The Westford Wardsman, May 3, 1919
Center. Mrs. Fred A. Hildreth, of Malden, has been a guest at her son’s home, H. V. Hildreth, this week.
The Westford academy baseball team went to Harvard on Wednesday afternoon and played the Bromfield school team. Westford won by the score of 9 to 4.
At the Congregational church on Sunday morning Rev. O. L. Brownsey will speak in the morning on “The faith that holds,” communion following. At the evening service the subject will be “Enlisted for life.”
Mrs. George A. Walker who is sick with pneumonia, is reported as gaining.
Brush fires have kept the fire-fighters busy this week. Five calls were reported on Wednesday.
Frank C. Wright and Harry L. Nesmith are driving Buick cars this spring. Both Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Nesmith drive these new cars efficiently. Mrs. Simpson, on the Leighton place, has purchased a Ford truck.
The extreme cold last week Friday and Saturday must have hurt fruit buds in the lowlands, but as far as we learn on Westford hill there was no damage of any amount.
The Edward M. Abbot hose company hold their annual meeting next Wednesday evening at the fire house.
Corp. Stanley Sargent, recently discharged, has been a visitor of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Knight. Corp. Sargent has seen much overseas service and was badly wounded in the neck and shoulder in one of the battles.
The monthly social at the Congregational church on Thursday evening of last week was one of the most successful of the winter. This was under the capable direction of Mrs. S. B. Watson. Mr. Watson was first assistant and Mrs. Arthur E. Day and Mrs. Arthur E. Burnham were the other helpers. A bountiful meat-pie supper with other substantials, followed with an abundance of fancy pies, was served at seven o’clock. Plates were laid for 101 and every place was taken and a second table for about thirty was necessary. Misses Edna Day, Ethel Woodbury and Miss Parker assisted in waiting on table. Following the supper an entertainment was given in the church auditorium by the Mendelssohn quartet of Lowell, assisted by Mrs. Nettie E. Roberts, soloist, and Mrs. Perley E. Wright, reader; Miss Julia H. Fletcher accompanist. Every one of these entertainers gave of their best to a most appreciative audience. Their selections were happily chosen and an evening of enjoyable entertainment was the result. A pleasant, social supper, a satisfying entertainment and a good result for the church treasury were the returns for this capable committee’s work.
Miss Elsie M. Farwell, who has had charge of the dancing class, gave a very pleasant costume dancing party at the town hall on last week Friday evening. There were about sixty couples in attendance and the Lenox Ladies’ orchestra of Lowell furnished music for the dancing. The prizes for the best costumes were awarded as follows: Lady’s first prize, Miss Ruth Loveless; Gentleman’s first prize, Forrest White; eccentric prize, Walter Socerelis; honorable mention, Betty Prescott and Elizabeth Carver. Little Miss Loveless’ costume was an old-fashioned one and was quaint and attractive. Forrest White’s was a chef’s costume of spotless white with cap and apron. Walter Socerelis wore a native Greek costume, and Betty Prescott a queen of Heart’s dress, and Elizabeth Carver was an attractive little lady in a spangled frock representing “Night.”
Tadmuck Club. The closing meeting, which is the annual meeting, with luncheon, took place on Tuesday afternoon at the Unitarian church. Luncheon was served at 1:30 by the D. L. Page Co. Mrs. Harry M. Ingalls was the hostess of the day and Misses Ruth Loveless, Gladys Ingalls, Ruth Sargent, Marion and Mildred Fletcher and Ethel Collins were the waitresses. The decorations were marguerites, daffodils and ferns, also evergreen foliage.
At the conclusion of the luncheon the president, Mrs. Roudenbush, called to order. Mrs. Brownsey, Mrs. Richardson and Mrs. Whitley were welcomed into the club as new members. Mrs. Roudenbush gave notice of the sewing school for the four successive Tuesdays in May, the first meeting at Library hall on next Tuesday afternoon at 2:30; also, notice of the annual meeting of the State Federation in South Hadley on June 4, 5 and 6. Reports of officers and committees were next in order. The recording secretary reported 112 members at the opening of the season; 4 new members have been added and 17 withdrawn. There have been thirteen meetings with an average attendance of about 35. Four meetings were given to relief work. The corresponding secretary reported a total of 23 letters written. Reports from the various departments were called for and the report of the nominating committee given. The officers for the coming year were a reselection from this season. There were various changes in the departments.
Mrs. Olive E. Loveless, toastmistress, was next introduced and filled this chair with pleasurable acceptance. She introduced in place of Mrs. Geurney, who was unable to be present, Mrs. J. W. Shaw, of Groton, who gave “Reminiscence of my grandmother, Mrs. Julia Ward Howe.” It was an intimate and charming sketch of her distinguished ancestor that Mrs. Shaw gave. Mrs. F. A. Torrey, of Groton, chairman of the sixth district, of which the Westford club is a part, was introduced and presented the work and aims of the State Federation most capably. Mrs. Loveless, by request, gave Angela Morgan’s beautiful “Housewife hymn.” Music was furnished by a group of ladies—Mrs. Bartlett and Mrs. Taylor, first altos; Mrs. C. H. Wright and Miss Julia Fletcher, second altos; Mrs. Meyer, Mrs. Blaney and Miss Eva Fletcher, sopranos; Miss Edith Wright, accompanist. Rubenstein’s spring song, “Voices of the wood,” was much enjoyed, and Mrs. Taylor preceded the singing by a sketch of this great Russian composer, with portrait.
It was pleasant to have as out-of-town guests Mrs. John P. Wright, of Cambridge; Mrs. Edna L. Woods, of Somerville, and Mrs. Edwin E. Amesbury, of Wakefield.
About Town. G. E. Laboutly, formerly superintendent of the Read Drew farm, and A. R. Jenks of the Farm Bureau, are operating their recently purchased farm in West Acton, under the name of Middlesex Fruit farm.
Between 70 degrees in the shade and 20 degrees in the sun we are taking stock to know what got pinched. Winter and spring wheat, grass and grasshoppers generally got by. Potatoes we haven’t heard from; neither dare we say hello to them when the ground was frozen hard enough to pinch tears from their eyes. Plums and pears are reported to have passed away quietly Saturday morning when ice formed one-half an inch thick. Peaches are reported to be a tie. The evidence that they have been killed and the evidence that they have not been killed balances. Considering the steady wind that prevailed all of Saturday evening to mitigate the bite of the freeze, what should we have got if it had been calm? Well we should have been liable to get a view of zero getting into the saddle.
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Day and eight-months-old son, Robert Leslie Day, have been visiting at the old Day homestead at the junction of the Cold Spring and Graniteville roads. Mrs. Emma Day is great-grandmother of Robert Leslie Day.
West Chelmsford Grange had a large attendance at their regular meeting on last week Thursday evening with visitors present from Lowell, Chelmsford, Tewksbury and Westford. The third and fourth degrees were conferred on eight candidates. David Olson was unanimously elected and installed as master to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mrs. Lulu Johnson. Past Master, Fred L. Fletcher, of Chelmsford Grange, was the installing officer. Mrs. Elizabeth Vinal, in behalf of the Grange, presented Mrs. Johnson with a cut glass vase filed with flowers as an appreciation of her four-years service for the Grange. Mrs. Johnson having sold her old home, commonly known as the Longley house, has moved to Lowell. Supper was served by Mrs. Angelina Ryan, Mrs. Alice Holt, Mrs. May Edwards and Mrs. Alice Robage.
John A. Taylor writes home from France of meeting Harold Hildreth as student soldier at a university. Harold is the first Westford boy he has met overseas.
The selectmen have appointed W. Otis Day as director of the Middlesex County Bureau of agriculture and home economics. The appointment is an ideal one—youthful, progressive, and well seasoned with sense.
Mrs. Herbert E. Fletcher had charge of the May breakfast on Thursday morning, under the auspices of the West Chelmsford Benevolent society, in the vestry of the village church. Breakfast was served from five to twelve o’clock. Besides breakfast lunches were put up and everything prospered as was expected of Mrs. Fletcher.
Amos Polley, on the Prairie farm, is planting quite an acreage of potatoes with the Aspinwall planter. He also has an acreage of winter wheat of real thrift green color, which will be fed to the cows, color and all.
W. R. Taylor protected his peach trees against the recent attempts of weather to come the zero act by cloth coverings.
Forge Village. Mrs. Ellen Flynn, an old and esteemed resident of this village for many years, died at her home on Wednesday. She had suffered for several months and her death comes as a happy release from pain. During her long illness she was tenderly cared for by her devoted daughter, Miss Mary E. Flynn. She is also survived by a son, John L. Flynn. Mrs. Flynn was the widow of the late Patrick Flynn. She was born in Ayer seventy-one years ago, but the large part of her life has been spent in this village. The deceased was devoted to her home and her son and daughter; she was a good neighbor, and her presence will be sadly missed. She also leaves a sister, Mrs. Frank Furbush, of Graniteville. Her two sisters died within the past year; also, a niece, Mrs. Alice (Quinn) Palmer, of Ayer.
Services will be held at St. Andrew’s mission on Sunday afternoon at 4:30. Rev. Lester Wallace, of Taunton, the newly-appointed vicar, will preach.
Miss Annie Campling, of Lawrence, is visiting her cousins, Misses Maude and Edith Hunt.
William Hunt has recently purchased a new Buick auto.
Mrs. Ellen Flynn, who has been ill for several months at her home, is now in a very critical condition.
Minstrel Show. The Forge Village A. C. presented its minstrel show in Abbot hall on Monday evening to a crowded house. Large numbers were obliged to stand throughout the entire program. The singing in the choruses was very good; the jokes were clever and the end-men handled their parts in an able manner. One of the features was a novelty dance by William and John Baker. William Kelly was the interlocutor. The soloists were all in fine voice and were obliged to respond to encores. The following program was given: Overture, orchestra; opening chorus, entire company; end song, “Tacking ‘em down,” Thomas Kelly; solo, “Rainbow love,” John Kelly; end song, “I shall sleep well tonight,” William McCann; solo, “Angel of my dreams,” William Kelly; solo and chorus, “Don’t let us sing of war,” Alexander Scott; chorus, entire company; end song, “Johnny’s in town,” James Kelly; solo, “Little by little you’re breaking my heart,” Charles Douglas; chorus, “In the land of cotton,” entire company; novelty dance, John and William Baker; end song, “The worst is yet to come,” James Mulligan; closing number, “Rule Britannia,” “Marsellaise” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Carolyn E. Precious was the efficient accompanist.
The floor was then cleared for dancing which was enjoyed until midnight. Music for the show and dance was furnished by the Over the Top orchestra. The affair was under the direction of James May, who took charge of the program, and he is to be congratulated upon the success of the affair from a musical standpoint.
Graniteville. The Graniteville A. C. played the Middlesex A. C. on the local grounds last Saturday afternoon and met with defeat by the score of 19 to 7. It was a poor day for baseball on account of the cold weather. The local club was also trying out several new players and this also proved a handicap. It is expected that the local team will make a better showing when these two clubs meet again.
Miss Alta Linscott, of Dracut, formerly with the office staff on the C. G. Sargent Sons Corporation here, and her brother, Roy Linscott, recently returned from overseas duty with the A.E.F., were recent guests of Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Wright and other friends in the village.
Harvard
News Items. Last Saturday morning when William Craggs was going to his work in the Ayer yard, he discovered the body of a soldier who had been killed by a train. He proved to be an overseas boy from Camp Devens, his name Quimby and his home in Mississippi. From a letter found in his coat it is evident that for some reason he was tired of life and took this method of ending his existence. The body was viewed by Medical Examiner Toby of Clinton and later removed to Camp Devens.
Ayer
News Items. The body of Curtis McDonald Quimby of Laurel, Miss., a member of Company A, Machine Gun Battalion, was found last Saturday near the tracks of the Worcester & Nashua railroad. The body was covered with wounds. It was supposed that Quimby, who was in the 26th Division parade last week Friday, was killed by falling from a train while returning to the cantonment, but later discovery of his coat hanging on a fence post nearby led to further investigation. A special military board of inquiry was appointed.
Plans for Camp. The limits of the permanent military reservation, steps for the purchase of which are well under way, have been finally set to include all of the land covered by camp buildings and the training fields and ranges, excepting the artillery range. The area of the land which is being purchased is about a third of the whole area now under lease.
Gen. Peyton C. March, on his recent visit to the camp, inspected the field combat range in Still River, and as a result this training field was added to the permanent camp, while outlying strips of land east of the bomb and grenade field and west of the rifle target ranges have been eliminated. The camp site, when finally United States property, will contain about 3500 acres.
The owners of the 150 parcels of land which are being purchased are signing agreements to sell at a stipulated figure, which was originally set forth in the leases of the property. The lowest value placed on land is $15 an acre. No estimate has been made of the value of the new camp, except that it was much lower than it was expected would be paid out to conserve the $13,000,000 in money improvements and many other millions represented in soldier labor.
According to advices which have been received from the war department, there is sufficient money on hand to purchase the land and the sale will be effected immediately upon the completion of present preliminary work. Fifty percent of the owners of the land to be purchased have either signed agreements to sell or are sure to do so soon.
The agreements to sell will be forwarded to Washington and the final payments made from there. A Massachusetts company has been retained to guarantee the title to the land to protect the government in the event that any of the titles are insufficient.
All of the land in the artillery range in Shirley and extending through Lancaster toward Clinton and Bolton is to be returned to the owners without delay. This area is two thirds of the present reservation. It contains nothing of value to the camp and was used only for artillery practice and to stage sham battles.
The field combat range is the land farthest south from the center of the camp, although it is not quite as far distant as was the war prisoners’ camp in Bolton. The prisoners’ camp, where 100 German naval reservists were confined, is to be abandoned. The permanent camp will include the rifle range, machine-gun range, bomb and grenade fields, trench area, sewage filtration beds, water wells, field combat range, snipers’ range, bayonet training area, trench mortar field, automatic rifle range and one-ponder range. It will be possible to have artillery practice by using the field combat area to contain the field targets.
Major Fred Woods, of Brookline, is engineer in charge for the army and the surveying is being done by Frank Wetherbee of Braintree, civil engineer. Major Robert Bonne, of Newton, is quartermaster acquisition officer in charge of leases and property rights.
Camp Notes. Plans for summer training camps for the reserve officers’ training corps have been approved by the war department. Six cantonments will be used, covering the entire country. They will open June 21 and continue until August 2. Camp Devens will be used for units from Rhode Island, Connecticut Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The Y.D. is no more. The glorious 26th Division burned the last page of its history on Tuesday with the demobilization of its last remaining units and headquarters; 9000 soldiers and 500 officers of the division departed for their homes on Tuesday, their pockets filled with more than $1,000,000 and each soldier the possessor of an honorable discharge. The discharge of 7055 enlisted men and 171 officers of the division on Monday was double the record of any other camp, and Tuesday set a high mark which may never be equaled. The rapidity with which the regiments were disbanded and returned to civilian status was remarkable. In two days more than $2,500,000 had been put in the hands of the Y.D. veterans. Although disbanded, the Y.D. is not dead, for the Yankee Division Veterans society came into existence on Tuesday to perpetuate the friendships, traditions and associations of the division, to aid members and dependents in settling claims for allotments and insurance and in obtaining employment.
K. of C. Motion picture shows of all kinds are nightly given in the Knights of Columbus buildings; catholic art production pictures, as well as educational films suggested by the government are shown. In a word, everything possible is being done for the men in khaki by the catholic chaplains and the Knights of Columbus. The slogan, “Everybody welcome—everything free” is, it goes without saying, maintained. Soldiers from “over there” on arrival in Devens at once inquire of the K. of C. One buddy, before leaving his overcoat in the K. of C. main hut to be “checked,” pulled out an enormous slab of chewing tobacco, remarking to the present writer, who noticing the end of the slab bore many teeth marks, asked a question. “Why the K-C gave me that in France. I’m going to take it to Boston with me ‘on pass.’” K. of C. has meant, and still means, “the sign of a brother hand.”
Shirley
Center. It is understood that the U.S. government is to release to the owners the greater part of the property at Woodsville, which had to be vacated on account of the rifle range. The only land which is to be bought in that vicinity is that which was included in the first taking, while all of the land in the so-called safety zone is to be given back to its owners. The farm of A. W. Wood has been bought by the government but most of the other former residents of Woodsville will be able to return to their homes soon.
Littleton
News Items. The funeral of J. Henry Colburn, whose death by accident occurred last week, was held at the home of his sister-in-law in Westford last week Friday, followed by rites performed in the Congregational church, Littleton, the same afternoon, when Rev. F. W. Lambertson, pastor of the deceased, officiated in a simple but impressive service.