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More casualties of the war were reported in February 1944. The first one was the Hartington Herald which had been published since 1883. The final issue hit the streets on January 27, 1944.
Longtime editor/publisher Franklin D.
Stone stated that both he and his wife were in poor health and their son Dudley was in the service. Competent help could not be secured at any price, he said, so the paper would be shut down at least for the duration of the war. As it turned out, the Herald was shut down permanently.
The Advocate also lost a competent employee to the war when Marv Lawrence was drafted. Since women were not subject to compulsory military service, Editor Allison decided to seek female help. “If any lady thinks she has a nose for news, can do bookwork and make herself useful, we’d like to talk to her. We don’t care if she’s good looking or not. She can wear pants or go barelegged if she chooses.“
A bill to draft women for essential war work had already been proposed.
The National Service Act would require men and women who were not in the service to take any defense job that might be assigned to them anywhere in the country. Those who refused would be subject to a fine and/or imprisonment.
The “Committee to Oppose the Conscription of Women” was quickly formed. The leaders, many of whom were feminists, argued that it should be a “woman’s right to choose” whether she wanted to work or not. A similar right to choose was not extended to men who received their draft call. Congressman Karl Stefan said the bill had a little chance of passing the House.
Dr. Harry D. Miller, a former Laurel physician, was confirmed dead in Africa. Word of his death came in the form of a telegram which gave no details other than Capt. Miller had died of a fractured skull. It was later reported that Miller had died from head injuries received in a boiler explosion in Oran, Algeria. His body was returned to the United States in 1948 and buried in Greenwood, Indiana.
After practicing dentistry in Laurel for 30 years, Dr. C.A.
Morten said he would be moving to Yankton to take over the dental practice of his wife’s uncle. Laurel not only lost a dentist but also a piano teacher.
Among Mrs. Morten’s many students were Marian Bebee Mallatt and Natalie Burns Wacker.
Marine Pfc. Marvin L. Anderson of Laurel received a commendation for his part in fighting a hazardous fire on Pernata Island off the coast of New Guinea. When Japanese bombers ignited an ammunition dump and fuel depot, Anderson was among the men who volunteered for the dangerous job of fighting the fire. “Some of the men lugged ammunition boxes heavier than they would try to lift under normal conditions,“ said their commanding officer.
“Others got a fire pump, dragged it to the edge of the sea, and had it in operation in a matter of minutes.“ The fire took most of two days to extinguish.
Closer to home, another fire claimed the life of Mrs. Jakob Nielsen, 77. Mrs.
Nielsen attempted to start a fire in the kitchen range but grabbed a can of gasoline instead of kerosene. When she dropped in a match, the gasoline exploded causing severe burns over much of her body.
Mr. Nielsen attempted to carry the burning can out of the house, but it spilled, setting the house on fire and burning him as well. Both were transported to a Sioux City hospital.
He survived. She did not. Neighbors had the fire out before the Laurel fire department arrived.
Benjamin E. Miner died at the home of his daughter in Laurel where he had been living for several years. His parents were among the first settlers in Wayne County. Born on March 15, 1870, Miner was said to have been the first white child born in that county.
Mr. and Mrs. Dick Chambers treated six members of the Dixon High School basketball team and four members of the pep club to a goose dinner at their home in Dixon followed by a skating party in Randolph.
Those who attended were Clifford Anderson, Dale Davidson, Alvin Ehlers, Leo Murray, Lowell Saunders, and Bob Saunders. The girls were Shirley Nelson, Pat Mills, Verlaine Lindgren, and Marilyn Tomason. Although still in high school, Miss Tomason (later Mrs.
LeRoy Creamer) was the Advocate’s Dixon correspondent from 1942 to 1946.
Ward Maw, who had been with the State Highway Department in Laurel for the past three years, was replaced by Melvin Poledna of West Point. Poledna would remain in Laurel until his death in 2005.
Congressman Karl Stefan reported that the new Pentagon building under construction in Washington D.C. would cost $86 million instead of the original estimate of $36 million. Cost overruns: then as now, were a government specialty.
Another government specialty? Stefan noted that the United States spent more money on education than the rest of the world combined, but not enough was being done to make graduates useful. “Once there were plenty of carpenters and bricklayers,” he said, “but now it is hard to find one.“ Of course it was never the job of public education to train carpenters and bricklayers.
Athletes perhaps.
A Senate labor committee conducted a survey of workers in small towns.
They found that store clerks and bank tellers had received modest pay increases since 1941 but hourly workers still were making $.50 an hour or less.
That was $24 for a 48 hour week.
The Russians rejected a U.S. offer to mediate their demand to permanently occupy one third of Poland. Readers may remember that it was Hitler’s invasion of Poland that led to the war in 1939. By 1944, however, Stalin was our friend so there wasn’t much concern over the Russian occupation. Soviet troops would remain in Poland until 1993.
Editor Allison reported that one of the local girls was suffering from something resembling pneumonia.
“Happened this way,” he said. “After the recent snowstorm she decided to go out with another gal’s boyfriend.
Their car got stuck in a snow drift and she had to walk three or four miles back to town. Her feet got wet and the result was a possible case of pneumonia. And some of the other gals are catty enough to say she deserved it for trying to steal one of the few eligible men left in town.”
