Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 66, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1918 — HAPPENINGS IN OUR NEIGHBORING VILLAGES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HAPPENINGS IN OUR NEIGHBORING VILLAGES

FAIR OAKS We have been having several days fine weather this week. There is quite a bit of rye and oats being marketed here this week. J. R. Kight and others of Thayer were visitors at Ike Kight’s Sunday. Hurrah! for the Allies. We are expecting some of our boys home in the near future. Uncle Will Gundy and wife of Roselawn visited with their son, Milt, here Sunday. Health is somewhat improved the past week so far. There is only one new case of the “flu,” that of Fonda Clifton. Mrs. W. S. McConnell has so far recovered from the influenza that she was able to be brought home Sunday evening. < The section men on the C. & E. I. were put on the eight hour day the first of the week, and as a consequence they all quit except the foreman. C. T. Otis’ men just finished hauling a car or two of gravel out to section 29, where he is having a barn and corn crib built. He will also build a new house. Glen Wiseman of Bole, Montana, who has been in camp at Husted, North Carolina, and Charles LaCrosse, who is taking mechanical training at Valparaiso, made a short call in Fair Oaks Tuesday. Glen had just come through from the camp with a corpse to Wabash, and slipped over to say “hello” to a few of his old friends. Charles is at home on a 30-day furlough. ZADOC Miss Nettie Hewett is spending the week at home. The war is over, election is over. How ever will we live through so much joy all at once? Mr. and Mrs. Grover Stembel of Wheatfield visited at the Dewey home last Sunday evening. We got a card froom Arizona Custard a few days agoo stating that he was at Camp Custer, Michigan, now. A few from here were at the celebration at Wheatfield Monday evening where singing, marching, dancing and bonfires expressed the sentiment. Here, as all other places, joy knows no bounds since the war is at last over. Even the vocabulary of Webster is too limited to express the people’s feelings. The last of the registrants in the conscription age received their questionairres, filled out and returned them last week. There was

quite a number of them here. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence McDaniel have returned from their two weeks visit in Tennessee. They were in sight of the Cumberland mountains and in the coal district. They say it is fine there but better in Indiana. We find in the casualty list of Monday the name of Jay Tabler as wounded, degree undetermined. Jay was among the first volunteers and joined at Kouts. Mrs. Fannie Clark, north of Wheatfield, and Mrs. Bessie Finney of near Kouts are the only near relatives we know of, both of whom are sisters. We earnestly hope the wounds are not serious. He has many friends in northern Jasper and southern Porter county. Mr. and Mrs. Simon Fendig recently received an interesting letter from their son, Corporal Allen Fendig, who is in France. He was located by snipers who scattered bullets around him between three and four hours, none of which hit him as he was lying as close to the ground as possible. Although he enjoyed the much-needed few days rest he had, the stillness was so great he was unable to sleep. Corporal Fendig is an engineer and precedes the army, preparing the way, Constantly working under barrage fire. JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NEWTON COUNTY Daniel Helmuth’s family has had a severe siege of measles and influenza. A big yield and good quality is the report heard from all parts of the county concerning corn. Four little kingdoms all in a row; they peeved Uncle Sam and now see what the darned things look like. Ransom Elijah and Noah Shriver, both Democrats, have the honor of being the two oldest voters in Jackson township. The influenza epidemic appears to be about over in this vicinity. No new cases have been reported in the last week. A farmers’ institute has been organized in Lake township and its first session will be held in Lake Village, December 11. A large flock of brants was seen in this locality Monday afternoon. These birds, once here by the thousands, are seldom seen now. Dr. C E. Triplett of Morocco, has been called to Lexington, Kentucky, by Uncle Sam to assist in the fighting there against influenza. Daniel Schanlaub accompanied his mother to Missouri the fore part of this week, where the latter will spend the winter with her daughter. While the Democrats in old Newton lost out on the county - ticket, they did fairly well in the matter of township trustees, electing five out of ten. Mr. and Mrs. John Cole, who have been keeping house for Edgar Steward, left for Arkansas one day last week, where they expect to make their home. Now, after more than four years of untold suffering, what becomes of Dutch Bill’s boastful language —“Me unt Gott, Onward mit Gott” and “My unconqerable army!” Oscar Rafferty, living just north of Pilot Grove, has rented a farm north of Morocco and will take possession of same next spring. The farm vacated by Rafferty has been rented to Frank Sargent. When you tell a lie stick to it appears to be one of the mistaken ideas that prevails-. in Berlin during the recent disturbance. “Enemy attacks east of the Meuse were repulsed,” is the last German war office report, and it reads just like

'the first German war report sent out in 1914. Dr. E. R. Schanlaub knows how to sympathize with Dutch Bill. The Doc bet a large wad of kale that the Democratic donkey would hit the wire far in advance of the lumbering g. o. p. elephant in the recent election. “The Rosen Rye, which was shipped into the county and distributed to a large number of farmers,” says the Kentland Enterprise, “is making an excellent growth and is in good condition to withstand the winter.” That new mechanical contrivance, the corn picker, promises to relieve the agriculturist of the hardest job on the farm; namely, husking corn by hand. Quite a number of Newton county’s best farmers are using corn pickers this year with good success. You have met him, of course. The man who will turn down a day’s work at good wages, but who, in company with a rotten eyed hound, will tramp through mud and vZater and briars all night to capture a stinking old skunk, or who will pursue a consumptive rabbit from sun to sun, when in the same length of time he could earn enough moncjr, at honest labor to buy twenty pounds of corn-fed With hundreds of American “kill-joys” deploring the fact that our boys in the trenches are permitted the comforts of pipe and tobacco, why search further for the prize mean citizen? Surely the life of a soldier is miserable enough at best, and if, by the use of the soothing weed, he is en-. abled in a measure to quell the rising sigh, what is there so terrible about it that these stay-at-home “heroes” must go to throwing fits? We see by the papers that the man who has a copy of the Ulster Gazette, containing a notice of the death of Washingon, .s still quite numerous. During a brief career in the field of journalism we personally met and shook hands with 16,329 men each of whom owned a copy of the Ulster Gazette, containing a notice of the death of Washington. In fact at this late day we are able to report from memory every word in the old Ulster Gazette —that copy, we mean, containing a notice of the death of Washington. The recent election, so far as it concerned the Democrats of Newton county, showed most conclusively what personal spite will accomplish when carried into the party and worked to its full capacity—when certain county officials, clothed with a little brief authority, proceed upon the theory that to the vanquished belong the spoils, while faithful party workers are given the boot and left to brouse upon the barrens. There was no earthly reason for the defeat of the Democrats in this county on Tuesday of last week, except that the rank and file had become discouraged with a system that persistently and systematically turned the party down.

Is it little Willie? It is, or rather, it was. What makes Willie look so funny? Deary, it’s a sad tale, and we hate to harrow up thy soul but here goes: One day, more than four years ago, this same little Willie of Germany undertook to whip the universal earth, your Uncle Samuel included, and his present condition is the direct result. Take a nearer view, Hon, and you will observe that both of his lamps are in mourning, three front teeth and the half of one ear missing, while from a considerable area of his block the scalp has been separated from its natural moorings. Will little Willie be good now? Yes, Pet, Willie will be good now; your Uncle Samuel and his coadjutors across the raging main will see to that. Speaking of influential people, we know of who wielda. such a far-reaching influence as the champion local skunk hunter. This personage may be rough in appearance and not overly bright intellectually, but let him appear in the marts of trade on a sultry afternoon and he will at once attract attention. He has a strong personality and sheds an atmosphere peculiarly his own. The champion local skunk hunter has been known to break up a revival meeting, with nine penitents at the mourners’ bench, by simply entering the house of God and quietly taking a seat in a back pew. In theater, store and bank he is greeted with silent awe, and go where he will he immediately springs into prominence and becomes, so to speak, the man of the hour. The writer, when a boy, owned a dog that possessed this peculiar trait of the champion skunk hunter to a wonderful degree. At night, when good men slept, this dog would fade into the adjacent darkness and eat large quantities of carrion. Then in the gray dawn of morning he would return home and hang around the kitchen door and revive memories of the dead past. On occasions, when company was present, our dog, after one of his unholy feasts, would walk into the parlor and breathe upon the assemblage collectively and individually whereupon the callers would invariably rise up Riley and take a aurried and undignified departure. Then we would go out and roll on the sward in Machiavelian glee. GIFFORD A. E. Zook moved to the Kimble property . Thursday. * Harry Reed is unloading a car load of coal this week. Mrs. Ethel Hill is quite sick at this writing, also Mrs. Stanton. Dr. Kresler was called Monday to both places. Walter Stump, who went to Waukegan, Illinois, to work in a telegraph office, returned home Monday evening. Chas. Scott’s family is improving nicely< Some of them had the “flu” severely, while others not so

bad. It seems the lightest cases are bad enough. The cases here are few at this writing. Sheridan Logue, who has employment in a factory at Kensington, Illinois, left here Monday his wife being there. His mother and two daughters accompanied him. His household goods were taken on a truck from Rensselaer. We sure have lost a good friend and neighbor, although we hope he will make good and coime back to Jasper again. Gifford was not any behind the other home towns when word was received here that we had again become free from this awful war. We joined together and gathered material enough to make a fine bonfire, and then we made an imitation Kaiser and the boys rode him around on a wagon, then w« gave three cheers for the Red, White and Blue and a match was set to the bomb and "Kaiser” was pierced with a sharp knife in the throat and laid upon the fire. We hope the coals will never rekindle again. Guns were fired, girls were singing, drums were beat-ing-—everybody rejoiced over this terrible war being over.

POSSUM RUN Jasper Cover spent Tuesday evening with T. J. Parker. Lester Davis is spending this week with his grandparents. A large crowd attended the blowout at Rensselaer Monday night. Mr. and Mrs. John Parker took dinner with T. J. Parker and family Saturday. Mr. and Mrs. Miller and daughter, Lucille, spent Friday with T. J. Parker and family. The Mt. Pleasant school began Wednesday after a four weeks layoff on account of “flu.” Jack Reeder butchered a beet for Clyde Davisson Monday and peddled it out Tuesday. Mr. and Mrs. James Davis and family, James Campbell and son, James, took dinner with Mr. and Mrs. T. J. Parker Sunday. Mrs. Tom Ham and daughter, Mrs. Peg of Indianapolis, returned home Sunday after spending-a few days with relatives at Medaryville and Possum Run. MILROY Mrs. Mitchell of Wolcott spent Tuesday afternoon with the Fisher family. Goldie, eldest daughter of Mr, and Mrs. Elmer Johnson, has influenza. Mrs. Lillie Mitchell and sons spent Sunday with Mr. and Mrs. Marion Dunn. Lon Chapman, who had been sick with influenza since last Saturday, is some better at this date. Earl Foulks and family and Mr. and Mrs. George Foulks took Sunday dnner with Mr. and Mrs. William Banes. Miss Mary Harvey came Sunday to take charge of her school at Lone Star after a visit with her parents at Waynetown, Indiana. Albert and Chas Wood, Virgil Johnson, George and Earl Foulks and families attended the funeral of Edna Christenson near Remington Sunday afternoon.