August 30, 1987
Mrs. Gerald McDonald (Elsie Blakesmith) was in today and told me she remembers my old peanut roaster when it was in Hart Brothers’ Grocery on the south side of the square. The Harts were part of her family. She can remember George Bigley sitting by his machine. Remember, he got the first five feet of the front of the store free, as the Harts felt it would draw people to their store. It was a successful venture.
Here is a story where man power won over machine. That is a switch for sure. It seems that out at Mt. Zion Cemetery north of Oakley some of the graves are dug by man power instead of by machine. A man from Lacona digs the grave for $150 and the machine costs more. This was reported to me by Vernard Oxenreider.
A lady from Belle Plaine writes that she was born at Olmitz, Iowa, and snakes were very common. She says up there they see none. That is true in these parts as snakes are on the ground and are susceptible to herbicides. Foresters say they now and then find a dead bull snake that has lost the skin of its belly. They are dwellers of the meadows and fields and come in direct contact with these sprays. She says when she mentions that hogs eat snakes, people just laugh. She asked if I knew. Yes, they do, as I have tossed many a snake in among sows. If it was twelve or fifteen inches long, a hog sucked it up like a wet noodle. Since receiving this letter, I have talked to farmers and they all agree this is true. When the hogs eat grown chickens, they are sent to market as you can’t break them of this habit. I might add that Father happened to see us toss a snake to the hogs and put a stop to that right now. It spoiled one way we had of making pocket change. We were charging kids five cents to see this.
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