Love- The Odessa Record; "By Your Relative"

Odessa Record subscriber Larry Fisher of Spokane continues his series of articles on the history of the Batum/Lauer area (where his wife, the former Joyce Kiesz, grew up).

Dream #3 continuation

Last week, I was telling you about my dream #3. This week it is still on going with Joyce and I walking main street.

As we continued on to the Livery Barn to get "Gettyup" and "Slowpoke," I noticed Odessa had a meat market - S.A. Stanfield, prop .; had a jeweler-watchmaker - John B. Gehrig, prop .; had a tinner/plumber - L.S. Ferguson, prop .; had the Odessa Bowling Alley - L.A. Bigham, prop.

Joyce turned to me and said that she wanted to enter The Palace Store, so we did. While in the store, we noticed the following: Ladies' Corsets, good values at 65 and 75 cents, this week 50 cents; Fine Damask Linen Tablecloths, worth $2.50, this week only $1.75; Linen Bureau Covers, a swell article for from 50 cents to $1.00; Large Turkish Towels, regularly sold for 25 cents, this week only 15 cents; Ladies' fine lisle thread black hose, worth 35 cents, this week 25 cents; ladies' hose, good values at 15 cents, this week 10 cents; children's hose, worth 15 cents, this week 10 cents; ladies' white underskirts, worth $1.25 for 75 cents, the $2.00 kind only $1.50; white muslin nightgowns, good values at $1.50, this week only $1.00; ladies' ribbed vests and pants, worth 35 cents, this week 25 cents each.

After spending all my money and exiting the store, we finally arrived at the Livery Barn to discover that "Gettyup" and "Slowpoke were no longer there. Instead, we were provided a horse and buggy outfit. The horse was called "Sweetpea" while the buggy had a sign attached which said "Roses are red, violets are blue, "Sweetpea" is old and so are you.” Finally we were off to Lauer-Batum.

About eight miles southwest of Odessa, we had to pass through a band of sheep. They had come from the north and were enroute to the Pasco country by way of Lauer-Batum. The sheepman was D. Gibson. The herd size was almost 3,700.

After passing through the sheep, Joyce and I made it to Batum. We stopped at the Batum Grain and Lumber business, owned by Daniel Mayer. While there, he told us the following:

1. Fred Geissler reported the loss of his best cow Monday through the eating of some small potatoes that were left on the ground after potato digging. Two of his cows were in the potato patch less than half an hour, and one died and only the hardest kind of work saved the other.

2. Christian C. Doering, a young rancher living in the district, had a very painful accident one day last week. A horse fell upon him, breaking his leg and also the shin bone.

3. Harvest began full blast the first of the week, but many of the farmers were handicapped, however, by being unable to secure a full complement of men for their header crews. An advance of fifty cents a day over the wages paid for several seasons past is being offered for all kinds of work in the harvest field and yet there is a shortage of men.

4. Those contemplating doing hunting this season should bear in mind that the new law makes it a misdemeanor to hunt without a hunter's license. The law which was passed two years ago was declared unconstitutional in a test case soon after the first open season and thereafter was ignored by the hunters throughout the state. The new law provides for what was lacking in the other and will, it is said, be strictly enforced. A resident of the state is only charged $1 for a county license and $5 for one for the entire state and for this amount one cannot afford to take chances on paying a fine ranging from $10 to $100 for hunting without the necessary documents.

After a couple of hours, it was time to head back to Odessa. As we drove past the Jacob Raugust place, Joyce saw her mother-to-be, Bertha who at the time was four years, five months old. We also saw the Sam Reimann "homestead" shack the Raugusts were living in. It was sure tiny. A person needed a "magnifying glass" to see it. There were no trees, just sagebrush, the grass was brown. Dust was everywhere and knee deep. The Raugust's had been living there for two years. Joyce looked at me and said …. "I'm sure glad I'm not going to be born until 1937."

Until next time.

Your Relative, Spokane