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MEMORIES OF CLAY COUNTYV*By J. E. WagnerWestminMer Road, Newton C entre 5‘t, Mas.i husetls*ganAnv 1951 boys like this?to keen them bu v more thanton hoid, an»l we went at it hardWe’d vvhittled it down tothan thirty rows when it bi „ raining. It rained all afternoon. Saturday morning it was too wet. lt;and by noon it was impossible am Of course i’u heard all about the Suibut he found the place hrlt;Arain.Before I8KJ or 1884 in our *» week. Down in our field there w|,cre we’d made the jugs under* Hecommunity wheat or oats had tu )vos a sandy place where, when | ground, and where we'd mudc turbe lt;ul with a cradle. No, not the s cradle, but one whichrocked with the swaying of theerudler'.s body. It was just ait rained, a boy could sock his hoe handle down into the groundAour willow whistles. Reluctantlymother told him what had hap* two or three feet Then he could J p,.nt.,| Now, after about seventy vistlie top years, I remember that reekoninbegin slowly working^ ^ ^ ^ — _ -w- -v ..... _ w««r — gg fp jHf ■***scythe, w’ith a long fingered ex- end of it in a circle, and the it was om* consciences which IMi•w rn Mi ^ w » •* ■ w -tr- — — — — — ■ w w w » a — -wtension on the upper side of the1 half or more in tin* ground would flayed us' Now, I wonder if it ricblade. The cradler swung it, if ,cr,d to travel in the same circle WHs n,,j nur consciences in the thehe knew* how and was skillful so as to cut wheat very close tlt; the ground, and leaving the stub ble almost as even and level as a harvester does it today, blade bad to bi* sharp, keenlyI hat formed a conical cup at the making, after all To this day 1 forsharp Just as a carpenter h»davtop, left a spot down adistance not much largerthe hoe handle, but belowThe formed a cup near two feetwith a hole in it's top a larger than Ills h**c handle sand had enough lt;lay inlittle j,ave a bent toward finishing of1than what has to be done us quicklyas possible, leaving the play till ha’ the last row is hoed. Consciences Ardo not build themselves* Pa built !mine, with a peach tree switch. Nothing but thin denimTheit toinsisU that he wastes no time— -**■ —- - --i* — - -« »»'»*« ft m -p « « • * %.keeping Ids tools sharp, a crad-j rnii*“* |f ’ ,v Pul* when it was between me and that sw itch and ler wasted no time whetting ids wt't enough. lt;)iu entire half day rnc convinced me that it did noti• radle, though lie spent five minutes out of « whetting it.In tK8.*t or 'til Pa and grandpaWalker bought the first reaper, a dropper, that came into ourClay County community. It waswe worked on that sandy spot, pay to put off what had to bland made about a dozen jugs in done. He did not really hurt us,the groundxNntioicdha:Another day we found a thicket of willows near the tank, am each of us made himself morithithan one whistle. Everya good machine, and Pa was those days owned a pocket knife justly proud of it By taking the i^e rriJ,,le some quite large whistjust stung us enough that we preferred work I do not remember that we ever shirked our work work after that There was plenty! at ini of it We did it, and then we at'played with a clear conscience.dropper attachment off. anti changing the sickle, it becamealejupsome boy.litVol Rum Icy of (lute Texasget as near his ear as possible. W|n. visitors in the home of Mr«*nd Mrs, A. L MuIIkk uvcr tlu\vi*c ki ndMax Mallick of Hallettsville, a recruiting officer in the Airmower, I could never under-j‘,n^ turn loose a blast and he'd stand why t tie change of sickles! **JumP uut of his lode’’ Whenit was because the mow-i^c whistles wore out we found ing sickle had to be ground sharpj®,,n'®^,,,,l* else to doon the grindstone and the gram During about a day and a half Force, has been visiting his cou-Okies had .1 toothed edge n we hoed very little cotton Anri UinA L anti Mrs Mallickevery section 1 turned the grind then on* night, it rained, and was Mr and Mrs. Joe Coleman ofshine. to© wet to hoe for half a day. ‘Granite,i*he year we got our tlropper, * Mother kept talking to us, and lt;f F F Lavy over the weekendour neighbors sowed a lot more j telling us what Fa expe ted, andwheat and oats, and Pa was to u*‘ k*Pt assuring her we’d havej that cotton hoed ail right We• could do ali of it Friday antieagrurelt;eibsInwere the guests• in* sti V*harvi*itE«mm|vlt;nii\for them. It was aanti Pa went at theoats near tin* end of May, and Saturday Antjthat is coototi chopping or hoeing (fitting snakestime 1 was eleven or twelve ami kot op Fridaywe could b But when weV IGut'f (/ae ft 0If ias good a cotton chopper as there vvas threateningmorning rain We knew wetwas in tlu* community. with ahoe or ax 1 am aiubiricvtrnus, a little lie tier left than right-handed I'd lit ml* :t row left-handedwith my back to the sun, and the next right-handed with my back still to the sun, using a new set of muscles while the left-hand set rested. S*» w in nhail to WORK to have that ct tWAN? ADSIitn-■-mMlWWPWlHlrtlook toj Pa went away to cut oats, andthen to cut wheat, I was m i harge f cotton hocinr.I'here were thr*** Add and Alf werer i-! i * i'm. !t ■lt;t A' • «.nd smaller than I I heyexpected me to •!*» more v :kthan they, and -aw that I did it by taking their time \v :t h what I hex did. I luii* vvesv about ixtvrows id cotton, Fa would iv .. r-just a week hi first trip, I• lav lu* hard, andleft, wr worked ptvtt•.arnghl had hoed eighteen rows We had five days lilt l-i ifi forty-two rows. What a snap! We could do it in two days and a half Boys will be boys. We were just boys. Blt; ysplay. We played.I hree ingenious boys can find enough games lo play in a field ■» r MU *■*«■ .f* -vIM'i--' •-***r-WmmmmPOWER for flashing new perform; more driving ease—-NEW POWEnew PowcrF wilN new PoPowerFbte, uhj oewssno-clutch transmissioncombined wdh the gregives you flashing aca lag. The PowerFlow e gives you ample re senIn the iow-pmco field, ONLY Pl.V
Newspaper Details
Henrietta Clay County Leader
Henrietta, Texas, US
Thu, Apr 15, 1954
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Max B.
USA 10 Apr 2021
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Henrietta Clay County Leader
