By: Stan Jordan
I don’t like a lot of this stuff that is going on in Washington.
I don’t like, or agree with, all of sword rattling, threats, promises or waving of the atomic bombs or nuclear war heads at each other.
We are growling at North Korea for doing things that we have already done, like testing missiles. If we didn’t test them over the oceans, we dropped them on some other country. We must use diplomacy in dealing with North Korea and I will tell you why.
Back in 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea for some reason, America sent troops over there, no other country sent troops, just America. We couldn’t deal very well with the North Koreans or we couldn’t whip them either, because they were backed up by the Chinese.
At the battle of the Chosin Reservoir, the Americans were overwhelmed by the Chinese as they came across the ice like ants from ant hill.
It was 20 degree below zero and lots of our boys were killed, frozen to death, ran out of food and ammo. The bodies we put in piles by the side of the road, frozen stiff.
We didn’t lick them then and I’m sure we can’t do it now. We left that war zone as quick as we could, our tail between our legs. We actually just gave up to that little country.
We don’t have the servicemen now that we had then. Our boys are spread too thin, all over the world. The draft would have to be reactivated.
War is not the answer!
See ya!
Auto By Otto: 1
Memories
I was born near Chemnitz, Germany in the year of 1884, we lived in a large stone house on the highest elevation in that locality. The quarrying of building stone being the main industry. Our home was surrounded by deep quarries and large pine forests, the latter being owned by the government, it was among these surroundings that I spend my early boyhood day. My father being a lover of the out of doors taught me the names of our most common bird, these being the Skylark. Some species of Jay, another bird similar to our Robin, the Starling (for who’d the people build houses for nesting), the Crow and several other small song birds, too. Other species that I never saw, only heard them, as they always called out from the tip of some large fir tree, these being the Wild Pigeon and the Coockoo, it was with the first call of the Coockoo in the spring that I was permitted to go bare footed, so his song was eagerly looked forward to. On cold winter nights the hooting of owls could be heard from the depth of this forrest. I only saw one Woodpecker, it was quite large and as near as I can remember it was green in color. The wild game consisted of ostriches, similar to our Hungarian, Jack Rabbits and Deer. Hunting was restricted ,the deer being quite tame, nothing unusual to see them in the cherry orchard which surrounded our house. When I was six I started to school. On my first day of school my teacher, in order to get us interested, showed us number of mounted birds and of course he asked if any of us could tell him their names. I recall that I was about the only one present who could name them for which he highly complimented me and it was right then and there that I resolved to become a naturalist as soon as was old enough. While in school we were taught about the life habits of the butterflies, I then started my first collection Butterflies, beetles and larva which I kept in boxes covered with cheesecloth, many of the beetles and larva cut their way through and scattered all over our rooms about setting my mother and older sisters frantic. My first disappointment came when one day I went to feed my caterpillars with fresh leaves, in place of worms, I just found some ugly cases that would wiggle when being touched. I decided it was them that destroyed my caterpillars so each one was promptly destroyed with my hammer. It was not until sometime later I learned that they were the cocoons from my larva, but I learned me something, many a fine butterfly did I raise after that experience. In the latter part of the year 1892 my folks began talking of going to America. What a thrill that was to me. I began to read books about America, these being the cheap picture books in which they told in words and pictures about the Indians and Buffalo. I began to form pictures of them in my mind and about the wild country in which we planned to go. In the spring of 1893 my father and oldest sister started for the new land which was to become our new home, with them came two of my cousins. Fred and Yetta Miller who came to their parents who previously had left Germany for a new home across the ocean. From the letters written by my father after his arrival here I had to change my ideas about America. Instead of buffalos and Indians he would write about the large timber, swarms of muskeetoe, beautiful colored birds and lots of snakes. After being here several months he send for the rest of the family, consisting of my mother, two sisters and myself. On Aug 22-1893 we left Germany, leaving Chemnitz at noon by rail, by the next morning, about 9 a.m. we arrived at Hamburg, the port from which we took the large ocean liner to New York, a part of this trip by rail was 3rd class this meant coaches with wooden benches, but three-fourths of the trip was 4th class, these coaches had no seats, but our baggage, consisting of three large trunks, was in the same coach so we had something to sit down on. On our arrival at Hamburg we were met at the train by a porter who escorted us to the hotel where we remained until the following day. We left the hotel about noon and were herded from one place to another until about 4 a.m. when we were placed aboard a small ship which carried us over to the large ocean liner where we arrived about 5 p.m. where we were assigned to our state room, which consisted of 16 bunks, 8 below and 8 above. The name of our liner was Augusta Victoria, and at that time one of the fastest boats on the ocean. Sometime during the night our boat lifted anchor and we were on our way, after another shore stop at some port in England we headed for the open water of the Atlantic. We passed the Isle of Wrights, which to me seemed covered with ancient castles in a small notebook I carried I see that I counted 13 of them. The weather across the Atlantic was fairly good, several days of rough weather was experienced but only one day that we were not permitted out on deck. The trip was rather tiresome, nothing to see but water and sea-sick passengers, saw quite a number of fish, mostly dolphins or flying fish, a large whale entertained us for an hour or so one afternoon by playing fairly close about the boat. That was a treat for me.
Sam Rivers, Indian Agent Chapter 32: The Bear
By: Stan Jordan
I haven’t written in a long time.
We all returned to the Broken Arrow Agency. We all rested up for a couple days. Callie was pretty tired and sat in her rocking chair most of the time.
The winter is sort of mild. We have had snow and wind as usual, but not very bad.
We didn’t decorate for Christmas, Callie is pretty good sized now and didn’t feel like doing too much.
This is the last of January in 1854. We don’t do much, just sit in the warm room and Callie plays solitaire.
I’ll go out to the barn and get some deer and buffalo meat, enough for a few days.
Well, it has been a long tome since I’ve wrote anything down again. I woke up in the army hospital at Fort Kearney a few days ago and I will tell you what those people have told me.
I guess some time in last week of January, we were at the Indian Agency and I went to the barn to get some meat. I had taken our butcher knife along. Well, they tell me that I must have startled a black bear who was in the barn standing up eating some of our meat. I guess he swung a big paw at my head and I stuck the butcher knife into his chest. We both must have fallen down with the bear on top of me. I don’t remember any of this except I did see that bear. When he fell on top of me, that must have driven that knife into his heart and killed him because I don’t remember anything until I came here to Fort Kearney infirmary.
Callie tells me that when I didn’t return from the barn, she went to see if I was alright. Well, she found this big 400 lb. black bear lying on top of me and he wouldn’t move, he was dead. The bear was too big for her to move. She tried to move him but she was not strong enough.
She said my face was covered with blood from my hair on down, and she feared I was dead. All of these bad things came to her at once. She tells me I grunted or groaned a little and then she checked my pulse. She then straightened up and realized what a predicament she was in.
Sam was out cold on the floor of the barn. A 400 lb. bear on top of him. She can’t move the bear. He is so heavy and she is in no shape to tug or push, as her baby is due next month. Sam needs medical attention and that is two days away at Fort Kearney. She can’t pull on the bear because if she does and something went wrong in her condition that baby might make up its mind to be born now and we can’t have another problem. Callie was just about ready to come apart from all of this difficult situation, and she told herself, “Now settle down a minute and think this out and pray for help and guidance.”
Soon she heard a noise, maybe it was a horse with help. Maybe it’s an Indian, a good or bad one.
Oh thank God, it was a miracle! Rooster, the runner, just arrived from the fort.
See ya!
More On The Beavers
Here at the West Bend News, we received an email from Denny Miesle over at Woodburn and he says that he was talking to a couple trappers and they had caught a couple of the bigger type beaver here in the Maumee. That was west of SR 101. Now that is the first acknowledgement of the 40 some pound beaver in the area. Thanks so much for that news.
The above I wrote on May 5th and there has been a lot of water go under the bridge since then.
There was a man from Crane Township that brought in a picture of a 42.5 lb. North American beaver that he had killed right here in Northwest Ohio in the Maumee River, that the game warden said are not around here. This photo came in too late to run in last weeks’ paper.
I was talking with the game warden a few weeks ago and he belittled the fact that Jim Pendergrast had stated there was beavers in the Maumee River.
This picture shows there are the well known North American beaver here in our area around the Maumee River.
It seems to me, maybe that all the game warden knows is what the D.N.R. in Columbus tells him.
I think the wildlife people of the D.N.R. in Columbus should get off that big black leather chair and get out into the country and get their boots muddy.
Over the last few years our wild game have returned to the country side and are getting acclimated.
I refer to this area as the Tri-State area as that is where Ohio, Indiana and Michigan come together. All the towns in our area have gun clubs, conservation clubs or wild life clubs. Just about everybody is conservation minded.
The North American beaver will weigh up to 70 lbs. He is the second largest rodent in the world, next to the Capybara of Australia.
See Ya!
