The Westford Wardsman, September 21, 1918
Center. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur G. Hildreth and baby son [Robert Norris Hildreth, born May 19, 1918, in Springfield], who have been spending the summer in the Hamlin house, have returned to their home in Munson.
The Frank E. Millers, who recently sold their farm, are moving this week to Lowell.
Miss Harriet M. Hodgman [daughter of Rev. Edwin Ruthven Hodgman], who has been spending a number of months with Mrs. Augusta Prescott, goes to Waltham to be with friends. During an interim of a few days she had been visiting with her long-time friend, Miss Emily F. Fletcher, going together to Springfield for a short trip.
Mr. and Mrs. John P. Wright and daughters, Frances and Alice, move next week to Cambridge for the winter, where they have taken an apartment. They will be much missed in the community, but the change makes it much more convenient for Mr. Wright’s business.
There have been one or two cases resembling the epidemic of Spanish influenza reported in town, but nothing so serious as Miss Marjorie Seavey reports. Her cousin Howard Mitchell, of Newton, has just died from an attack of this influenza—a promising young man of twenty-one years, holding a good position with the Needham Trust Company in Needham
The floors of the J. V. Fletcher library are being done over under the careful supervision of Mr. Pickering, and other cleaning done.
The opening meeting of the Tadmuck club will be held on Tuesday afternoon, October 8.
The annual church fair of the Congregational church with its various sales tables, supper and entertainment, will take place on Friday afternoon and evening of next week.
Robert Prescott has recently purchased a new Buick automobile.
Company L, M.S.G., held their usual drill on Tuesday evening with Capt. Charles W. Robinson in charge.
Many interested townspeople watch the progress of the work on Graniteville road in charge of Contractor Greenough. It is an interesting piece of work, and will be much appreciated when it is done. One report has it that it will be open to traffic in about three weeks; another, that it may not be finished this season. Probably a result between the two will be more nearly right.
There were 331 men registered in town last week Thursday. This latest development brings the war more nearly home to many than it has ever done before.
There was a good attendance of Red Cross workers present at Library hall on Wednesday afternoon. Present with Miss Elizabeth Kittredge was Miss Lillian Draper, who is making a short visit in town. Miss Draper has recently returned from France, where she has been doing secretarial work for about a year. With the aid of posters, picture postcards and snapshots Miss Draper had much of interest to tell.
Perley E. Wright and his men are doing a record trucking business this season. One night recently four heavily loaded trucks went over the road and even then were not wholly adequate for the amount to be transferred. Apples and other produce are bringing good prices in the markets.
Miss Lillian Sutherland returned at the beginning of the fall term of the schools to her teaching in Dracut, Miss Jennie Ferguson to Springfield and Miss Ruth Tuttle to Winthrop.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Blodgett returned to Westford from their wedding trip on Wednesday. Mr. Blodgett and Miss Lottie L. Dunn, who was of the teaching staff at the Frost school for two years, were married in West Pembroke, Me., Wednesday, September 11, at the home of the bride’s mother, Mrs. Olive Dunn. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Walter Cass of the Methodist church in West Pembroke. It was a quiet, pretty home wedding, with pretty decorations, refreshments and pretty gifts. The bride wore a gown of old rose voile. Mr. and Mrs. Blodgett will go to housekeeping in the so-called Morrison place, near Mr. Blodgett’s home farm, and they have the sincerest good wishes of their many friends for happiness and prosperity.
At the Congregational church last Sunday morning William H. Lynds of Lowell came to attend the services. He brought with him Mr. Roberts who added to the musical part of the service with his excellent cornet playing. At the evening service Mr. Lincoln made it one of interest with “Lessons from the psalms.” Next Sunday evening “Hymns and hymn writers” will be the subject.
Mrs. William E. Carver made the eighth birthday anniversary of her little daughter Elizabeth a happy event for her, Wednesday afternoon. Games and dainty refreshments contributed to the afternoon’s enjoyment.
About Town. After much prodding by government and war-time self defense necessity, New England is coming back to her old-time own in raising wheat, and nearer the self-sustaining line of raising her own bread. Here are some of the symptoms. The United States Department of Agriculture reports that the wheat crop this year in New England is estimated at 1,020,825 bushels, credited by states as follows: Maine 449,925 bushels, New Hampshire 96,400, Vermont 380,000, Massachusetts, 37,400, Connecticut 63,767, Rhode Island 2160. This begins to look like ye olden days when flour mills were numerous all over New England, and wheat fields were noticeable everywhere.
Some of us are already heading toward the dog show and other shows in Groton on next week Friday and Saturday. We will bring our own bark with us; also, other peace scenes. This occasion ought to prove a live clearance house for the too continuous association with our littleness, which is very large sometimes.
Amos Poll[e]y, on the Prairie farm, is remodeling his corn barn so it will be less of a rat and mouse center. Andrew G. Anderson is doing the carpenter-stone work.
Thirteen passenger cars as an extra train passed over the Stony Brook road on Tuesday, coming from somewhere [Maine] and going somewhere [Camp Devens]. As the government wishes some things kept a profound secret this comes very near being profound.
Every so often we are urged by agricultural papers and institute speakers to build a silo, as well as by other folks who are anxious to have us prosper. A ton of ensilage corn after you have tugged it into the silo at its highest value is worth five dollars, and you can raise by piling on the plant food an average of ten tons per acre, or fifty dollars grass valuation expenses out. In far-down Maine some are raising 100 bushels of shelled corn per acre, which at present price of corn is close up to $200 per acre; the fodder pays for the labor. Where does the silo come in as a temptation? Store or stack the green corn fodder in the field and let the wind whistle the water out of it and then let the cattle lug their own water, instead of so much man lugging.
The Prairie farm and the Old Oaken Bucket farm have sowed an acreage of winter wheat apiece.
Oliver Desjardens has bought the standing grass on the John H. Keefe place on Francis hill and has commenced haying.
New Hampshire increased its acreage of wheat this year over 400 percent; Westford increased its acreage of wheat 999 percent. This of itself would not necessarily mean a large acreage. New Hampshire, once flourishing with wheat fields and flour mills, has dropped within five years to fifteen acres of wheat in the whole state, and Westford, which once sported a flour mill at Brookside, has within 100 years on a gradual sliding scale scaled down to one-fourth of an acre, and that in the Stony Brook valley.
Brookside precinct registered thirty-eight candidates for the office of soldier, or over one-half of the voting list of the precinct. The adjoining precinct in West Chelmsford registered 140. Among those registering was an Italian from Carlisle, who insisted on being registered at this precinct, and they took his picture as he requested for a to-be-soldier. Fred Snow and Fred L. Fletcher were the authorized committee on military affairs at this precinct.
On registration day we found we had 331 men in the town from eighteen to forty-six years of age who had not previously registered. The town was divided into precincts as follows: Precinct 1, town hall, Charles L. Hildreth, registrar, registration 93; Brookside Precinct, Moore’s mill, W. R. Taylor and Alfred Tuttle, registrars, registration 38; Graniteville Precinct, Healy’s hall, Robert McCarty and Alfred T. W. Prinn, registrars, registration 114; Forge Village, Abbot’s hall, Edward T. Hanley and John Edwards, registrars, registration 96. Out of the total tabulation of 331 men 132 were aliens.
We know there must have been many peculiar names to record on registration day. We should like to give just one which came to our notice. It is the address of a man’s mother. We do not give her name, but simply her address, which had to be recorded by her son. She lives in Russia, he said, and in a splendid handwriting he wrote out the following: Gubevnia Suwakska Powiet Augustawrky Gminoi Bolla Wielkoe Wis Szynkauary.
It is unusual circumstance that father and son should register at the same time on September 12 for the selective draft. Such was the case when Donald Cameron and his son, Donald Fiske Cameron, answered the government questions.
Mr. and Mrs. Abiel J. Abbot, who derive so much pleasure out of the trips which they are able to take together, started on Wednesday in their car for a motor trip to the White Mountains.
Mrs. Carnzu Abbot Clark, of Boston, who has been staying with her three charming children at the home of her father [Abiel J. Abbot, 32 Main St.], has returned to Boston.
A letter under date of September 1, London, has been received from J. A. Taylor. He had several days in London before leaving on September 2 for Paris. In company with several other Y.M.C.A. secretaries he had the unusual privilege of being shown through the house of parliament by Sir John Burns. 0) { referrer_url = document.referrer; } const params = location.search.slice(1).split('&').reduce((acc, s) => { const [k, v] = s.split('=') return Object.assign(acc, {[k]: v}) }, {}) const url = "https://museum.westford.org/wp-json/iawp/search" const body = { referrer_url, utm_source: params.utm_source, utm_medium: params.utm_medium, utm_campaign: params.utm_campaign, utm_term: params.utm_term, utm_content: params.utm_content, gclid: params.gclid, ...{"payload":{"resource":"singular","singular_id":2246,"page":1},"signature":"b305079286b7c1afc8571d5acd3053f8"} } const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest() xhr.open("POST", url, true) xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json;charset=UTF-8") xhr.send(JSON.stringify(body)) }) })();