Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Early Days in Lyman Conclusion

EARLY DAYS IN THE TOWN OF LYMAN
by Bela Foster


Conclusion
As the time has come, when I must lay down my pencil and let others entertain you, (or pester you as I have). I am wondering how many really have enjoyed the writings. The Editor has not, I am sure, neither would you, were you called upon to decipher a page or two of this manuscript. You would think that you had come across a few pages of hieriglyphics from the Orient.
In so far as W. O. Sanders is concerned, he has done his part well. It has used much of his patience, I am positive. Had he not taught school for many years, he could not have succeeded so splendidly.
It has been a task for him. It has cost him many dollars. I am out only my time. I thank those, who have aided me. Without those, who and the help from your parents and grand parents, I could have not written what I have. Though many, who have aided me in my writings, have passed to their home beyond, the stories they told were recorded, so that I might use them.
I have written, mostly of the good deeds of those I have met, which helped to make the community in which we have lived, those I revere. There were many, who lived without the radius of my younger days, that I could simply mention, as I knew them slightly. They came in a time when they had to give up many things that helped to make life sweeter.
In winter they had little to burn. In the summertime germs of malaria. Though, they did nto know then, the germ and it's made of speading disease, it was the same as it is today, with no means of staying it's progress.
Have you, who have always had warm homes, plenty to eat, and clothing to keep you warm, ever tried to put yourself in the place of one, who is hungry and cold? It is a rare thing here not to see the children, who not for a fad, but because of need, going without sufficient food and clothing. Could you sit down to a corn meal diet for weeks, and thank God for the food? Some could and did. Have you even been so hungry that the sight of a piece of white bread and butter would create a longing to get your teeth into a smilar piece? I have seen children go to the cupboard for a lunch and find a cold potato or a left over pancake and be thankful. The earlier settlers saw things worse. If you have ever gone to a well for a pail of water and maybe hooked out from one to half a dozen snakes, you can appreciate pure cold water, and be in a position to sympathize with the people, who suffered while they were preparing for those in the future.


--Roberts Herald. 29 April 1936. Bela Foster.

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