Injured While Loading Hay

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Wednesday, July 22, 1914: I’m feeling awful sore in my lower region. Have a sore nose and two sore front teeth. /Was loading hay this afternoon. While at work on the last load the train rounded the bend. I glanced in that direction. This next moment I was lying on the ground with the breath knocked out of me.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

Whew, are you okay? Do you think you should go to a doctor (or a dentist)? It sounds like a bad mishap—and like you‘re very lucky that you weren’t hurt worse.

—

I’m not sure exactly what happened, but I think that it was a mishap with the rope and pulley system used to lift hay or straw from the wagon, and take it up into the hay mow. There was a huge hook at the end that held the hay that was being lifted. If care wasn’t used (or if the rope broke) hundreds of pounds of hay would fall back onto the wagon. This would jolt the wagon—and could throw a person standing on it. The falling hay could also potentially hit a worker.

There were train tracks that ran along the edge of the Muffly farm—and the Susquehanna, Bloomsburg, and Berwick Railroad had regularly scheduled passenger trains that used the tracks. I suppose Grandma was surprised by the train—and somehow failed to properly attend to whatever she was supposed to be doing with the pulley system.

For more information about hay pulleys you might enjoy this previous post:

Hay Pulleys and Ropes

You may also enjoy this link to a YouTube video what shows people using the old-fashioned pulley system to unload hay. (Thank you Jim in Iowa for finding this link and sharing it when I did the previous post on this topic.)

Carrie has a Beau

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, July 21, 1914: Went to a party about three miles from here. Went with Carrie and her beau. There were lots there I didn’t know. Didn’t stay so very late.

House Carrie (Stout) and John Pressler lived in after their marriage.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

It’s too bad that you didn’t know very many people . . . were you happy for Carrie that she had a beau? . . . or a little jealous?

—-

Carrie Stout is the friend of Grandma’s who’s mentioned the most frequently in the diary—so I assume that she was Grandma’s best friend. She lived on a nearby farm.

Since Carrie’s not a relative I’ve never put much effort into tracing her story, but here’s the little I know.

Carrie was a little younger than Grandma. She married a farmer named John Pressler who was about 10 years older than she was. (I wonder if the beau in this diary entry was John.) Carrie and John lived for many years on a rural Milton farm. The farm was on Muddy Run Road, and was 3 miles or so from the farm where Carrie grew up.

I’ve never come across a photo of Carrie, so I don’t know what she looked like.

Somehow my description of Carrie feels inadequate—I guess that her life is a puzzle that still has lots of missing pieces.

New Minister Energizes Church

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Sunday, July 19, 1914: Went to Sunday School this morning. Ruth and I went to church this evening.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

Wow, church twice in a day! Sounds like your new minister has more services than the old one. Is he as good as the old one? How are his sermons?

—

The previous minister left in January. On January 4, 1914 Grandma wrote:

Our minister is going to leave soon. He preached his farewell sermon today. I am so sorry to see him go. There were some misty eyes in church this afternoon.

After he left Grandma occasionally mentioned that there was no church because there was no minister. On March 29, 1914, she wrote:

Went to Sunday school this afternoon. Attended church, which isn’t very often since we don’t have a regular preacher as yet. . .

The new one came two weeks prior to this entry. On July 5, 1914 she wrote:

Our new preacher took up his charge today. Am glad that one is secured at last.

Dangerously Humid: 3 Die in NYC

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Thursday, July 16 – Friday, July 17, 1914: Am having a hot time of it.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

This is the second day of a two-day diary entry. New York City is about 125 miles east of McEwensville. Here’s what the New York Times had to say about the weather there on July 17, 1914.

The weather sounds oppressive—and dangerous. My favorite line in the article is:

There is a light southerly breeze at the Battery, but it as warm as if it had blown over the Sudan desert at Wadi Halfi. . .

Somehow high humidity and desert breezes don’t seem like they belong in the same sentence. . . but whatever. . . It’s a very graphic description. 🙂

Do Canning on a Cool Day

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Thursday, July 16 – Friday, July 17, 1914: Am having a hot time of it.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (August, 1914) — Source: *Ladies Home Journal* (August, 1914)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

This is probably a stretch—but could the Muffly’s be canning fruits or vegetables? . . . maybe cherries? . . . or green beans? Canning is a very hot job.

According to the August, 1914 issue of Ladies Home Journal:

Canning is the process of putting up fruits or vegetables in air-tight jars either with or without sugar. Preserving is the preparation of fruits with sufficient sugar to keep without fermentation whether air-tight or not. If possible do the canning on cool days. . .

Maybe the produce was at its peak . . . and they just couldn’t wait for a cool day like the magazine recommended.

Wednesday Chores

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Wednesday, July 15, 1914: Wednesday—Perhaps a little different from other days.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma. . .HOW is Wednesday different from other days? Did your family have specific chores for each day of the week?

Washing clothes on Monday. .

Did you do the mending on Wednesdays? Different lists have different chores for Wednesday, but the most frequently mentioned one seems to be mending. I’ve also seen lists where the ironing is listed as the Wednesday chore.

Sufficient Rainfall: Crops Making Promising Progress

19-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, July 14, 1914: It’s raining some these days. One can even tire of the rain for a time.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma—

I understand! I tire of rain very quickly, too. But rain is good.

It looks like Pennsylvania (and most of the rest of the country) is getting enough rain, and the crops are doing well. I bet that your father is happy.

Source: Wall Street Journal (July 15, 1914)