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Pages of History
March 1947 did not come in like a lion. Instead, it was more like a mud hen.
“We have had snow, wind, rain, sunshine, fog, sleet, ice, cold, warm and almost hot weather,” said Editor Hill. “The warm weather brings mud and makes the side roads almost impassable and our streets sloppy.
But don’t worry, spring is just around the corner.“ Due to muddy fields, farm work was behind schedule. Another problem farmers faced was the condition of the country roads. Some farmers reported they had not been able to get their cars home since January. In some cases rural mail carriers had to leave mail with neighbors who lived on passable roads.
A record attendance of 69 persons attended the March meeting of the Laurel Commercial Club.
One of the questions discussed was how to improve the farm-tomarket roads leading into Laurel.
“Farmers are up in arms over the terrible condition of the roads,“ said the Advocate. Gravel was the answer.
Money to pay for it was the problem.
Although the war had been over for more than a year, not all government controls had been lifted. Anyone wishing to build had to submit an application to the Civilian Production Administration office in Omaha.
In March 1947, permits for two building projects in Laurel were denied. One was an application by Harold Macklem to build a 25’ x 50‘ tile block building on the north side of Main Street. The building would be divided into two parts with one side to be used for a barber shop, the other for a liquor store.
The other application was submitted by the Laurel American Legion.
They requested permission to build a two-story brick and tile building on the south side of Main Street east of where the post office now stands.
The upper floor would be used as a meeting place for the Legion. The ground floor would be used for a new post office. The Legion already had purchased a lot and removed the old wooden building that was on it.
Both applications were rejected on the grounds that the building materials would be needed for the Veterans Emergency Housing program.
Fortunately, the controls soon would be lifted, and Macklem was able to go ahead with his new building later in the year. (It is the brick building just east of the present Security Bank. His former location was on the lot where the post office now stands).
The Legion also was able to go ahead with fundraising for their new building although it would not be built on the lot they already had purchased on Main Street.
The housing shortage in this country was far worse in Germany where many small towns and villages had been leveled by U.S. and British bombers during the war. With the lifting of restrictions on mail from enemy countries, Mrs. Edward W.
Hesse of Hartington received several letters from relatives in Germany.
One letter read in part: “Words cannot tell the extent of misery into which Germany was plunged by the war. We escaped with our lives, but our ancestral home in Alst, which is also your home, was totally destroyed in December 1944.
“The problem of food is catastrophic. The pangs of hunger we take to bed with us every night are indescribable. To the pangs of hunger is added the suffering from the unprecedented cold which has been with us since Christmas. We lack fuel to combat the cold.
“Were it possible for you to come to Germany, you would not recognize your old home. All the neighboring villages, such as Bergsteinfurt, Rhein, Munster, Cofelt, Dulham, etc., are nothing but scorched earth.
“In view of the extreme want we are experiencing, I would humbly ask if it would be possible for you to send us a food package. Should it be impossible for you to help, I humbly beg you to forgive this plea.“ Another letter from a cousin named Lucia Hesse told how her father had died of wounds received in the First World War and her brother had been killed during WW II. “With his death, the family name will die out for he was the last male descendent.
“Misery stalks the land,” she wrote. You cannot imagine the colossal waste and destruction. Westphalia is overpopulated with refugees. Lack of housing is everywhere. But I will not whine before you. I am of the firm belief that our dear Germany will not perish for the core of the German people is still sound.”
Stories of the Holocaust are repeated constantly but stories about the suffering of the German people who had no part in it are rarely mentioned.
Until World War II and again for a number of years afterward, the bombing of civilians was considered a war crime. Guess it all depends on who is doing the bombing.
Some earth shaking news from north of Laurel. The Advocate of March 5, 1947, reported that farm houses north of town were shaken and windows were rattled by some kind of explosion or earth tremor.
The incident occurred about 10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4. The cause of the tremor was never determined.
The Advocate of March 19 featured a new column entitled “As I Remember Laurel.“ It was written by Carl Jeffrey who had lived in Laurel almost from the beginning of the town.
Jeffrey (1885-1969) was the son of Mr. and Mrs. A.N. Jeffrey, a blacksmith and one of Laurel‘s earliest residents. Jeffrey claimed his parents came to Laurel from Concord in 1890 but it probably was 1892.
Jeffery’s column contains a lot of good information about the early history of Laurel. This writer wishes he had known about it when he began writing this column back in 1991.
