Turner's Public Spirit, July 19, 1924

A look back in time to a century ago

By Bob Oliphant

Center.  Capt. Sherman H. Fletcher, Alonzo H. Sutherland and Howard Ferguson on last Sunday, dining at Turk’s Head, motored to Marblehead and Rockport Inn, Land’s End, Rockport.

Mrs. Harry E. Whiting and daughter Anna have been guests of relatives in Rockport recently.

Principal William Roudenbush of Westford academy and Mrs. Roudenbush left on Wednesday afternoon on an auto trip to Clifton Springs, N.Y.

The Congregational Sunday school picnic was held at Silver Lake, Hollis, N.H., Thursday.  Boating, bathing and games were enjoyed.

Mrs. W. H. Youlden and son and Miss Doris Baker were Sunday guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Perley Wright.

Mrs. Anna C. Roudenbush is a guest at the home of her son, William C. Roudenbush.

The C. E. society of the Congregational church and the Y.P.R.U. of the Unitarian church enjoyed an outing at Whalom Park on Monday.

Weekend guests at the home of Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Knight were the Misses Erma and Marjorie Campbell, of Hudson, N.H.

The men of the Congregational [church] are planning a garden party to be held on July 29.

Mr. and Mrs. Horace Killam were guests of Rev. and Mrs. Edward Disbrow last week, and Miss Pearl Lewis, of West Boxford, is a guest at the parsonage this week.

Bids for barges to transport the school children to the Center have been called by the school committee and must be in the hands of the secretary, Mrs. Perley Wright, by Tuesday, July 20.

Mrs. Harry Gumb is expected home from the hospital the first of next week.

William Watson left Tuesday for his home in North Carolina.

George Brigham, who has been ill, is much improved.

Don Judd, who has been ill with pneumonia for the past eight weeks, is improving.

Miss Mary A. Grant is the guest of her aunt, Mrs. Harry E. Whiting.

About Town.  About 100 acres or more were burned over last week in the Rabbit swamp fire.

Irving T. Wright has on his haying uniform and is haying at the Old Oaken Bucket farm.

Amos Polley, on the Morning Glory farm, is digging new potatoes for market.  They are larger than James Dempsey’s [sic, probably William Harrison “Jack” Dempsey (1895-1983) is meant] gloveless fist.  Hurrah for planting in early mud rather than in the late, hot, dried up sand.  When shall we ever learn that early spring is the time to plant?

Alfred W. Hartford, Everett Miller, Charles Carter, S. L. Taylor, of this town, and Frederick A. Snow, of West Chelmsford, attended the Ancient York lodge of Lowell, ate watermelon and had their pictures taken with the crowd.  This may be a preliminary to being finger-printed later on.

Norman Phillips, on the Lowell road, has bought a new Ford; ditto Peter Winchester on the Plain road.

Amos Polley, on the Morning Glory farm, has bought twelve tons of standing grass of Warren [sic, Walter] O. Day.  Much of it is lying down with inability to remain standing.

And now comes forward Canada and reports only half a wheat crop as compared with 1923.  As a result of this outlook wheat has gone up five cents a bushel in the wheat pit of Chicago.  This cut in harvest prospects and consequent rise in the price of wheat is due to the Canada drouth.  R. O. Cromwell representing one of the largest grain houses in Chicago says, “Neither Winnipeg nor Chicago realizes the situation in Canada.  It is the worst in twenty years.  Even feed grain is near failure here.  Superintendents of grain departments of railroads and other such people agree that the wheat crop will be only half of last year in the three provinces.”  And now comes forward Washington, and says, “This year’s northern hemisphere wheat harvest will be less than last year’s by 10% or more, the Department of Agriculture estimates from official reports.  The decreased production is due to a 4 ½% cut in acreage or about 9,000,000 acres less than last year.”  With these decreasing bushels in view perhaps that acre of wheat on the Old Oaken Bucket farm will not look quite so much like an old hayseed a century behind progress.

A wider use of the road scraper in widening roads would make travel safer and would be much cheaper than a bush scythe in preventing the encroachment of bushes.  Too many of ours are only bridle path wide, and as no one likes to brush into the bushes it is close calculating how to pass with the road only wide enough for an auto and a half.

We were incorrectly misinformed in regard to F. W. Banister having bought the standing grass on the John H. Decatur place.  Later testimonials inform us that Norman Whitten on the farm adjoining has bought the grass.

Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Taylor returned on Monday evening from their Berkshire-Mohawk Trail automobile vacation, and Mr. and Mrs. Carlos D. Cushing returned Wednesday evening to their summer home in Framingham.

Our prospective large apple crop, so prospectively large as per crop of blossoms, has already been half harvested by free dropping and much cheaper by 100% than fifty cents per hour thinning, which is as senseless effort as ever let loose on the farming community, not excepting an effort out of which you get nothing but a red face.

The band concert by the Abbot Worsted Company band at Cameron park on last week Friday evening at West Chelmsford was one grand, hilarious affair in come-together social benefits, with the largest attendance in the history of West Chelmsford band concerts.  The weather part of the program was contributory and the moon was agreeable, and the music was just jingling, chimeful, tuneful and appealing for an inspiring evening.

Russian archaeologists excavating in Siberia unearthed several human bodies belonging to the stone age.  A number of prehistoric mammoths, dinosaurs, bison, gigantic stags and more than 700 stone and bone implements, ornaments and weapons of the prehistoric age were disclosed.  One of the skeletons found by the explorers is believed to be at least 17,000 years old.  In this and many other discoveries shall we now have to revise our creation arithmetic or else not interpret quite so sternly literal as 6000 years old?

Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Taylor left on last week Wednesday for a week’s vacation among the Berkshires.  They report the scenery just “Magnolia.”  Mr. and Mrs. Carlos D. Cushing [Mrs. Taylor’s parents] have been housing at the W. R. Taylors.

Oliver Desjardens has bought a new Ford automobile of the coupé variety.

In a recent trip to Concord on the afternoon of the shower on last week Thursday we were much surprised to find so large an acreage of hoed crops planted, and still more surprised to find the crops looking so exceptionally vigorous and forward, considering the cold, backward spring and dry, ushered in summer, the first rain for several weeks overtaking us near the old North bridge.  To the farmers of Concord, who are an exceptionally successful lot, we take off our hats in their hoed crops except potatoes and sweet corn.  On these two crops the Morning Glory and Old Oaken Bucket farms have Concord farmers running to cover, especially on potatoes.

Good authority reports that Langdon Prouty, of Littleton, has taken out nomination papers for the republican nomination for representative to the legislature from this district, the eleventh Middlesex, made up of Acton, Carlisle, Bedford, Chelmsford, Tyngsboro, Westford and Littleton.  In our own private figuring we had conceded Littleton a turn to send a candidate and we shall stick to our conceding.  We do not personally know Mr. Prouty except by proxy, and his grandfather, Hon. Gardner Prouty, who was one of the substantial bright men of Littleton when on earth.  The proposed candidate comes highly recommended by those I have faith in.

Ancient York lodge of Lowell had a delightful outing on Saturday afternoon at the Martin Luther grounds in Tyngsboro on the banks of the Merrimack river.  The sports, the day, the dinner and the weather and the social chat life were abundantly appreciated.  The dinner, which was a sunset supper, was just splendidly tempting.  There were lobsters, crabs, clams and oysters, watermelons, Chelmsford ginger ale and a lot else that I cannot space up here.  I was fortunate in my table companions—they did not like watermelon or ginger ale, and I did not like lobster, etc., so we swapped our likes and each thought that he got the best of the other.

Graniteville.  The Abbots defeated Reading in Reading on Monday evening by the score of 8 to 7.  On Tuesday evening at North Cambridge the Abbots and North Cambridge were dead-locked at three runs each.  The game was called at the end of the ninth on account of darkness.  The Abbots and Maynard will play the first of a series of games here on Sunday afternoon at three o’clock.

1. G. Sargent’s Sons’ machine shop started up this week on full time.

The band concert given by the Abbot Worsted Company band at Forge Village on last Saturday evening met with great success.  Frank Charlton, the well-known tenor soloist, was heard in several pleasing vocal numbers.  The band will play again on this Saturday evening at Forge Village at 7:15.  The band will present a pleasing program and be assisted at this time by the Honey Boy Four of Lowell.  All four are pleasing singers and are expected to score a big hit.  These concerts are given in the open air and all are cordially invited to attend.  Plenty of free parking space for autos on the bank of the beautiful Forge pond.

The Methodist church Sunday school picnic will be held at Whalom Park on Saturday, July 19.  A special electric car will leave Abbot’s corner at 10:30 and will stop at West Graniteville and Forge Village.  There are a few of the adult tickets left.

The Abbots will play the Medford Telephone team here this Friday evening, and will play the North Cambridge team in Lowell this Saturday afternoon.

Townsend

Center.  Miss Priscilla Hodge is enjoying a vacation visit with Miss Alma Warren at the home of Rev. and Mrs. A. L. O’Brien at Graniteville.

Ayer

Real Estate Transfers.  The following real estate transfers have been recorded from this vicinity recently:

Westford, William E. Anderson to George Smith, land on Concord road; Lena Gates et al. to Marian F. Thwing.