July 17, 1917
On this date, sister Elizabeth was born. It was a hot
miserable day. Doctor Meyer drove his horse out to deliver the baby (Dr. Meyer
delivered the baby – not the horse – Sorry about that). On the same day, Dad
had made arrangements for a photographer to come out and take pictures of our
potato and wheat fields. You’ve probably seen these pictures. I don’t know
where Arthur and Colonel were. They probably stayed with Uncle Andy and Aunt
Ellen to keep them out of the way. I stayed with Dad and got my picture taken
leaning on a hoe or shovel. I don’t look too happy in those pictures. {I was unable to locate any of the pictures Uncle Jack mentioned. I'll be on the lookout for them.}
Of course, the arrival of a girl was good news to our parents,
because, I think, they wanted another girl pretty bad. Colonel, however, wasn’t
too happy about the whole thing and when asked what he thought about her, he
suggested that she should be drowned. That thinking soon passed and we were
bragging about her. She was a beautiful baby and Mama made a doll out of her.
I know when we started back to school several weeks later
both Colonel and I talked about our new little sister.
We had beautiful crops of potatoes, wheat and corn that
year, as they exceeded all expectations. The monetary returns I don’t know
about.
I believe now that Dad had a reason to take those pictures.
I believe he wanted to either sell or lease the place so he could get Mama into
better conditions. Earlier in the year, a man from Sequim, Washington, worked
for us for a few days sorting potatoes in our cellars. Mr. Bradshaw talked to
the folks about the Sequim area. I don’t know if any decisions were made at
this time.
I guess I was lucky to get the school janitor job. It paid
$12.50 a month and that was by voucher. This sort of way of paying the help
almost got me in trouble later on, but it did provide a valuable lesson. (will
explain later) To earn the $12.50 I was to keep the stove going during cold
weather, and sweep the floors each afternoon after close of school. I also
dusted when needed, which was pretty much all the time, clean black boards and
erasers. The floors were oiled, so a sawdust-like preparation was used before
each sweeping that had to be cleaned up and placed in an airtight container (a
barrel with a lid). I must not forget inkwells – these were filled maybe once a
week.
Fall 1917
As stated above, the crops were good, so Colonel and I
earned considerable that fall picking potatoes, haying and working some in
threshing. For picking potatoes, we earned $5.00 per day, which was an
excellent pay for that day and age. The day was usually 12 hours; if we worked
less, we got less. I believe Dad traded his time on other places as explained
above.
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| Aunt Gertie in Spokane, WA |
I just don’t know when or what time of year that our parents
either leased or sold the farm, but we did move to Caldwell, renting a large
house with barn and chicken house on the northeast side of town. I think it
must have been in early winter. Dad sold one team and took one or two cows.
Mama also had a few chickens. Dad did a lot of odd jobs, but mostly worked at
the College of Idaho landscaping the campus.
I was in the 8th grade in 1917-1918 and didn’t
want to leave the school in our valley and I also had the job paying $12.50 a
month. I continued to go to school out there by riding the trolley from
Caldwell to a point about one mile from school. For some reason, I don’t
remember what Colonel did to finish the 7th grade. I think he must
have finished that school year in Caldwell.
Doctor Meyer, who had been our family doctor for years, had
purchased an orchard in the valley and he either hired or leased it to another
party to operate. It was in early spring of 1918, and the Dr. planned to spray
the orchard, so he hired me to drive the team pulling the spray wagon. I must
note here that spraying orchards to kill harmful insects was something new, so
very few people in the area had had any experience with this sort of thing. I also
must note here that most sprays used for many, many years were a concoction of
lime, sulphur and lead. Most surely a lethal dose for horse and man, as well as
insects. {There is a picture from 1918 here}
After maybe a dozen trees had been sprayed, I got deathly
ill and couldn’t continue with the job. Luckily, Dr. Meyer’s place was across
the road from the railroad, so I was able to get back home in a couple of
hours.
One, two, or three months later, I was called into court to
testify on the behalf of Dr. Meyer. I don’t know who was suing who, for work
performed or work not performed. I was scared out of my wits. Judge, lawyers
and a lot of people setting around watching. I was asked over and over how many
trees had been sprayed to which I gave the same answer each time. Dr. Meyer
told Dad later that I had done real well; so well, in fact, that he had won the
suit. So much for court action!! {John G. Meyer was born in March 1856 in Missouri. He was married to Harriet, who was born in August 1859. They had four children, three of whom were: Georgie, born March 1887; Mary E., born September 1883; Elsie E., born November 1898. The children were born in Missouri. The fourth died before 1910. They lived in Owyhee County, Idaho, in 1900, and Caldwell, Idaho, from at least 1910 until 1930.} {NOTE:
1906 - Commercial preparations of lime-sulphur appeared for first time. 1918 - Wettable lime-sulphur introduced as spray}
1906 - Commercial preparations of lime-sulphur appeared for first time. 1918 - Wettable lime-sulphur introduced as spray}
The Case of the
Bouncing Check
Above I mentioned that I was paid by voucher for the janitor
work in the school. I believe our teachers had been paid in the same manner. I
treated these vouchers as a check not knowing they were used when the payer
didn’t have funds to pay in cash or by normal check. A voucher would draw a
certain amount of interest so noted on the face. It also contained a discount
rate by the banks or other holders of such vouchers to further advance their
possibilities of income. I was credited with the amount after the discount had
been applied, thereby reducing the amount I thought I had in the bank. I was
lucky since only one of my checks came back NSF (non-sufficient funds).
The banker saw my dad and told him what had happened. Dad asked me to go see
the banker, which I did immediately, and did I get a chewing out. It was
a good lesson – one that has stayed with me all my life.
The balance of the school year was pretty much like the fall
that preceded it. Colonel and I still read a lot, and as we nearly always
received books for birthdays and Christmas, we had a fair supply of material. I
believe brother Eugene still has some of these books on hand, that I’m sure
you’ve also read. Such things as magazines were expensive and hard to come by.
When I graduated from the eighth grade, it wasn’t a big deal
– just picked up my belongings and walked out. I did sweep the floors before
leaving – May 1918.
Summer 1918
We were pretty much at loose ends now. We missed the free
and comparatively easy life on the farm. As the spring advanced, we were able
to find a good swimming hole in the Boise River which was in fairly easy
walking distance of our house. We didn’t have bathing suits, so continued to
swim in the nude all that summer.
Maxey’s Hardware
In order to earn some money, I got a job in Bill Maxey’s
hardware store. I don’t remember how much Mr. Maxey paid me, but I’m sure it
wasn’t much over $1.00 per day. I had never been bored before in my life, but
this job was terrible. Business wasn’t big enough to keep one busy and after
dusting all the shelves, sweeping all the floors each day, there wasn’t much of
anything else to do except dream of that river 15 miles away. Up to this point
in life, we had a pattern to follow which didn’t vary much each day and which
didn’t require too much thinking, so now I had a job that was demanding more
than just sitting on one’s two-spot. Maybe it was almost too much to ask a
15-year-old boy to think for himself. We shall see.
Sun eclipse
During the summer, we had a total eclipse of the sun. Since
it is not good for your eyes to look at the sun, I smoked some pieces of glass,
a lot of which was lying around the back room, and sold them to passersby to
look at the sun. I also rigged up a piece of stovepipe with a piece of smoked
glass. This thing gave us a real good view of the sun without damage. Many
things were done after that to get rid of boredom, but never quite eliminated
it. {photos of the 1918 eclipse here}
War
The war in Europe was really heating up. The big drive
through France was on and we were losing a lot of men. A lot of men I knew had
gone. I don’t know of any that were killed, but there was fear nevertheless.
The big sign showing Uncle Sam pointing his finger and saying “I Want You”
finally got to me and I applied at both recruiting stations in Caldwell in an
attempt to join the army. Although I was big for my age, those guys took a good
look at me and said no! I tried several times that summer with the same
result. I shudder at what might have happened if they had been foolish enough
to take me. (I did go to high school with a fellow three years later who was
smaller than I physically who joined at 16 and spent one-and-a-half years in
France, but I think he was a bit smarter; John Rule. I shall mention him
later.)
The summer continued in this manner until middle August when
potato harvest started. That is when I divorce myself from the hardware
business and headed for the farms to make some better money.
Picture Shows
I should mention here that during the summer of 1918 we
probably saw more moving picture shows than in our entire lives to date. Most
of them were 10-25¢; however, “Tarzan of the Apes” was 50¢. There were a number
of war pictures: i.e. “The White Feather” and “All Quiet on the Western Front.”
High School
I believe schools started soon after Labor Day, so I was due
to start at the Caldwell High School. I was a little bit awed by the procedures
since I was used to a small school with few in each class. Giles Bacon had
graduated from grade school in the spring of 1917. I can’t recall what he did
in school year 1917-1918. Colonel had one more year to go in the eighth grade,
so it was decided that he would live with the Bacons and Giles would live with
us. This arrangement worked out fine.
Up to this point I had always been called “Jack” (Many years
later the “Jack” business nearly got me in trouble.) When I
registered, I was asked if my given name was “John.” When I said yes, I was
told that henceforth I would be called John.
I know that three of my subjects were: algebra, English and
history, and I’m pretty sure, a first year science course.
Football
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| NOT Jack-example of 1918 uniform |
Shaving
I must not here that I shaved for the first time in September
1918. I purchased a single blade safety razor for the event. The razor cost
$1.00. I can’t recall the name of the razor. Dad, of course, had some comments
about my shaving, which were: “spread some cream on your face and let the cat
lick it off,” end of quote.
School didn’t last long and after about six weeks, it closed
down until further notice because of the influenza epidemic that swept the
county, killing many, many people. Our soldiers in training camps had troubles
because of wet and cold conditions. All schools in Canyon County closed, so
Giles went home and Colonel came home.
Getting ready to
move
I don’t know when the folks decided to move to the Pacific
coast, but it must have been somewhere between the 15th of October
and the first of November 1918. They must have moved pretty fast after making a
decision, because there was livestock and some equipment to dispose of as well
as the packing of other possessions.
**This is the end of the second phase of our dissertation on
memories in the life of John Aitchison**
{next}
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