Memories, cont. |
Dad's First Car Jack Lowe a Man of Many Talents I was told by Jack's nephew Tom Lowe of River Falls that he remembers two
older ladies who were very fussy how their turkey mash was mixed came into
the mill. Jack was standing behind his desk and they were on the other side. As they were telling Jack just what they wanted in their feed he was
writing it upside down to himself so the ladies on the other side could see
that they were getting just what they wanted. According to the History of East Ellsworth by Marvin Struve, Jack Lowe
bought the house formerly owned by Jacob Christenson and started his feed
mill in it. Later many addition were made to it and it was modern mill in
every way. Jack also bought the H. O. Junkman grain elevator just up the
street from the mill. My grandfather told me Jack also had a way with animals. Jack worked for
my gandfather's brother Tim Murphy in Halbrite, Sask. It was said Jack would harness horses and send them out of the barn and they would go and
back up to what ever implement he was going to hitch them to. There is a large picture in Hinck's Super Valu showing Jack and another
man riding a pair of oxen. Jack could drive them and also ride them it seems. Tom Lowe told me that Jack and a brother homesteaded land near Saskatoon,
Canada but came back to this area later. I'm glad he did, a visit to see
Jack and his mill made a trip to town so very interesting. Written by Richard Langer October 3, 1999 Memories He was the most faithful animal we ever had. You could work him like a
horse, ride him like a pony and pet him like a dog, what ever you wanted
him to do he done without a neigh or a whinny. One day towards the end of July (In the same summer dad brought Prince
home) dad had Prince and three other horses hitched to our old ground driven binder and was out in the field cutting grain, when he noticed two
men coming across the field. He wondered what they might want and when they got up close enough to
talk he found out it wasn't a social call. One of the men was a farmer from
south of Red Wing and the other was the Goodhue County sheriff. They informed dad in no uncertain terms that Prince didn't belong to him,
but was a stolen horse. Well dad was more than a little surprised to
say the least. The farmer explained he had let his hired man ride Prince
home one Saturday night and the fellow just took the horse to Red Wing and
sold him to the same dealer dad thought he had bought Prince from.
I don't know how it all worked out, but dad and the farmer made a deal and dad was able to keep the little horse. I suppose the dealer in Red Wing
had to give the farmer the money dad gave him and the hired man was cooling
his heels in the Goodhue County jail. Since Prince was bought as a single horse he didn't have a team mate, so
he ended up being hitched with quite a few different horses and I should
add some the them were "a little different." His first partner was an rangy old mare named "Babe" She usually pulled
her share, but was a little too smart for her own good and could open the
barn door lock with her teeth. Babe didn't know it, but her days were numbered and one day Al Neely rolled into the yard with his trailer and
hauled her off to the fox farm. Prince's next team mate was a grey gelding named "Dick" This horse worked
pretty good, but he had the bad habit of biting people. He bit my uncle Francis once, and my uncle didn't' care much for Dick after that at all. One day in October in 1941, when we were still living on the old Langer
homestead, grandpa decided to bank up the buildings before the coming cold
weather. He hitched Prince and Dick to the slush scraper to drag the dirt
up to the buildings. A slush scraper in a small implement that looks like a big scoop with as
wooden handle on each side to hold on to while filling the scoop with dirt.
There is a heavy metal loop on the sides extending from the scraper to In the fall of 1942 we moved up the road a couple of miles and one day
after school I found Dick laying dead out behind the granary. I don't know
what happened to him, but horses are very touchy and if they eat even a little mold it can do them in.
After Dick was gone dad had to go horse hunting again and this time he bought a gangly gelding from a auction near Ellsworth named" King". The way
it turned out he was more of a "Knave" than a king. He worked pretty good
but he had a mind of his own and if he wasn't in the mood he would do just Another time in the summer we had the same two horses hitched to the hay
rack and were hauling some rotten straw away from the strawpile before threshing. This time when I told the horses to go King reared up on his
hind legs so far he broke the wagon pole off when it came up under the wagon bed. Oh well he wanted the rest of the day off anyway. We kept Prince and King around for a few more years and sometime in the
early 50's dad sent them both off to the glue factory. I didn't feel too
bad about King going this way, but a good horse like Prince was hard to part with. I think Prince was close to thirty years old when he had to go,
he was the most faithful horse we ever had. Memories Lyle was said to have soon realized the need for a larger quarters and
1938 he purchased of Mrs. Mae Peterson the two buildings and lots at that
location. In July of 1939 the Frank Johnson Construction Co. started to work on the
new building and was said to have been completed by September of the same
year. The building was 28x60 feet in size with a full basement and was one of
the most complete and modern produce stations and feed stores in the state.
I do remember we took eggs in there on occasion but I do not remember buying feed there.
From the picture of the new store that was in the Herald in September of
1939, we can see that the front of the building still looks almost the same
today. Keller produce kept on doing business until the 1950's. From the obituary
in the Herald, December 29, 1955 we learn Lyle died following a stroke. It
goes on to tell. Lyle Keller was born in the township of Trimbelle on August 25, 1894, a
son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Keller. He spent his boyhood on the farm and in
1915 was married to, Otilla Thom of Trimbelle. They farmed in the town from
1918 to 1931 and then moved to Ellsworth where Lyle entered the produce business. He had been prominent in civil affairs and always worked for the
best interests of the village. In a telephone conversation I had lately with Mrs Connie Hovde I was told
the Hovde's bought the Keller building in 1957 and turned it into a hardware store. The Hovde's
did business there several years and in 1962 they sold it to the Farmers Union, who also sold hardware. In 1978 the
building was sold to Jay Griggs who had just bought the Pierce County Herald from Stan Doolittle. The building has been used as the Herald office
ever since. One thing that always amazes me is how people used to recycle older
buildings. In the same story that told of the opening of the new Keller produce, it also tells that the old produce
building was sold to the Boy Scouts as a club house for $100. It was moved to the Pierce County Fair Grounds. The next time you go in
the old west gate of the fair grounds just look to the left and there you
will see it still being put to good use. The old building to the left of the Keller produce was also sold and torn
down. Nothing much went to waste in those days. Maybe that was one of
the things that was good about the "Good Old Days." Homemade Soap The ingredients that went to making soap were a little interesting. First
the right amount of water was placed in the kettle, then the meat scraps
and finally some lye and borax was added. Last of all the fire was started
under the kettle and then dad would set on an old chair and wait for the
slow process to take place. The fuel for the fire under the kettle was just as interesting as the
ingredients in the soap. Dad would start the fire by putting kindling it
the small door in the side of the jacket. After it was lighted a good shot
of burnt crank case oil was thrown in and a great amount of black smoke After this all cooked for about three hours and the ingredients of the
kettle would thicken to the right consistency the, fire was allowed to go
out and the soap would harden over night. The next morning the soap was cut into bars which were about three or
four inches thick and you had some of the best soap you can get for getting
clothes clean. It made white clothes brighter and was very good for cleaning soiled work clothes too. In the bottom of the kettle were a few bone remnants and a good amount of
liquid soap. My mother said her grandmother used this liquid to scrub the
outhouse but as far as I know my mother just threw it away. If the temperature fell below freezing over night the soap would not
harden and if I remember right it would have to be cooked over again.
We hear a lot about recycling these days and its a good thing to do, but
years ago people did all the time and they didn't know they were doing it,
for them it was a way of life. It even took care of the garbage so if you have some old meat scraps, old
burnt oil or worn out overshoes don't put them in the garbage just go out I'm just waiting for Martha Stewart to tell us how to do it on her T V
program some morning, she must know all about it. I suppose she has a lot
of cast iron kettles too. At dad's auction in May of 1990 his kettle brought $135, that would surely buy a lot of soap now-a-days. Written by Richard Langer Oct. 17, 1999 J. S.'s Sawmill J. S.'s mill was on the north side of the yard just across from where
Eli's is now. It was housed in a large board shed. The mill was powered by
a 100 hp Minneapolis Moline Six Cylinder engine that was a gas burner. The
engine was in a little shed of it's and own and when the carriage would move the log into the saw that powerful engine would let out bellow and
it's little shed would just shake rattle and roll. A lot of the time I would go along to town with dad and after so many
visits to the mill I got to know some of the workers there. Johnny Young
usually rode the carriage and I remember Fred Snow used to run the slab saw. J. S.'s brother Ernie Hines also worked at the mill, he seemed to know
a lot about the business and would do many different jobs. I also remember
talking to Ignatius Murphy, I think he turned the log on the carriage which
had to be done after every few boards were taken off one side of the log to
keep the boards as even as possible. A sawmill could be a dangerous place to work. One time when dad and I
were there, this day Harry Straub was running the big clutch lever which
when it was moved ahead would start everything in the mill rolling.
For some reason Harry had his hand too close to the carriage and when the
log was turned his hand right below the thumb ended up between the log and Dad had the Hines mill saw some of our logs into lumber a number of
times. The lumber was used to built some of the buildings at home. It has
been quite a few years since and the lumber is still as good as new, nothing lasts like home sawed lumber. I think the last time dad had lumber sawed at the mill was in 1953. Our
road was graded in the spring of that year and there was a large cottonwood
south of the driveway that had to go. The R. E. A. and the Kenall Bros.,
who were grading the road took the tree down. A truck from the Hines mill picked up the log and a week or so later just
at supper time the lumber was brought back. They had hit a small nail in
the log when it was sawed, but that was not unusual for trees that grow near a homestead. Things have sure changed, now-a-days if a tree is taken down it most
likely goes to a land fill. Then the only land fill we had was back in the
woods and nothing was taken there unless there no other possible use for
it. In other words if it wasn't garbage we found a use for it somewhere. Written by Richard Langer Oct. 17, 1999 |
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