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100 years ago
March 15, 1925
HARTINGTON Individual records for attendance and promptness at school may beat theirs, but the children of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Arens, prominent farmers living northwest of Hartington, challenge the whole world to compete with them when it comes to making family records, and they don’t bar anyone.
There are five children in this family, and for an aggregate period of 29 years there has not been a tardy mark against them.
Three of them have been absent, but it was only because of sickness. If they were able to be out of the house, they have been at school every day. Two others have perfect records as regards to attendance and tardiness.
The children who have made this wonderfully fine record are Pauline, Hildegard, Sylvia, Loretta and Rudolph. They live three-fourths of a mile from District 108, and that’s a pretty good distance to travel in making such a record. Some of the town boys and girls who can’t make the two blocks between their home and the school on time should sit up and take notice.
Pauline graduated from the eighth grade last year, without having had a tardy mark against her record. Hildegard is in the eighth grade this year, and has never been tardy. Sylvia is now in the sixth grade, with a record like that of her sisters. These three girls had the whooping cough once, and it was while they were experiencing the pleasures of that disease that they missed a few days at school. Outside of these few days, their records are perfect.
Loretta is in the fifth grade now, and has never been absent nor tardy. Rudolph, the only boy, has a hard row to hoe if he keeps up with the marks made by his four sisters, but he has tackled the job manfully.
He is now in the second grade and has never been absent nor tardy, nor does he intend to be, for he can’t allow the girls to carry off all the honors.
Loretta and Rudolph had the flu once, but luckily it was during vacation time, so they didn’t miss any school.
March 15, 1925
BELDEN Standard jokes about the man who lost a bass drum have nothing on Paul Mabeus, a farmer living near Belden, for Mr. Mabeus lost a barrel of cider at a dance at his home last Friday night, and he claims it isn’t any joke either.
It seems that the cider was in a 50-gallon barrel in the basement or cellar of the house, and that Mr. Mabeus had figured someone might be tempted to take it, so he spiked the door shut.
During the dance at which a number of friends had assembled, the door was forced and the cider disappeared. It is Mr. Mabeus’ belief that it was rolled some distance from the house and then loaded onto an automobile and carried away.
His suspicions centered on two men, and a search warrant was secured in an attempt to locate the cider.
Sheriff Peter Clarence was eager to serve the warrant, thinking that a glass of old-time cider would be his reward when he succeeded in locating it.
Now a 50-gallon barrel is a pretty sizable affair, but when the sheriff made a diligent search of the premises, he couldn’t locate the cider anywhere, so his thirst for cider is still unsatisfied.
The worst of it is, the sheriff had promised that perhaps he might bring some back to Hartington for his friends here, and he has been busy all week making explanations as to why he hasn’t been able to make good on his promises.
March 15, 1925
HARTINGTON Chemical equipment on the new Hartington fire truck proved its worth again on Wednesday morning, when a roof fire broke out at the U. P. Nedrow home, the blaze being extinguished without a great deal of damage.
The fire was blazing right merrily on the south side of the roof when the fire department arrived. It had evidently started from sparks flying from the chimney, for the manner in which it burned into the attic showed that it started from the outside.
The chemicals were turned on to the blaze, extinguishing them almost immediately. About twenty gallons of the chemical was used in putting out the fire and cooling down the charred timbers in the roof.
Most of the damage which was done came from what had been burned, the firemen being forced to open the roof up a little to get in at some stubborn flames.
The interior of the house was not damaged, all the smoke and fire being confined to a small portion of the roof. The fire was discovered by Mr. Nedrow on his way back from town.
