August 3, 1986
THE BAKERY WOOD PILE
In the early years the bakery oven was heated with wood. After the bakery burned we rebuilt it and then used coke to burn. The wood-burning times were the most interesting. Wood was cut on our farm in Swede Hollow and hauled to town. Two trips a day for several months. It was cut into 16-foot pole lengths and hauled by wagon by George S. We hired a man to cut wood and live in the timber. He had five children. Father ran into this man in Milwaukee while looking for a war-time baker. This was the first World War. One of these children was later head of the Salvation Army in Iowa. He was killed by a hitch-hiker in later years. We envied those boys as they didn’t have to go to school, take a bath, etc. Mother didn’t go along with these things. This pole wood was piled in our huge wood lot. Later, Dad Miley, father of the famous Miley brothers, Oscar and Jack, brought his one-cylinder power saw and cut this wood in four-foot lengths.
Before this happened, we kids built log cabins and log houses. It was disappointing to us when the saw came. However, we knew another year would come and we could build again. The few nails we put in the logs brought out choice words from the saw man. This all had to be split for the oven. Most of the splitting was done by hobos, tramps, or Knights of the Road. They were all from the railroad. Somehow they knew there was work for a good meal. Sometimes two worked at the same time. Some of these tramps came back year after year. The wood was stacked in cocks to shed water. The tramps told us there was a sign in the rail yards telling where there was work and food. Some worked an hour or so and left. Others would work four or five days and sleep in the haymow.
It took five big arm loads of wood to fire the oven. We started the fire with a corn cob soaked in kerosene. One 2-hour firing heated the oven to proper temperature. The oven was sixteen feet square and lined with an oven tile that retained the heat. Things requiring the most heat were baked first, and so on. More about the bakery later.
George, Charles and myself rode Sunday p.m. until 6:30. Went southwest to Decatur, Wayne, Clarke and Lucas Counties. Went through Woodburn, old Smyrna, LeRoy and Humeston. Hail damage around LeRoy was bad. Acres of beautiful corn had been reduced to sticks about two feet high. Lots of trees damaged in LeRoy. We were on lots of roads that were new to all three of us. Saw many quail, pheasants. Two baby coons crossed in front of our car right in the middle of Humeston. We’re not in any hurry so we stopped the car and watched. Saw the reddest deer we have ever seen. Much more so than is common. We are continually amazed how beautiful farm lawns are, due to the advent of the riding mover. Not only in front of their homes, but up and down the roadside. Makes for a beautiful countryside. We were on one old road that was marked B grade. However, it was smooth as glass. Suddenly, here was a mud hole. A real bad one. We turned around right there and went another way.
Our topic for the day to discuss was about snakes. They are able to swim real well. Do they have bladder-like floats as fish? It seems not. They are just good swimmers due to their many vertebrae. They wiggle in the water just as they do on land. They must come up for air. In all our travels we have seen only two or three snakes and they were dead. It must be that they are on the ground and come into contact with chemicals found there. Caterpillars are becoming a rarity too. Birds are molting now and not many seen. They are back in the woods. We heard their songs. Didn’t visit any cemeteries this time, although we passed several.
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