1913 -- even more fun than factual

 The origin of this blog was attached quite firmly to flooding on the Whitewater River.

The flooding created a need for a dam and the rest is history.

But some history just defies even logic of the time. In the days immediately after the Great Flood of 1913, any story that could be told was as good as any they hadn't dreamed up yet. If the story was good enough, it made sense.

Nothing made sense in the 1913 flood. The scope of the calamity defies human comprehension.

But an article on March 27, 1913, in the Richmond (IN) Palladium-Item, is frighteningly hysterical in the face of more than a century of knowing what was real and what was not. To be fair, some of this likely was factual.

• Laurel was not wiped out.
• Nobody from Metamora died in the flood.
• The story about the rockets over the river is too funny to imagine.
• There were fatalities in Brookville. One family was washed away.
• People who did not live in the valley did not abandon their homes. They made room for others.
• Getting from Liberty to Brookville on the old winding road WAS impossible for a time. On the best of days, it was a challenge.

The headline:

BROOKVILLE

IS CUT OFF

FROM WORLD

LIBERTY, Ind., March 26 (11 p.m.) – Brookville's inhabitants are quarantined tonight in the court house and the school house and the school building.

Even those residents of the higher section of the city, which has not been touched by the flood waters of the Whitewater River, have abandoned their homes to take up quarters in the two public buildings to conserve the scanty fuel supply.

Four people living in the lower section of the town are known to be dead and a dozen are missing and have been in all probability, drowned. The town is in absolute darkness.

Will Ketner, a farmer, living seven miles north of Brookville, telephoned to Liberty tonight that all today unsuccessful efforts had been made to shoot a line across the river with rockets to send provisions to the river besieged townspeople. Only one bridge is standing in Franklin County and it is impossible to enter Brookville. Every house in the lower section of the town has been washed away.

At Metamora, Franklin County, only three houses are standing. The rest have been washed down the river. The loss of life there cannot be estimated. It is believed the entire town of Laurel has been wiped out.

OUR INITIAL BLOG ENTRY ON 1913.

June 1923

 

Fairfield: Once, close to perfect

 

February 1916, or the year of the Indiana centennial celebration.

The honest people of Fairfield decided to make it pretty clear where they stood on matters of good and evil. This was printed in the Brookville newspaper.

*

“Fairfield is indeed “on the map,” even if we hav'nt a post office. No where in the state can be found a village of same population with so many “societies” that make for the betterment of mankind. The F. & A.M. No. 98 … the Eastern Star, the I.O.O.F. … the daughters of Rebekah, the Knights of Pythias, the Pythian Sisters, the Red Men, the Daughters of Pocahontas.”

(whew).

This photo has zilch to do with the story.

But wait, there's more!

“These noble orders are in a flourishing condition and we hail with delight the many good deeds and kindness with which the aforementioned orders use their finances for the relief of those who are sick and in distress.”

More plaudits about the Methodist Episcopal Church and its auxiliaries.

“Our pastor, Rev. O. Polhemus, is ever mindful of the responsibilities which rest upon him and is ever admonishing his people in the paths of right. An earnest, whole-hearted co-operation on the part of this people will make largely for the good of the community.”

Everybody chip in, please.

“The Ladies Aid Society meets every Thursday afternoon and is ever alert in looking after the financial interests of the church. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society must not be overlooked, for it is doing a noble work in the field of Christian Endeavor.”

And last but not least …

“... is our Sunday School. Under the leadership of a clean Christian man as superintendent, assisted by teachers who have at heart the best interests of the school, we have developed into an organization whose achievement has been sounded far beyond the borders of the county.”

In summary:

“The year 1916 has started out with bright prospects for a greater and grander work (citing increased attendance at church) … there are many parents and some children not yet identified in this work. This should not be.”

So, scolding people for being heathens evidently, the writer claims “parents are negligent of their full duty if they fail to share this influence with their children. An urgent invitation is extended to all such and a royal welcome awaits you.”

But … and this is important:

“In our community, like all others, there is some friction, as some of those not identified with church and Sunday school work are ever ready to hurl an epithet at the organization of some member thereof, using the pet phrase “hypocrite”.

“Life is too short to bandy words and spend much time with a dissenter. We have only to turn to the records of the Juvenile Courts to show that the long train of delinquents are largely not of Sunday school training, but come from homes where there is no religious training of any kind, and usually from homes of dissipation.”

And there you have it …

signed ***