Sunday, August 24, 1930

Hempe’s were here this morning & look at our colt & horses.  Uncle Fred, Aunt Mary were here for dinner.  We had 2 watermelons for lunch.  This afternoon Aunt Mary, Rosalia, Bertille went down to Lester Gregson’s to see the little boy.  Wittenauer’s from Belleville were also there.  Uncle Fred, Aunt Mary ate lunch, watermelons here, then they went home.  After they was at home a little while she called up & said they was going to see Henry tonight.  So we got ready and we all went out to Henry’s.  Uncle Fred had his accordion along & music was the main feature of the evening.

Clarence Wittenauer up set his car in the ditch this evening, after coming from the ball game.  But he wasn’t hurt, there was no glass broke, only the fenders & radiator hurt a little, the car was injured.  Red Bud & Hecker played ball today, Hecker won.  Willie Parkinson is very sick.  He turned back Catholic again.

Friday, August 22, 1930

Papa, Uncle Fred, Aunt Mary, Rosalia went up to help clean things again.  Hecker played ball with Waterloo Sunday.  Hecker won.  There is a big piece in the paper about the dedication of the new school.  There were 40 priests here and 12 sisters.  Gusta Dudenhoeffer and some people came she came with from St. Louis were out, they were down at the house a little while.  Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary were here for dinner.

Friday, June 27, 1930

Hecker baseball team played with Prairie boys last Sunday.  Hecker won 4-11.  Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary came up this afternoon.  Uncle Fred helped Papa fix wire fence.  We finished our dresses this afternoon.  They was here for supper.  Henry & Leona went to Belleville this afternoon.  They left the kids here.  The most terrible thing happened this afternoon about 2 o’clock.  The two Gambach’s Henry & Willard died.  They was trying to clean a well out.  There was some gas got in the well & the water taste, so they got the fellows that put the gas tanks in the ground to come to dig it out to see if it was a leak, but they said none of them had a leak, so they don’t know how the gas got in the well.  Henry went down first to get a bucketful out, and when he came out he said, that his breathe pretty near got taken away from the smell of gas.  But he went down in the well again, but failed to come back up alive.  Then Willard wanted to save Henry’s life, then he too was taken [in] there.  Henry Emery went down, but he couldn’t stand it either.  They had to pull him up with a rope & he also was unconscious. They rolled him around until he got to himself then he was alright.  They sent for men from Belleville but they couldn’t do no good so they full around until they got the rope around him & then pulled him out.  Willard they got out about 1/2 hour but Henry was in almost 2 hours.  Henry was 32 years old.  Willard was to be 27 on July 2.  They took them to the undertaking parlor at Belleville by Gundlach’s and will bring them out Sat. afternoon.  Mrs. George Gambach is so worried, she is some time gone all together.  Uncle Fred, Papa, Aunt Mary, Rosalia all went up to see them pull him out of the well.

Friday, June 13, 1930

Papa went out to Henry’s this morning & got the team & then hauled posts.  He brought the little colt along up to Hecker too.  Afterwards he went over to Ed Meng’s a little while, then went back out to Henry’s again.  Mr. John Armbruster & son Raymond were here this morning & looked at our leghorns chicks that we have for sale, but he heard that we just wanted to sell the pullets.  So he said he would talk to his wife about it first and would let us know later.  Yesterday was Uncle Pete & Aunt Lizzie Reheis wedding anniversary.  They are married 36 years.  Last Sunday the Hecker baseball team played up & with Floraville & Hecker won.  Rosalia got the mail & took 2 doz. eggs to the store, got .18¢ a dozen.  Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary went to Red Bud this afternoon a little while they stopped in when they went both ways.  Mr. Jake Helfrich & another fellow from Belleville were here this evening.  They each bought 2 spring chickens for .80¢ a piece.  Papa went up to work at the school from about 4:30 to until 6 o’clock.

Mr. Hill called up this evening and said there was a little chick over there that didn’t belong to them & we should come over & see it, maybe it was ours.  So Bertille went over & brought it along back, but it didn’t belong to us.