THE GOOD OLD DAYS????

MORRISON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

by ORVILLE GOODENOUGH

BITS AND PIECES FROM 1935 and 1936-----AND COMMENTS

It may not show, but I spend a lot of time going through files, newspapers, books , and the internet, when putting these stories together. What makes it so interesting are the many little “offbeat” stories that I find and collect. It is time to clean out my file, and so this month I will share some of my Bits and Pieces--plus comments.

MRS. HAROLD McKEE STOPPED YAWNING THURSDAY MORNING

The story from the SENTINEL told of Mrs. Harold McKee, who is known over the entire United States as “the yawning lady”. Her third yawning attack came to a close, one half day short of her other eleven day attack. The year before she had suffered a nine day siege.

Her physician, Dr. H. L. Pettit said that she suffered four times as much in this last week and one half as she had in any of her other spells. Her stomach was very tender as she had been unable to keep any food down. She had lost some weight, but was in as good health as could be expected after such a grueling ordeal.

She and her family had moved from Round Grove to east Winfield Street a few weeks before this latest attack. Her family and friends stayed with her during this time to take care of her.

This is the disappointing part of the story. Mrs. McKee was thought to have established an all time record for yawning after her eleven day siege It has now been learned that a person from Canada had suffered for a much longer period. MORRISON WAS BEAT AGAIN!

BEES TAKE OVER LIGHT AT CHERRY STREET CROSSING

For no other reason than just “bee-cause,” a swarm of bees estimated at 30,000, completely covered the east flickering light at the Cherry Street crossing Monday. With the exception of a few stings, no serious accidents were reported. No railroad employees would touch them, and so Burnie “Bun” Van Dyke was called in and he soon had part of the swarm in a hive. Part of the group evidently belong to a different union and failed to co-operate. Mr. Van Dyke had little success with the rest until he invited them to join in a “little smoker”. Spectators had considerable fun watching, at a safe distance, the expressions on the faces of the motorist waiting for a train to pass and then to see the light and air filled with bees.

Many persons held their breath as Mr. Van Dyke worked into the swirling mass of bees sans net or gloves. To questions he merely answered “They are safe if they don’t get mad at you”. The only casualty was his young grandson. He collected a stinger in his finger, and let out a squeal, but after that managed to keep his face straight.

I guess there are many times today when we could use such entertainment as we sit and watch 135 coal cars roll past and then as the gates are ready to go up, watch 120 container cars go by from the other direction.

FIRE CAUSES $5,000 DAMAGE AT SAUSAGE PLANT

A fire of unknown origin destroyed the Barrett Bros. Sausage plant at the east edge of Morrison, Friday night. The fire was first noticed by a salesman who was passing through. Orville Waite of Round Grove, was the next person on the scene and he spread the alarm. An engineer on a Northwestern Railroad train saw the fire and blew his whistle all through town to help spread the alarm.

I hate keep picking on the railroad but maybe that is when it all started. It must have been so much fun blowing that whistle through town that they have been doing it ever since!

TARANTULA FOUND BY L. KAYLER IN BANANAS

A tarantula, one of the largest of its kind, was discovered by Lee Kayler, Monday afternoon. When he eyed the vicious spider in the groove of a bunch of bananas, he jumped and dropped the fruit. Mr. Kayler was displaying the bananas in the window at the grocery store.

Ernest Vogel, proprietor, secured a canning jar and the spider was pushed inside. At the local drug store Coach F. L. Chaney chloroformed it and it is now on display at the Kroger store.

In this age I am sure Mr. Kayler would have grounds for a law suit. Surely the fear of seeing that terrible creature would equal seeing a finger in your chili or being bitten by bed bugs in you hotel room.

MORE ON FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE

An after thought on last months story on foot and mouth disease. It is now known throughout the world as foot, instead of hoof. I received an e-mail from a veterinarian friend in Arizona concerning my story. He had recently attended a veterinary conference in California. One of the subject discussed was, “what if a terrorist group would introduce foot and mouth into the United State?” The thought was, what if they infected the huge dairy herds in California, or the large cattle auctions in neighboring states, how we would control it. I also came across an article in a farm paper that reported a recent outbreak in China. About 300 cows and sheep were destroyed in an effort to control their latest outbreak. The disease is common in China and several outbreaks are reported each year. THE STORY NEVER ENDS!

(by Orville Goodenough, Guest Columnist)