Voices From The Past

May 2, 1924

Franklin and Krumps Building Hydro-Glider

George Franklin and Part Krumps at their workshop have in the course of construction a hydro-glider that will be launched by them on Powder River when completed, probably within the next few days.

It is a boat of new and ingenious design, something that has never been seen in this vicinity. The power is supplied by a propeller at the rear, operated by a small gasoline engine. The bottom of the boat is a radical departure from the old style, being convex rather than concave. It is designed to draw only the minimum depth of water and should be able to navigate in the shallow depths of the Powder. The boat is 12 feet long, 40 inches wide and has a depth of 22 inches overall, with 18 inches above the bottom. The sides and bottom are constructed of watertight sheet metal, the framework of hardwood. The weight is 350 pounds and it will have a carrying capacity of six passengers. The finished product will be painted red and white and because of its buoyancy will probably carry the name “Over the Top”. The boat will be used in ferrying passengers across the river and in taking “joy rides”' up and down the river.

President signs Fort Keogh Bill

President Coolidge has signed the bill that turns over the Fort Keogh reservation to the Department of Agriculture for the development of a local Experiment Station and grazing area. It has been announced that a Superintendent will be sent to Miles City soon and a survey is expected to start in the immediate future to determine just what is needed, so money required can be put in next year's appropriation bill.

April 29, 1949

South Stacey wins Rural Track Meet

The South Stacey School school won the annual rural schools track and field meet held in Broadus last Friday. They won with a total of 45 and one half points. Wolf Creek School was second with 19 points while the Divide and Baking Powder schools tied for third place with 15 points each.

There were 30 schools entered in the meet and in spite of a rather strong wind from the northwest, the events were better than ever.

Insurance Rate will be Lowered

Installation of an auxiliary gasoline engine at the water system pump house in Broadus is being accomplished by town officials. Rudy Amundson, councilman, is in charge of the crew that on Monday pulled the pump out of the well so that a new shaft could be installed.

Working with Amundson were Steve A. Holt, Jr., town clerk, Ben Patten, town marshall, and Johnny Stabio. The gear unit had been installed by Monday evening. The concrete base for the gasoline engine was poured Tuesday and as soon as the concrete has sufficiently hardened, the engine will be mounted and attached by shaft to the pump.

Installation of the auxiliary engine was asked for by the Board of Fire Underwriters who insisted that this could be done before a reduction could be made in fire insurance rates. It is believed that the cost of the auxiliary equipment will be paid for in a short time by savings in fire insurance premiums.

The cost of the equipment is around $1,500 and this money was advanced by business firms in Broadus. It will be repaid by the town without interest at some future date.

May 6, 1999

Ellen Plocek’s seventh graders share stories

Helping by Ross Randall

My Grandma Lucille is probably one of the most thoughtful and polite people that I know. She has always been willing to help people.

In the early sixties when Grandma had four young kids, there was an old cowboy named Ed Doonan, who had been widowed for many years, that lived on their place. He was in his eighties and lived in an old log cabin about four miles from where grandma lived. My Grandma would bring Ed to town to buy groceries once a week and then would check every couple of days to make sure everything was all right. Grandma would take food and cookies to Ed and Grandma’s children would go with her sometimes because Ed always had a cookie tin full of chocolate candy. He would let them pick out a candy bar.

The winter of 1964 was a hard winter with lots of snow. Grandma Lucille couldn’t drive all the way to the cabin so she had to break a trail through the snow. That way Ed could follow behind her since he insisted on going to town. One day on the way to Broadus, Ed died while riding in the vehicle. Grandma said she was thankful that Ed at least didn’t die alone.