1952 Columns, July - December
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Roaming in the Gloaming

With Bob Forrest

Things Material and Immaterial

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July 3, 1952
   This season is one of the earliest we’ve had in this section. Potatoes and green peas are plentiful and sweet corn is silking. ---   The assessors of Murray county had more statistical work this year than they have had for the past five years. Of late, most of the work has been done at the county seat. As it was this year, most of the boys had to get an adding machine and two bottles of aspirin. ---   Had a forty mile drive through this section with Fred Gass the other day and the crops are looking fine: above normal, we would say. Corn is looking good. With corn comes this knee high saying: “Corn must be knee high by the Fourth.” What does knee high mean? We asked Fred, an authority on knees, and he said, “Knee high means measuring from the bend in the leaves.” By the way, Fred gave us our first mess of new potatoes, a job he has been doing for the last ten years. Grand fad. ---   Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and what a change there has been in thirty years. In those days, it was the Glorious Fourth of July and nearly every town in the county had some kind of a celebration. There were speakers, parades, ball games ending up with a bowery dance in the evening. Every youth looked ahead to that day, as it was the one day in the year that he squired his best girl. The most important place in the village was: now don’t laugh, the livery barn. For weeks ahead, the livery teams were engaged, and on the morning of the Fourth, old Mac was busy getting his teams curried and adorning them with freshly polished harness, always adding a lap robe with the phrase, “Daisies Won’t Tell” embroidered on it. Woe betide the young swain who was unable to get a team for the big day. Budding romances were broken on account of the lack of a horse. Dawn was heralded in by Jim Jensen, the blacksmith. He had his big anvil out in front of the shop, and took a long iron heated at one end and shoved it into the hole in the anvil, and boy, there was a report that would awaken the dead. Then the hunters would get out their trusty shotgun and shoot off a half a box of shells. Them were the days when the Fourth of July meant something to the people: today it is just another holiday. ---   The Lake Wilson horse club is growing in numbers and in its interest. The horsemen are looking forward to their big day here on July 27th. President Smith, the Charley horse from Cameron twp., has his steed decked out with shiny new trappings like you see in the movies, brand new adornments such as martingales, brasseries and cruppers glisten in the sunlight with their snappy assortment of shiny metal buttons. Only a fad, you say. What of it. It’s better than bridge, canasta, cigar or cigarette smoking, bourbon or rye or even pinochle. The love of a horse is hard to kill in the human breast. ---   Say, you old guys in the Hall of Fame that have been sitting on the same pedestal for forty years, make room for a brand new candidate. His name is Lawrence L. Lowil. Lawrence lives in Chicago and has been going with a dame for several years, they were engaged and all that. Finally the lady tired of it all and told him she was through. He did not take it sitting down. He promptly sued for $2,500 which he plans to spend in the quest for another woman. Brave hearted man, he is. Setting a precedent for young men who have been lured with the light that lies in a woman’s eyes, and lies and lies. There’s a hero born every so often. ---   Oscar Alger will be remembered by the old people, he wrote a lot of books in which the hero pitched a no hit game or made an end run when the score was tied. His was a sort of Rags to Riches theme. His theme came true in St. Paul last week when an ex-convict Chas. Ward became the first citizen of that city for the year 1952. Even stone walls cannot halt ambition and the love to do something for your fellow man. ---   A real Godsend to this country was the dropping of bombs and the firing in airplanes by the Soviet on Danish and Swedish targets last week. Did more to arouse patriotism and determination than a million dollars in the Marshall plan. Hit ‘em hard, Joe, and drop some of them in the rest of the European countries who are willing to let the U.S. save them. ---   Two fine young couples are leaving Lake Wilson soon for new homes. They are Mr. and Mrs. Ed Hamren and Mr. and Mrs. John G. Johnson. They are the kind that we can ill afford to lose. ---   Ancher Nelson of Hutchison has filed for the office of lieutenant governor. The ticket of Anderson and King is going to be hard to beat next fall. Nelson has a fine record in the senate. A good debater, a clever and effective speaker, combined with a lot of horse sense makes him one of Minnesota’s strong men. He’s as clean as a hound’s tooth and will make a good governor some day. ---   Mrs. Mary Speers of Detroit, Michigan is real mad at that state. Sixteen years ago the state said she was crazy and put her in a mental institution. She was freed last week after years of endeavor. Investigations showed that the doctors who put her in the institution said she was suffering from “Hallucinations, and has delusions of great wealth.” Who doesn’t? ---   What has become of Harry Peterson who ran for governor last election? His name was on everyone’s lips. In the same breath you can ask what became of Joe Ball. If you want a quick burial, just die politically. The hearse will be at your door next morning before you’re up. ==============================

July 10, 1952
   The finest pageant, not only in Minnesota but in the entire northwest, will be presented by the Exchange club of Pipestone on July 24-27 and August 1st to 3rd. The story of Hiawatha perhaps the most colorful of Indian tradition will be retold in the most beautiful setting near the old Pipestone quarries. No pageant carries more of the traditions of Indian lore than “Hiawatha,” and when it is presented by an able case it only becomes more entrancing. Every year this pageant has grown in interest, and every year it has drawn larger crowds. This year the cast will be better than last year. Electrical arrangements will be more beautiful. The fine and able manner in which the parking arrangements are handled only adds to the enjoyment of a fine evening’s entertainment. ---   One of the ablest men in the United States is Herbert Hoover. Yet in spite of his ability, Mr. Hoover is not asset to the republican party as far as attracting new voters. His value is null and void. We don’t know how it is the east, but in the west when you hear a bunch of farmers talking politics one of them generally brings up the “Hoover” depression and the memory of those days still lingers on. A condition for which Mr. Hoover was not responsible, yet he still carries this stigma. ---   Death came to John Hayden of the Lakefield Standard last week. John was a grand guy and always interested in the old Second district editorial association when it was a power in the state. Only two members are left: John L. King of the Jackson county Pilot and the Roamer: to dream and think of the grand meetings and the associations that still live in our memory. ---   Don Portman in his Currie Independent wrote last week: “See where Bobby Forrest, the sage of Lake Wilson, is kicking because his garden seed didn’t come up evenly this year. Heck, Bobby, we planted potatoes one day and had plants appearing every week since, in the same rows. Maybe some of the potatoes were older than the others, Bob, but I don’t think that’s the reason they are growing that way.” ---   We have two neighbors suffering from the same complaint. Joe Thuringer and Howard Ottilie bought some high priced potato seed, paying $8.00 a bushel. They planted them and the results were discouraging. Some came up on time, the rest at intervals of a week or so. They expect the last to show up in September. They’re like this Omaha train these days. No one knows when it’s coming and no one knows where it’s going. ---   If the American people would only show the same enthusiasm over the Korean situation that they do over political conventions, Joe Stalin would be calling his men back to Russia. ---   The weather last week was the most ideal corn weather we can remember for y ears. Hot days and nights and fragrant showers make corn crops, except for hail. How about that insurance? ---   Back in the old country years ago it was the custom when royalty and the big shots had their pheasant hunts for them to hang up the birds until they got “ripe”: when they started to get a little green, it improved the flavor. One time we drove into John Pepper’s yard on the shores of Leech Lake. Saw something skinned hanging from a branch. It was hot and juice was dripping on the ground. “What have you there, John?” we asked. “A muskrat,” he said. “Why don’t you eat it?” “Not ready yet,” he said. Funny that the kings of Europe and this lone Chippewa had the same tastes. ---   What has become of men’s neckties? Don’t they get them any more? Not a man in Lake Wilson wears one nowadays. Thirty years ago only the uncouth went without a tie. The old ones come in real handy for holding up those sprawling tomato plants. The hot colored ones should tend to keep the bugs away. ---   This was the finest 4th of July as far as night noise is concerned. In the past, gangs of young birds would make the night hideous for the maimed, the sick and the aged for two weeks before the big day. This year the noise was almost nil. ---   Some think our pike fishing in the early days is a “fish story,” but they will still believe that there were myriads of buffalo at one time. Several years after the period of the fish story we would trail through the brush from Longville to Brevik on Leech Lake with Harold Smith and my son Robert. Fishing in the rice beds south of Bear Island we always came in with forty-five in the forenoon. We used to bring as many as a hundred and fifteen pike home, take the old pike up and go all over town with them. Asked one guy, “Do you want some walleyed pike?” “Are they dressed?” He was a banker too, but the car didn’t stop. ---   Worst criticism we have against Truman is not corruption but his refusal to use the Taft-Hartley law in settling the steel strike. This law has been on the statutes for several years but Harry don’t want to give the republicans credit for trying to clear up the situation, one that is becoming more dangerous as the years go by. ---   Lake Wilson has 91 home owners: not a bad record for a village of four hundred and ten people. ---   A Canada cold wave changed the weather temp and the thermometer read 58 Monday morning. Quite a change. ==============================

July 17, 1952
   The close of the assessing term of 1952 brings to mind some improvements: books for the real estate assessing could be given to the assessors in January. Clerks should receive official notice from the county of all changes made by the county board of equalization, also all changes made by the board on individual requests. There’s nothing mysterious about taxes. The Lake Wilson village council is planning on having complete assessments on both real and personal property on file in the clerk’s office here so they are available for use by both the tax payers and the council. After all, taxes are levied on comparative values. ---   If the Roamins are not as topical as usual, blame Mary Ann the linotype gal. She had to go to Chicago or someplace and we got a notice that it had to get in last Thursday morning. ---   We have some bad news for young men who might marry soon. A man recently applied for a divorce on grounds that his wife nagged him. The judge told the man women nag, they always have and always will, and then turned down the poor man’s hopes. Cheer up boys, that judge lives in Australia, not in the land of the free. Under the pure food law in this country, if the dame exceeds the speed limit you are at liberty to throw the flat-iron, pots and pans at her: toasters are barred, you might break them. You won’t have to sue for a divorce then. ---   Joe Thompson of Aitken, his wife Alice and sons called on us last week. Joe was perhaps the most popular superintendent we ever had. Got along with both young and old. His wife was not here as long, but she was equally as popular. Joe with his brother Ernie who a former superintendent at Ruthton are in the bank business at Aitken. They were on their way home from a trip to Yellowstone park. Joe likes it and so does she, and Lake Wilson folks will find a kindly welcome if they ever visit Aitken. “It’s only thirty miles from Brainerd,” Joe said. ---   You’ve heard or read of the disappearance of the buffalo and the passenger pigeon. They were present here in the early days by the millions. There’s another group of animals that once prospered here that are now on the verge of extinction. You might not have heard of them, that is you young folks, but your elders have painful memories. The log house with its gaping cracks and the sod house with holes resembling a sieve were the stamping grounds of the bugs that preyed on human blood, mostly at night, now almost gone. Time was, back in the early days, when during house cleaning days the mattresses were hauled out on the grass and debugged. Especially the corners where the male bugs had their penthouses. Kerosene, gasoline and Bed Bug poison were used. It took the frame house with its paint and varnish to put on the finishing touches. ---   We don’t claim to be an expert on bed bugs, but we’ve had our experiences. Way back, sixty years ago, when the Roamer had more pep and vinegar than he has now, we read about the opening of the Red Lake Indian reservation about three hundred miles north of here. We were clerking in Chandler then. Met Henry (Hank to you old timers) and we conceived the idea of going up there. We got a horse and a two-wheeled cart and started out. Had a supply of peddlers’ goods, everything from belt buckles to garters. We spent the summer driving up there. What a glorious trip that was. Life was young then and we lived by the way, stopping at some farm house for the night. There were no radios, no telephones, no rural carriers, hence we were always welcome as news bringers from the outside world. We can truthfully say that not more than two houses on the trip were free from bugs. One we can never forget was up near Melrose. A good sized house, a good sized family all keenly interested in the outside, we made a fairly good impression and as a mark of honor we were given the girls’ bedroom. We went to bed and had not been there two minutes when Hank said, “Do you feel anything crawling?” We did and got up and lit the lamp, and the sheets were a moving mass of bed bugs. We had seen them before when they attacked in companies. That night they were out in divisions. We slew what we could, making the sheets a shambles. We kept the lamp lit and one slept while the other did sentry duty. What a night. Talk about bloodmobile banks. The Roamer furnished new blood to over seventy-five homes that trip. We sure did our duty, and felt it. Wonder how many youngsters today would start out on a trip like that. It was a great experience as well as a post graduate course in human nature. ---   “Was It a Prophesy?”   On January 10th this year Ed L. Engebretson, president of the Murray county fair, and the Roamer called on the late Mike Holm at his office in the Capitol as we had for years previously. During the small talk of the visit, Mike who had been reading statistics said, “One of us three will die from cancer this year.” ---   Much criticism has been levied at the truck drivers of the last graveling job in this vicinity. They drove in anything but a cautious mood. Judge Reek of Slayton cooled them off for the time being with fines that hurt. ---   Now that the Republican convention is over, folks are resting up for the big Democrat conclave next week. ==============================

July 24, 1952
   Roy York has filed for the office of county commissioner. During the time he has been in office he has served the people well. ---   Murray county had the best job of assessing in 1952 in its history. This was not due to any brilliance on the part of the assessors, but to the interest shown by the various town boards and village councils. In the past, there has been a laxity by these boards, and it is a healthy sign for the future of just taxation when these men perform their duty. We can remember years ago when town boards would sign the books, saying “You know more about this than we do,” and never look at them. Village councils in the past would look and compare their taxes with their neighbors or business competitors and then sign the books. Minnesota has one of the best taxation systems in the United States. All it needs is men that will investigate conditions in their respective towns. This year, township boards met for four or five meetings on the assessor’s books and village councils have met five times. A few years ago a half hour would be enough. The assessors also took a keener interest. The work that had been done by the county assessor’s office was handed back to the assessor, naturally that took more time as well as increasing his or her interest in the work. ---   The passing of Theo. Ziemann last week, a veteran of 1898, brought back memories of the Spanish-American war. Of McKinley, Mark Hanna, the U.S. Sugar trust, the growers of sugar cane in Cuba, their fight with the Spanish government, the blowing up of the Maine anchored in Havana harbor, this was the spark that started the war. This country claimed it was blown up by a Spanish bomb, but later evidence showed the explosion came from inside. In those days army enlistment was crude. Mr. Gilmore of Pipestone was “raising a company.” He asked the Roamer if he knew of anyone that wanted to enlist. Theodore had told me before that he wanted to go. Gilmore wrote me to tell Zieman to be at Ruthton the next morning at seven. We saddled “Lady Bird,” rode out and told him. He was at Ruthton on the depot platform when the train pulled in. With him was his brother Gus. Theo. said, “My brother wants to go, too.” Gilmore said, “Get on board.” Theo. had a lot of warm friends here in the early days. He had been blind for the last year. ---   The boys of today who go through all the different tests and examinations to get into the army will be surprised at the methods used in ‘98. Call came for volunteers, and prominent men in each county seat generally started raising companies. Gilmore of Pipestone, Nelson of Adrian were leaders in the effort. Both raised companies. Both were lawyers without any military training. The Capt. canvassed and secured so many men, the man to be first lieut. got a bunch and so did the second lieut. This is how the U.S. made its armies in the days of ‘98. Nelson later became county attorney and then became a district judge. ---   The Roamer reached his 80th birthday last Monday. Who ever when they are young expects to live to be eighty. We didn’t. We are thankful to God for sparing us so long, and to the friends that we have gathered along the pathway of life. The world has been kind to us, better than we have ever deserved, and in all humility we bend our heads in thankful memories to those that we love and cherish. ---   Talking to the county agent, Hagen, the other day about a Horse Day at the county fair come August 17th. He said, “We’ll have to be careful of our calves that day, some of our calves that will be at the fair have never seen a horse and are afraid of them.” This is surely a changing world. ---   You read last week where a man who had a wife and three children was out partying with another woman, and while driving her home, owing to confused road conditions he drove into a lake and was drowned. The woman was saved. We’re not discussing the moral aspects, that is in a higher court, but we notice that the Minneapolis authorities immediately remedied conditions by placing a safety barrier. Why was that not done before? Which brings to mind the speeding on the state highway that runs through this town. Some day there will be different signs, different enforcement of the law. But that will not happen until some kid or grown up is injured or killed. ---   Talked to a Taft man the other day in a neighboring town. He was close to seventy and was the most bitter man on the recent convention that we have heard yet. He positively hated everybody in the party that supported Ike, worse than he did Truman. It was really pitiful. He’s a man way above the average in intelligence embittering his life about a candidate and forgetting at the same time when he was young he was doing his best to get the “old fogies” out of office: they were too old. ---   McCarthy had a sinus operation last week, and his doctors say that he won’t be able to make a speech for months: finish this out the way you see fit. ---   Mature folks worry about the every mounting national debt. Youth is not interested in the debt at all and they and their children are the ones who will carry the burden. Your grandfolks did the same worrying when you were kids and yet you came through in pretty good shape. Don’t worry about the national debt, when you can’t sell enough bonds to pay the interest the government can easily deflate your bonds fifty per cent and make you like it. Quit worrying. ==============================

July 31, 1952
   “Pat” Weber evidently will never make a newspaper woman. She failed to make the deadline in the Murray County Herald last week by a few hours, and John David had to get out a special edition the next day. His name by the way is “J. V. Weber.” Congratulations. ---   The University of Minnesota and the Extension Division are jointly sponsoring a course to aid in producing more nurses for the state. Young women who have started practical nursing are now able to finish a course of regular nursing in a shorter period. Three hospitals in the state were selected for the experiment. One of the three was the Murray County Memorial hospital, and two young women, Florence Little of Dundas and Jean Bastian [?] of Fairfax are now at the hospital. Miss Z. Silvernale was selected as instructor and the complete course will take 18 months. While we are writing about the hospital we just want to tell you that a year ago it was $13,000 in the hole. This year it will finish with $2,000 to the good. This is due to the efficient work of Mr. Joy, Adminr., and a capable corps of nurses and employees. ---   The Steel strike is settled in the usual manner: buyers will now pay $5.20 more a tone for steel and this slight injection will be passed on to the public. Let the people rule. ---   A census of pheasants in this county will soon be taken in Murray county. Generally speaking, an average of two pheasants to the mile means excellent hunting, one to a mile good hunting, and one in two miles fair hunting. A less number than that would indicate that the season should be closed. So say the experts. Sometimes early in the morning or late in the afternoon you’ll see more pheasants in twenty minutes on an average, than you will in the rest of the day. ---   Fishing at Lake Shetek this season has been the best in years, in fact this year will top all others in the taking of Great Northerns. It is estimated that nearly five thousand have been caught on the hook and line. All of which brings a lot of pleasure to our fishermen. Especially to those who traveled hundreds of miles and then came home with a small catch. ---   Love is wonderful, love is blind, but it can get a man in trouble. A California man hired two men to kill his wife: he said he loved her too much to do the job himself. ---   Well the young element, the new dealers, etc. and the reformers did pretty well when they had the ball and the democrat convention last week. They passed resolution that would have put some of the Southern states out of the picture. All was going well and the boys were filled with glee. An aged governor from Virginia got up in the convention and pleaded with it to let his state vote, ignoring its vote on the resolutions. The delegates allowed Virginia to vote. Later the hoarse old man came back and asked the convention to get the other states in: it did and all the planning and framework was shattered. The boys will say it was only a fight in the party, but we knew better. It was a bitter crushing defeat. Politics are cruel at times. ---   Eighteen starters are lined up in the free-for-all race for secy of state for Minnesota. The Roamer, if he were a betting man, would place Mrs. Mike Holm No. 1, Lud Roe No. 2, and Stassen, not the deposed Moses but his brother who is in the grocery business, as No. 3. ---   Republican or democrat, you’ll have to admit that Adlai Stevenson is a mighty fine man. So is his running mate, but Sparkman is the man that is going to give Ike more votes than any other aid. He’s from Alabama, that’s the deep south: well, the colored folks in the north feel that they have been sold down the river. Fancy an Alabama man working for FEPC after he’s in office. ---   The action of President Truman in commuting the death sentence to life imprisonment for the Puerto Rican assassin was very commendable, but his insistence in selecting a man to succeed him was not: this country is not yet ready for a royal family. ---   The papers are full of Chlorophyll these days, supposed to be good for everything. When any thing new comes up we jump at it like a bass at a Bass Oreno. By the way, if the juice from grass is so beneficial, why not start experimenting with silo juice: there’s potency there, brother. ---   The first show of the Lake Wilson Saddle Club was a decided success. There were over 120 horses, 40 big trucks, 230 autos, and a mob of people. Bill Steffes handled the affair like a major general. ---   The “Song of Hiawatha” is drawing fine crowds and the show is bigger and better than ever. Ever since it started several years ago it has made improvements in every department until it is recognized as the best in the state. It closes August 5th. ---   The public opinion in the Mpls. Sunday Tribune gave Anderson 60% and Staff King 21% of the G.O.P. members interviewed. Straws show which way the wind is blowing. ---   Folks here are glad that Roy York filed to succeed himself as county commissioner. He has given his district splendid service. ==============================

August 7, 1952
   Evidently the Omaha Railroad has no intention of tearing up the railroad tracks on this branch. A Nelson bulldozer ditch leveling outfit was working on the branch last week and there was a crew of men here to paint the depot, repair the water tank, etc. So it looks like we’ll still hear the whistle of the locomotive. Good news to the early settlers who can’t forget what the railroad meant in the developing of this section. While we are on the railroad business it may be interesting to note that one Lake Wilson resident saw the first train come up the branch in 1879. Tom McGuire, who lived near Dundee at that time stood on the roof of their sod shanty and saw it go by. ---   The Roamer extends sympathy to the reading clerks in the county primary. Filing for that office of sec. of state is Paul mdykitwicz. That’s what we’d call a mouthful. ---   Emil Lindstrom and Grover Null are members of the Omaha railroad crew that is doing a face lifting job on the depot and the water tank. Both these guys are old Lake Shetek boys that worked on the early rough fish seining crews. They seined rough fish out of that lake before there was a carp in it. The main haul was buffalo fish, a better eating fish than carp. Carp they said did not get into Lake Shetek until 1914. One day two crews got out 100,000 pounds. ---   Corn took quite a beating on many of our fields the past two weeks and naturally the yield will not be as great as anticipated. A good rain right now (Saturday) will be worth over a million dollars. ---   The sincere sympathy of the Roamer goes out to three families in this vicinity that were stricken with the death of a loved one. Young, sincere, and upstanding with a world before him, Boyd Carlson started last week on a journey to That House Not Made by Hands, eternal in the Heavens. May his soul rest in the peace that he so richly deserves. ---   Sometimes we have said acrid things about the obese women in slacks. Last week we saw a fat old dumpy man--he wasn’t wearing slacks but he was wearing scanties. Brother, he sure could lay them in the aisle if he ever got on a stage. “O Would the Gift to Gie us, To see ourselves as others see us.” ---   Many Dixie states and Maine and Massachusetts are seared by hot winds. They’ve had no rain for weeks and the government will have to take over and supply food, etc. Where are the rainmakers? ---   The continued good fishing this season is one of the real wonders in outdoor life in this county. Northerns, pickerel we used to call them in the old days, are continuing to strike and some of the boys say that at least 10,000 have been taken so far and the end is not yet. Archie Ruppert and Chas. Smith brought in four Saturday that weighted 3 1/2 pounds apiece. ---   Lute Bloom, Woodstock’s grandpa, or rather oldest citizen, was down here last Friday. Lute was a Taft man, and like ninety per cent of them is so stunned over Taft’s defeat that he is far from normal, and doesn’t know whether he’ll vote or not. We asked him what he would have called the Eisenhower folks if they acted like a bunch of kids. The Taft men would have called them a bunch of soreheads. ---   See where a woman in London, England was arrested for biting 2 1/2 inches off a man’s tongue while kissing him. Grousy Archie the restaurant man jibes, “That shows you how scarce meat is in England.” ---   Let’s stop pinning medals and decorations on our breasts for aid and help to Europe and the East. This effort of ours is far from philanthropic. We are simply hiring those nations to shed their blood and homes in our first line of defense. We hope Europe can kill enough Russians that they will not be able to invade this country. ---   Alben Barkley, the cleanup man in the democrat party for years, found out that a guy can go to the well once too often. His dream, or rather his wife’s dream, of him being president was shattered two weeks ago when a gang of players just up from bush leagues bluntly told him he was too old and they could only use him for pinch hitting. It was a bitter blow. But the irony of the whole affair is that Alben encouraged, aided and abetted the passing bills forcing men over seventy out of the civil service. The Union labor guys who pushed him out are taking orders from Murray, Green, et al. All of whom are over seventy. Funny world, isn’t it? But remember again we say the cruelest game in the world is politics. ---   A gasoline war was declared last Monday. On Tuesday a truce was signed all is serene once more. Those squabblers around the peace table in Korea should send to Lake Wilson for a couple negotiators. ---   See by the Baudette Region that one of the main events of the county fair there will be a square dance contest. Over $450 will be paid to the best hoppers and skippers. By the way, too many vacationists miss Baudette. It’s a grand spot, right on the Rainy River and Lake of the Woods, and used to have the finest social bunch in northern Minnesota. Billie Noonan still writes for the Region. Not quite as much as in years gone by, but it still retains its saltiness. ==============================

  August 14, 1952
   President Truman got another setback in his home state of Missouri when his candidate for the office of senator received only half as many votes as his opponent. It was even worse than the New Hampshire vote. Looks like he controls more politician votes than he does the man in the grass roots. He wants to do a lot of pitching for Stevenson this year, all of which makes Mr. Stevenson ponder. Adlai won’t let him pitch a full game, but he’ll probably use him in relief. ---   For months we have been sending eastern and western mail via Chandler to catch the Omaha at Miloma. Only last week did we learn that the day trains do not even stop at Miloma. So your letter to the Twin Cities meanders through southern Minnesota trying to get a train to make connections. Your letters go down into Iowa. Best do your mailing before five o’clock. It goes to Pipestone and is placed up there about nine o’clock. ---   Day travel on the Omaha road has almost been abolished. If you want to go, for instance, from Heron Lake to Belle Plaine you have to take a train at 2 a.m. Looks as if they don’t want local business and are to let the busses have it. ---   In the official proceedings of the county board you will notice that the lots in the village of Lake Wilson were “raised” ten per cent at the equalization board meetings last week. This only tells half the story. Last spring the assessment board of Lake Wilson lowered all lots in the village twenty per cent. Evidently the county board thought this was too big a bite. In reality your lots are lowered ten per cent. ---   The Murray County fair, one of the oldest institutions, is on this week. The first fair of any record was held at Currie in 1878. Folks attended in ox wagons, horse wagons and buggies, or rather democrat wagons. They had big crowds for a pioneer settlement. A few years after there was trotting and pacing races, etc. The editor said, “The funniest thing we saw at the fair was a man selling ice cream when the snow was six inches deep and the man had a six-inch icicle hanging from his nose.” The ladies had to take the baking, canning, sewing, etc. to Currie’s hall. Those pioneer folks did not lay down on account of the weather. Avoca had a couple of fairs when Col. O’Leary was in his prime. Slayton started one in the nineties (gay)--it lasted about ten years. The present fair association was started in 1912. The people voted $5,000 to buy the land. The Roamer was its first secy. In fact, was for twenty-five years, but that’s all over the dam now. ---   The ladies of the Study Club are preening themselves with pardonable pride over the success of their flower show. The exhibits were greater in number and better in quality than on any previous show. Jack Berry of Pipestone, a lover of flowers and a grower, did the judging. Capable and sincere, Jack does a good job and does it gratis: something unusual for a Scotsman. ---   Don’t they throw rice at weddings any more? Time was when the depot platform in Lake Wilson was white with rice after the fateful knot had been tied. The trend seems to run in this modern age to suggestive signs on the auto, and maybe the gals got wise to what throwing of the rice meant. Rice symbolizes fruitfulness and the orange blossoms of romance and love are going out. Orange blossoms symbolize productiveness also: perhaps that is why you don’t see many two-story houses these days. ---   With the demolishing of the stock yards here another link with the past is gone. Many a trainload of cattle and sheep were shipped from here I the early days. It dropped down to one a year. This week saw its end. Highways, byways and trucks spelled its doom. ---   The ninth wife of Tommy Manville arrived in Mexico last Wednesday to get her divorce, agreeing to leave him after a marriage of nine days. Her cut was $1,000,000. You call Manville a fool: what word do you apply to the women in those nine-day marriages? ---   Well the rainmakers were at work in Massachusetts last week and they brought two to three inches of rain to that parched area. One of the clouds the rainmakers “seeded” caught a perverse wind and it carried the rain out to the ocean. This rainmaking business works, but you never can tell when it will stop. New York’s reservoir went dry a couple of years ago. They hired rainmakers: rain fell but there was no stopping it and it flooded lowlands, washed out bridges and destroyed miles of concrete highways, so New York will be loath to try it again. ---   Women are better planners than men, a lady said the other day. She’s right, every middle aged woman has all her plans made what she would if the husband would be called first. Funny thing about it, men have neither plans nor suggestions. When they are left alone, they are alone and don’t seem to fit anywhere. While Grandma is always welcome. ---   Fulda Free Press says the village has a new way of collecting delinquent water bills. The city merely charges the water rent onto the taxes on the lot. So the landlord has a vital interest in seeing that his renters pay for water used. ---   This is a rather odd presidential campaign. More candidates seem bent on getting away from the old time campaign managers and are picking men that are not “experts.” A wholesome sign for the country. ========================

August 21, 1952
   Was out to George Scottings last week for sweet corn and the house brought back memories of other days. When the Roamer was young he held the office of Justice of the Peace for twelve years. During that time we did some marrying: twelve in all. We married Harry Lloyd to Nellie Sprage in the Scotting house. Harry we remember was the village lamplighter. Carried a ladder, tended to 8 kerosene lamps for $4 a month. They were a fine young couple. They moved later to North Dakota. Plain simple affairs were those early weddings, no flower girl, no matron of honor, no “Her Comes The Bride.” There was no rice, that was food, and no orange blossoms, obviously they would have been excess baggage in some cases, but what a wonderful story these weddings would make: especially those that ended in tragedy. There was the young fellow that was arrested and tried for murdering the woman we married him to, then there was--not, that’s enough. All of our weddings were not tragedies. Remember a young Dane that tended bar for Pete Mylennbach. He sent over to Denmark for his girl. We helped to make them one. Drawback was she couldn’t speak any more English than you can Arabian. So we rehearsed the ceremony first. Every time he nudged her she was to bow and say “I do.” He got a little excited and during the ceremony he nudged her so often that all we heard was “I do.” She got the “I do” in the right places all right: she couldn’t help it. The ceremony came to and end at last and they were as firmly married as if it had been done by a bishop. Then there was another couple that came with that half dazed look. We plunged into the ceremony. We came to the part where “Will you love, honor and obey” was asked. That brought her back to life and she snapped, “Do you think I’m crazy?” Then still blundering around, opened his eyes and said “I do.” Brother, it required a lot of diplomacy to settle that one, and for a while our $1 fee hung in the balance. We started all over again, left out part of the ritual and we got our dollar. Our efforts seem to have sticking qualities. We remember two that took a judge, a jury and two lawyers to pry them apart. ---   We’ve done quite a lot of fishing in our day. Have fished from the border lakes of Lake of the Woods, Rainy, Greenwood, etc. on the boundary of the south, yet we’ve had more real fun fishing in Lake Shetek in the last three years than in the other sixty. Time was when we fished for the lust of fishing, had to get our limit, sitting out in the pitiless rays of the sun, not daring to come in unless we had what the law allowed. Now all is changed. We belong to the Shrinking Violet fishing club and we meet at the Chas. Durgin place on Keely Cure. A grand guy is Charlie, we’ve known him for forty years. He knows more about Lake Shetek and the fish therein than any other man. He has a pier built out in the lake, has his lazy back to the bench, notched on stakes to lay the pole when pulling them out gets tiresome. The other members of the club are Fred Gass and Ed. Engebretson. We take out our lunch, coffee, pipes, etc., sit on the bench and settle international affairs at every meeting, and if a fish is fool enough to bite, he or she has to wait. What wonderful friends they are to me: bait the hook, take off the fish, and doing it with that spirit of friendliness and kindness which makes us feel we are getting old. Their kindness to me rises far above that prescribed by any fraternal or business organization. Last February when were down and out at the hospital and some folks had us holding a lily in our right hand, the “boys” would come in and cheer me up, telling me what good times were ahead. They certainly kept their word. Ed got a little over-enthusiastic one February day and said, “Bob, if you get well I’ll dig the worms.” (He never did.) Come next month when Jack Frost touches the trees at Lake Shetek and brings out the orange, the yellow and the crimson in a riot of colors, you should plan on seeing what is part of the greatest show that nature produces. What a beautiful Lake Shetek, with its bays, wooded shores and islands, and how little most folks appreciate it. ---   Most of the county papers carried the changes made by the county equalization board last week. The board made over 300 changes in the assessments of the villages and townships, but sad to say not one change will aid in securing a better assessment in 1953. The reason: every vestige of the 1952 assessment is in the county seat. Not a scrap left in the records or town clerk’s office. So the coming assessment will be about the same as this year. There should be a law compelling assessors to maintain a record of everything assessed left with the clerk. Then there would be something to start on. Today there is nothing. ---   The exhibits at the county fair last week were above normal, with the exception of corn. In fact all grains, fruits and flowers were ahead of those of previous years. The canning, baking, etc. show was exceptionally large. The machine parade and the stock parade were all really outstanding. On Sunday afternoon the saddle horse show was the center of attraction and drew a large crowd of people as well as horses. One fact noticeable was that folks were not spending as much money as in previous years. From the exhibit point of view it was a complete success. ---   The big cities want to abolish the tax on household goods. Don’t blame them. That’s where you’ll find the $3,000 rugs, jewels, works of art, painting and such like, television sets, furniture that is costly. City folks like to put their money into those things. Out here if a farmer builds a granary it is taxed. Why not household goods? This village will receive $545 next year as tax on household goods. Where are we going to get this tax money from? The young fellow that is paying by the month for a home or from the business places? The state abolished this tax some years ago, but the next legislature put it back. ==============================

August 28, 1952
   Thirty-nine [?} years ago, out of the west of Iowa came the Cherry Sisters. They had taken part in local school plays and in small town home talent plays. They must have a little “tetched” as they started a little act of their own, doing one night stands, and finally their show got so crude that it was “good.” They caught on with a small burlesque circuit. We saw them at the Star Theatre on East Seventh in St. Paul. They were thin and skinny, without any personal appeal, without grace, without curves or charm or wit. They were so bad they drew good sized crowds and a lot of patrons came with tomatoes, eggs, and sometimes small cabbages and they hurled them at the maids as baseball fans do their abuse at the umpires. The Star was not in good aroma with the Upper Ten. Folks who went there took their character in their hands. Once in a while some females, wanting to skate close to the edge went, but they wore heavy black veils. The main number that night was the Cherry Sisters and the gang was loaded. It was not a genteel place and the gals had to wear something, and instead of the shorts or panties of our enameled civilized day they wore fleece lined black union suits for tights. It was a dull evening however, as the stage manager had completely wired in the stage with chicken wire and the boys had to tote their ammunition home. The Cherries were really bad, not morally but artistically. They even played in Chicago and New York and amassed quite a bunch of money. They have long gone the way of all flesh, but it was a show that one never forgets. ---   Medical experts and dietary scientists tell you that if you want to reduce you must cut down your eats, that exercise means but little as you would have to walk 66 miles to reduce four ounces. Down at St. Peter a football coach that is getting a team ready for the gridiron said, “I took five pounds off some of the new arrivals in one day, with strenuous exercise.” Which of these theories is right? Adolph Haberman said he would gladly captain a football team here. Fine idea: There’s lots of prospects. Who knows but what we could have an annual “Suet Bowl” game here every fall. ---   All the furore about what Ike should do about McCarthy reminds us of Teddy Roosevelt the valiant. We heard him speak in St. Paul one year. “Trusts” were the real campaign issue that year. Teddy met the situation very calmly by saying, “I’m for the trusts when they are good trusts and against them when they are bad.” Ike can say, “I’m for McCarthy when he’s rational and against him when he’s unrational.” ---   Mary Ann Kellen who has been setting the type for this column for three months is leaving this month to teach school. If she displays the same interest and ability in teaching that she did in understanding the intricacies of the linotype and the presses, she’ll have the best school in the county. ---   The Lake Wilson Saddle club made a very credible showing at the Saddle Club show at Slayton on the 17th. No club in this section of the state has made as fine a growth in membership in the same length of time. The fine new banner borne by Harold Hanson adds a lot of form and dignity to the group in making an entrance to an event. ---   Morton Carney has moved to Austin where he is now Industrial Arts instructor. A fine promotion Mort, and your friends here are pleased to see you go up the ladder. ---   You folks that had placed the village blacksmith with the buffaloes and the passenger pigeons have another guess coming. Bill Busselman does not have much time to spend “Under the Spreading Chestnut Tree” these days. Wednesday he had some 200 plow lays to sharpen. Those hard dry stubble fields mean cash for Bill. ---   If Buffalo ridge is the highest point in this section, why wasn’t the Radar station located at that point? You hear the question quite often but remember this government does a lot of queer things. The Coteaux Des Prairies (Uplands of the Prairies) is at its highest point about a mile south of the paved road as it crosses the hill 3 miles west of Lake Wilson. This particular sector is called Buffalo Ridge on account of the first settlers finding the outlines of a buffalo, made of small stones embedded in the ground. The Indians picked out this spot. It is over 1,900 feet above sea level and is about 200 feet higher than the spot where the radar station is now located south of Chandler. There is quite a difference in the altitude in Murray county. Chanarambie township is 700 feet higher than Holly township. ---   Gov. Stevenson’s admission that there was corruption in Washington and that he would do some house cleaning brought a lot of confidence to the folks in the sticks. But the heck of it is, how does he explain away the wicked city of Chicago, which is located in his own state. The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill. ---   A real man-sized crowd was present at the last night of the Pipestone County Fair. An automobile was raffled off. The lucky number was from a serial number on a one dollar bill, and holder bought the car for a dollar. The grounds were packed, estimated at 6,000 and the grandstand full. A young guy from Jasper got the car. Some fellows had over $200 in numbers on the drawing. A lot of dollar bills went off the market in Pipestone county last week: you had to have the bill with you if you drew the car. ==============================

September 4, 1952
   In the Minneapolis Tribune Almanac one day last week was the following: “There’s A Little Scotch In Quite A Few Swedes” It concerned a story tracing the ancestry of many Swedish families. You’re quite right on the beam, brother. A lot of the best Scotch blood went into Sweden during the Thirty Years War. Peace had been declared with England and members of the Scotch army fought with European countries. In 1630, 10,000 Scotch soldiers fought with Sweden, who at that time had soldiers of fortune of other nations in its ranks (they are called mercenaries). They were fighting under Gustavus. The Scotch Brigade was one of the finest fighting corps. As its ranks were decimated, which was often as they fought breast to breast, fresh levies came from Scotland. The next time you see a bunch of good looking Swede girls, and there are lots of them, just remember that “Scotch Mountain Dew” is not the only thing that improves as the years go by. ---   John Lewis is on the war path again. Wants more money for his coal miners. The government might just as well quit this horsing around, appointing special boards to investigate, and all the other slop. Find out what the miners want, never mind about the public, and settle it now. It will save some folks who use coal a lot of worry and will help stop the pyramiding of prices. ---   This has been the deadest baseball season in this locality that we can remember; absolutely no interest. ---   Can’t understand Staff King. He’s a grand guy in every way but this “expose” of his last week was the biggest political dud in Minnesota, in our memory. ---   “Aid to Britain” came over to visit us on Tuesday of last week and returned to Britain the same day: a trip of 4,140 miles. It had been a popular both indoor and outdoor custom in the U.S. to tell how dumb and stupid the Britishers are, yet they were the first to fly the Atlantic, the first to fly over and back in one day, and until last month had held the speed record for steamships across the sea. That’s a record not to be sneezed at. ---   “With New Fashions Women Can Really Begin to Wear Pants” said a newspaper headline last week. The fashioneers of New York say there will be thin pants for thin girls, fancy pants for TV girls, shirred back ones for those with weak backs, Picasso pants for living and lounging, etc. Ninety per cent of the women are getting along pretty well with the pants they have, at least they seldom call for aid or advice. ---   Here’s the best news we have ever heard, for the man has discovered a chemical or something that will make gardening an out and out work of pleasure, one without worries. This new chemical is absorbed directly by the plant roots and makes leaves and stems poisonous to bugs that feed on them. An ounce in 1,000 gallons of water will treat an acre for the entire season: some day they will discover something along this line for humans. ---   This plowing contest near Kasson has degenerated into a political contest. With two presidential candidates speaking in one day, there’s not going to be much plowing done. ---   The Murray County Herald wrote off the Murray County Fair last week, not the fair but the entertainment and amusement end. He said the acts were mediocre, in which he was absolutely right, some of them were worse than that. Ever since World War II, there has been a deterioration in the show business. Acts seem to lack appeal and are flat. This year, some of the same acts at the Murray fair played at Worthington and last year the acts were on the same circuit with the Marshall fair. New acts are rare these days. Go to the state fair and see one act that you did not see the previous year. Even in the “Greatest Show on Earth” there was only one new act. The fair board has tried three different companies in three years, but none of them clicked. Of course times change. Amusement today means speed accidents and death. We live in an age where a pool of blood creates more interest than a stage act. But John, you forgot the fair part. Murray county had a larger exhibit in all departments than last year, and the largest exhibit in southwestern Minnesota. The fair is supposed to act as a mirror for the counties’ products and the Murray county fair filled its goal in 1952. An remember, John, that the day the old style midway goes back, the 4H’rs leave the next day. ---   A month ago we were certain that Stevenson would win the election. We’re not sure about it now. There are issues, not all of them political, that are creeping into the campaign that are not being discussed that are not being discussed that are going to make some difference. ---   Lud Roe of Montevideo is getting a lot of favorable publicity in the press these days. He is a candidate for secy. of state. Has a lot of ability and a life record that will stand scrutiny. ---   Two curious and dubious youngsters live in south Lake Wilson. A dog of which they were fond was killed and the kids were disconsolate. The mother tried to cheer them up and said, “Well don’t cry, the puppy has gone to Heaven.” The next morning she looked out and here were the kids with a spade. When asked, they said “We’re going to dig in Rip’s grave and see if he really go to Heaven.” ==============================

September 11, 1952
   Looks as if the Swedes were will within their rights when the squawked on Margaret Truman’s body guard. The way those Secret Service men pushed the Swedes around was scandalous. They could not even look at Margaret or even go the theatre that she was attending unless they showed a document giving their age, color of hair, birth place and whether they chewed Spearmint or Black Jack. Suppose Mossadegh or an Indian rajah came to this country and if he went to a show everyone with a ticket was run through the mangle, how long do you think it would last? They would find the body guard in one of Mr. Truman’s gutters in the morning. ---   The marvel of the fishing history in Murray county is the number of northerns being taken at Lake Shetek. Good fishing started early in the spring and it has lasted all summer without a let-up and no one seems to know where they came from, but we do know where a lot of them went. The dike across from the state part to Loon Island has been producing the most fish. The Roamer was out one afternoon with the Violets. The group caught on hook and line one walleye, five Northerns, five bullheads, five perch, one carp, one turtle and one crawfish. Quite a variety. ---   Walt Warren tells us that he is in the high school poultry business this fall. His chickens don’t mingle with the common barnyard stock. They live in a well heated house and like the women of the harem they never see a strange male or a female that wears feathers. They are stuffed with a balanced diet, tender as a maiden’s heart and as sweet as a hazel nut. He’s selling a lot of them, fifty at a crack, to some of the night spots around Pipestone. ---   Well, the admission of oleomargarine to the poor man’s table which was supposed to make canners of the dairy cows, did not pan out exactly as the weepers anticipated. Butter is selling here for 81 cents a pound. ---   The corn crop in Murray is going to surprise a lot of people. There are a lot of splendid fields, and every field is going to produce feed. With good weather it might be a normal crop. ---   Sh, Sh. The box-elder bugs are with us again: better lay off that raisin bread until they are gone. ---   Where is the tax money coming from if you cancel out personal property? What will take its place? So much money must be raised in this village as well as in every other to keep the state, county and the village supplied with the necessary funds. ---   The passing of Tom McGuire removes a link with the early settlement of this section of the state. He was born in a sod house near what later became the village of Dundee. Saw the first train come up the branch in 1879. He was a fine old gentleman and the Roamer will miss him. ---   See where a man was sentence to five lashes on the bare back after being defeated in a row with his wife. They should give her two of the lashes. It always takes two to start a quarrel and a woman’s tongue leads even financial troubles as a war breeder. Solomon, who it is said had some little experience with the fair sex, said, “It is better to live in a corner of the house top than with a nagging woman in a wide house.” ---   A state nursery inspector was here last week to look over the Ottilie Nursery. He was especially interested in a worm that had been doing a lot of damage to many of the nurseries in Minnesota. Neither of the Ottilies were here that day and he had the opportunity to make a full and free examination. He said that the nursery was free from disease and in a fine healthy condition. The inspector is a brother of Mrs. Harold Stevens. Harold is a son of the late Mr. and Mrs. George Stevens and many years ago contracted an ailment from World War I. Friends here will be pleased to know that he is gradually improving and is now able to use the phone. Harold worked for many years on the Murray County Herald. ---   If the republican party loses this election it will be due to defection within its own ranks. Many of the diehards, followers of Taft, are still mad because their candidate did not win and are playing the dog in the manger act. If Ike loses, it looks as if the party can start ordering a tombstone. ---   Some people say you are nearer God when you are in the garden than anywhere else. Others say you are nearer God when you are out on the lake communing with nature than you are anywhere else. In the final analysis, you are nearer God when you are nearer death than you are at any other time in your life. ---   Don’t hate anyone. Mentally it does not pay and physically it causes more pain and aches, more butterflies in your tummy than ulcers. If people don’t like you, feel sorry for them. This does not mean you should like every one. Human nature is never perfect but you should do your best to improve your likes and dislikes. ---   Picked up a pamphlet the other day gotten out by the Minnesota Tax Payers Association. It was full of articles that favored abolishing all personal property taxes. Don’t get carried away with this idea. In Lake Wilson the abolishment of all personal property would mean wiping out a valuation of $216,000. The real estate in the village is valued at $335,000. ---   There’s been a lack of interest in the insulating of homes of late. Five or six years ago it was all the rage. Everybody wanted to insulate, it would save one third of your... [rest missing]. ==============================

September 18, 1952
   The primary election last week brought no surprises. The favorites won every race. The showing some of the new candidates made was not impressive but the election showed the value of having your name before the public. In Minnesota, if you want to run for office it’s a great sport, and do it economically: buy a small place in the dailies and weeklies, on the front page of each. Put it in a three line local in black type, VOTE FOR Q. Q. PETERSON an honest man. Keep that up week after week and when the primaries roll around file for any office and you will get 100,000 votes. The average voter runs down the ever increasing list of candidates--finally out of the gloom comes a name that he or she may have seen somewhere. He gets the “X.” It pays to advertise. ---   No magician could have turned a more polished trick than the weather man did in the last two weeks. A fine rain fell, followed by sunshiny days with hot winds. Another change noted, naturally, was the long drawn face into a round smiling one. Out of the dusk has come a fine crop of corn and soy beans, for which we are all thankful. ---   That darned McCarthy came through in great shape. The amount of votes he received was staggering to the opposition. Many a voter gave him a vote because he felt he was slapping Truman down. The “red herring” trail has an odor that lasts for quite a while. ---   A former treasurer of Morton, N.D. was arrested a while back. He was charged with embezzling $64,000 in county funds. Later investigations proved that the total would be $210,000. Shortages started in 1932. This must make the public examiners office in North Dakota feel pretty cheap. Seems as if they ought to be bonded so that they will be responsible for the loss. A rigid scrutiny by the examiners 18 years ago would have saved the county a lot of money. ---   Official Washington seems to be waking up and is stirring up the old revenue muss and firing more top men. Folks think it is a political move made for the purpose of showing that “we can throw the rascals out.” ---   Funny, or rather strange, how many common everyday sayings originate. Back in 1467 the Norwegian king wanted to marry his daughter to a Scotchman. He sent over some of his leading men and suggested the union. The Scots warily asked, “What will you give?” They went back old King Christian and came back with the following offer: “If you’ll take Margaret and wed her to James 3rd we’ll give the Shetland and Orkney Islands.” It was agreeable to both sides. The bride came over in one of those long beaked Viking boats and when she landed in Scotland for the marriage she was heard to say, “The woman always pays.” ---   The story of the rapid rise of the M. & St. L. railroad is going to be the subject of a movie soon. The picture will be “The Mile Posts of the Prairie.” No picture should ever be made of this railroad without giving due credit to Senator Henrik Shipstead. When dull days threatened the existence and the management at that time had sold several branches to rural roads, the folks along the M. & St. L. woke up. They petitioned Mr. Shipstead. He went to work and through his good offices got the branches back, got a loan from the government and set the railroad back on its feet and today it is a real thriving railroad giving service to thousands of people. ---   Farmers are busy discussing taxes these days. The gravel roads which criss-cross the township are a source of expense, which never lightens. The removal of the snow during the heavy winter months is expensive and naturally they are studying Amendment No. 5 that will appear on the ballot in November. The passage of this amendment will lessen the burden, as the proposed law will take 25 per cent from the state highway funds which will be turned over to the counties for road purposes. ---   Received a gaudy official document in the mail recently. It was from an out of state insurance company and offered to insure the Roamer for two months for one dollar. The policy would provide insurance against sickness and accident. It would also give you one month hospitalization. In the past year we have heard six Lake Wilson folks complain that they had been gypped on their out of state policies (the fine print on their policies was so fine that you couldn’t read it, and about the only thing you could really collect on was being taken sick on a trip to the moon). We sent the policy to the state insurance dept. Promptly came the answer: “Not registered in Minnesota, has no agents in the state. Our recommendation is do not buy the darned thing,” and that was that. Next time you are in insurance trouble, write the state dept. of insurance. Don’t buy mail order insurance. Buy from local agents. ---   Two deer poachers were fined $1,000 each for taking deer out of season near Carlton. Men who lurch through the streets of Minneapolis by night or day, endangering the lives and sometimes taking them, are fined $100. Looks as if there was an opening for the Carlton judge on the Minneapolis bench. ---   Another wonder drug that will make corn grow two or three times faster is in the mailbag. Farmers won’t need to worry about frost in the coming years. Many of the drugs used on humans have shown a lot of power when added to the soil. Radishes grown in soil containing penicillin grew radishes three times larger than in ordinary earth. Evidently penicillin does not have the same effect on human flesh: from the amount of penicillin the Roamer took last winter we should be about the size of Paul Bunyan. ==============================

September 25, 1952
   A candidate for vice president of any party should be like Caesar’s wife: above suspicion If there is the slightest evidence that Senator Nixon had any part in advancing any legislation in which his donors were interested, it would put him in a bad light. If we were Nixon, we would write Eisenhower, stating that he felt he was not guilty of violating laws but some people would not believe him, so he would withdraw his name from the ticket. How quiet many of the senators and representatives are on the Nixon matter. Wonder why? ---   With many others we can say we are glad to know that Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Reha are not leaving Lake Wilson. ---   The village of Jasper is in a bad way at the present time. Some difficulty in the gas line caused two explosions and in one of them a young girl died from burns. Suits against the village were filed recently and the total amount is $84,000. The plaintiffs assert that the village was negligent. All of which should be a gentle warning to any other village. There is always things left undone that should have been done, popping up. Faulty sidewalks are the basis for many suits. Juries these days are very generous in their verdicts against municipalities or public service corporations. Better to be safe than sorry. ---   The school has an instructor this year with an interesting background. His name is Theodore Luciow. Mr. Luciow has attended the Universities of Southern Cal., Iowa, and holds a Master of Arts degree in the Minnesota U. He was born in Austria, in what is now the Ukraine. He came to this country when he was seventeen and he knows the workings of the Soviet and its satellites. A bitter foe of Communism, there is an opportunity for Mr. Luciow to do a lot of good in this section where Communism is still in the fog state. He spoke at the Vets Ag. meeting last week, and we hope he will be available for talks in the rural districts this coming winter. ---   Chris Sorenson, an old friend of ours, called last week. He and Mrs. Sorenson had been up in Northern Minnesota and were on their way to their home at Dallas, Texas. Chris was one of a group of Dane tilers that came here in the early twenties and he did a lot of work here in the drainage era. He constructed the ditch through the big bank at the north end of the athletic field. It was a 24 foot cut and the men worked in three tiers, but they did a fine job. There was three feet of water on the field at that time and there was a big bunch of bullheads that went down the ditch. Tilers had a precarious life in those days. Competition was keen and some of them were in the red part of the time. Chris’s many friends will be glad to know that he has prospered and is now in the black up to his ears. He is in business with his son Harold, and nephew. They have a half a million in machinery. His company worked on 16 different air bases. He also owns three apartment houses, has a fine home and when he fishes he takes his airplane and flies to Aguada on the thumb of Mexico and gets 80 pound tarpon, pargos cernas. Lot of difference from the old days at Longville. He has not changed a bit. ‘Twas nice to have seen him again. He brought us some news. Heard that the Roamer had died five years ago. We told him that the news was highly exaggerated. ---   What this country needs is a political party that will give a parity guarantee at parity prices of 110 per cent. ---   Intelligent independent voters always vote for your party. ---   Politics is a sort of a nauseous business. McGrath, former U.S. attorney general fired by Truman, appeared before an investigating committee, said that he was not to blame for hushing up scandals of revenue collectors but laid the blame at the feet of Secretary of the Treasury Snyder. A sordid mess. ---   Mrs. Mabel Gnadt has a potato she raised that weighs over two pounds. If she had had this spud last spring she would have kept it in the bank vault. By the way any of you men, beat this record. ---   The first touch of frost came on Thursday night of last week. The low ground in places was white, but it was not a killing frost. ---   Fishing continues to be good at Lake Shetek. We honestly believe that more Northern pike have been taken by hook and line this season than in all the other years we’ve lived here put together. Some folks feel disgusted, however; they are the ones that rush out there, throw out a minnow and expect to get their limit in five minutes. Like everything else, fishing has bad days and its good days. ---   Right now is the time for the governor of N. Dak. to have a heart to heart talk with the ranchers in the western part of the state. For the last three years the U.S. government has been delivering them food, oil, hay, etc. by air mail and those farmers should be getting in their winter’s supplies now. ---   Robert Billington living near Pine City does not now believe in all the old familiar sayings. He and his neighbor had a row over his dog. Bob got a gun and killed the neighbor. Bob started serving a 40 year term at Stillwater last week. He does not now believe that “a dog is a man’s best friend.” ---   This has been a grand year for pears in this section. Take a look at the Gus Zieman orchard. He has three pear trees that are so loaded that they have to be propped up. Camera enthusiasts should take a shot of them to show the doubting Thomases. ==============================

October 2, 1952
   In the most dramatic speech in the history of American radio, Senator Nixon, candidate for vice president, bared the story of his life to the American people last Tuesday evening of last week, and the judgement of the American people was that he had done no wrong and they cleared him of any evil intention when he received gifts from his admirers. He made a talk that few men would dare make, and we say dare we mean “Dare.” How many are there in Murray county that would dare give an accounting, as he did, that included his income tax report and his assessment listings. Could you, Mr. Reader, go back ten years and give as sincere and honest report as he did? ---   While on the subject of vice presidents, what about the one now in office, the most beloved man in his party. Would he dare to make the same financial report? Remember less than a year ago he got $2,500 for a speech in Texas: do you suppose he could get that much now? And by the way, he rode down there at your expense in a government plane. ---   The male order of the Knights of the Garden pinned a medal on Roy Meyers Monday. He topped the potato yield for the year by brining in a potato that weighed 2 pounds and 2 ounces before Mayor Kooiman. One remark hinted things always weigh heavier on a butcher’s scale. ---   An Early Schoolma’am Calls   When we were kids there was no school where we lived north of Lake Wilson. A school district (no. 44) was organized. The only two pupils were my sisters. So the teacher Mame Simon came to our house and held school in one of the few spare rooms in the house. We were 10 years older than the girls and did not relish going to school. Years later, when about fifteen or thereabouts we got the yen to go to school. Got two rooms in a vacant house in Lake Wilson and started to school here. The old stove pipe on the two rooms did not draw when the wind was in the south, and as we were doing our own cooking we had a heck of a time. Last week we were crossing the street and a man in an auto hailed us, asked where is the Lake Wilson Pilot. We showed him. He then asked if Bob Forrest was still living, we said no. We talked a while; after a while we said, “Hello, Ally.” He was Ally Lanphere who lived here 65 years ago, and in the seat with him was his wife who was our first teacher. They lived in the Wilkinson house then. His dad ran the lumber yard where Bunt Adams now lives. He used to play in the first band here and drove by wagon with the band for a celebration. What a lot of memories this visit recalled, and by the way (Florence Frisbee) Mrs. Lanphere said, “I used to remember when the wind was in the south you had to go to that store and eat crackers and cheese. After a month of it you gave up and bowed out.” The Lanpheres live at Rapid City, So. Dak. and we sure enjoyed their visit. ---   Good Weather Greeted Turkey Parade   The parade at Worthington last Wednesday was one of the best we have ever seen. We’ve seen them bigger, more floats, more distinguished statesmen, more unique displays, but never have we seen a parade that was more inspiring to us than this one. Here marched twenty bands from twenty schools, the flower of youth in S.W. Minn. and Northern Iowa. They marched in perfect unison, chins out, shoulders back, eyes that sparkled with pride and eagerness to take part in this event which will mean so much to so many. ‘Twas not the turkeys, not the politicians, not the floats nor the clowns that inspired us. It was the rattle of the snare drums and the blare of the trumpets presenting the best in youth, the future citizens of the coming generations in whose hands rest the destiny of their country. As the thousand youngsters marched by, a latent pride of our country could not be stifled. As they marched in their snappy, attractive uniforms our mind went back sixty years and we felt the difference. The things that the boys and girls then did not experience: the joy of meeting friends from the various bands and the pride that comes in taking part in such an interesting parade under a beautiful Minnesota sky. Even the sun showed his joy at being there and he gave his all to make the day a success. But to us there was a tinge of sadness as the bands marched by. There were bands from all of the good sized towns and then the little towns were there, Harris and Lake Park of Iowa, Welcome, Truman and the TriMont band, but there was no Lake Wilson band there. We the folks of Lake Wilson have been derelict in our duty to the school here. Somewhere along the line, no not this year or last year, but in the last thirty years, the thought came to us that we lacked the interest or knowledge to furnish our youth with the things that other schools in towns of this size now enjoy. Inwardly we felt humiliated. We felt that when another parade of this class is presented that every school not having a band should declare a holiday and see that the youngsters attend. They will come back with an untold fund of inspiration: filled with the hope that some day it may be their lot to march with chins up, shoulders back in such a parade. Worthington is to be congratulated on a successful Turkey Day celebration in 1952. ---   We had the privilege of meeting one night last week with top officials of the local Auxiliary. It is a new bunch this year, most being young. What they lack in age and experience they make up in interest, vim and alertness. Ever since the Auxiliary started in Lake Wilson years ago, it has given not only the veterans but the village splendid service. No organization has rendered as effective service to Lake Wilson as the Aux’s of the past. The new bunch has got to be up on their toes, and a casual glance at the bunch, which we have known since they were born, brought the thought that the 1952 officers will not be derelict in their duty and service. ==============================

October 9, 1952
   Seldom have we experienced as fine September weather as we have this fall. Phil Flannery says it is the finest since they came here fifty-two years ago. It was a month full of beautiful weather that no state in the union could beat. One guy remarked, “We still have ‘Indian Summer’ coming up in November.” Not quite so sure about that. The old fashioned Indian summer of the early days were hazy, lazy days and the sky was full of light floating fleecy white webby stuff that just seemed hand in midair. Some folks connect “Indian Summer” days with the time the Indians would make their raids on the settlements, but in most Novembers out here we’ve had enough snow on the ground to discourage the red men from riding around in breech clouts. ---   Twice in the last two years President Truman urged Ike to be a candidate for president and assured him of his support. Ike is now running and Harry says he ain’t fitten to be president: Mr. Truman is neither consistent nor tolerant. ---   Gus Zieman was ripping mad last Monday. Sunday night a bunch of youngsters raided the orchard and stripped his pear trees. Worst of all, he blames this column for the raid. He said we had an item telling about the wonderful crop he had. This is one time that advertising did not pay out. But honestly, it was a low down unmanly trick to steal an old man’s pears. ---   Lovemaking in the early days had its drawbacks just as it has today. A shiny car has more influence these days than a buggy had forty years ago. Take the case of a young fella who lives in the township near here. He was sparking a girl, the old man was deadly agin it. One night he drove into the yard with a horse and buggy and was standing in front of the door waiting for her. The man, who was unharnessing the team, saw him. He had a bridle in his hand, saw the young guy, and started on the run for the house. The young fellow saw him coming, whirled his horse around and started for home on the dead run. The old guy caught the rear end of the buggy as it went by and started pelting the young lover over the head with the bit end of the bridle until blood came. The young guy kept leaning forward and the irate farmer’s wind gave out. We would like to be able to tell you that the tale ended as it does in story books, but it didn’t. We’d tell you the name of the guy, who is grey now, but it just wouldn’t be right. ---   With the continual inroads made by fuel oil and gas into the heating problems in this section, one would think that soft coal was a dead issue. Such is not the case. We were a little surprised when Manager Godfrey of the Farmers Elevator told us that they sold 28 cars of soft coal last season. ---   Years ago in the big cities every merchant wanted to be located on Nicollet ave. or Seventh street, where the flow of traffic passed their doors. Changing conditions now has them moving to the outskirts of the cities. ---   The fine fishing a Lake Shetek this year has brought about a lot of arguments on how fast a fish grows. Some say that the Northerns in Shetek were put in the lake two years ago as fingerlings. Others say that a Northern cannot make as much of a gain in two years. Remember the lake “froze out” two years ago. Scientists who keep track of the birth and death rate in our fish population say that a northern a year old should make 7.8 inches, at two years old 13.2, three years old 17.1 and at 4 years should measure 21.1. Evidently a lot of the Northerns came up the Des Moines River during the flood last spring. ---   Wasn’t it Solomon that wrote, “The crowning beauty of a woman is her hair.” Whoever it was, women folks of today are beginning to disbelieve him and hair is beginning to fall in Lake Wilson and other places like the leaves from the box elders and the ash trees. ---   We don’t seem to be as interested in politics as we used to be in this section. Of course that is true about everything with one exception, going places. Seems as if we are either coming or going: never still. Asked twenty people the other day, “Do you read the political speeches printed in the dailies?” They looked at us as if we were nutty. ---   Never had a better fall for farm work. Corn fields with their hundreds of yellow years peeping through the husks are a joy to behold. The soy beans that got away to a poor start and looked pretty feeble six weeks ago have also done their part to make the farmer happy by yielding a fine crop. Yep, we sure have something to thankful for in 1952. ---   Now let’s talk about something elevating. Take the guy Mr. Szezeppkowski of Milwaukee, who wants a divorce on account of the wife shocking him with indecent nagging words. He also stated that she three milk bottles at him, iron book ends, knives, bottles of catsup and an alarm clock. She broke his car windows, dented the doors, kicked and scratched him, ripped his shirt and trousers, drank to excess and was fond of embracing guitar players. Evidently she was not of the clinging vine type, but the army is sure missing something. What a grand sergeant she’s make in a commando troop. That gal can do everything, and evidently did. ---   Champion hunting medal goes to Burton Fowser this season. It’s been a long time since geese have been shot in the lake here and Burton certainly went to town when he brought three down last Thursday. By the way, one of them was banded. Had the following description,” Write F. and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. U.S.A. 527t-23460.” There is no date when the goose was banded. ==============================

October 16, 1952
   What has become of the truce or armistice with North Korea? ---   Ray Knox has been selected as top revenue man in the state of Minnesota. A splendid selection. Ray has been with the dept. for over a quarter of a century and knows the ins and outs of the office better than any other man. Ray is a son of the late Frank Knox, well known grain man forty years ago. Ray used to be a semi-professional ball player in the early days, congratulations, Ray. ---   Charlie Dressen may be the manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but evidently he did not show as much real downright interest in the game as thousands of Brooklyn fans in this section. The “best” baseball minds who attend most of the post mortems say that when the bases are full, one man out, the Yankees back on the grass, no manager would have been jailed for trying a bunt. ---   The weather continues to be better than good, but don’t be fooled, better get the storm windows on, at least have them all puttied up and washed. It saves a lot of acrimonious arguments--well, not arguments, just plain statements of fact in many homes. ---   Amy Vanderbilt of New York is the new arbiter of table etiquette in these United States. But she don’t suit me. One place she says, “Don’t duck in your napkin at the top of your vest, lay it gently on your lap.” What are you going to do if you have no lap? Worst of all, and an infringement on the bill of rights, is the paragraph that reads, “Don’t put gravy on the potatoes. Put it on the meat.” If you want gravy with the potatoes, you must put the potatoes on top of the gravy and then blend them together. You’re a nice looking dame, Amy, but have some screwy ideas. ---   In the Minnesota Fishing Guide there is an article by an old guy by the name of Frank D. Slaughter on “How to Catch Bullheads.” After getting through telling you how to catch them he says, “Let me disprove the fallacy that bullheads are hard to clean. Here’s how you do it. Take a nice flat board to lay your fish on. Tick an ice pick or drive a long nail through the head. Cut around the head, take pliers,” etc. Brother, you’re way behind the times. The new method is a plier with a sharp blade welded on it. Take the bullhead in your hand, cut around the head with the sharp blade, break the bullhead’s neck and pull. That cleans the fish. Last summer we saw Charlie Durgin clean good-sized bullheads in six seconds flat. Fred Gass took fourteen, Louis Ostergaard 18 seconds, Ed. Engebretson 30 minutes and two seconds. The Roamer is still hunting for a hammer and a nail. ---   Vince Harmsen won the potato derby with an entry that weighted three pounds and four ounces. ---   Truman’s insinuations about Ike being to blame for the Potsdam blunder just don’t ring true. If he was not agreeable to all the factors in that Potsdam fiasco, why did he not fire Eisenhower: he never stuttered on telling MacArthur that he was not carrying out his wishes. ---   The sad sight for fishermen this fall is the rapid fall of water in Lake Shetek. Here we have been enjoying the best fishing in sixty years and right now it looks as if the loss of fish this winter will be heavy. Years ago the state spent a lot of money digging a ditch near the Mason place to divert the water from the upper Des Moines into Lake Shetek. A dam was built. The planks that were originally used to divert the water have disappeared and the water much needed flows merrily down the Des Moines. ---   Atty. Gen. Burnquist called on us last week. He generally does when he is in this section, even in the “off” years. The Roamer was a clerk in the legislature when Joe entered politics as a member from Ramsey county. That was back in 1939. He was a tall skinny shy young man but he impressed the members with his honesty, ability and sincerity. His rise was rapid. First lieutenant governor. After he was governor he became attorney general, an office he has held since 1938 without a breath of scandal. Joe spoke here at one of our “Farmer Days” of days gone by, and at the primary got every vote in the village. He is an official of proven ability. ---   Iran and North Dakota are not the only oil fields in the world. “Down Under” in Australia and oil refinery is being completed that will produce 155,000 barrels a day. This one refinery will supply 40 per cent of the oil needed in the that country. Will it mean that more of our oil wells will have to be capped? ---   Was over to the Hollywood theatre at Tracy one day last week. Saw a show that was a real show. Cleaner than a newly attached storm window, wholesome as a morn in spring, full of real honest to goodness belly laughs, and there was not a three minute shuddering kiss with its long drawn sigh in the whole picture. Take a tip from us and when you get a chance to go, take the kids with you to see “Fearless Fagan.” ---   The Ramsey county grand jury failed to indict anyone in the Staff King bribery case last week. While some folks were interested in his withdrawing, there was no evidence of there being any $40,000 involved. ---   The North Dakota attorney general has been indicted for teaming up with a couple of slot machine and pin ball men. He claims he is innocent, but where is much smoke it looks bad for the Atty. General. ==============================

October 23, 1952
   Al Johnson of the Fulda Free Press is pretty sure of himself and his bookkeeping. Last week he said in the Press, “We will give you an added six months subscription if you find a mistake on the tag of your paper.” Al probably figures that every sub. will look at the tag and those that are in arrears will send in their checks: not a bad idea. ---   Youngdale, who has been a candidate for congress from this district at the last two elections on the Democratic ticket, was gently but firmly pushed out into the cold by the top brass in the Democrat party in Minnesota. The big wigs said, “Don’t vote for him, he’s a Communist.” So that’s that, but when McCarthy says the same thing he’s a rabble rouser and a lot of other things. Youngdale is a pretty bright young fellow, no doubt about it, but the republicans have always insisted that he was too pinkish in his views.’ ---   One Lake Wilson resident, Chas. F. Lentz, has more than a passing interest in the North Dakota oil fields. Charley has had a farm in that locality for a number of years. It is located about eighteen miles from a recent oil well and he with most of the farmers up there has sold the oil lease farm for $2.00 an acre. ---   Some of the folks with soft water cisterns are hoping for some heavy rains: might get them, but it’s getting pretty late in the season. ---   Aren’t you sick and tired of all this political furore on radio and daily press? Looks as if they’re overdoing it. Asked ten men the other day if with all the brass bands, special trains, etc., they had changed their mind in the last thirty days, and they all answered, “No.” ---   We are about as variable as the winds that blow. Years ago every woman craved a dining room: just had to have it. They got them, and now twice as many meals are eaten in the kitchen. A few years ago if you wanted to be anybody you just had to have a bathtub. When you get older, getting in and out of a bathtub is a major operation and everyone tells how nice a shower is. Speaking of baths reminds me of the Scotch story. Two fellows met one summer day on the Clyde for their annual swim. One said to the other, “Jock, you’re gie dirty.” “Aye, a wee bit more than usual. I did’na get doon last year.” ---   In the deep south, coon--raccoon that is-- is mighty popular, both as a food and an excuse to get out into the open. The north has never taken kindly to the tender greasy beasties. If we did, there are plenty of them here now. There are more coon here now than there has ever been. Bear Lake woods and the county ditches are full of them. When the season opens, get one and bake it: a little greasy, but tasty and tender. ---   Few intelligent juries would ever bring in a verdict in favor of the American people who were charged with a lack of common horse sense in election years. Just think of the many nice things the democrats would be saying about Ike if he had run on their ticket, and if Stevenson had been a candidate on the republican ticket this fall, he’d have been an angel. Ain’t we nutty? Women have been fighting for years to retain their given name when their dear husband left them, either by the will of God or a district court. They wanted to stand on their own feet and meet the world alone and unaided. There are times when the man’s name comes in handy. Take Mrs. Holm, she put her entry in the secy. of state race as “Mrs. Mike Holm.” Her opponent on the other side of the fence said it could not be permitted as the custom had been established and she should go on the ballot as Mrs. Virginia Holm, and durned if the supreme court of Minnesota did say that she could run as Mrs. Mike. All of which proves that supreme courts and women have the same prerogatives: the right to change their minds. After all this free advertising Mrs. Mike Holm will be elected secretary of state in November. ---   While lakes are receding under the continued dry spell, muskrats are building bigger houses than usual on the shores of Lake Wilson. The Indians used to say that the rats built their homes near the shore when there was going to be plenty of water. We’ll see whether the rats and the Indians were good weather observers, or just common guessers like the rest of us. ---   Our good weather continues, and another week of it will see most of the corn in the crib or shelled: we certainly have had a wonderful fall. Few, very few bad days. ---   The “Flying High” show give by a home cast at the auditorium two nights last week was a real financial success and added experience and grace to the home folks. Bulk of the work getting up the show went to Johnny Adams and Marshall Fowser carried the ball the most of the time. ---   We also have a football team that has been “Flying High” this season. It has won every one of its regional games except one, and that was played at Edgerton too late on Wednesday to get it in the paper. Heine Nett has done a swell job as coach. ---   The one short crop that satisfied everybody was the box elder bug crop. That was away below par. ==============================

October 30, 1952
   Now that the corn picking is practically over and in fact most of the farm work is done, let’s not forget that this section needs about a two-inch rain to give us some assurance of a crop in 1953. The ground is awful dry and even the politicians have to carry their own water if they want to use mud. ---   The Duke of Montrose, a Scottish nobleman, wedded Miss Virginia Ryan, an American girl with oodles of money, last week. The bride craved the title and the two old castles, and being Scotch he was not averse to getting some cash. He used to “go with” Princess Margaret, so she and her mother attended the marriage which was a ritzy event. The bagpipes serenaded the young couple. What a dim outlook to present the bride: bagpipes have no place at a wedding. Their chants and drones are more suited for a burial procession. ---   Two of Corbin Packard’s kids had a real thrill last Friday. They had a train ride, and were just as anxious and excited as the kids forty years ago were to get a ride in an auto. Remember three of the youngsters, and they weren’t all young, rode in an auto going to Slayton. They got off and walked back four miles. ---   There’s a “Stop” sign on both sides of the street at the depot. Drivers are at a loss what to do. The village says it has no jurisdiction over the signs. The State highway department has no jurisdiction. Depot agent Butterfield says that “Stop” signs were placed at a number of depots recently. What the drivers want to know: what the penalty is and what branch of government has the enforcement of the law. By the way, the train men on the Pipestone run do a fine job of “flagging” the crossing, when the train is doing work in the yards. ---   Congratulations to Heine’s Raiders for the fine job they did in trimming the Edgerton team last week. They won by the decisive margin of 33 to 18. This new bunch of boys have certainly played consistent football this season, beating every team in the conference, thereby winning a championship. They only lost one game and that with Ruthton, and they sure would be glad to get another crack at them. Hero of the game last week was long-legged Arnold Zieman who played his finest game of the season, topping it off with capturing two forward passes that he converted into T.D.’s. The whole team played a magnificent game and brought prestige to the school. ---   Laws should be passed to protect the young men and some of the older ones from the deceptions of the insidious females. The latest deception is air filled “bras.” There is a tube connected with them to raise them to a more alluring deception. Whether they are filled with a bicycle pump or at the filling stations the ad did not state. Back when we were young the women folks placed additions to the southwest, or was it east quarter at the rear. Layers of cloth, papers, wires, etc. were used to reach the much wanted volume. We do live in a changing world. ---   Don’t Do It Girls We hear that in some of the local churches there is a movement to discontinue serving annual chicken dinners and bazaars. Don’t do it, girls. The church dinner in this community is the one time in the year that people of all faiths and denominations get together. It is a village tradition, part of our church and social life and one that it would be hard to replace. Women have always been the back bone of our churches and if it had not been for them our churches would not be what they are today. Discontinuance of the annual dinner would no doubt be followed by a movement to discontinue ladies aid work. When you take out these activities, you take the heart out of church work. They sort of bind the church together and if the work is getting a little hard for those who have carried the burden for many years, give the young women a chance. Every one of the churches has a group of keen, capable and efficient young women who are willing to do their part. Give them a chance. And girls, remember while you are tired of cooking those dinners, what about the Roamer, he’s been eating them for nigh unto fifty years and is still alive and would like to eat a few more of them before we are called hence. ---   “The Bronk was liberal with warnings to Hard Boiled, but when the New York Irishman persisted in ramming Gagne’s head against the ring posts, even the posts sounded a mild objection. So Nagurski lifted Gagne’s hand in victory. That set off a three-way baseball pepper game. Haggerty belted Nagurski on the chin. The referee wavered, then started pitching punches at the New Yorker, knocking him flat on his back. When Hard Boiled got up, Gagne got into the act and also floored the loser. By that time, four policemen were in the ring and hustled Haggerty into the dressing room.”--Mpls. Star Journal. Ain’t civilization just grand. The Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals seems to be neglecting its duty. ---   About as helpless as a man can get is when he’s driving a car against the sun about five o’clock: seems as if the sun blares out a lot more intensity in the fall than it does in the spring. ==============================

November 6, 1952
   Years ago your ancestors came from across the sea. They were a home loving people. They loved the land of their birth and were interested in its romance and history. Every lake, hill, river or castle had its own little story of romance. That is why for a couple of generations your ancestors called it “home,” with eye ever looking longing to the land of their births. There is no place in the Minnesota system of education where local history is taught, consequently you do not get the homeland touch of your ancestors. Youngsters today know so little about their county that it is really pitiful. Last week we asked a number of high school students and a number of graduates if they knew where the Alps were. They did. We asked them where the Andes, the Pyrenees and Alleghenies were, they knew. Then I asked where are the Coteau Des Prairies? They looked at me blankly, one of them suggested “France.” Yet some of those students live on the Coteau Des Prairies. Buffalo Ridge is the highest point on the ridge, 1,950 feet above sea level. It is higher than any point in Ill., Wis., Iowa, Miss., Mo., Ohio or Ind. Few places were mentioned as often in the early history of this section of the west. Catlin, the explorer and the great Indian painter, stood on Buffalo Ridge in 1836. Here is what appeared in his report: “This wonderful abnormal feature of nature which is several hundred miles long is undoubtedly the most noblest mound of its kind in the world. It gradually rises on each side, by swell after swell, without trees, rock or bush and is everywhere covered with grass affording to the traveler on Buffalo Ridge the most unbounded and sublime view.” Murray county has a lot of interesting places and everyone should know more about them, especially the youngsters. By the way, the Coteau Des Prairies is the dividing ridge between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. ---   Insurance Commissioner A. Herbert Nelson urges the fire insurance companies to reduce their rates in Minnesota. Fire losses the past few years don’t warrant the present high rates: why don’t a guy like that ever run for governor? ---   The youngsters lived up to their agreement on Halloween and everything was quiet and peaceful in the residential district and nothing was disturbed, with the exceptions of a couple of aged Houses of Parliament biting the dust. ---   The old Omaha had a crew up the branch last week fixing up the old pile bridges. Everybody was looking forward to an improvement in service. We got just the opposite. Instead of hearing the train whistle every day, we will only hear less. Hereafter the train will run as follows: they will come up Tuesday to Pipestone and return the next day. Then they will come on Friday and return Saturday. All of which will mean poorer express service and everything else. The Currie branch will have trains on Mondays and Thursdays. ---   The ducks are not very popular with the hunters this year. They are few and as shy as a bridegroom. A lot of the darn things never even stop here. In the pheasant hunting it’s the same old story: some say birds are awful scarce--others fill out their chest and say, “We filled.” ---   Remember folks, whoever was elected Tuesday, the country is not going to the dogs. ---   Gov. Anderson did not pay any more attention to Freeman than Sam Rayburn, the chairman of the late National convention. ---   Our fine fall weather continues. With few exceptions the days have been sunny and bright and a lot of them real warm for this time of the year. Everything is as dry as tinder. We remember a fall like this about sixty years ago. Clear skies and dry for months. The next year was different: in the spring crops were sickly. Frankly, the rain hazard looks more threatening than the fire hazard. (This column goes to the printer on Saturday and if it rains or snows before Thursday neither give us credit or blame). ---   When the three guys that took the two Koob stores week before last were passing the Polly oil station on their way to North Dakota, they were heard humming “We Never Had It So Good Before.” ---   The campaign which closes this week was the dirtiest in sixty years: really too bad that we can’t put the same zeal and energy into our civic needs, schools and our churches. ---   When a youth gets the idea that he does not need an education and leaves school, his mind is in a bad way. His parents sometimes are just unable to push over the argument that will make him stick. Looks to us as if there was room for an advisory committee, not necessarily members of the family, that would talk things over with the youth and offer him the necessary advice and suggestions and get him to return to his studies. We may not be our brother’s keeper but we can help. ---   The best team lost the football game last Saturday. To listeners, Minnesota kept making errors of omission and commission all through the game and looked real bad. All at once two players made runs and the game was over. ==============================

November 13, 1952
   Tuesday, Nov. 4th, was “Mothers Day” not only in Lake Wilson but in every other village, township and city in the U.S. ---   The long arm of union labor reaches into the quiet and peaceful places like Lake Wilson. A month ago we were all set to attend the dedication of the monument to the boys who gave their lives in World War II. Proofs had been received of the plaque and O.K.’ed, and we got a letter from Newman Bros. dated Oct. 20 with the following notation: “This is to advise you that this plant has been shut down due to a strike of our employees and there will be a slight delay in completing your order.” So all we can do is sit and wait. ---   Every announcer that came on the air on Election Day cluttered up the waves saying that record breaking crowds were turning out to vote. Why shouldn’t there be record crowds in succeeding elections. The country is growing and the weather was perfect all over the United States. Quite a change from twenty years ago when snow cluttered up everything, roads were impassable and some election officials did not get home until the next day. ---   Beaver and coon are more plentiful in this vicinity than they have ever been. Civilization does not seem to hamper the fur game. Coons are storing up a lot of corn. ---   Lake Wilson officials were the first election board to turn in the results of the election to the county seat. Remember there are 29 voting precincts in the county and your town was first. ---   We get quite a kick reading about the interviews from the staid, admittedly well informed editors in Minnesota giving their opinions of how Ike came to be elected. They were all wrong. All they had to do was to visit their nearest neighbor who as a brother or son in the service. That hill which has been the scene of so much bitter fighting entered into the election more than you think. It changed hands every other day leaving a trail of dead and wounded, and the average mother could see her son going up the hill, to take something they could not hold for only a day, with their blood. ---   The sad feature of our U.S. form of government is that when the reins of government go to the “outs,” some folks start figuring what will become of the local postmasters. Every one of these men or women should be retained until the occupants reach the pension age. After that, postoffices of all second, third and fourth class should go to capable disabled veterans. We mean men that are really disabled and unfit for any hard labor. Lots of them would be glad to take over a job that they can do; and besides that the government would be saving the pension of the disabled veteran. “To the Victor Belong the Spoils” is a slogan that has outlived its usefulness. The public wants service and not politics. ---   Another oil field in North Dakota has been opened up. When will some outfit have the nerve to start boring in Minnesota. The legislature could do a lot worse than to offer a bonus of $100,000 for a paying oil well. We must remember that it wouldn’t make a bit of difference in the price of gasoline. That has been settled long ago. Another thing to remember is that iron ore fields are slowing petering out. Already they have started working over the dumps. ---   What a wonderful change there has been in air travel. Time was when most people took the trip only as a necessity and then with their hearts in their mouths. Nowadays a large section of our population take a plane without even thinking about it. Time brings many changes. ---   Mrs. N. C. Christensen, here for over fifty years, left for her new home in Minneapolis last week. The Christensens came to Lake Wilson in 1901. The new buildings on the north side of the track were just going up. They lived for a while in the old hotel building while their home was being built. No couple have worked harder for the village than Mrs. Christensen and the late N. C. A large circle of friends extend best wishes for her happiness in her new home. ---   If Taft and Kefauver had been the nominees, Kefauver would have been elected by the same majority as Ike had. ---   See where Rita Hayworth the color blind movie star is leaving her old man, Aly Khan, because he scolded her son. The old adage of Solomon, “Spare the rod and spoil the child” is in the ash can, the “stick” is gone from behind the door and the hair brush has not been used for tenderizing for many a day. Youth is in the saddle, “Our kids are always right.” Mpls. is in the throes of a curfew argument and the chief of police said that the parents are to blame in ninety per cent of its infractions. ---   That banded goose that Jap Fowser shot was born up close to the Arctic Circle. The federal fish and wildlife service department in a letter said it was banded at Boas River, Southampton Island, Northwest Territory on August 6th. ==============================

November 20, 1952
   Remember a fall this back in the ‘80’s. Bright sunshiny days, not cold. Farmers plowed that winter on Christmas Day and on New Years Day. Wonderful winter, but the spring was dry and the crop was meager. That was the fall that Hank Smith and Pat Gildea of Cameron township took a team and wagon to the Missouri river for a load of cottonwood seedlings. They took their grub, covered up the wagon wheels at night and slept under the wagon. That was a real vacation. “Hank” Smith who later moved to Lake Wilson is the father of the Smith boys, two of them still living here. ---   The “scourge” known as “Stomach Flu” has been in our midst for some time. This is one ailment in which time, tide and everything else is held in abeyance. ---   Those darned pheasants are smarter than we think. Observers say they saw more pheasants on the roads the day after the season closed than there had been for three weeks. By the way, both pheasant and duck hunting this year were not up to standard. ---   We live in a peculiar section of the U.S.A. A candidate running for congress who was repudiated by his party on account of his communist views received over 40,000 votes: think that over. ---   One of the early settlers in this vicinity, Miss Tilda Dahl, died at her home in Chandler last week. The Amund Dahls, the Martin Gunderson and Syverson families came here three years before Lake Wilson was built and settled in Chanarambie twp. Tilda had a large circle of friends, friends that had known her for a long time and who had the pleasure knowing this estimable old lady. ---   A tavern keeper at Forest Lake was fined $1,000 last week for selling hard liquor without a license: that ought to give the bootleggers something to mull over. ---   A special primary election will be held in Murray county to select a candidate for the office of representative, made vacant by the death of Trig Knutson. This primary will be followed by a special election. If only two candidates file for the office it will not be necessary to hold the primary election. ---   Lake Wilson is going to have a pool hall. Fifty years ago pool halls did not stand at the top of the social register, in face some towns will not have them today. All is changed and a pool hall is getting to be a necessity for the reason that it provides a recreation room, a place that is sorely needed in this day and age. Man is a gregarious animal, when he comes to town he likes to visit with his fellow men. Years ago every store had chairs, benches or nail kegs where men discussed the weather, politics and the outlook for the coming year. Things have changed. A farmer said the other day, “It’s hard to come to town to do your trading and then go out and stand on the sidewalk on a wintry day.” “Women,” he said, “Have their social clubs, but poor man has no place to sit.” After all, pool is no worse than ping-pong or croquet. ---   The three odd states in the Union lie quite close together: Minnesota is the only state that elects legislative officers on a non-partisan basis. Nebraska is the only state that has a one-house legislature, and South Dakota is the only state where you don’t need a license to drive an auto. Another odd state is Louisiana, which has no counties. The state is subdivided into parishes. ---   When a man leaves a party as Senator Morse did, to the party he joins he’s a brave courageous man. To the party he leaves he’s a renegade. The worst feature is that they seldom get anywhere. In recent years a clean able young man holding the highest office in the state abruptly joined up with the other party. The result: oblivion. Even Teddy Roosevelt the Great, when he bolted the party that had made him president went down to defeat carrying his party with him. The heck of it is, neither party puts complete faith in men like Morse again. One side says he bolted his party, the other side says he sold himself once, he will do it again. ---   A few weeks back the Roamer said that Theodore Lucio of the schools here would be called upon for addresses or rather talks on his boyhood in the Ukraine is proving true. Last week he addressed four different meetings and his talks are really enjoyed by those who appreciate a look at the country that is not behind the Iron Curtain. ---   Two Brownsville, Texas women got in a squabble the other day, used up all the words they knew, then one hailed the other into court and had her fined. To get even, the fined woman bought a parrot to help her out in the duet. It’s a long time since there’s been a parrot shipped to Lake Wilson. ---   The way some folks write to the papers one would think that Ike was already seated behind the desk at the White House. He ain’t even hired his moving truck. It’s going to take a lot of time for Ike to get settled, and then please don’t expect he’s going to turn everything upside down in a week. It’s going to take longer than you think. ---   Murray county mourns the death of Trig Knutson. He was in the lower house of the legislature for the last three sessions, and who was tragically re-elected for a fourth term two weeks before he passed away. Trig had lived in Murray county all his life. His father was a founder of the township of Leeds in 1872. ==============================

November 27, 1952
   Got a jolt the other day: saw a sign in a local meat counter that read, “Boiling beef 5 cents a pound.” ---   Talk is still cheap, that is if you want to talk long distance. Seems as if long distance rates went down and local rates went up. You now talk to San Francisco three minutes for $1.69 from Lake Wilson. ---   Well the Omaha, or rather the Northwestern Railroad, did not make the changes in freight service that it had planned. A group of elevator men in this section of the state met at Mankato recently, and aided by Congressman O’Hara succeeded in convincing the company that the change was ill advised and that it would curtail the shipments of grain. This village has been held up for cars two or three times this season, and ambitious farmers have been planning on forming a truck line to haul the grain from here to nearby terminals so that they could help raise the blockade. ---   Ike has selected three cabinet members and all is hunky dory with both the republicans and the democrats, who are living in a sort of a political honeymoon now, forgetting that honeymoons end tragically in divorce courts. ---   Correction: Lake Wilson is not going to have a pool hall but a “Recreation Center.” No beer will be sold, but the humble males will be able to visit, play pool and even discuss politics. Glad the pool and billiard tables will be installed. Some of our youth are going to neighboring towns to play pool, and that isn’t all. They are trying to cut down the driving time, and a mile a minute is too fast on dusty gravel roads. Cut it out, boys. There’s nothing the Pilot hates to print more than a story about the death of a youth. Mamas and papas can help keep down the death toll. ---   GOOD NEWS FOR YOU (WE) FAT PEOPLE   For years we have been told that dieting is the only way to reduce that surplus, and millions of dollars have been spent on dieting charts. Yet those scientific men and women are all wet. Down in Australia the British government set off an H Bomb. After the dust had cleared away men clad in protective garments were sent out to investigate the damage inflicted. It was hot work. One of the searchers for science’ sake came back, he was weighed in and it was disclosed that he had lost 17 pounds in a single trip: all you fleshy folks need is a little H bomb to make you float around like a fairy. ---   A reader was worrying the other day. He said the U.S. Government had a national debt of over $300,000,000,000. You’re all wet, brother, all we owe is $263,500,000,000 so take it easy. One sum means just as much to you as the other, at least it does to us, whose feeble mind has no conception of what ten billion is: do you? ---   While folks in neighboring states are talking about oil fields, referring to them as gold fields, what about the gold mines in farm lands. George Miller of Lowville twp. was telling us that he attended a farm auction a while back at Princeton, Ill. and the farm brought $600 an acre. ---   WE’RE NOT GROWING WICKED   We get irked at the folks who are always shouting about how wicked this country is getting. Don’t you believe it. This country is better in every way it ever has been. Newspapers, radios and magazines make a specialty of pushing crime news and they go far afield. Sixty years ago we never heard of crime and broken laws except in our immediate vicinity, but crime was abroad in the country as it always has been. ---   Human nature has never been a hundred per cent perfect and never will be. Our forefathers even had quaint ideas of what was right and what was wrong, but don’t let them tell you that the country and the youth of today are going to perdition. They ain’t--we mean the kids. They cut up the same didoes that their mamas and papas did when they were young, and will eventually settle down to become staid respectable citizens. The people of the United States have done more for Christianity, for the afflicted, for the uneducated, for the down-trodden and for those in need than in all the years since the world began. Look at our schools, our hospitals, our clinics and the enormous amount of work, interest and money supplied by the churches, and then say we’re getting more wicked. It don’t spell sense. Washington D.C. is with all its over advertised breaches in the law not one thousandth part as wicked as Sodom and Gomorrah. Ever since we can remember, the kids were the worst crop ever. Every generation said the same thing, but they weren’t. Can’t help but remember when we were a youth herding. We took cattle to R. D. Sprague one fall, then renting the Pattinson place. We drove up the cattle, asked “Is your name Sprague?” More words followed, perhaps we got a little impertinent and the Colonel said, “Young man, I’ll live to see you hanged.” Just happened we were working in the legislature the winter when George MacKenzie of Gaylord introduced his bill abolishing capital punishment and you can imagine that the Roamer was one of its firmest supporters. ---   Mr. Eisenhower is building up a pretty strong team to represent you for the next four years, it’s a team that is going to be strong enough to secure support and your confidence. It’s going to take a little while to get things going, but just have patience: but gosh, we do wish Ike was back from his Korean trip. ==============================

December 4, 1952
   Currie has gone dial tone. Hope we don’t follow for another couple of years. What in thunder would we do without Ruth at the switch board. When the fire whistle blows, we all run to the phone with the query, “Where’s the fire” and then there is “Are the roads open?” “Is the mail in yet?” “What time is it?” “What’s the name of the show at Slayton tonight?” “Have you heard how Mr. and Mrs. So-and-so are?” “What time is the funeral?” and a hundred other questions are going to remain unanswered when we go dial. We sure will miss her. ---   Got two orchids this week for young men of this community. One to Cliff Boese, who made the Minnesota all state team in football. Cliff is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Emil Boese. The other orchid goes to Darwin Gilbertson. He joined up with the Bell telephone system seven years ago and two weeks ago was advanced to the management of the system at Jackson. His wife by the way was Arliss Smith, a daughter of Wallie Smith. ---   Those folks who wanted a bunch of winter for Thanksgiving got their wish fulfilled. Mister Weatherman closed his long run of abnormal fine weather on Tuesday evening and presented his first seasonable show of the season. A dark cloudy day filled with spitting snow changed suddenly towards evening and all night long the snow drifted, the wind howled, the shutters rattled, but the snowfall was not as much as in some sections. It had all the earmarks of a blizzard except the cold. It reminded us by its suddenness of the Armistice Day blizzard of 13 years ago, only that was “cold,” many hunters lost their lives in that storm and cattle were frozen stiff standing: that was a blizzard. ---   There was no train service Wednesday or Thursday. No on account of the storm, but because of the big heartedness of the Omaha who gave the trainmen a day holiday and paid them for their time. Some of the hears to some officials are not stony. ---   A couple of weeks ago a young newspaper man from North Dakota hat a job with a Tupelo, Miss. newspaper. Some folks down there don’t like Northerners, they just hate the d___ Yankees. One night a couple of hooded hoodlums took the newspaperman for a midnight ride. Scuffed him up a little and told him to return to the land of blocked winter roads, oil wells, wheat, Langer and potatoes. He did. Officialdom in the south let out a few squeals, some folks in the north shouted, and evidently that was the end of the episode. The incident awoke memories of a similar happening in Lake Wilson years ago. A group of citizens, we don’t call them “mobs” up here, rapped at the door of a house in north Lake Wilson and asked for a certain young man. He came to the door, they grabbed him and told him to git: he got. The farewell committee also accelerated his departure. When he got as far south as the cemetery he had a part of picket fence and two strands of barb wire hanging to his frame. None of the members of the group were masked, and the incident did not even hit the front page of the Pilot. ---   The special primary election in Murray county was something of a farce. Here the voters were called upon to select a representative from a group of five men, most of whom they had never heard of before. It was more essential that the voters be given a reasonable amount of time to make their selection than it was to be at the capital in time for roll call at the first meeting. Hope the powers that be use better judgement the next time a special election is called. ---   Forty years ago the Prohibitionist party had candidates for president and governor in Minnesota. Top vote the party ever received was 78,425. As a political party it died in 1916. It is doubtful if we will ever have a prohibition party again. The law permitting villages to maintain their own liquor stores seems to have settled the wet and dry issue in this era. ---   Ike is slowly building up his cabinet and policy makers. A president should always pick out men that are in accordance with his views to fill the top positions. But just because there is a change in party politics it should not mean that men holding minor positions in government affairs should be changed. Men who have started in their chosen department as career men and women who are almost at retirement age should not be removed. As long as men in the minor groups are giving satisfactory service to the public, they should be retained. When a new president is selected for a big corporation he does not fire the men and women in the lower levels. ---   The wintry blast last Wednesday was a vicious one. Every house in town exposed to the wind, whether it was heated by coal, gas or wood was downright chilly at times. The continued dry sunny days the past two months had shrunk storm windows, window and door frames and the breeze came sailing in. Even homes that were insulated and weather stripped complained of the cold. ---   Bet some of you didn’t know it, but the last battle between the Indians and the federal government, after a series of engagements lasting for over two hundred years, was fought in Minnesota and it was won by the Indians. The battle was fought at Sugar Point on the east side of Leech Lake. Captain Wilkinson who left Walker with 80 men from the 3rd Infantry was killed. Five privates were also slain and 10 wounded by the Chippewas. The soldiers hastily re-embarked for Walker in their two small steamboats. Not an Indian brave was killed. The battle was fought October 5th, 1898. ==============================

December 11, 1952
   Sister Kenny died last week and the papers have been filled with tributes to the one that had the nations polio conscious. She was tall and rugged. She had to be, for she met with many discouragements. The Roamer had the privilege of meeting Sister Kenny in the senate chamber eight years ago. She had come to ask the privilege of addressing both houses of the legislature. The cards were stacked against her. The senate committee was not in favor of her talking to the members, but the rules committee in the house came to the rescue and slammed the door shut in the face of the angel of mercy. ---   For the first time in the history of the village an all female group had charge of the village election. To the Roamer, they looked just as intelligent and efficient as any in the last 40 years. The gals of the nation have come a long way since 1920: that’s when the men finally decided they were intelligent enough to vote. ---   Doc Christensen, who has held a county office longer than any other man in Murray county, quite two weeks ago. He will spend his winters from now on basking under the Florida palm trees: his friends wish him good fishing. The county board is to be congratulated on appointing Miss Hulda Erickson to succeed Doc. She is capable, efficient and courteous and knows the ins and outs of the office like a book. Good luck to you, Hulda. ---   The way that Murray county voters change there minds give one the impression that only females voted. Last month Gov. Anderson, running against the late Trig Knutson, received 2,709 votes in the general election. Last week at the special primary election he received 521 votes. Two years ago John Holt ran for county attorney, got 2,837 votes: came within 22 of beating Schuler. At the primary last week he received only 210 votes. “People besides being funny are mighty changeable.” ---   Say, some of you guys that are looking for an earthly paradise should write Paul Hubbard. He says you neither have to shovel snow, mow the lawn, take off storm windows or rake up the leaves in the fall where he lives. Everything is modern out in the town with the exception of trees, grass and cool water. Paul, who lives in Randensburg, Calif. used to run the paper at Holland until he got too lazy to shovel snow. ---   Had a couple of letters last week from Lake Wilson young folks that are in the service. The first was from A3C Jeannette Ostergaard who is now attached to the air base at Lackland Field, San Antonio, Texas. Jeannette is highly pleased with her job, which includes a drill period every day, all of which creates a little added interest. She adds, “Glad I am getting the Pilot as it keeps me in touch with all the folks at home.” The other letter was from Kenny Gowin. He has seen about as much of the world as most youngsters and is now on his second hitch. Kenny is flying with a big transport from Frisco to the Islands, that brings back wounded soldiers. He says, “Eggs are worth $1.43 a dozen there. Went pheasant hunting in Calif. yesterday, plenty of ducks and pheasants, got to put a $1 tag on each pheasant you kill, license is $4. Get the Pilot each week and I sure look forward to it, not only for the news but for the address of boys in the service.” Come again kids, we’re always glad to hear from you. ---   These letters bring up the thought, what a grand idea it would be for you to send some of the boys the Pilot for a Christmas present. The local paper brings the home touch and every week it arrives the boys will remember your kindness. There is a special rate for service men, so either call or write the Pilot, and do it now. ---   Fastest driver we know of in this section is Leslie Oberg. Two weeks ago he planned a trip to see his relatives in Texas. He airmailed a letter that they were coming. Three days later he started, and the letter only beat him five hours. That airplane must have had a flat tire. ---   The country breathed a little easier Friday when they heard that Ike had gotten out of Korea safely. The Reds made a determined effort to get him, but the Lord was on our side. ---   Sand and gravel on icy streets and sidewalks look more beautiful to some folks than Christmas decorations, but they are so old they are almost color blind. ---   The republican senators and congressmen are in for some heavy trouble from now on. For the last twenty years all they have had to do was vote “No.” Now they will have to put up a barb wire fence around their offices to keep out the horde of hungry office seekers. ---   Ole Flatten who shot and killed a St. Paul brakeman for carrying on an affair with his wife was found not guilty by a jury Friday at La Crosse, Wis. The gay Lothario got his just deserts, but what about the woman. In all fairness the man should have shot the woman first. She was the one that was bound to him by legal and religious ties. The slain man seems to have been only a trifling bystander. ---   The coming legislature should pass a law relating to special elections. Three weeks should elapse between the filing period and the primary election. Hundreds of voters in Murray county had never even heard of some of the candidates at the recent primary, let alone know what their affiliations were: some of them could have been communists. ==============================

December 18, 1952
   Christmas is coming, and with every Christmas comes delays in the mail service, so don’t complain if the mail is two or three hours late. Remember, you can always aid in speeding up the service if you would do most of your Christmas mailings this week. The post office will be open Saturday afternoon for your convenience. ---   That North Dakota newspaper man who went down south to work for a Tupelo, Miss. newspaper seems to have been a dud. He evidently used his imagination more than his common sense. When the Tupelo officers went to North Dakota to investigate, he refused to take a lie detector test; the public acting as umpire said “Two Strikes.” ---   Another suggestion to the legislature is that it makes a little change in the assessment regulations. At the present time, all the assessment sheets are sent to the courthouse July 1st, leaving the town boards and village council without any information on assessment figures. When folks come in to complain or ask questions about their assessments, they cannot get any information. The regulation should be changed so that the assessor must leave a copy of all assessments to be filed in the village recorder and town clerks’ offices. It would save many an argument and a few trips to the county seat. ---   Had a letter from Wilfred and Frances Reese last week. They live I Shreveport, La. where Wilfred is stationed. They expect to be home for Christmas. Was glad to get their letter, but what about this clipping sent from the newspaper: “Seeing two Scotchmen bathing a wealthy Englishman offered five pounds to the one who stay under the longest. They’re still searching for the bodies.” Also had a note from John P. De Greef, a brother of Mrs. Dorothy Gannon. John is on a lonely island in the Pacific. He is with the jet division in the navy and does not expect to be home until next April. It was nice of you young folks to write the old man. ---   Lots of folks guess wrong on politics. Remember during the campaign how loudly some of them chuckled, “Ike has sold out body and soul to Taft:” it must have been only a rumor. ---   Does the average person learn more from the spoken word than he does from the written word? Seems that they do. You’ll sit ant listen to, say, a political speech and come out of it filled with enthusiasm. You’ll quote what the guy says. Who ever reads the speech the next day, nobody. It tastes as flat and clammy as a thick, cold, light colored pancake. ---   When you do your Christmas shopping this week, take a look at the stocks of merchandise in Lake Wilson. You’ll be surprised at the fine assortment of Christmas gifts, toys, electrical knick-knacks, eatables as here in your home town. ---   Al Reha is the oldest business man in town, in point of years of service. He has been in the elevator business for the last thirty years. The elevator he is now in is the oldest building on the north side of the track: was built by the Peavy Co. in 1883. Instead of a gasoline engine or electric motor, the first motive of power was an old blind mare. Talking about blind animals reminds us that the next building on the north side was a “blind pig” run by George Lutche. He used to shoot prairie chickens for the market. Always went bare footed. His “Palace of Sin” was the scene of one of our brisk early day fistic encounters which ended with Ed Stedman biting off the end of his opponent’s nose. The victim was a salesman for a St. Louis stove company. Ed bit off quite a chunk, we saw it the next day when it was displayed. “Them were the Good Old Days.” ---   Did you ever stop to think that you do not often vote for your candidate? Most of the time you vote against the other guy. ---   The next time you have a spell of thinking, take a gander over Korea. We have the flower of the army over there, the best fighting material in the world, top men in every branch of the service, but all we seem to be doing is taking and retaking a hill that is soaked with blood. What would happen to our men and material over there if Russia would pull another “Pearl Harbor” stunt? It would take as least two or three years to get our men and material back to the U.S. and the loss would be worse than that in Korea. Why not train 300,000 Chinese and have them take the place of the U.N. forces. The time may come when we might have to use our available men and guns at home: it don’t pay to keep home base uncovered. ---   Help is still scarce in this section and Rudy Brummer could not hire enough men to put up the Christmas decorations. He was pleased when Roy Meyers, Bill Steffes and his two boys Gene and Donny, John Helmke, Roman Beelner, Henry Van Eck, Chet Perry offered their services on Sunday afternoon of last week. Nice going, boys, and by the way Elmer Reese donated his truck. ---   Just a thinking the other day that Ike seems to have forgotten the 180,000 Minnesotans that really put the pop into his campaign when it was sorely needed. You can’t charge up Stassen to Minnesota. His home is in Pennsylvania. ==============================

December 25, 1952
   Lake Wilson will have reached the respectable old age of three score and ten years next week, and it would seem fitting that the village should have a celebration of some kind to commemorate its founding. Right now is a good time to start laying plans for the big event. ---   The situation over in Korea reminds us of Davy Crockett, or was it Daniel Boone. Anyway, one of them went bear hunting and in the hand to hand encounter he grabbed the bear by the tail. He knew he couldn’t let go and he knew he could not hold on forever, and then he shouted, “Good Lord, if you can’t help me, don’t help that ba’ar!” ---   In all weather an all year round slogan is “Reduce the Taxes.” It’s the easiest thing in the world to do, just spend less. Voters keep on voting more taxes on themselves and in the same breath criticize rising taxes when they come to pay the bill. Did you ever stop to think that a ten per cent cut in that auto would more than pay all the rise in your taxes for two years? ---   The South is invading the North. The invasion seems to be directed against radio station WCCO. Many people are complaining that powerful southern radio stations are pushing WCCO off the air at night, and it’s difficult to hear the dulcet tones of Cedric’s voice at 10 p.m. Something should be done to stop those darned southerners for imitating Sherman’s march to the sea, in reverse. ---   A movement is on foot among some sportsmen to bring back the prairie chicken to Minnesota. There are some of the species left in the northern part of the state, but their days seems to be numbered. The prairie chickens covered this section like a blanket in the 80’s, and a better eating bird never lived. Tender and succulent besides furnishing excellent sport, they gave the hunter everything to be desired. They were a prairie bird and civilization has just kept pushing them back to the sunset to join the buffalo and passenger pigeon. ---   Deer are back to Bear Lake woods again. George Thompson was telling us he saw nine in one herd one day last week. As long as there are deer there will be the temptation to violators. ---   The next time you jump on your husband, use flat shoes: a chest can only stand thirty-five pounds of pressure per square inch. ---   Ike and Taft have made up: it is good for brothers to live in peace and harmony. ---   Have you, you who are carrying around some excess weight, been listening to that Texas radio station of late with its sweetest story ever told to a lot of us. The spieler on the station, he says that I will cut down our excess weight 15 pounds in one week and 40 pounds in one month. You can still east all you want to, and the funny thing is he gives you a ten-day free trial. If it does not suit you, send it back. His line of talk reminded us of the doctor with the traveling show in the Prairie days. His elixir of life could cure everything from spots before the eyes, consumption, glanders, etc. and how the folks fell for the stuff. The fact that the elixir contained quite an amount of alcohol might have had something to do with its sale. Perhaps there might be something worse than death. ---   Take the case of the Nebraska man who went into a tavern, left his car running to keep his two youngsters warm, and when he started for home several hours later the children were dead. There’s nothing you can say for a man that gets so befuddled that he takes human life. But Lord, what a punishment that fellow must take. Every waking hour and many of his sleepless ones he will see the faces of the children he doomed to death. Wherever he goes they will be staring him in the face: he can’t get away from them. Death, it would seem, would be a relief. ---   Pages have been written about the loyalty and the intelligence of the dog. Clint Cass who now lives in Lincoln, Nebr. has a white house dog. The dog went a visiting, got into a melee, and when the fracas was over he was minus a tail. When the folks looked out of the window here was puppy coming home with the defunct tail in his mouth: he must have been a Scotch terrier. ---   Saw a picture of the moon the other day. Not a very enticing place to visit. Why go to the expense of making a trip to the moon when you can see the same things in the Badlands in South Dakota? ---   The epidemic of prison disturbances in the U.S. reached Minnesota last week. That disturbing element is always present where large bodies of hardened criminals are confined. To date, no disturbance of major proportion. But there is always that constant irritation
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Prisoner went violently crazy and s [right side missing]
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a girl’s Sunday school class. That M [right side missing]
been the victim of a general uprising [right side missing]
the present management has been doi [right side missing]
job. ==============================

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