Bob Piper's Corner - December 14, 1986

December 14, 1986

A little Mexico in Chariton -

In 1917, when so many of our men were gone into the service during World War I, the C.B. & Q. Railroad brought in a group of Mexican men to work on the tracks. They were housed in the old bunk cars in the railroad yards. The railroad fed them in an old horse car that had been fitted for an eating car. They were all middle-aged people, with a few older boys. The leader was a man named Jesus McCarthy. This name for a 100 percent Mexican man always puzzled me. They seemed to be good people, for the most part, and caused very little trouble. Liquor didn’t seem to be a problem, and for the most part they kept to themselves when off work. Piper’s sold the railroad the food and they used top quality merchandise. The railroad also saw to it that the food was well prepared. They knew that well-fed men work better and are more apt to stay out of trouble.

Two doctors of Chariton took an interest in this group and took care of their needs. They were Dr. D. Q. Storie and Dr. Tom Throckmorton. Most of these workers mowed weeds a good deal of the time. Using hand scythes, they often had cracked and sore, blistered hands. Both doctors furnished a homemade hand cream. There wasn’t a big charge for this, and it was a help.

Mr. Alonzo Mickle of the old United Presbyterian Church at the corner of Grand and Auburn, was head of the express agency at the passenger station. He was instrumental in getting a few of these Mexican men to come to church. We also had two black people who came quite often. Made a cosmopolitan group and the church accepted them real well.

I don’t remember much about the services, but I do remember two Christmas parties at the church where the Mexican men helped with one of their customs. A piñata was made from paper-mache. This was a good-sized bag filled with toys and food treats. It was suspended from the ceiling and children, while blindfolded, beat on the bag with sticks, freeing the contents. This was a finale to the program and this ritual is still practiced in Mexico. I must add that only toys were in the piñata, as United Presbyterian’s rules allowed no food in the church, except for the elements. I also remember a plaque hanging in the church honoring them for their efforts with the Mexican people.

On the days the Mexicans didn’t work for the railroad, my father hired them to work on the farm. I don’t remember much about that, only that they didn’t like to work with horses. We had mules and that pleased them. Pedro was one of the younger Mexicans and a very likable fellow. He came to our house to help in the yard several times. I remember that he ate at our house a few times. He was especially fond of hearth-baked bread. It seemed to me that a great many people ate at our table. As I look back, they must have had sort of an open house. There were nine of us and the table seated fifteen.

A great deal of the time we two younger boys had to eat in the kitchen. We didn’t mind as Mother saw to it that we got the best of everything. It seems to me, as I look back, that Mother seldom sat down. She had plenty of help, but I can still see her moving about the table with a loaf of bread under her arm, slicing as she went along.

Father didn’t care for foolishness at the table, but fun was OK. He always felt that eating should be enjoyed, and not to take too long as work was always waiting. He always said that work never runs away.

I remember a Christmas a long time back when Pedro was still here in town. It snowed early and the Mexican group was kept to shovel snow. There was a boy living at our house at this time because his folks didn’t want him. He was there about a year or so until someone else took him into their home. I saw this man a good sixty years later and recognized him and told him his name. I asked him why he was there and got the same story; his folks didn’t want him. His mother died and his father remarried. The new mother didn’t want him. Later she died and the father married again. This new mother took the boy back. Pedro and this boy were a little older than Joe Howard and myself. Naturally we were good friends.

Mother wanted to decorate a huge asparagus fern for Christmas. Father said he thought we should have a real tree from the farm since Pedro and his friend were there. Of course there were no lights, and strings of cranberries and popped corn were the decorations. I remember Pedro asked if he could make a string of tiny hot red peppers. They seemed to have lots of these in their living quarters. It was pretty and something we had never had before or since, for that matter.

I too remember these boys helping to carry fruit cakes up from our basement at home to our delivery truck, which took them to the store. These fruit cakes had been made the year before and kept in earthen jars, wrapped in brandy-soaked cloths. This was a German custom and made a truly delightful cake. This idea came from the two German bakers we had at this time.

George, Charles and myself left here at 2 p.m. and went northwest, first to the “Bike” (George Byron) Sheldon farm, better known as the Vic Peterson farm, to see how the work was coming on building a huge pond. Just trees cleared so far. Then went northeast to check a new road by the Bethel Church. While out in this area, we saw signs along the road saying “Tame Coyote.” We saw the coyote in a field near Clyde Davis’s home. Got back at 5 p.m. and toured the town to see the Christmas lights.