of the farmers who belong to
School Dist. No. 42 have been asking the Pilot "Why do you not print the
proceedings of the school board. Most of our tax money goes for schools and we
would like to know just where it goes." The Roamer asked a board member
and he said arrangements were made to furnish all proceedings of the board
starting In as soon as possible.
---
This section of the county is still hospital minded and most of the
folks believe that as there is no telling when
conditions will change, the board should proceed with money available. If the
present conditions continue the price of material may go higher. Erect a
building so that necessary additions can be made when needed.
========================
September 11, 1947
WHY A MIDWAY?
"THE MINNESOTA POLL asked adults all over the state what
interested them most at the Minnesota state fair—-exhibits, grandstand
program or the midway. Exhibits got 48 per cent of the vote, grandstand 29,
livestock 15 and midway 7 per cent.
Those returns suggest that maybe the great annual exposition could
get along with out the cheap carnival which is dignified by the name of
"midway". This year, as usual, it is full of gyp stands where you pay
a quarter for six rings which almost never go over the big blocks of wood.
Rides which are worth a dime cost 30 cents. Fifty cents is the price of a
ticket to a sideshow of a few freaks.
The $50,000 concession fee which the carnival pays may be an
important item of revenue for the fair. But the people of Minnesota foot that
bill and a lot more in the end. Isn't it time for the fair to grow up and get
along without the tawdry midway?"—Minneapolis Journal
The above editorial appeared In the Mpls-Star Journal on Saturday,
August 30th and the Roamer wrote his views on it to the editors. The letter was
a long one and we can't criticise the Journal for not printing it full. With
your kind permission the letter appears below.
The Minneapolis Journal editors took a straw vote at the state fair
last Friday and now they want to abolish the midways. Living up to its
reputation as one of the most intolerant cities in the country the Journal
clung close to tradition and only allowed the adults to vote on the midway
proposition. Young folks and kids were barred: and they call this a government.
Most of those who voted evidently came from the wonder-ful Art
exhibits. The show that generally features some suety dame half
reclining—too fat to stand and does not dare to lie down. She wears a part
smile which is mostly absorbed by lard and has the contour of a nine year old
Percheron mare and is labeled "ART'.
This movement anent the midways is several years late. The midways
are pretty clean now. The old money games with their shills and cappers are
gone and the Hootchie Kootchie shows, another objectional feature are also in
the discard.
Those who like dancing can see it on the fine reviews each night of
the fair in front Of the grandstand. One old guy who has traveled some, was
dissatisfied, he said "Why them girls wear more clothes than the Aqua
Beauties." Hard to suit 'em all, ain't it.
You criticize the high price for the merry-go-rounds etc. and you
have a real gripe there. But this high price business seems to be catching.
Seems like only yesterday when the Journal was only 25 cents a week: now it is
60 cents.
We were awfully disappointed in the Journal after that acrobat lost
his life In front of the grandstand. We looked for a stinging editorial
demanding laws that would provide for the use of safety nets but instead there
was a big spread on the front page with a large cut, an arrow and an X marks
the spot instead. Impressing folks that this was one of the thrills of the
fair. Did the life of this young acrobat who gave his all to please and
entertain you, provide the thrill that so many morbid people crave.
The old traveller also whispered to the Roamer, "I could not
see much difference between the state fair and the Shrine circus, but of course
he was no ART patron.
After the evening show is over the folks flock out of the
grandstand but they do not, hurry up on the dark side of the fair ground to get
home and read the 14th chapter In "The Descent of Man", they aim
right for the midway with its sparkling lights and banners. Here they meet
their friends and neighbors. There's an atmosphere of jollity and friendliness.
Everyone seems to know everybody else and close by is the little midget cars
for the three or four year olds, alongside it the merry-go-round with the organ
and proud mothers stand while they give their latest, their first ride in the
merry-go-round whose organ with "Casey Would Waltz with the strawberry
Blonde" fills the air. Older youngsters are riding the Ferris wheel and
the real daring ones with shrieks laughter enjoying the maddening twirls of the
more modern riding devices. The kids run back and forth with their sugar floss
and their candied apples. There's an enticing aroma of hamburger and coffee in
the air. The barkers are shouting their attraction, the two headed calf, the
fat woman, the athletic show, the snake charmer and the games with darts etc.,
and close by the Bingo stand and huddling close together on a bench are five
grey haired matrons, members of four different churches visiting with each
other and playing the game. The midway at the county fairs has got to be clean.
At the Murray county fair the 4-Hers, the biggest organization and the best of
its kind in the country had over 500 exhibits. They enjoy every minute on the
midway They look forward from one year to the other for the fair and the
midway. The 4-H is the backbone of the county fairs and they must be decent and
entertaining.
========================
September 18, 1947
We Hate To Write This — But
Three weeks ago an article appeared in this column urging the erection of a
modest monument for the young lads who had given their all in World War II. Our
thoughts should go to these youngsters whom we admired and liked. We won't see
their smiling faces or hear their cheery laughter: they're not coming back,
hence the appeal of three weeks ago.
Yet not one person has suggested to the writer
"Your idea is a good one. Sure we'll help."
Not one father has said, "My boy did not have to go to war and
I would like to do my bit."
No man whose number was up and did not have to go has said,
"Count me in on the monument, The boys deserve It."
No one mother has said, I had a boy In the War and he came back
safe and sound. Where and how can I help."
Not one of the lads that came back have said "Let's make it a
good one. I will be glad to do my bit."
Not one organization, not one society has offered help or aid in
sponsoring the movement.
Folks, this is not like Lake Wilson—the Lake Wilson that went
over the top in every Bond, Red Cross and USO drive. Let's tackle this last one
and be proud in so doing. We have faith in the people of the Lake Wilson
community, we know they will not fail. No doubt they have waited for some place
to give their contributions. Well, H. R. Lexvold, cashier of the First National
Bank has consented to receive all contributions so please see him. When there
are enough contributors a meeting will be called and a Lake Wilson Memorial
society will be organized to erect the monument. Let's not fall down on our
last tribute of respect and esteem for these gallant young men.
---
A Pittsburgh man tried to get an injunction to 'prevent his wife
from going through his pockets when he slept. The judge shook his head and
said. "Silly Boy, My wife goes through my pockets and I can't stop
her." Out here in the west if some women would search their husbands pants
pocket they would come up with a roll big enough to buy a mink coat.
---
Just wonder if Henry Ford No. 1 would permit this black market
racketeering in the sale of the Fords today. No doubt he would just be old
fashioned enough to take the agency away from some of his dealers who are doing
the Jesse James act on their customers: there are other ways to hold up buyers
besides using a gun.
---
When you see the ads in the magazine with a nice looking old couple
taking life easy on their retirement policy remittances: don't believe it. No
man who has led any kind of an active life ever retires and enjoys himself. It
might be all right for a year or two. After that he gets nervous and irritable
and longs to get back to doing something. You can't change the habits of a life
time over night.
---
This is United Nations week. The United Nations after only two
years of existence now enters a very critical stage In this development. The
tools of production in agriculture and industry have not yet been replaced.
There is hunger, cold, destitution facing millions of people throughout the
world. The United Nations is the only existing political organization through
which nations may work together. As long as they remain together. there is
hope. Do your best to strengthen this movement, In the U. N. there is peace,
the other road is the road to war.
---
Lincoln's nickname consisted of only three letters. There is
another great American today whose nick name consists of the same amount of
letters and if running for president would sweep the country. He has no labor
background for the pros or cons to chew on and he makes no political speeches.
but the men in the street and in the field seem to trust him and want him as
president.
---
Will be mighty glad when that rearing pond is completed at Lake
Shetek. Can't go in too soon. Shetek is the heaviest fished lake in Minnesota.
We hope the new pond will be devoted to pan fish. In our humble opinion the
planting of wall eyes does more mental good than anything else. Billions of
pike fry have been planted in Shetek in the last forty years and one wall eyed
pike taken averages a planting of 50, 000 fry. We should have more crappies.
blue gills, perch and even a try with black bass but these fish should be
larger then fingerlings. Lake Shetek is different than our northern lakes.
Fishermen that go north are only satisfied with big fish. At Lake Shetek the
whole family goes and they are satisfied with a mess of pan fish of any kind.
We seen more middle aged women fishing on Lake Shetek this year than we saw in
twenty years of fishing on northern lakes.
========================
September 25, 1947
MEMORIAL TO DEAD HEROES TO BE ERECTED
The folks in the Lake Wilson community are now in real earnest in
their endeavor to erect a memorial for their war dead: the boys that did not
come back from World War II and contributions are coming in as fast as
anticipated. Cy Koob, Fred Gass and Gunder Bondhus are on the committee to
select and erect a suitable memorial. It is not the plan of those interested to
secure large contributions. Everyone should be given an opportunity to
participate. Subscription lists are at the bank and post office. Here is a list
of the contributors up to this writing. Names will be added to this list each
week.
Mr. and Mrs. F. Huisken $2 Mr. and Mrs. H.
Anderson $2
Mr. and Mrs. R. Smith $2 Mr. and Mrs.
P. Flannery $2
Mr. and Mrs. Cy Koob $2 Mr. and Mrs. Fred
Gass $2
Mr. and Mrs. O. Brink $2 Mr. and Mrs. G.
Parrott $2
Mr. and Mrs. H. Lexvold $2 Mr. and Mrs. R.
Forrest $2
Rev. and Mrs. Hinderlie $2
Mr. and Mrs. G. Sierk $2
Mr. and Mrs. C. Smith $2 Mr. and Mrs. J. E.
Johnson $2
Mr. and Mrs. B. Kooiman $2 Mr.
and Mrs. C. Lentz $2
Mr. and Mrs. G. Erickson
$2 Mr. and Mrs. A. Reha $2
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Hosmer $2 Mr.
and Mrs. R. Elias $2
Mr. and Mrs. J. Erickson
$2 Mr. and Mrs. J. Bone
$2
Mr. and Mrs. R. Carney
$2 L. M.
Adams $2
Rodney Smith $2
Gunder Bondhus $2
---
It looks as if the soft coal miners, coal operators and the
government fact finding committee ganged up on the public and settled things
"amicably." Daily papers blared out "The Country Has Been
Saved" sure it has, but the consumer paid the bill: soft coal now costs
$18, ton.
---
The folks over in Lake Benton are all het up over a peeping Tom who has been getting an eyeful at some homes. A business man said "Gosh,
I'll have to pull my shades down at night — My wife is gone on a
visit;" That guy believes that a drawn curtain could save a lot of
arguments and explanations.
---
The U. S. has turned both cheeks to the Russians and they have
slapped them real hard. Uncle Sam should take their representatives by the neck
and head them towards Moscow and apply the toe and not too gently either.
---
This man Humphrey, mayor of Minneapolis is a queer sort of a guy.
He has a lot of personality, push and ability and gallivants over Minnesota and
other neighboring states telling the folks just what is wrong with the way they
run their business and just what the remedies are and back home in Minneapolis
the schools will have to close in November and the veteran has no place to lay
his head.
---
Can't help think, that the scientists fell down on the hurricane,
it slowly and systematically wiped out part of the south. Newspapers showed
aerial photographs of the core of the storm: the spot that was generating all
the trouble. When it was 800 miles out at sea, why not drop an atomic bomb In
the core? It might have broke up the storm and saved many lives and heavy
property damage.
---
Rumors of war keep coming up every day. War will not come until
Greece and Italy are occupied by Soviet troops: then look out.
---
If you happen to stroll into a doctors waiting room these days you
will see about nine women and one male. Seeing the doctor seems to pay, but
some men wait too long. There are twenty-six widows in Lake Wilson to six
widowers.
The first thing congress should do is to subsidize the salaried man with five
or six kids: no man can support a family and give them the necessary
nourishment and vitamins with the price food is today. You don't need to talk
about putting meatless days into effect: they've been plentiful in large
families for several months.
---
Looks as if women were doing more parading and prancing over the
length of skirts than they are over the high prices of beef. Even the men are
against the lower petticoats. One young disciple of more room for legs for the
fair sex was John Seymour.
---
If they have not started the foundation of the new United Nations
building in New York, better postpone the corner stone: peace or even
friendliness with a people that can only say "No" is impossible.
---
Robins take the strawberries in the early summer and later take
what few ripe raspberries there are. Now assisted by two or three other
varieties of birds and destroying every apple that starts blushing "Loving
our feathered friends" is not. popular slogan these days.
========================
October 2, 1947
See where a medico-scientist says that eating "Three or four
pats of butter a day" causes hardening of the arteries. First thing you
know some scientist will discover that cancer is caused by T-bone and sirloin
steaks; got to get those high prices down.
---
Henry Wallace who was going great guns several months ago is hardly
ever heard of now. Politics is like a base ball pitcher: if you don't keep
pitching you fade out of the picture. The one man that realizes this is Harold
Stassen: hardly a day but what his name is either on the front page or on the
radio.
---
The play "Bringing Up Father" now in a movie is having a
big run these days. It is a camouflaged resemblance of a hen pecked husband.
Some day, some brave man will write a book on "Living With Mother"'.
---
The government beefs about hanging 15 Albanians,— quite a ways
from home—but never peeps when a thirteen year old boy is given life for
aiding in the stealing of $3.40. "O' Would the power the gift to gie us to
see ourself as others sees us."
---
That Minneapolis school teacher, who with his son shot a doe and a
fawn up in Cass county, is hardly fit to hold a job of training young minds.
His son, who naturally took all the blame, was fined only $100. The meat was
worth that. He should have been fined $500. If those guys want to violate the
law, they should be given a stiff jolt: one that would be a warning to other
guys who were planning on going after a mess of venison.
---
When one reads of the racial troubles in St. Louis where the whites
refuse to send their children to schools that are attended by the negro
youngsters, they get the idea that preaching and forcing the European folks to
adopt our form of government don't spell sense.
---
Jackson county is being congratulated on its reviving its
Historical Society. The organization was revived last summer and is now the
best in the history of that county. They are a real wide awake group, have
regular meetings and picnics etc. Every county should have a Historical
society. If not all the early history, with its privations, its romances, and
the many incidents that occur in the development of a new country will be
handed down from mouth to mouth as the Indians do.
---
You ain't seen nothing in Palestine yet. . Wait till the British
get out and the scrap between the Arabs and the Jews gets going and when that
is over that bunch of American gangsters taken over by the Jewish underground.
will move in ala Capone. There has not been a time for months that Britain
would not be willing to let go, their was too much oil money at stake and it
was not all Gentile money either.
---
South Dakota is not going to reap the harvest expected when it
passed the law outlawing, out of state hunters. There is hardly any open water
left and the sloughs are parched and dry and the duck hunting looks like a dead
issue.
---
Nearly every town in this end of Minnesota is or has put in a
broadcasting station. Reminds us of the days gone by, when they vied with each
other over their tourist camps. These towns would do anything for the tin can
tourists who never spent a cent on the town. Never hear of a tourist camp any
more!
---
The action of the democrat And republican trying to smear each
other over the high prices is just so much horse play. Everyone knows that the
high prices are caused by the food shortage. Whenever prices start to sag.
Another group comes back from Europe with harrowing tale. and the market
stiffens again. Folks out here are getting fed upon this feeding of Europe.
They wonder how long its going to last.
---
During all this trouble with Russia, Palestine etc. there is one
figure that is a real standout and that is General MacArthur. During the war
days, remember the stories "That Japs were a treacherous people. They
would fight to the last man and then the women would fight to the
death—they would never submit to outside rule." Today you never hear
a peep out of them. Things are going so well that the general hardly ever hits
the head lines. With all his love for military discipline MacArthur is doing
the finest job in the world today.
---
You never hear those sentimental folks who shed buckets of tears
over the misrule of India. The Indians have their freedom and a lot of them are
better off: they're dead. But the shying continues even Ghandi, who has always
been for peace says that conditions are so bad that there will be civil war and
he will start it.
========================
October 9, 1947
Five potatoes found in a garbage can in Minneapolis got headlines
in the papers, of the woeful waste of food stuff. Last year the government
poured kerosene on 40,000,000 bushels of potatoes so that they would not be fit
for human consumption; looks as if we should have our heads examined sometime
and not for the creeping crawling things we used to snare with fine tooth combs.
---
The twin city radio stations fell to the lowest depths of depravity
in the minds of the sport fans when Dot one of them were interested enough to
broadcast the base ball series; no wonder their teams finished away down in the
number of games won. Teams don't feel like working for unappreciative fans.
---
A trucker asked us the other day "How comes when ever a truck
comes to a halt along the highway we have to put out flags and flares while a
Highway truck will block one side of the road without a flag, flare or
flagman?" That brother is what they call a $64 question.
---
The village council is in a flutter over the sewage disposal issue. Whatever
you do, don't go to the law. Get a board of arbitration of three men. They can
do the work. better and more satisfactory than a jury and anyway both sides
lose when they go to law.
---
With the exception of a few rains the weather has been fine for the
soy bean crop this fall. Not one of the daily papers or the farm experts ever
give this crop its just due. Murray county this year will raise close to
500,000 bushels of soy beans and at $3.10 a bushel It makes a valuable addition
to the farmers income. The soy bean is getting to be one of the major crops.
---
The day is coming soon when some improvements must be made in our
school system if we expect the youngsters in this area to continue attending
school here. More subjects should be added to the curriculum etc. and the
ground work should be started now for the erection of a suitable gymnasium. Of
course there is no use talking about any improvements to the school building
unless additional subjects are added.
---
The theory of the Washington folks, to appeal to the people to cut
down on their food, was more sentimental than practical. Out here in the sticks
it caused the biggest run on food stuffs since the days of the war. Grocers
report heavy buying. The purchase of three sacks of sugar by a family was
nothing unusual. Another grocer reports
that sugar sales will average a
ton to where they sold a hundred pounds, before all the jamboree at Washington.
The best thing that came out of conference over food was the threat of the
government to take over the sale of grain. That one thing would do more to stop
fluctuating prices than are the woes and trouble of Europe.
---
When we think of the food stuff that is going to the Balkan
countries, that in the long run will line up against us, our mind goes back to
the grasshopper days of the late 70's. The sturdy settlers had their crops
wiped out for three years in succession. Nearly all their cattle were gone and
they were in dire need for food so they appealed to the state for aid, They got
it but it was not beef or pork it was not canned fruit, not dehydrated milk,
not butter and not flour. It was a ear load of corn meal and many families
lived on corn meal during the entire winter and spring until the grasshoppers
left. From the corn meal rose as fine bunch of citizens as there Is in the
United States. What was good enough for the men and women who made this country
should' be good enough for the hungry and indolent people of the Balkans.
---
Lots of times we've heard folks deplore the fact that the young
people, after receiving their education in the community. move away and the
community loses the advantage of their productive years. Talking to a young
fellow the other day who had done that very thing, we asked him why it was that
most young folks moved away and did not give the home town the advantage of
their skill and education. "The answer's simple," he said. "It's
too hard to get ahead in one's home town. Too many people think because they
knew you as a barefoot school boy that you do not know anything and are not
competent to handle anything important. They prove it by sending to some other
town for a man to do the important jobs—if they have such jobs. The only
thing left for the young people is to play the game the same way and look for
recognition elsewhere. To be sure, now and then a home boy or girl taken in and
given a break but it is usually with considerable misgiving and at about half
the salary that is paid to an outsider who often has less real ability and
community interest than the home town boy or girl." Yep, we'd say that's a
good reason why young people leave home. They have to in order to get the
recognition that the home folks too often don't seem to want to give
them.--Lake Benton Times.
========================
October 23, 1947
TAKE A RIDE ON A JACK RABBIT BUS
If you want to see the Middle West in its natural state take an
afternoon ride on a Jack Rabbit bus.
The Roamer was at Sioux Falls last week and took the bus home. We
got into the bus fifteen minutes before leaving time and watched the passengers
as they climbed on.
There were two or three folks in the bus when we got in. First to
follow us was a matronly, gray haired woman with a cheery kindly face. She was
followed by a middle aged couple. A short, dark baldheaded man with that
resigned look. She was on the skinny side and had a pert but raspy look; they
sat down behind the old lady who was busy trying to get one of the new fangled
windows open.
The pert woman nudged her husband and pointed. Meekly he arose and
reached over the old lady for a try at the window but he could not make it.
They got the old lady out in the aisle and he tried again and succeeded. Sweat
was running down his forehead, As he started to sit down he thought of his
ticket. His loving helpmate snapped at him "You had it in your hand when
you started on the window, what did you do with It?" He stood in the
aisle, dug into every pocket, still no ticket. In desperation which added to
the stream running down his forehead he emptied the contents of his pockets on
the seat--still no ticket. He was getting more nervous, aided and abetted by
half sneering looks from his ball and chain, who looked as if she was having a
field day. In desperation the man hit for the ticket office: they too could not
help him. He was a dejected and cowed man, as he stood in the aisle. Finally
his B & C chirped up and said offhandedly, "Here's your ticket." The
man said, "Where was it?" She said, "In my hand bag." The
look on his face seemed to generate enough power to bust a Florida hurricane.
He opened his mouth to say something but another look hit him and he collapsed
mumbling to himself.
Just then a massive dame strode down the aisle. She was more
massive than muscular. On top of her head was a lonesome, grotesque thing
called a hat. 'Twas about the size of those paper cup cake holders; about the
size of a afternoon tea cup; had a blue feather and a red rose on it and it
looked so pathetic as it bobbed up and down while she marched gaily on and then
sat, no plunked herself down in the middle of a seat. Her ticket was wrong and
while the driver was helping her she said, "Time for a cup of coffee at
Pipestone ?" He shook his head. So she added "Don't we get any
supper?" He nodded; this dame had never heard of the foodless days.
A sun tanned, smallish quiet chap sat in the seat ahead of us. In
come a worldly man, He had "It" written all over his face. He put a
suit case on the rack and with an efficiency air, folded his coat, then took
off his vest folded that which with his hat he put on the rack and drawing
himself up, said to the modest guy, "I'm sitting with you" and before
he had his seat said, "Where are you from?" He was from Wyoming and
the cross examination started.
Two seats down the aisle were four women. The subject up for
discussion, you guessed it, not food, but "Short Skirts" and they
sure went to town in defense of their legs. We took a squint at the bunch. The
two who were doing the protesting sat on the aisle. They were well over the age
of consent. The first one's pins were at an angle of 45 degrees or the fourth
part of a circle and had a faint resemblance to the things that held up the
baby grand piano at the old opera house here forty years ago. The other dame on
the next seat did not render the audience with a full view. All we could see
that they were concave in spots and all similarity between them and Betty
Grable's was purely imaginary.
Further up the aisle were three men, two farmers and one from a
small town. They were talking loudly and earnestly about the new food saving
plan and brother, they beat it to a pulp and then jumped on it. Here are only a
few of the things we heard "Why pound the farmer about not saving food? We
don't waste anything, all our left overs go to the hogs "Why should we
feed those guys up, so they can fight us later on", They won't eat the
eggs and potatoes that our boys had to eat during the war. They want
cake." "Why send them our white flour? They never had it before. I
was born over there one of them said and never saw white flour." Let 'em
go to Stalin, when they get hungry they'll come back to us." One of them
who just had a nodding acquaintance with J. Barleycorn stirred and summarized
his opinions in a terse statement, "Aw, Ta H — — — with
'em."
About half way out, the woman with the cup cake hat said to the
worldly man, "Ahem, will you close your window a. little, the wind is
blowing on my shoulder and I have arthritis so bad," adding that she had
been to Mud Baden, West Baden, Cold Springs and Hot Springs etc. Some days it
started down here and the next day it started up here. But the worldly man fell
off the hook somewhere between the wrist and the elbow and continued
interrogating the young guy who looked as if he wished he was back in Old
Wyoming.
Then there was the blonde who minced in like a wren, pushed up her
hair, opened her bag, worked with the mirror and lip stick then the nail stick,
took another look, dug out a cigarette, tapped it on one of her finger nails,
lit it, took a deep breath, so deep, that her fronts were almost flat, pushed
out a column of smoke like a whale spouting, then took a look, letting the
folks know that she knew her way around.
Two women sat back of us, neither talked about legs or food but
about folks: their own folks. One said, "Min had five before she was
twenty three. Don't you think that is too many?" I was not sure what she
was talking about but I agreed with her. So did the other old gal who was busy
telling what a grand son-in-law she had. Bill and her had just been up to St.
Paul to see them. They had put it off so long. How the son-in-law made her
sleep in the best bed in the house, how they had a picnic for her and how the
son-in-law (name undisclosed) had tugged out an army cot and pillow so she
could rest. And the picnic dinner was started in on four miles north of Del
Rapids and we got to the ice cream at the Lone Tree.
There were no babies on the trip to bill and coo with except the
blonde and she held herself aloof. Communing only with her toilet articles.
If you want a real cross section view of the mid-west, what it
thinks, how it lives etc., a ride on the bus is a real Gallup Poll. There were
no high brows, no over educated idealists, just plain folks. Don't go when it's
stormy or cloudy. Go on a sunny afternoon. Folks seem to generate more warmth
when it's sunny. The busses are new and the drivers are courteous and careful.
If you want a change try it some time.
========================
October 30, 1947
A female said to us the other day, "The grammar in your column
is bad." Bless your heart we realize that more than you do. When we came
here there were no schools so we never had the opportunity to graduate from
high school or even attend a teacher's college. In spite of that handicap, we
try to make this column readable, with all its defects. It has been our
privilege to listen to a lot of speakers. We remember one who spoke at one of
the state fair meetings. Her grammar was flawless, her diction superb, her
inflection without a blemish. She crossed her "t's" and dotted her
"I's" with beautiful gestures and with that smugness so many folks
wear, who think they are educated. This gal had everything, but she could not
get the ball over the plate, and after saying "Nothing" she sat down;
but she had said it well. A little education, too often is alluring and
dangerous.
---
Last Tuesday's Star-Journal had a picture on the back page that you
should have looked at twice. It. was a picture of a group of young students at
Berlin, Germany. They were carrying small sacks. The caption of the picture was
"Extra Rations of 20 pounds of potatoes given by the Soviet
government." In this country last year we destroyed 30,000,000 bushels. In
Germany the Communists have no trouble getting rid or them. This hectic mess we
are going through has got a lot of folks dizzy.
---
If the average human in southern Europe resembles the average human
in western Murray county our efforts to gain their friendship, their good will
and their trade by feeding them in their hour of trouble, is just "Love's
Labor Lost." You folks in Lake Wilson remember the dark depression days of
the '30s. How more than 400 people came down to the depot here and received
groceries. How the town went all out for those who were starving in western
Murray county. We went out and raised money for groceries. How our efforts
brought in car loads of potatoes, hay oats and wheat. Almost a car load of used
clothing came in from other points. Did they show their gratitude? Most of them
have never been seen in Lake Wilson since they came after free feed for
themselves and live stock.
---
The crowding of radio stations in this area is cluttering
reception. This does not make much difference to WCCO whose programs, listeners
say, are below those of the smaller stations in this area. if it was not for
Cedric Adams few people in this section would tune in on WCCO. He is their lone
sustaining program.
---
A crying need in this village and school district is a
Teachers-Parent Association. The school keenly needs an organization of this
kind. It's about time that the parents took some interest in the schools
instead of thinking of schools, as just a place to send their children. If you
want to improve conditions and want to add other activities to the school,
there should be a Parents-Teachers era Association.
---
Lake Wilson is losing a mighty fine family next week: the Rev.
Hinderlie family. Rev. Hinderlie who is one of the ablest pastors we ever had
In Lake Wilson is moving to Waseca. Few men in any walk of life work as hard as
a country pastor, especially those who have charge of three different parishes.
To keep the many different units of the church interested requires skill and
ability. From the looks of his schedule In the Pilot, each week, a pastor sees
but little of his home at night. There are few evenings that he is not
attending not only local units but the various other organizations connected
with the church. Since coming to Lake Wi1son Rev. and Mrs. Hinderlie have
gained a large circle of friends who wish them success and happiness in their
new home.
---
The 4-H'ers are trying to increase their membership to 500 in this
county. Hope they succeed. The 4-H is the most practical method of education
known in this country. It takes the boy and girl when they are young and
interests them in the lines in which they will be interested when they grow to
manhood and womanhood. In no line of endeavor do pupils show as much interest
and excitement as these youngsters do at the judging and showings in the baby
beef class at the Murray county fair.
---
Saw where a Vermont jury found a prisoner guilty of stealing a suit
case from a building but found him "Not Guilty" for breaking into the
building to get the suit case: must have been more women than men on that jury.
---
If you love the restful, soothing and inspiring old hymns, tune in
on WNAX Sunday nights at 9:30. That period is an oasis in a desert of jazz, low
comedy and boogie woogie.
========================
November 6, 1947
Ben Hecht of New York who has been responsible for the
transportation of. gangsters to Palestine to murder British civilians is now
out with a page ad in the New York papers urging that the British be compelled
to stay in the Holy Land so that there will be less blood shed between the
Arabs and the Jews. Those same imported gangsters will give the new Jewish
government a lot of trouble, before the year is out.
---
Some nut has started a movement to bring the "Displaced
Persons" in Europe to the United States. Those nuts should have their
heads examined. Why bring millions of people to this country when we are not
able to supply war veterans with homes?
---
Two Internal revenue men were here last week picking up those who
had fallen by the wayside on their income tax reports; some had neglected some
things, some had erred and others had just deliberately fallen. Uncle Sam has
an awful long arm.
---
One of the national goings on that stinks, is the way we're
handling the Arabian oil situation. The Arabian oil is plentiful enough, so
that it could flood the market in the U.S. but the oil situation seems to be
thoroughly controlled. In the U.S. American oil men say that they can not give
us enough oil on account of all the steel pipe going to Arabia and there you
are. Where are we drifting?
---
Too bad Cedric and his cohorts are not saving the spare suet they
are shedding. What a lot of wonderful soap operas it would make.
---
Mighty glad there were so many folks at the Kids' Hallowe'en party.
The more interest parents take in the school the more your child will be
encouraged and the more cooperation there will between teachers and pupils.
---
Mrs. Leegaard of Minneapolis was awarded $30,000 by a La Crosse,
Wis. jury last week, She explained that Ruby Dolan had stolen Mr. Leegaard's
affections. Putting a price on affections is pure bunk. When a man takes up
with another woman, he can't have very much affection for the wife. Ruby, whose
poke was squeezed, runs a tavern at La Crosse and the story is that she copped
Leegaard's affections last spring. There's only one time when there's really
any market value on affections and that is when youth is in full bloom.
Remember "And For Bonnie Laurie, I'd lay me Doon and Dee." Affection
between man and wife are stalled sometimes by politics, religion, children,
dress, tobacco etc. They have more ups and downs than the corn market. The
Scripture says, "Stolen Waters Are Sweet and Bread Eaten in secret is
Pleasant." It also adds: "Wisdom is better than Rubies."
---
A decision which came up in the Minnesota supreme court last week
is of more than passing interest to base ball managers, fair authorities and
others interested both financially and otherwise in outdoor sports. Mrs. Mary
Modes a spectator at a hockey game at Eveleth was injured by a flying puck. She
sued, got a verdict which was set aside by Judge Freeman and he was sustained
by the supreme court all of which means that if you go to a base ball game,
football game or hockey game, you do so at your own risk.
---
Much ado has been made in the press over the poor showing made by
the Colorado school ma'ams. At the recent state convention some one proposed a
"Quiz" program. One hundred teachers volunteered with the
understanding that their names could not be published. Mighty good thought for
some of the teachers rated as low as five per cent on the 100 questions. Only
25 per cent knew which side the "Tories" were on during the
Revolution, other answers were comical but depressing. They gave out that
"Robert E. Lee was president of the confederacy," "George
Washington drafted the Declaration of Independence," "Aaron Burr
assassinated Lincoln," "Pocahontas married John Smith,"
"The U. S. got the western states from Spain after the Spanish American
War." But no doubt they all had "A's" in grammar.
---
Congressmen and special committees who have been touring Europe are
back and the United States seems thankful that none of them starved to death:
or is it?
---
If the tops in the government really want to settle conditions in
Europe, all they have to do is to send a shipload of American cigarettes to the
various countries. These countries crave cigarettes. At the present time, two
cigarette wilt buy almost anything over there and when we say
"anything," we mean anything. Food comes before cigarettes in
southern Europe.
---
This man Humphrey of Minneapolis, is champing at the bit and just
rearing to go, but he has not decided what race he will enter. Don't go into
training for the race against Youngdahl for governor. He was out in front the
last time he ran and he'll out do his record next year. Youngdahl may not suit
everybody, but the big majority are for him stronger than they were six months
ago.
---
Heavy soaking rain' have left our streets and roads a mess. There's
but little time left to get them fixed before winter, but It. should be done.
========================
November 13, 1947
We Lake Wilson folks and that includes the folks that live in the
country should hide our heads in shame for our neglect of the observance of the
Armistice Day, at the school auditorium on Tuesday. For two years we were all
het up over the war and the boys that were in the service. We promised what we
would do for them, when they came back and how we would honor them etc.; is it
all forgotten? Even the boys in the service were negligent only three appearing
in uniforms. That there was lack of publicity concerning the program was quite
apparent but enough folks knew all about it yet we were indifferent. Wars don't
have the lasting quality any more, They are soon forgotten. How different from
the Civil War. We can remember the Boys in Blue and how much they got out of
their encampments and conventions. How they would darn the old blue coats and
polish up their buttons for the many events. For nearly sixty years they held a
colorful portion of American life. What a change to World War II. With its
millions of men and women in the service. It seems to be the soonest forgotten
of any War In our history. The splendid address of Supt. Sundell was entitled
to an audience ten times as large as that assembled in the auditorium last
Tuesday.
---
Youngsters today have wonderful opportunities compared to those who
lived here fifty-sixty years ago. Schools were remote and taught only reading,
writing and arithmetic There were no dailies, we took the St. Paul weekly
Pioneer Press and the Slayton Gazette. The Press was passed around to several
families and while a month or so old it was news. For news is news no matter
how old it is, as long as it's news. The dramatic touch we had the outside was
the traveling man. Folks looked with awe at the suave gentlemen when they came
to town. They brought us the news, and the new stories. When they came, there
was always a good sized audience and wen perchance they stayed all night,
"standing room only" was available at the Engebretson and Smith
stores. What a lot of influence these men had In Minnesota. Enough to elect
John A. Johnson Governor over Bob Dunn who had called them a lot of "prune
peddlers". These men with their dray loads of trunks, full of samples,
have moved on, but they played their part in the building of a new country.
---
Disclosures of the Hughes investigation are the aftermath of every
war, and while no doubt he got his bit as everybody else except the white
collar folks, his prominence has brought him into the spotlight, but we don't
have to go so far for war contract exposures. Over in Cottonwood county the
government invested $365,000 a hemp plant. Windom thought it was a grand thing
at the time. The plant was sold recently for $30,000 and you should hear some
of them spout.
---
See where the Fire Chief is advertising for volunteer firemen. Some
folks who never did anything in a civic line in their lives unless there was
money in it are urging young fellows to get in. The Roamer believes that the
day of volunteer firemen has gone over the hill with a lot of our early day
ideas and theories. Firemen, that is registered firemen, should be paid a
dollar an hour for the time they actually spend at a fire: they are just as
much entitled to it as the man with the pick. hammer, saw or shovel..
---
For generations the liquor habit has been held as the worst on
earth. But is it? Lord knows it's bad enough, but today it is in the bark
ground when compared to the cigarette habit, which is the worst on earth,
considering the number of victims. Prohibiting the use of cigarettes in any
form in the U. S. would be a national calamity of the greatest magnitude. No
other law, not even the declaration of war would bring utter consternation to
as many people. Everybody uses them, even if only for a couple of puffs but the
cigarettes which was called pimp stick and coffin nails in days gone by and
decried as the brand of the gangster and the prostitute has gnawed its way into
the heart of the religious and semi-religious organizations who fought it
bitterly years ago and the habit increases as the years go by. Take away the
cigarettes and Coca Cola from the American people and they'd go nuts.
---
The proposal for a school levy in the counties of Minnesota has
been voted down by nearly all the district school boards. From the looks of the
ghost schoolhouses in every county and the schools with only a handful of
pupils, it is not hard to understand the acute need of some kind of a chance.
Every movement for the betterment of education and in fact every movement for
the betterment of the human race, has been bitterly opposed. So the advocates
for an improvement in Minnesota's schools system should not feel discouraged.
Today Minnesota's school system ranks on a level with Georgia and Mississippi.
Are the rural folks proud of that record?
---
If the republican party wants to cut the high prices of living why
don't they cut the income tax on the white collar men: they have no subsidies,
or parity price for their labor.
---
We want to thank the guy at the head of the new food set up. He
says we can get turkey for Thanksgiving. Now if he'll only send us a turkey
we'll be sure of it.
---
Must of been a pretty bright poultryman who said "We're in a
heck of a fix. We can't eat 'em, can't sell them and can't feed them.
========================
November 20, 1947
Some of our readers will remember Irma Beal who lived here some
twenty years ago. She was a niece of the late Fred Sagner. She moved to
California where she married Mr. J. Kerr. They now live in north Hollywood. She
has a clever daughter who is married to Bob Sweeny who has a radio show of his
own. You can hear him on the Joan Davis program on Saturday night. Irma was
born In Germany if we remember right and went to school here for the first
time. Another former Lake Wilson girl, Nettie Meyers who lived here for years,
she is a daughter of the late Wm. Meyers and now lives at Seattle Wash., where
she has been president of the Parent-Teacher Association for a number of years.
Nettie is also a leader in Lutheran church work in that city. Then there is
another Lake Wilson girl in the west. She was formerly Fern Nelson, a daughter
of Miss Alice Jones, who by the way was a daughter of E. E. Jones an early
pioneer of Lowville. The Nelsons had a butcher shop in Lake Wilson in the early
days. Fern married one of the leading business men in Pasadena where Mrs. Jones
and sisters have made their home for many years.
---
Another football game like that of last Saturday will start some
folks wondering if the New York gamblers have not moved west. Games of that
kind do untold harm to sport
---
Read a length magazine article the other day entitled, "Why Do
Men and Women Drink Liquor?" It occupied five pages in the magazine and
didn't say anything. The real reason for people drinking is, so they can say
the things and do the things they have not got the guts to do when they are
sober.
This column does not see eye to eye with the village council of Lake Wilson on
the liquor store question. On the notices it states that a vote will be taken
on the question of an Off and On sale liquor store but the council states that
it does not have to follow the wishes of the voter. This is absolutely wrong.
When a majority of voters register either for or against a certain question,
the result of the election should be in force until a contrary vote voids it.
Let the people rule.
---
John L. King, editor of the Jackson Pilot says, "It's the
absence of expert help that keeps us worrying." To the naked eye the
Jackson Pilot has everything that's needed to keep a country weekly abreast of
the times. If there's a better country weekly in Minnesota the writer has not
run across it. So don't be so darn self-conscious.
---
One of the younger business men said the other day "Our
streets remind me of the foxholes we used to jump for in the dark. I hit a hole
the other night and thought the front wheels would come off.--Sherburn Advance
Standard. Sort of glad to see the above item, "Misery Likes Company."
---
Most base ball fans go to a base ball game to see their favorite
hitter slam out a home run and many a time joy has been eliminated when the
pitcher gives the batting hero an intentional pass. A new suggestion if put
into effect would put a crimp in the passing of a good hitter when the game is
close and there is a man on second. The new plan would give the batter two
bases instead of one when he is given an intentional pass. Good idea.
---
The donation or sale of war buildings should be stopped at once:
the present atmosphere demands a larger navy, a bigger army, a better air force
and bigger and better Atom bombs.
---
The mounting costs of living has its effect in every state, in the
increase in costs of old age assistance. Out in Colorado the cost of Old Age
assistance has risen to $89 a month; no one can afford to be off Old Age
assistance at these attractive figures.
---
The Friendship train, the train that gathered food for the needy in
Europe has accomplished its mission. It had the support of the people for it
was the American way of doing things. It had the personal touch and if
distributed by civilian or religious organizations will give real relief to the
folks over there and the folks who cheerfully sent it.
---
The sport writers on the twin city papers are a queer breed of
cats. In the summer they spend their space in rimming their base ball teams and
the state game and fish department. They 'know' all about them and they tell
it, in no uncertain words and harsh at that sometimes, just how they ought to
be run. But when it comes to the "U" football team they become mild
as a kitten in their criticism and run around talking to themselves. In the
Iowa game both coach and team were at fault. The team played lousy and for the
coach, well in big league base ball they play a Williams shift and a DeMaggio
shift but Minnesota does not appear to have a forward pass shift. Isn't it
about time the team should be versed in pass defense. Minnesota's team have
been weak in both pass defense and offense. Bierman, we know it is worse than
sacrilege for a common guy to even mention his name, has never been a strong
advocate of the pass. On the ground he's a whiz, but football games like wars,
are won In the air these days.
---
The new county assessors seem to be backed with laws that have
claws: they can if they doubt any tax assessment dig into the tax dodgers bank
account.
Soap is $1.50 a pound in Russia; can't blame them if they odorize a little.
========================
November 27, 1947
The royal wedding is over and fluttering and pop eyed interest has
died down but most people and some of them that are really educated write and
talk even over the radio about the "Queen of England." There is no
such person. There has been no Queen of England, since good old Queen Bess,
back in 1603. England's Kings and Queens passed out of the picture then. James
VI of Scotland, son of the ill fated Mary, Queen of Scots took over the throne
which included Wales, France, Ireland, Scotland and England. It was during his
reign that the Bible was translated. From James' time on there has been no
English Kings or Queens, but British Kings and British Queens. Even Paul Revere
knew that.
---
The one time decorous St. Paul Pioneer Press has fallen to a pretty
low level in the estimation of its readers and the public in general. Last week
a young woman student in Wisconsin was attacked and raped by two ex-convicts.
The laws of that state prohibit the publication of the names of raped women so
the Pioneer Press helped out the morons and the sordid minded on Tuesday,
November 18th by printing not only the name of the unfortunate young woman but
her picture as well, presumably in the interest of modern journalism. Would
they have given as much publicity if the daughter of the owner or the editor of
the Pioneer Press had been raped?
---
Christmas decorations in the village bring a sort of a holiday
spirit. We notice that some village, are abandoning the decorations this year
and sending the money saved to the hungry in Europe: not a bad idea.
---
Former editor Jay Jackson and Mrs. Jackson of Ruthton were guests
at a reception at Ruthton on Tuesday evening, which was held in honor of their
golden wedding. Besides being editor of the Ruthton Tribune for over a quarter
of. century he also had papers at various times in nearly every western state.
He Is one of the last of a vanishing breed: an old time country editor.
Wherever he was, Jay served his readers and his town to the best of his ability
and he did it in the clear, crisp, language of the newspaper tribe of the days
gone by. The Roamer extends congratulations to Jay and the Missis.
---
While "wimen" seem to enter into nearly every
investigation started by the senate, they play only a minor part or rather a
prelude for the big show. The disclosure in the Major General Meyers case, top
man in the air force buying division, is humiliating to every American. In
Russia this pup would have been stripped of all his ill gotten gains and sent
to the Siberian salt mines for life. But what the country Is looking for, is
not an account of Meyers' amorous journeys but the names of the companies who
paid him those large sums of blackmail. Did they supply inferior planes, planes
that caused the death of many of our young men?
---
Saw a headline the other day "Farmers Live Better" why
shouldn't they? Every body else does.
---
The Pipestone Star has resumed its twice a week service which was
halted by the war, The Star is one of the oldest newspapers in this section of
the state. It was founded in 1879 the year the Omaha and the Milwaukee were
racing for that city. The Omaha took the "high" road over the Buffalo
Ridge, the Milwaukee the "low" road, the Chanarambie Valley. The
Milwaukee won and the Omaha terminal was at Woodstock until 1885 when the road
was completed to Pipestone.
---
Well Minnesota took to the air last Saturday afternoon and look
what happened to Wisconsin. Most fans hope they will take up next year where
they left off last Saturday. It had not been for their pass offense and defense
Minnesota would have lost: they looked bad on the ground the first half.
---
A hot headed football player in South Dakota took a punch at the
referee after his team had lost; he was fined $100. A drunken Tracy motorist
endangered the lives of people on the highway, finally ending up by ramming and
smashing an auto and injuring the occupants: he was fined $50; a referee. seems
to be more sacred than human lives in the Upper Mid West.
---
if you ever have a yen to go preaching go to Leota. The
congregation over there gave the good pastor and his wife $300 for a Christmas
gift: from a pastors view point those folks must be imbued with the Christmas
spirit.
---
Luckman who was called in to stop the folks from eating has
"resigned." He was the goat for the meatless and eggless days. He was
inveigled into It by the secy. of agriculture and "well informed"
bureaus. Funny how as shrewd a business man as Luckman could be gotten into
such a mess.
---
They're trying a St. Paul man for the murder of his wife. It is
alleged that he slew her, then carried the body to a lake near Brainerd, added
a 60 pound weight to her body then laid her to rest in the lake. The body came
to the surface. Every day some folks learn something. The next time this guy
will use a heavier weight.
---
After all, we got out of the snow storm of last week pretty lucky:
South Dakota and North Dakota had 18 inches In places and over at Tracy 12
inches fell. A pretty good start on a long winter.
---
Some folks here are willing to bet that the snow we have now will
disappear before long. Could be, but we have our doubts.
========================
December 4, 1947
Honestly, we don't know what the Ten Points for food control are
all about but if they mean the rationing of cigarettes, tires and gasoline,
congress might as well forget all about it and come hand get the snow off the
sidewalks. Rationing these things in peace time is one thing the American folks
won't take sitting down.
---
The pardon of Curley the mayor of Boston meets with anything but
public approval. Here's a man that deliberately and craftily planned to defraud
the public--he goes free while a man who in the heat of passion assaults
another man is still confined to the pen while his wife and children are on
charity. Then some folks wonder how the germ of communism starts in the United
States.
---
The great problem "How to Prevent Colds" has at last been
solved by an actress. Marlene Dietrich, the dame with the alluring eyes and
attractive legs has the solution and it is nothing but good clean dirt. Not the
dirt you hear when some women gather, but just plain unadulterated dirt, you
can get it anywhere. Marlene said that when she was in the soldier camps during
the last war she noticed that dirty people never had the sniffles. She stopped
taking baths for three months at a time; the result, no colds. Asked how she
"got by," she said "Everybody smelled just as bad as I
did." So if you want to avoid colds, be dirty in body: the state of mind
does not seem to make much difference.
---
You won't know your radio after the first of the year. Over a dozen
of the big programs area on their way out and they won't all be soap operas
either; too bad.
---
There are two men living in Lake Wilson today that are really and
truly connected with the early settlement of the southwest. They are Charles F.
Lentz who was born in a dug out on a farm near Minnesota Lake and Tommy McGuire
who was born in a sod house close by where the town of Dundee is today. Tom and
his brothers and sisters climbed up on the roof of their house and watched the
first train go up the branch in 1875.
---
Few little girls come into this world to meet as many aged
relatives as little Linda Marie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Duane Timmerman of
Lake Wilson, who was born November 14th, 1947. On her arrival she was greeted
by four great grand mothers, three great grandfathers, two grandmothers and two
grandfathers, an array that speaks well for the climate and for the mode of
living in the days of yore. the great grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. William
Stofferan, Mr. and Mrs. Dettlef Reese, Mr. and Mrs. Gus Zieman and Mrs. Jane
Timmerman. The grandparents are: Mr. and Mrs. William Zeeman and Mr. and Mrs.
Lambert Timmerman. Little Linda Marie enjoys the distinction of having seven
great grandparents and four grandparents but only one aunt. A record that's
hard to beat.
---
The increased price in gasoline is just another squeeze play by the
big corporations to get when the getting is good. They say scarcity causes the
increase in prices. That's pure bunk. If we had gasoline to win the last war
with the immense amount of gas used by planes, tanks etc. coupled with the
sinking of tankers and the destruction by the enemy, there should be enough for
us in peace time. Some time the boot straps are going to wear out.
---
Looks as if Russia and America have divided the oil wells in the
Arabian section. Money seems to bring nations and big business together more
than freedom, morality and justice.
---
The big airplanes that carry 400 persons looks to us like putting
too many eggs in one basket. After a couple of them drop regulations will
issued forbidding their use.
---
Few appointments have given as much satisfaction in the midwest as
that of Carl W. Gray to the office of Veterans Administrator. Mr. Gray has held
a lot of positions of trust, including general manager of the Omaha railroad.
Carl used to make the regular inspection trips of the roads with some of the
big eastern stockholders. When the train stopped at Lake Wilson the easterners
would look stonily out of the observation car as if they were bored with the
whole thing. Not Carl, he would get off the train and nose into everything and
had time to stop and talk with the little folks at the small towns. He wanted
to know first hand. Mr. Truman never made a better appointment and the veterans
are to be congratulated on getting a man at the head of things that is going to
give his best endeavors to their welfare. If given a free hand he will make the
veterans department a smooth running and efficient department.
---
Navajo Indians are starving. Sioux Indians have to beg for money to
buy medicine on the Rosebud reservation and every city has community chests!
Looks like Uncle Sam has grown so big and fat that he can't see his own feet.
---
A truck load of sand or gravel on the streets and sidewalks would
be appreciated by everyone; there's lots worse ways to spend tax money than on
safety on the streets and sidewalks.
---
Wonder if they still use the old fashioned one piece flat iron to
"warm the bed" on chilly nights. Some of the more stylish folks in
the early days had bricks covered with colored flannel. The folks with very
cold feet had big heavy soap stones. They kept the bed warm all night.
========================
Dec. 11, 1947
Someone has been criticising the editor of the Lake Benton News and
in his column last week he wrote: "On many occasions a writer catches
himself thinking that methods other than the pen could a better job of righting
a wrong." Them's fighting words Bro. Anderson.
---
Here's good news for the kids in the country, Sixty two counties
have voted to make a survey of the rural school situation and to suggest
changes that will be beneficial to the pupils and the taxpayers. This section
of the state voted a solid block against a survey. They were Murray, Pipestone,
Rock, Nobles, and Lincoln counties. Did you know that only three other
states have more school districts than Minn. and that one fifth of the
districts have less than ten pupils? Half of the states have less than 500
school districts. Minnesota has 7,684. Looks as if they're all out of step but
Minnesota.
---
The Great Northern railroad wants to abandon the stock yards at
Holland. Why not? It is seldom used. It's not good sense to compel a railroad
company to maintain facilities that are never used. If this abandonment goes
through, the stock yards once a vital part of our growth will be a thing of the
past. If the G. N. will get its mail trains through on time, they can abandon
every stock yard on the Willmar division.
---
In the old days, the days of the building up of this community when
winter came most of the household were virtually "shut ins." The men
would hitch up the horses and wind there way through the snow drifts to the
village to do their trading. There were no fences to hinder. Folks got by after
a fashion. Horse back was the surest way to travel. Things have changed. We
live in a new world. One that is full of autos, trucks, school busses, cream
trucks etc. The vehicles must have roads and while the farmers who live on
state highways and gas tax roads are troubled little, the folks who live on the
side roads, suffer and complain bitterly, about paying taxes and getting no
roads to town in the winter. Town board members contacted say that the easiest
way to get the roads kept open in the winter is for those folks that criticise
attend the annual town meeting in March and vote adequate funds for this
purpose. What is true in the country is also true in the village. Every one in
town has a car and when snow clutters up the streets extra costs and
discomforts to our lot. The village council makes the tax levy for the village
early next fall and the voters should attend this meeting and urge the council
to secure adequate snow removal machinery or make arrangements with some one so
that the snow could be removed and roads opened up as soon as the storm is
over: waiting and yearning for snow plows only costs more in the long run.
---
The voters in Tyler are the only ones that enjoy home rule. It is
the custom there for the voters to meet on village election day. The mayor
suggested that a levy of $10,000 be made but the voters upped this amount to
$12,000 which would take care of the snow removal and additional repairs to
the streets.
---
In commenting on a receipt article in this column criticise the
Pioneer Press, for its out of bounds story on a Wisconsin assault, John
Randolph of the Westbrook Sentinel adds: "Modern weeklies try to publish
only the helpful, inspiring happenings of life. Many dailies cater to the
disregarding side. A good editor is as well known by what he leaves out as by
what he puts in. The Pioneer Press deserves the contempt of every decent
citizen. You don't have to tell the world everything." You're right, John,
a country editor covers up more dirt than a cat.
---
The United States army and navy are spending thousands of dollars
daily to secure recruits. Why not have a Foreign Legion army corps? France
welded its Foreign Legion to one of the greatest fighting forces in the world.
Look at all the recruits we could get in Germany, France, Italy and all the
other European countries. A hundred thousand recruits could be gotten out of
Germany alone and there are no better soldiers. Let's show we can trust them in
our service as well as we can trust them with our grub.
---
The disposal of sewage from Minnesota towns and villages which is
advocated by nearly every one for the reason it will erase pollution from our
lakes and rivers is one of the costliest to enter into the financial affairs of
the small villages. Over at Ellsworth at the recent election the voters
approved of a bond issue of $114,000 for sewage disposal plant. The measure
carried by a vote of 195 to 32 which means a tax of $200 on every business lot
and a $100 on residence lot. The only alternative for the village they say is
for each householder and business place to construct their own septic tanks.
---
Folks at the Methodist church enjoyed a musical and spiritual treat
last Sunday forenoon. The Rust College Singers gave a sacred concert. It was
one of those events that everyone no matter what their creed is would have
enjoyed. The program was filled with songs of the south from the spiritual
offerings of the early days to more modern versions: all sung with that soft,
mellow, harmony characterizing the songs of the negro whom are a part of our
musical folklore.
========================
Dec. 18, 1947
Something New In These United States
The most important political appointment made in our time was that
of Jesse M. Donaldson of Indiana, who President Truman named as postmaster
general last week.
For the first time in the history of the United States—going
back to the time when Benjamin Franklin was appointed postmaster of
Philadelphia by the British in 1739—the country has a man in charge of the
office that really knows something about postal affairs. Mr. Donaldson's father
was a fourth class postmaster, and the young Donaldson drifted into the mail
service, ending as post office inspector and from there to the office of first
assistant postmaster general.
Up to last week the postmaster general's office was given to the
best politician of the party in power.
The postmaster, since the beginning of the service, has been the
financial foundation of the party in power. It was given, irrespective of
ability, to the man who held the most power or could swing the most votes in
his vicinity.
The postmasters in the past were milked, and they be doing so now
in spite of the Hatch law, for all the traffic could bear. Collectors came
around and collected the take, due the party the same as the collectors do in
the gambling, red light and booze joints in the big cities.
For decades the postmasters were not only the rank and file but the
officers in congressional campaigns. It was their duty to see that candidates
went to the convention so that the machine was kept running. We remember during
the McCleary era, we were a delegate to a district convention at Mankato, that
there were so many postmaster delegates that one nasty Democrat newspaper
referred to it as a "Postmasters Convention."
In these times, few people realize what an influential personage
the postmaster was In the early days. In the forming of the constitution of the
State of Minnesota in 1858 about the only man recognized was the postmaster.
Section 9 of Article 4 of the constitution of the state of
Minnesota reads as follows:
"Restriction as to holding office: No senator or
representative shall during that time for which he is elected hold any office,
under the authority of the United States or the State of Minnesota, except the
office of postmaster."
Postmasters have been preyed upon without mercy by both political
parties. The last one to call on the Roamer was the late state senator Claude
MacKenzie, who was state chairman for the Republican party and was striving
hard to get funds. He poked his head in the window and said, "Bob, can you
give something to help renominate Herbert Hoover?" We told Claude that
money at that time was unknown here, but that we'd get him a load of oats.
Claude smiled and went on.
For ages post offices have been bought and sold, men that had
prestige got most of the offices. Those that did not have it laid so much money
on the line and that is the way Uncle Sam has been peddling his post offices
for generations.
Country editors were often selected for postmasters by the powers
that be; that was the day before the dailies, radio, and civil service ganged
up on them and erased a lot of their influence. Fifty years ago half of the
newspapers in Minnesota were edited by country editors. They did a lot of
things for the congressman and were his sounding board for the community.
The installation of the rural route service was not altogether a
laudable idea to give the farmer better service. The party in power, and that
was generally the congressman, figured that the boys who carried the mail would
have time to visit with the farmers along the way and "Spread the
Gospel." Carriers, however, had little time. It was all they could do push
their team through 30 miles of muddy roads without stopping to discuss the
question of "Whether there should be a tariff on Canadian lumber or
not."
Civil service has done a lot for the post office department,
especially in the letter carriers in the cities, railway mail clerks and the
post office inspectors.
---
The inspectors are one body of men that not only the post office
department by the entire United States can be proud of. These men for a long
period of time have been the most outstanding of any group in government
service. They are all highly trained in the various branches in the service.
Their jobs run from looking after a busted rural route mail box to tracking
down train robbers who have a loot of a million dollars.
But even the inspectors get pushed around with politics. Not the
rank and file, but the inspector in charge of the divisional district. When the
party changes power, he starts packing. They're a grand bunch of efficient men
those post office inspectors, and you can count on one hand the number that
have been unfaithful in their trust to your government.
For years you folks have heard a lot about civil service and your
local post offices. Forget it. There ain't no such thing as civil service in
the appointment of your local postmaster. It is still in the old category. All
this civil service blah has given the party in power more or rather easier
power in the picking of a postmaster than ever before. Years ago there were 20
or 30 after the job; after the civil service examination there are only three
candidates. And here is what makes a mockery of civil service. The law says
that the names of the three highest in the examination be submitted to a
committee of the party in power. What happens? Remember last spring, Senator
Langer of North Dakota made the following discovery: that the Democrats had
named 8,956 postmasters that were Democrats and only three that were
Republicans in 1946. He was going to start an investigation, when a Democrat
senator asked him, "How many Democrats were appointed during Hoover's
time." Jim Farley, who followed Roosevelt Into the P. M. G. job, said.
"Every Republican postmaster has two strikes on him." That's the
boasted civil service.
Mr. Donaldson, see that the law is changed so that civil service
winners names no longer go to political ward heelers but go direct to the
office of the post office department. Not until then will your postmaster be on
a genuine civil service basis.
---
Rotten Mail Service
Last Friday the Great Northern train into Pipestone from the cities was late,
so the Star Route mail carrier made the trip from Pipestone to Slayton without
any mail. The mail for Woodstock, Lake Wilson, Hadley and Slayton, which
arrived on the train at 10:30, lay in the post office at Pipestone until the
following day to the inconvenience of thousands of patrons.
Holding the Star mail man for an extra two hours would have given the usual
service. The government saved two dollars, but inconvenienced thousands of
people. "The People be Damned" now seems to be the motto of this
branch of the service.
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Should Have Let Him Go When He Had the Chance
Edward Pauley, who tried to bore his way into the navy department last year,
but was stopped behind the line of scrimmage, is again in the limelight. Last
year he was using oil money and eventually lost out. This year he was kicked
upstairs to another office. He seems to have kept his finger pulsed on the
grain market and, it is alleged, got inside dope. Better let him go, Harry,
he's not doing you any good.
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School Busses Should be Equipped with Phones
All country school buses during the winter months should be equipped with
walkie talkie phones. When accidents overtake them or they are stuck in the
snow, it would mean a lot to the anxious parents if they knew just where the
children were so that immediate aid could be given.
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Oh East is East and West is West, Etc.
Just about the time we start in talking about putting rationing into effect,
Russia announces that she will end rationing about January 1. Seems like we
never agree on anything. We may be waiting for the two men in Rudyard Kipling's
poem:
"Oh, East is East and West is West,
and never the twain shall meet
Till Earth and Sky stand presently
at God's great Judgment Seat.
But there is neither East nor West
Border nor Breed nor Birth
When two strong men stand face to face
Though they come from the ends of the earth."
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Dec. 24, 1947
See where a guy named Hurley who made a specialty of making love to
unsuspecting women and leaving them after getting their money is in deep
trouble in St. Paul. He was arrested and has admitted that he had married 55
different women. He tried to commit suicide last week. Why not? He must know
all there is to know and all there is to see about women and that just about
fills up the fount of human knowledge.
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Some folks recently chided a past middle age female about acting up
a little bit. She came back with, "The foundation may sag a little and be
a little wobbly but you never know what goes on in the attic."
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The Department of Agriculture at Washington is under a heavy cloud
these days. Assertions are being made that members of the department and their
friends have been doing real well on tips they received on national crop
reports and governmental buying, and folks believe a lot of these stories. You
can't change human nature much even if it is moved to a Washington atmosphere.
None of us are dumb enough to believe that after the weary stenographer gets a
note that the department is going to subsidize the price of eggs, that she
won't pick up an extra dozen on her way home from work.
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No wonder the people are losing their faith in the intelligence of
those in high places. The U.N. issues a mandate that Palestine must be divided
between the Jews and the Arabs and bitter strife will rage between the two, but
they neglected to provide any means of preventing blood shed and terror and the
result is that blood runs every day along the banks of the Jordan.
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The devaluation of the Russian rouble from ten to one, caused a
good deal more thinking among the folks in the middle west than you imagine.
The inevitable answer to the question telling them that Russia had devalued her
roubles and war bonds was: when will it happen to us?
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The government has started an investigation into the auto sale
scandal. Jesse James, John Dillinger and even Capt. Kidd were mere novices when
it came to extracting money from the dear people compared to some auto dealers
in this country. Only one make of car, it is stated, is sold at list price: the
rest go for anything the traffic will bear. A St. Paul doctor was telling us
that he had a car ordered for over a year. He was 20th on the ordered list but
his number never came up. He got his dander up went down to the auto dealer and
said to him: "I've been dealing with you for twenty-five years yet you
pass me up for people that will pay you more money. You'll never get another
cent from me." The auto dealer snapped back: "I don't care if you
never pay me another cent, give me another year of this and I'll be living in
Florida." Why not squelch black markets at home before we start in on
Europe?
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It's really a sad reflection on the leaders and people of this
nation that so much useless time is consumed by congress enacting laws. Both
Republicans and Democrats profess to love their country so much, but they are
divided by conflicting opinions of the two big parties. Why can't a group from
each side get together, talk over things sensibly, each giving a little,
neither side forcing its issues too strongly but bringing out a measure which
will bring legislation that will aid in solving our problems. If they loved
their country as loyally as they do their political party they certainly would
have done it long before this.
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College football is in for a dry cleaning. The old spirit of
"Dying for Good Old Rutgers" seems to have gone and in its place have
appeared specialists in the football art. Young fellows who sell their athletic
powers to the highest bidder and make a pretense of attending these great
schools of learning until they graduate into the professional ranks. The odor
is getting stronger each year and the day is coming soon when there will be a
real eruption. Those intercepted forward passes, the mussing up of pass
receivers means the game sometimes: all done so simply but they accomplish
their ends. The school authorities seem helpless to bring about any reform.
Both the boards of regents and the alumni want winners. They want the glory and
the dollars that come with the glory. Top winners in the Big Nine wants a
ruling so that their best player can play another year, making a total of five.
That guy must be strong in the back and weak in the head. The opinion among
many fans is if you have to pay a man to play for your team, someone else can
buy him to throw a game. The public is getting a little jittery on all sport
events. The answer to big time football is "Free Gates."
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From the many times that helicopters are called upon on errands of
mercy in air tragedies it seems as if it would be a good investment for the
government to have these helpful aircraft placed a various points in the
country, especially in the mountainous regions.
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Seems odd, but fewer people are killed when the roads and pavements
are rutty and ice covered than when the roads and streets are in good shape.
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The Roamer wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Healthy 1948.
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