A glance in the rearview mirror: July 1921—Rowdies in the creek. Fly traps. Hometown boy killed in Battle of St. Mihiel.

by Mary Jo David

The following excerpts are from July 1921 editions of the Stockbridge Brief-Sun newspaper. In general, these news excerpts are reproduced in the original, without edits or corrections. Remember this when you see Joslyn Lake, Joshlyn Lake, and Porto Rico!

Don’t Play “Blind Man’s Buff” with Your Precious Dollars: “Blind Man’s Buff” is a poor game to play when we are spending our dollars. And that’s exactly what we do when we send away to buy an article

by mail…a clerk jerks your article from the huge pile and sends it to you. No picking it over to suit your taste; no attempt to fit your special needs; you get no choice at all. But when you trade at home…the man in the store is your neighbor and tries to please you. To please his customers, he must buy goods with quality in mind and in order to sell at all his price must be reasonable. Don’t invest your precious dollars in “Blind Man’s Buff.” –7/7/1921

Fifteen Dollars Reward: Last Wednesday, July 6th, a bunch of rowdies ran Mr. Ed Joshlyn’s wagon in the creek. Also, some of the bathers who enjoy the privileges at Joshlyn Lake persist in using the boats for bathing purposes…On the day following the wagon incident, Mr. Joshlyn decided he had been put to enough trouble and put a sign on his gate forbidding bathers to cross his land…Mr. Joshlyn kindly allowed bathers the use of his property again provided they can act like ladies and gentleman…Hence the $15 reward will be paid to anyone furnishing us with evidence to convict the guilty parties…Leave information at the Brief-Sun Office. –7/14/1921

OBITUARY: Joseph Mackinder was born February 26th, 1883, and made the supreme sacrifice for  the

cause of humanity, about September 10, 1918, at St. Mihiel, France. He was the youngest son of James 0. and Sarah M. Mackinder, both of whom are deceased. His early boyhood was spent in Unadilla Township, moving to East Putnam in 1902. At the time of our country entering into war· with Germany, he was in the employ of the Detroit United Railway Company. He quickly offered his services to the

United States War· Department and enlisted in the 126th Infantry. After a few months training at Grayling, Mich., and Waco, Texas, he started in March, 1918, for the scene of war, reaching France in May of that year. He saw active service during July and August, and was killed in action in the memorable battle of St. Mihiel. He was a young man of high character, held in esteem by all whom

knew him for his sterling qualities of real manhood…He leaves four brothers, J. Frank Mackinder of Brighton, Fred W. Mackinder of Detroit, Richard H. Mackinder of Gregory, and Phillip N. Mackinder of Toledo, Ohio. Funeral services were held in Unadilla Presbyterian church on Sunday, July 17, 1921. Conducted by the pastor, Rev. Charles D. Ellis.  –7/21/1921

LOCAL & PERSONAL NEWS

July 7, 1921 edition:

• Henry Sellers is again afflicted with rheumatism and asks the person who borrowed his crutches to return them at once.
• The new bounty law, passed by the state legislature last winter will go into effect on August 1st. Under the new law, all bounties are repealed except on woodchucks and crows, which will be 25 cents each.
• In Gregory: Wm. Heminer and Foster were in Chelsea last Tuesday, Foster having two teeth bridged in to replace the two that were knocked out last fall while playing ball.
• In Munith: Maurice Atwood lost one of his fingers last Thursday by getting it caught in the lever of the sulky plow he was driving for his father, who is nearly blind, who released the lever, not seeing the boy counting the notches with his finger.

July 14, 1921 edition:

• A fair illustration of what a homemade fly-trap will do may be seen on the west side of the hotel. In less than a week about two quarts of these pests have been destroyed. If more of us would build traps and make a little effort, the fly nuisance would be greatly lessened.
• 0ver 100 attended the Hoosier picnic at Joslyn Lake Tuesday. Many were kept away on account of harvest but those who were present enjoyed the day bathing, boxing, quoit pitching, visiting, and the bounteous feed.

NATIONAL NEWS

July 7, 1921 edition:

• Coinage of silver dollars has been resumed by the mint at Washington, D.C., after a lapse of 7 years, and the work of replacing 279,000,000 standard silver dollars taken from the treasury during the war to sell to Great Britain has been begun. The mint is now striking off silver dollars at the rate of about 8,000,000 to 10,000,000 a month.

July 14, 1921 edition:

• Lands of the Caribbean: …It would take 57 islands of its size to equal Central America in area, and yet Porto Rico enjoys about three times as much foreign trade as all Central America together, from Tehuantepec to Colombia…The trade of the island has increased sevenfold since Uncle Sam took possession there. The number of children enrolled in the schools has increased sixfold. The wages of the laboring class has multiplied threefold even before the war…

MISCELLANEOUS

July 14, 1921 edition:

• A teacher was reading to her class when she came across the word “unaware.” She asked if anyone knew the meaning. One little girl timidly raised her hand and gave the following definition: “Unaware is what you put on first and take off last.”