Now Here's a Wild Bull Story for You!

On July 11, 1945, you didn’t have to go far to find a wild  west adventure in our town!  About 4 a.m. at Ben-Hur Packing Company, 802 Covington Street, fourteen bulls escaped from their enclosures and roamed the streets of Crawfordsville!  Boy, howdy, that must have been some round up!  By noon almost all the bulls had been captured, except for three who continued to wander up and down streets and alleyways of the northwest quadrant of the city. Imagine turning down Cherry Street from West Market and staring into the face of a crazed loose bull!  Just before noon that day, Officer Paul Branagin and some packing plant workers found one bull  in the backyard of a house on Cherry Street. He had his gun, but allowed one of the workers to kill the loose bull. One bull managed to get as far as Vance Street between Main and Market Streets!

Officer Branagin

Harley Cunningham, a local pilot, used his flying skills to help locate strays in the vicinity of the packing plant.  It was feared that the livestock had strayed east over the creek, or as far as Oak Hill Cemetery.

The excitement was over just after noon as most of the bulls were corralled blocks away from the plant and later transported back there to meet their fate.

Jennings B. Miller and Sam Harris were the managers of the plant, which later became known as the Sam Harris Packing Company. 

Caring for the Orphaned Children of France--1917

    During the First World War, many appeals for relief for war-torn Europe were made to the people of Montgomery County. The YMCA, the Red Cross, Liberty loans, and the American Society for Relief of French War Orphans all made special pleas to our populace. Many churches, Sunday Schools, ladies' groups, and others responded to the orphan appeal, and as a result, within two weeks in May of 1917, fifty French orphans were "adopted" by people in our county.

orphaned children in France, 1917

   One cent a week from each of seventy people in an organization was enough to save the life of a fatherless child in France. The mothers of these children were able to collect every cent of these donations through their post offices and use the money to clothe, feed, and school their children. All handling costs were supported by private funds. Groups in our community that supported this appeal and helped relieve the suffering of these poor children were the high school homemaking class, the While Away Club, the Monday Bridge Club, and the Dorothy Q. branch of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Miss Ristine, a young woman of our city, and a favorite of the youngsters in town, held a reading hour at the college, and charged ten cents per child. These funds were also contributed to the orphan fund, and gave our town's children a way to help with the relief effort. Many local families also "adopted" French orphans, such as the Detchons, Durhams, Campbells, McNutts, Goodbars, Postons, Dr. Swope, and the Dr. and Mrs. J. N. Taylor family. Many families received letters from their supported child, and shared them with the newspaper.

young women of Crawfordsville High School

 The Amici class of the First Methodist Church supported Simone Lepape, while Miss Cowan's advanced homemaking class used their funds for Marie Lenoir, of Paris.

December 7, 1941--The Year That Has Lived in Infamy

   We have struggled during this election year of 2016 with the effects of too much news.  Imagine December 7, 1941, when all our information came either from the newspaper or the radio. The Journal-Review reported on December 8 that hundreds of people stood outside their building on Green Street waiting for and reading Associated Press bulletins as they were received on the news wire.  

   Here is part of an original bulletin from that day.

“WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 - (AP) - Japanese airplanes today attacked American defense bases at Hawaii and Manila, and President Roosevelt ordered the Army and Navy to carry out undisclosed orders prepared for the defense of the United States." http://www.haaretz.com/us-news/1.757505

   And that was all they knew.  Several county residents were already in the Armed Forces, and families were worried about their role in this new engagement with the Japanese.  John C. McIntyre was stationed aboard the U.S.S. Virginia, based in Hawaii. B. F. Suverkup, had been stationed  aboard the U.S.S. Oklahoma, which had been damaged in the attack,  as an aerial photographer,  but he had been recently moved to another ship, and was on his way home for Christmas.

1940 Stewart Warner Radio

  The Crawfordsville basketball team was in Columbus for a game, and heard the news while eating.  They kept up with the news on the way to another game by listening to a portable radio.

  People attending movie performances at the Strand Theater, just down the street from the Journal-Review, were updated by means of the public address system. When war was declared, the show stopped, and all stood to sing the Star Spangled Banner.