Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 60, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1899 — Not The Only Bad March. [ARTICLE]

Not The Only Bad March.

From Tuesday’s Dally. The Republican would not willingly further inflame the minds of the people against this present month of March, by dwelling upon the enormities of its conduct. Besides, who knows but within the three days that it still has to run it may do something to redeem itself.- May give us one whole day of nice weather perhaps. But while it might not be judicious to dwell upon the month’s evil record, it would be contrary to any reasonable sense of justice to seek to extenuate its atrocities This much we will say however. There have been others. For instance there was March of the year 1876. On the 28th day of that month, 23 years ago this day, coming on top of a depth of mud, to which the present season’s hub-deep mire is only a layer of dampened dust, their came a snow storm which was more than one foot on the level, and which blowed and drifted until the roads were full as high as the fences, and from one fence to the other. We are able to get this date down exactly, because our townsman, Philip Blue was then trying to. move from Pulaski county on to the Dwiggins farm, near town. He had got as far as Francesville, and his goods and teams were snow-bound there for ten days. He then started from here after the goods, with several four horse teams. The roads were still impassible and he had to take to the fields and prairies, and for miles and miles together, they had to splash through water up to the horses’ knees. That was the season that the Iroquois and Pinkamink rivers were demonstrated to be navigable streams. There was no railroad here then and all goods had to be freighted over from Francesville or Bradford. Uncle Norm Warner builded him a big boat, and in this he would navigate the Iroquois and Pinkamink up about to “Saltillo” bridge, and load with goods, hauled that far from Francesville, by team. Wood was the only fuel in those days, and Uncle Norm would also boat down wood from places up the rivers. He couldn’t get it in soon enough and fast enough, however, to prevent the honest citizens from appropriating and burning most of the worm fences with which many town blocks were then surrounded and beautified.