Our Yesterdays

Word has been received of the death Sunday, Aug. 11, of Mrs. Myrtle Smith of Fort Collins, Colorado. Her death was due to a heart attack suffered Sunday morning. She had been a patient in the hospital for a week and was to be dismissed Sunday. She was the daughter of Elliot and Mary Singleton and was born near Rubio. She was married to Alvin Smith and moved to Colorado 35 years ago.

Eugene J. Kurtz, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis P. Kurtz of Route 2, Brighton, is serving aboard the amphibious force flagship USS ESTES, a Seventh Fleet unit, which recently participated in a joint U.S. Republic of Korea amphibious exercise dubbed “Operation Flagpole” and conducted near Seoul, Korea. The training exercise involved 67 ships plus numerous Marine air and ground units of both nations. It ended June 28 as U.S. and Korean Marines secured their last objectives after four days shore combat amid driving rain. The operation consisted of a mock invasion force gaining limited control of parts of the Republic of Korea and requiring action by American and Korean forces to destroy the enemy and restore governmental control.

A bolt of lightning struck the double corncrib at the Ed Hammes farm, one mile south of Richland. The lightning ripped through the entire west side of the structure, splintering boards and chewing out chunks of the concrete floor. Damage, while extensive, is minor to the fact that Mr. Hammes and son John were in the crib at the time. Both were knocked to the floor. At the same time the lightning struck at the Hammes farm, a similar bolt killed a cow at the Bob Sobaski farm just north and east of the Hammes place.

1923, 100 years ago

Last Saturday Harry McClure, who lives on the John Wallerick farm four miles north of Richland, became too hot while at one of the neighbors helping thresh. Being obliged to go to his home, when he arrived there, he felt a little better and told his wife that he would go out and look after the hogs. Mrs. McClure offered to go for him, but he told her that some of them were rather cross and that he thought it best to go himself. Harry had been gone for some time and Mrs. McClure became uneasy for him so with Ralph McClure, went in search of him, and report he was found lying in the hog lot where he had fallen, and on either side of him were his dogs guarding the hogs away from their master, who was in an unconscious condition. He was taken to the house and a physician summoned and for a time was in a very precarious condition. Monday, he was still quite poorly although getting along as well as could be expected. It is generally conceded by all that had it not been for the dogs that he would probably have been terribly, if not fatally, injured by the hogs.