Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1936-01-16
RenrOck

Among LnOSe WHO lay claim 10
staying up and seeing the old year
out, and the new year in, we insist
that we are entitled to a fair share
of that distinction. Out of the 81
760 hours Of last year, we only
lacked three of seeing it out. And
as for the new year, the sun was
only an hour high, and we got a
good look at it, SO much better than
trying to see it in the dark.
For this time of the year, we be-
lieve that the health of the COM
munity is "distressingiy' good.
While there are some new pros
poets to increase the grange mem
bership, there are some who lag be-
hind, become delinquent, and fall
out, but the noble order keeps
| marching on.
Miss Alice KuntZ, a nurse at the
Bethesda hospital, is home for a
short time, having been laid off on
account of getting a fall, and frac-
| turing a bone in her arm.
The sewing machine clinic held
at the grange hall last Friday,
proved not only an interesting, but
a much needed demonstration The
| county agent, Geo. Brown, and r. D..
Barden, a machine specialist from
| the State university, had charge of
| the meeting. John Walters of Shar-
on was also present and assisted in
various ways. About a dozen dis
abled, old and decrepit, sewing
machines were hauled in, and the
| large upper room was, for the time
| being, changed into a veritable hos
| pital. 1t was no picnic, however,
! for the ladies, those who owned the
| machines, Doctor CD Barden did
most of the talking, while they had
| to work like troopers. 1t was moth
| ing like quilting,-a "gabby fest"
no, nothing of the kind. The ma
chimes, arranged to form a hollow
square, were dismantled and doused
with a liberal supply of gasoline,
and each woman was given a brush
and pan of gasoline and she was
expected to get busy and clean out
all the dirt, gum, or lint, or what
ever it might be, that was clogging
the works. My, how they did brush
and rub and scrape, surely old Mrs.
Dutch Cleanser, her feet shod with
wooden shoes, armed with a broom,
| never chased away more dirt. Ev-
cry machine needed more or less at
ta. hn, Il bo.,
appendix taken out. One good old
woman found part of handle of a
teaspoon in the most vital part Of
the mechanism. No doubt but what
this was the first real cleaning that
some of the machines ever had. The
doctor CD told them that they had
been administering the wrong kind
of oil. All this reminded us of the
days when sewing machines, (and
| moving machines tOo) were COM
paratively new thing. They both
| came alone about the same time.
Our parents bought the first one up
| in that neighborhood. 1t was a
| Wheeler & Wilson, and it attracted
| considerable attention. While it
was mighty good thing for our
mother, it soon made her some enc
| mics. Some people thought it would
| be so delightful to pedal that thing,
so they brought various garments
for her to sew together with only
| thanks for pay. When she became
| swamped and began making a
| charge of about 25 cents a day, they
| got mad and talked Spanish to her.
| We recall one time when she sewed
two days on muslin for a covered
| wagon, as the family were going to
make an overland journey and seek
home in the "wild and woolly''
| west.