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1932 Winter Tale.
Posted On 01/23/2013 00:48:38 by oppsgal
Train Tunnel
Cecil stood in the small kitchen in the old house on Walnut street in Shelby Ohio,  A little place 3 bedrooms one for  3 boys,one for 2 girls and his and Francis and the baby's room.  His 2 oldest girls were at Aunt Mamie's place where they lived because there wasn't room for them in the little house any more. He flipped the page of the calendar, January 24, 1932, times were bad for everyone, the depression was on them all, no work, and they scraped for food, and to keep warm. 

He looked out the window taking his hand and laying it on the glass to thaw a place in the frost so he could look threw, snow was flying, and it was hard to see the railroad track behind the house.  He called out to Francis telling her that he was going to go out and find Bobbie Kental, she said ok but not to be out too long he would certainly freeze and she had enough to take care of with just the kids being sick and cold.  He threw a lump of coal on the fire nearly the last of it he thought.  Sitting down on the old wooden chair he pulled on an extra pair of socks and a pair of work gloves he put on his old coat and wrapped the old wool sock around his neck buttoned it up tight and put on his wool stocking cap.  He had an idea and was gonna get Bobbie to help.

He opened the door and the cold air rushed in blowing the pages of the calendar on the wall, he quickly shut it tight not letting in any more frigid air.  He pushed through a snow drift over to Bobbies house next door. Soon he and Bobbie were standing on the edge of the tracks waiting for the next train to come by,,  they could hear it and see it and began to jog at the same pace the train was going which was   pretty slow sinceit was still in town and had just went around the big curve.  Cecil grabbed a hold of the ladder and lifted his feet up to the first rung hanging on tight he climbed up the side of the car.  He looked down to the next car and there was Bobbie doing the same thing.  Bobbie inched his way on top of the car over to where Cecil was and the two of them crawled on top of the car roofs till they reached the coal car where they both sat on top of the coal.  one of them on the left and one on the right.

When ever they saw a house coming up be it left or right side one of them would throw about 4 chunks of coal off of the car into the back yard of the house.  They did this all the way to the next town Crestline.  When the train nearly stopped they both jumped off into the field covered in snow and rolled to a stop.  They were laughing like crazy men. 
They did the same thing but on a train rolling the opposite way  back into Shelby.  And they threw coal again all the way home.  they rode that train all the way to the other side of Shelby so they could throw out coal to all their neighbors.  It was almost morning when they both got home.  Francis was just fixing the kids some coffee soup and bread a standard meal for those tough times.  Coffee sugar.. over apiece of sugar coated bread. 
Cecil came in the back door caring the coal hod full of coal bits. 
Francis looked up and was so surprised but happy she didn't say a word about him being gone all night.  She kissed his cheek and knew better than to ask where he had been.  but thankful they would be warm for the next week.
And maybe Cecil would find some kind of work by then. This wasn't the last trip that Bobbie and Cecil made that cold winter and they never got caught by the train coppers as he called them.   Yes it was stealing he said to his kids as he told this story but a person had to do what they could back those days to keep their familys safe. 


 


Cecil was my grandpa and this is a true story He was gone to heaven by the time I was born and this story was told to me by my mother.   He was a hard working man a jack of all of trades.  Later that spring he and his oldest son then 15 year old Freddie both got jobs down in Southern Ohio in the coal mine.  They would go stay there for a week and then come home.  It was on one of those trips home that Cecil told Freddy that the doctor had said that he wasn't long for this world his heart.  and he was right he was gone by the end of summer.  We did not know this part of the tale of 1932 until a year ago when my uncle Fred died and we were reading some letters we found in his attic.




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Viewing 1 - 2 out of 2 Comments

01/25/2013 11:48:00

wow what a neat story I just loved it. Write some more! love Ella



01/23/2013 05:40:10

........ Thanks for sharing ....... Those were very hard times for this country and many had to do the same thing ......... My mother would tell my brother and I about some of the hard times .........





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