AN

:190Z TO lS6Z

l2Y VERNE B. LAU GHfER - 2

INDEX CHAPTER SIX through nONCLUS ION

SUBJECT -A- (Continued) PAGE Atomic Bomb, dropped on Hiroshima Japan, 1945. ------376 Atomic Energy tested. for Electric Generation, 1951. ------413 Attitude of American People, 1966. ------498 Automobile Wreck, at Southern and Roston St. ------31$ Automobile bought from Glen Yockey, 1934. ------316 Automobile trip to Fl~rida, .with Mrs., Saino, 1935. ------317 Automobile Keys locked inside, '~inslow Ariz. 1969. ------514 Automobile production reduced by agreement, 1941. ------352 Automobile Industry. ------610 Automobile's contribution to change in Lifestyle, ------616 Awsumb, Mrs. Gwynn, Member of City ~ouncil, 1968. ------506

-B- ~8dminton Court in our back yard, 1939. ------343 ~ai1ey, Ed. Hired tor Job Supervisor, 1915. ------313 Rarn Lumber, salvaged from Mr. Saino's, 1945. ------393 Rarn built on Farm, 1947. ------'------396 Rarr, Jonny, Hired for Survey Party, 1934. ------308 Raseball, Major League players on Strike, 1981. ------586

Raseball. ------603 Hath Tron Works, near Rrunswick Maune, 1976. ---~------562 Raugh, Everett, Inducted into C.Ra. ------359 Raugh, Everett, World War II, Story. ------380 ~eBl, Paul R. Hired as Drattsman, 1935. ------~-- 313 ~eal, Paul, Sobbered with Castor 011 b7 Maxon, 1935. ------314 Hell, Tedd7, nescription, Anchorage Earthquake, 1964. ------479 ,Rergensfjord, Norwegian Ship on Caribbean Cruise, 1971. ------S2S Continued on next page, ------•

.3

INDEX CHAPTER SIX through GONCLUSION S'tffiJECT -B- (Continued) PAGE Bernardo, Rob, Argument about $10 Raise. ------335 Berryhill, James, _Hired for Survey Party, 1934. ------308 Righorn Mountains, driving hazards, 1957. ------450 Rlack Market in n.s., 1944------.------362 Black Sand on Beach, Hawaii lsland, 1965. ------495 Blacks being elected to Political Positions, 1961, ------501 ~lackburn, Charles, Appointed Director Public Works. 1968. ---- 505 R10w Role, on Kauai Island, 196$. ------496 Bogg on top of mountain, Cape Breton Island, Canada, 1976. ---- 566 Boyle, Joseph, Successful Candidate for Commissioner 1955, ---- 434 Rrid~e over Miss. River at Memphis, 1973. ------543 Hriggs, W.R. Hired as Rookkeeper, 1934. ------308 ~rooks, H.E. Hired as Drartsman, 1935. ------313 BrQoks, Mildred, Hired as, Typest, 1935. ------313 Ruck, Dr. Kinsey, Treated Richard through Crisis, 1941. ------349 Ruck, Henry, Unsuccessful Candidate for Commissioner, 1955. --- 434 Ruilding Material, etc. brought from Army Depot, 1947. ------395 Butane Gas System tor beating Home on Farm, 1950. ------411

-C- Cabot Trail Tour, Cape ~reton Island, Canada, 1976. ------566 Canyon C1t7 Col. With Eunice and Ren, 1969. ------511 Cape Hreton Island, Canada, 1976. ------564 Caponed Chickens, on the Farm, 1948. ------399 Captain Cook's Monument, Kealakekue Bay, H~wa11 Island, 1965. - 494 Car Rreak-down, With Euhice and Ben, 1969. ------511 Career at Public Works Depar~ent, Reviewed, ------537 4

INDEX

eHA 'PT'ER ~ IX through CONCLIJ~ ION

SURJECT - C- (Continued \ 'PAn.~ Carey Kenna1s in Maine, Rreeders of Schnul Dogs, 1976. ------562 Caribbean Cruise, ~ith Louise and Bic. 1971 ------524 to 537 Carley, Jack, Presidents Island Industrial Park, idea, 1946 --- 384 Carpenter, Bob, Private car repair by City Mechanic, 1956. ---- 438 Carpenter, Rob, Suicide, 1956. ------438 Carrier Constr. Co. First Ready-mixed Concrete, 1934. ------309 carter, Jimmy, Camp8i~n for President, 1976. ------569 Castellaw, Henry Renjemine, Died November 1973. ------540 Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, 1934. ------307 Chandler, Walter, ApDointed Mayor of Memphis, 1940. ------345 Chandle r, Walter, Chose not to run for Mayor, 1952. ------424

Chandler, Walter, Finished Tobey.... s term 8S Mayor, 1955. ------435 Chandler, Wyeth, City Council Chairman, 1968. ------50$ Changes in Lifestyle, Important Contributions. ------616 Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, Canada, 1976. ------564 Chester's first letter home since 1926. ------397 Chester Lau~hter. Suffered a Stroke. 1972. ------541 Chester, and his efforts in Theropy, 1973. ------542 Chester Renfro Lau~hter, Died February 3, 1975. ------553 ~ .. Chester.~ s .post-mortem. Oitat10n from President Ford. 1975. ----- 553 Chico Calif. Visit with Chester and wife Maribelle, 1957. ---- 456 Chico Calif. Visit at Chester's, with Eunice and Re~, 1969. -- 513 Christe, Mrs. Charlotte, Hired as Typest, 1934. ------308 Christe, Mrs. Fowler's controversial Secretary. ------335 Citation for Services to Physically Handicapped, 1950. ------463 City Commissioner's Meeting, 1st after Mr. Crump's death 1954.--430 Continued on next page, ---- - 5

INnli:X

CHAPTRR RtX through cnN~LUSTON

. SURJECT -C w (Continued) pAnt':

City Election Campaign, 1959. ------463 C~ty Election Camp8i~, 1963. ------476 City Hall at Memphis, Completed, 1966. ------498 City's Form of Government changed, 1967. ------502 City Election, 1967. ------503 City Real Estate Administration Job, to Verne, 1969. ------520 Cities Suffering from Internal Friction. ------613 Civil Defence Organized, 1941. ------352 Civil Rights Attitude, 1966. ------498 Civic Center planned for Memphis, ------498 Cleanest City, Title given Memphis, 1940. ------344 Cody Wy. Pictures of Cattle Drive, with cap on lens, 1957. --- 451 Commercial Appeal, American Leagion, Xmas Basket Fund, 19$4. -- 431 Commercial Greenhouse near Hilo on Hawaii Island, 1965. ------496 Communication. -~------608 Communist Infiltration into American Society, 1947. ------397 Communist Aggression, Afganistan, Falkland Isl. & Isreal. ----- 590 . Communist Principles. ------590 Cook, Ned. Chairman of Memphis Airport Hoard, 1969. ------521 Complaints from Public, Method of Handling, 19$6. ------437 to 439 . Complaints, Reports, and Letters, at Public Works, 1958. ------459 Computer, (Electronic) invented, 1946, ------383 Computer Industry, contribution to change in Lifestyle.-- 612 & 617

Conservationist. ------612 Construction Inspector's School, 1961. ------469 Construction Dept. Organization Chart, 1961 to 19b7. ------470 Continued on next page, ------G

INn E X CHAPTER RIX through CONCLUSION

SURJECT - C- (Continued) PAGE Contractors for Nonconnah Ranitary Sewer, 1945. ------308 Conveniences in Coun~ry Homes, about equal to City. ------600 Convention and Entertainment Center in Honolulu, 1965. ------491 Corrigan, Flew wrong way to cross the Atlantic, 1938. ------333 Covington, Robert C. Inducted into Marines. ------359 Credit, "~asy Money" Influence on Lifestyle. ------591 Credit for Everybody. ------615 Crime. ------606 Crump's very short term as Mayor or Memphis, 1940. ------344 Crump, E.H. Presidents Island Industrial Park idea, 1946. ---- 384 Crump, E.H. _Memphis-Arkansas Bridge, 1949. ------387 Crump, Edward Hull, Died October 16, 1954. ------427 Crump's Contribution to Memphis. ------428 Cuba's Rey of Pigs, invesion, 1961. ------.------472 Cuban Missi1 Crisis, 1962. ------473

-D- Dances, as they changed through the years. ------602 Davis, Fred, Hired as DraftSMan, 1935. ------313 D-DAY lending on Normandy Reach, June 6, 1944. ------361 Deadwood S.D. Jessie fell out or Bed, 1957. ------449 Decision to Retire, 1971. - ..... ------538 Demonstrations during the Garbage Strike, 1968. ------507 Depression in the early 1930s. ------501 & 614 DeShasio, Miss Susie, Mary Jo's Music Teacher. ------441 Design and Plans for Nonconnah Sanitary Sewer, 1944. ------368 Dillard, Unsuccessful Candidate for Commissioner, 1955. ------434 Continued on next ueae. ------1

INDRX

CHAPTER SIX through CONCLUSION

BURJEeT -D- (Continued l 'PAGE Dionne Quintuplets, born 1934. ------308 Disney Land at Anaheim Calif. 1957. ------457 Doctor at ~runswick, treatment for Throat Ailment, 1951. ------417 Donelson, Louis, Chairman Finance Committee, 1968. ------506 Doughnut Route, Jessie's Project, 1946. ------390 Douglass, Richard, Compu1sary Retirement, 1969. ------520 Draft for the Military called, 1940. ------344 DreaM that led to Grsndpew in the Greve Yard. 1082. ------598 Dupuytren's Contraction in Verne's left hand, 1965. ------486 Dust ~torm from South western ~tates, 1934. ------309 . Dynamite used, Nonconnah Sanitary Sewer Construction, 1945. --- 370

-E- Earthquake at Anchorage Alaska, 1964. ------411

'Easy Credit for Everyone. ------615 Economy, 1934, 1937, 1938. ------301 & 332 1946. ------383 1955. ------431 1900 to 1982 ------590 to 597 & 614 Economy, Local. 1955. ------431 1982. ------596 Edmondson, George, Hired for Job Supervision, 1935. ------313

Education. ------607 Electricity not available to Farm, 1947. ------395 Electricity extended to Home on Brunswick Rd. 1950. ------411 . Elvis Presley, Died August 16, 1977. -- .. ------573 Engineers Club ot Memphis. ------475 Entertainment on Caribbean Cruise, 1971. ------527 Equal Oppertunity Act, Effect on Industry, 1982. ------594 - B

INDEX

eRA "PT'RR ~ IX through CONCLUSION SURJ'RCT -E- (Continued) PAGE Eunice, ~en, Jessie and I, Trip to Chico Calif. 1969. ------510 Eunice Janette Laughter Castellaw, nied January 3, 1973. ---~- 540 European Activities indicating War, 1938. ------332 1942. ------354 1944. ------362 Evangelist, ~unday, Graham, Roberts, ana ~chu1ar, Also Jones and Moon. ------606 Rviction from 2888 ~outhern Ave; July 1945. ------379 Eviction from 2910 Routhern Ave. September 1945. ------380

-F- Family Life in the ~uburbs, 1982. ------600 Family Ties Changed, 1982. ------605 Farm on ~runswick Rd. purchased from Reaty, Jan. 3, 1945. ----- 310 Farm on ~runswick Rd. Map. ------~------392 Farming Efforts, 1948. ------398 Farm Life unfair to our Family's Future, 1952. ------419 Farm on Rrunswick Rd. Sold, 1952. ------422 Farming Industry effected by Inflation, 1982. ------595 Farming Methods and Financial Problems, 1982. ------600 Fa~ris, William, Successful Candidate, Pub. Wks. Comm. 1959. -- 464 Farris, as Commissioner of Public Works, 1960. ------465 Farris, Unsuccessful Candidate tor Mayor, 1963. ------416 F.F.M.C. Federal 'Farm Mortgage Corp, 1934. ------307 F.e.c. Federal Communication Commission, 1934. ------301 F.B.A. Federal Housing Administration, 1934. ------307 Federal Government Debt, 1982. ------615 Federal Reserve System. ------615 ~ontinued on next page. ------IN D R X

OHA PI'~ RLX throu~h CONCLUR TON

SUR JRCT -F- (Continued) 'PAGE Federal Aid Highway Act, .(Expressways l, Signed 19.56. ------444 Federal Barge Line-on Mississippi River, 1953. ------384 Ferns about 20 feet tall, on Hawaii Island, 1965. ------496 Fern Grotto, on Kaue1 Island, 1965. ------496 Firemen went on Rtr1ke, (for 3 daysl, July 1, 1978.------573 - 575 Fishing and Hunting, 1982. ~------603 Fletcher, William, Memphis Airport Director, 1969. ------521 Flooding on Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, 1937. ------325 Flood Crest at Memphis, ~8 ft. Weather Rureau gauge, 1937. 50 ft. Real St. gauge, 1937. ------331 Flood Control Plans tor Memphis, 1938. ------340 Food Stamps, Introduced at Rochester N.Y. 1939. ------341 Food in Abundance on Caribbean Cruise, 1971. ------526

Football, 1982. ------603 Foot-bridge across Nonconnah Creek, 1944. ------366 Ford, Gerald, Took Office as President, August 9, 1974. ------549 Ford, President, Grants Unconditional Pardon to Nixon, 1974. -- 549 Fort~ Hour Week, by Wages and Hours Act, effected 1940. ------344 Fowler, Wm. B. Withdrew from race, Pub. Wks. COMm. 1959. ----- 464 Fowler, Wm. R. Retired, given position as Consultant, 1960. --- 465 Front st. Interceptor Sewer story, ------432 Funk, Cynthia Jo. Born November 28, 1960. ------467 Futhey, Malcolm, Unsuccessful Candidate for Comm. 1955. ------434 Futress, Mrs. Zoia, M7 first Secretary, 1958. ------462

\ .- : - 10

INn EX

CHAPTRR SIX through CONCLU~ION

SURJECT - c;. - PAGE Garbage Dept. at Memphis, went on Strike, 1968. ------506 Gasoline Rhortage,- 1973-1974. ------544 Glass-bottom Roat, Kealakekua Ray, Hawaii Island, 1965. ------494

Gold Reserve Act. 1934. ------307 nolf playing with Rill Wolbrecht, and others, 1936. ------323 Gordon, Ann, Mr. Fowler's Secretary, 1960. ------466 Government Loyalty changed, 1982. ------605 Graham. W.R. Hired as Rookkeeper, 1935. ------313 Gran Pre National Park, near Wolfville Nova Scotia, Canada. ~vange1ine and Gabrial lived there, ----- 567 Grand Capyon in Arizona, 1957. ------458 Grand Canyon, rTith Eunice and Ben. 1969. ------514 Grandpaw's Ghost appeared in my dream. 1982. ------598 Great Martian Invasion, Radio Program, 1938•.------333 Greely Service Award to Verne, 1969. ------518 Greybull Wy. Disposed of Spoiled Steaks, 1957. ------450 Greyhound racing dogs at Papa's olsce on Mitchell Ave. 1936. -- 325 Grobmyer, Dr. Albert, Physician for Appendectomy, 1942, ------355 Ground Pressure under Nonconnah Sanitary Sewer, 1945. ------370 Guadeloupe Island, Visited on Caribbean Cruise, 1971. ------532

-H- Haack, Billy, Returned from West Coast, (War Scare), 1941. --- 352 Hail storm on Aouthern Ave. 1944. ------372 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 1976. ------566 Hannibal Mo. Searching for Pat's Cigaretts, 1957. ------447 Harrell, ~llen Margaret, Hired as Typest, 1935. ------313 - ) Harry R. Truman. RAfused to leave Mount. st. Helen, 1980. ---- 578 J I

INDEX CHAPTER SIX through CONCLUSION ~URJRCT -H- (Continued) PAGE Harvey, F.D. Sewer Contractor, Presidents Island, 1947. ------385 Hatch Act, tor Civil_Service Rmployees, 1939. ------341 Hawaii's Fresh Water Supply, ~xplained by Mayor, 1965. ------490 Hawaii Islands, Air-hopping Tour, 1965. ------494 Health Care Improvements, 1982. ------603 Health Insurance, 1982. ---~------604 Heart Pump displayed, 1936. ------323 Heat on Farm, from Wood-burning Rtove, 1947. ------395 Heat for remodeled Home on Farm, Rutane Gas, 1950. ------411 Helicopter demonstrated, 1940. ------344 Hernando Desoto Bridge over Miss. River at Memphis, 1973. ----- 543 Hilo's Commercial Greenhouse, on Hawaii Island, 19b5. ------496 Hippies, A Society of its own, 1967. ------501 Ho~ raising on the Farm, 1948. ------~------398 Home at 4715 Sequoia Rd. Purchased 1952. ------422 Honolulu, Airport Reception, 1965. ------.- 489 Honolulu, Supermarket Shopping, 1965. ------489 Honolulu, Welcoming Party at Ilikai Hotel, 1965. ------489 Honolulu's Landscape View from our Ralcony. 1965. ------490 Rostages held in U.S. Embassy, Tehran Iran, Nov. 4, 1979. ----- 581 Rot Weather set Records in Memphis, 1980. ------581 Housing Shortage in Memphis, 1945. ------378 House, (Prefabricated), Purchased for Home on Farm, 1946. ----- 393 House assembled for Home on Farm, 1947. ------394 House on Fa~. decision to enlarge, 1949. ------409 House Remodeled by Childers and Kilgore, 1950. ------410 , .- ! Oontinued on next page. ------12

INDEX CHAPTER RIX through CONCLUSION

SURJtt:CT -H- (Continued) PAGR Hulibee Palace on Hawaii Tsland. ------495 Humphrey, vTil1iam, Hired as Survey Party ~hierJ 1935. ------313 Humphrey, Rill, Kept on Job before ~Tedding Night, 1935. ------314 Humphrey, Bill, Barely outraced maxi~um Draft Age. ------359 Hunting and Fishing, 1982. ------603

-I- rao Valley, on Maui Island,' 1965. ------494 ~ce ~torm on the Farm, 1951. ------413 Ice Hockey, 1982. ------603 Ilikai Hotel in Honolulu, 196$. ------~89-& 491 Industry, 1982. ------610 Inflation, caused by Korean vTar, 1951. ------413 Inflation, Side effect of "'Rasy Money". ------592 Inflation's Proponents. ------593 Inflation, Influence on Education, 1982. ------007 Ingram, Wm. R. Jr. guccessfui ~andidatA for Mayor, 1963. ----- 477 Interest Rates increased, effect on Inflation & Industrt. ----- 592 Intergration of Public Schools, May 17, 1954. ------426 Intergration, 1967. ------501 Intergration, Influence on Education, 1982. ------601 - 608 Intergration, Influence on City's internal Friction, 1982. --- 613 tntergration's contribution to change in Lifestyle, 1982. ----- 617 Interstate Rxpressway System, 1956. -----~------444 I-~O, ~xpresswa7 planned through Overton Park, 1945. ------444 Isolationism, in the United States, 1938. ------332 Italian Peddler, chased out of Office by Kruger, 1936. ------321 )3

INn'RX

through ~ONCLUSION

SURJEGT - J- PAGE Jacobs, Col. Marvin, Engineer, H.M.Spain Airport, 1969. ------522 Jessie's Trip to Chicago, 1934. ------307 Jessie's Doughnut Route, 1946. ------390 Jessie brought Building Material from Army nepot, 1947. ------395 Jessie adapting to Farm Work, 1948. ----~------399 Jessie's help to Uncle Teebe, in Hospital, 1948. ------404 Jessie admitted to Hospital, 1951. ------~------415 Jessie points out reasons for selling our Farm, 1952. ------419 Jessie's Tour, Hollywood & Television Community, 1965. ------488 Jessie and Ve~ne's Trip to Hawaii, from Los Angeles, 1965. ---- 488 Jessie in Hospital, Gaul Rladder removed, 1961. ------502

Jessie and Verne, effected by Tnflation, 1982. ------593 Johnson, Eva Mae, Hired as Typest, 1935. ------313 Johnson, Roy Jr. Hired as Job Supervisor, 1935. ------313

-K- Kauai Island, visited 1965. ------._------496 Keenan, Clyde, Died. ------.. ------.. ------.. ----- 474 Kennedy, John F. Elected President 1960. ------465 Kennedy, Pres. John F. Assassinated in Dallas Tex. 1963. ----- 477 Khrushchev's visit to the United States, 1959. ------465 Kilauea Iki Crater, on Hawaii Island, 1965. ------495 King, Martin Luther, Leads march on Me~phis City Hall, 1968. -- 507 King, Martin Luther, Killed by rifle bullet, 1968, ------508 Knox Berry Farm, Los Angeles, 1951. ------458 Koehler, Frank, Hired as Job Supervisor, 1935. ------313 Kohler, Frank Jr. Hired as Job Supervisor, 1936. ------321 JI~

INnEX

CHAP~ER SIX through CONCLUSION SUBJECT -K- (Continued) PAG~ Kona Inn, near Kailua, on Hawaii Island, 1965. ------494 Korean War, Started, _1950. Armistice signed 1953. ------~12 - 413 Kruger brought Fruit to n~artsmen working nights, 1936. ------322 Kruger flushed his money down the sewer, 1936. ------322 Kruger, Commissioner Oscar, nied June 14, 1936. ------323

-L- Labor Rtrikes, 1937. ------331 Labor's 40 hour week, went into effect 1940. ------344 Labor's Lifestyle, 1982. ------~---595 Labor Pay Scales, 1981. ------612 r-' LaDolce, Josephine, Hired as Typest, 1935. ------313 Lemb, Tom, Escorted Tour to Nova Scotia, 1916. ------560 Lang, Lloyd, Hired, as Survey Party Chief, 1935. ------313 Larkin, John, Catholic Chaplian, Caribbean Cruise, 1971. ----- 528 Las Ve~as, vTith Eunice and Ren, 1969. ------$14 Laughter, Joseph Lloyd, Inducted into NavY,------359 & 381 Lau~hter, Joseph Lloyd, Died May 3, 1969. ------518 Laughter, Joseph S. Inducted into Marines. ------359 & 381 Lau~hter, Richard Verne, Rorn January 24, 1941. ------348 Laughter, William C. Inducted into Medical Corps. ------·-3S9 ~. 381 Laughter, Steven S. (Uncle Teebel Died January 26, 1949 ------404 Laughter, Minnie Josephine, (Momma), Died March 4, 1949. ------406 Laughter, Joseph J. (Papa), Died May 30, 1951. ------414 j .~ Laughter, William Allen, Born Dec. 29,1951. ------415 Laughter, Jimmy Clayton, Born November 16, 1960. ------467 Laughter, David Carl, Born April 10, 1962. ------475 Continued on next page.------1.6

INn EX CHAPTER SIX through CONCLUSION

SURJECT -L- (Continued) PA~ Laughter, Lorie Beth, Born March 13, 1963. ------475 Laughter, Ethel Rlanch, Died December 4, 1973. ------543 Lau~hter, Chester Renfro, Died Febuary 3, 1975.,.. ------553 Laughter, Chester, Postmortem Citation rro~ P~Asident, 1975. - 553 Laughter, Jeffry Michael, Rorn October 15, 1971. ------539 Lee, Frances, Hired as Typest, 1935. ------313 Lemoyne Bayou Drainage Project, P.W.A. Pro~r8m, 1936. ------321 Lemoyne Bayou culvert inspected by Maxson and Verne, 1939. ---- 341

Letters answering Complaints at Public 1!Torks, 1956. ----- 438 & 439 Liebman, Henry, Companion on Hawaiian Trip, 1965. ------489 Lifestyle, 1930 to 1982. ------590 - 597 Lifestyle in Memphis, 1982. ------596 Lifestyle in America, Rest ever in Quality, 1982. ------597 Light, (Coleman Lamp) used on Farm, 1947. ------395 Loan from Penn. Mutual Life Insurance Co. 1949. ------409 Locked Keys inside of Car, Winslow Ariz. 1969. ------514 Loeb, Henry, Member of Memphis Park COMmission, 1955. ------434 Loeb, Henry, Successful Candidate tor Comcissioner, 1955. ---- 434 Loeb, Henry, Assigned Commissioner of Public Works, 1955. ----- 435 Loeb. Henry, First starr Meeting, Jan. 2, 1956. ------436 Loeb, Henry, Attitude towards Mr. Fowler, 19$6. ------437 Loeb, Henry, Successful Candidate for Mayor, 1959. ------463 Loeb, Henry, Resi~ned from Mayor ot Memphis, 1963. ------476 Louise and Jessie, go on Mexican Tour, June 15, 1974. ------S$O • i Luau, Feast and Entertainment at Hawaiian Village, 1965. ----- 491 Lucia, Frank, Companion on Hawaiian Trip, 1965. ------488 Los Angeles, Sightseeing, Tour, ------487 J6

T NnE X

CHAPTER SIX throu~h CON~LUgTON

StJRJECT -M- PAGE Machine\~~e. Objectors. ------612 Maine, Countryside,- 1976. ------561 Maribelle Laughter's story of her Married Life with Chester. -- 554 Mary Jo. At Saint Peter's Orphanage, 1938. ------338 Mary Jots Baby BU~~y end Roeking Chair. ------347 Mary Jo. and Richard at ~t. Thomas Rchoo1, 1946. ------388 Mary Jots Friends, 1956. ------441 Mary Jo's Piano Lessons, and Recital. ------441 Mary Jo. dating Joe Sweat. 1956. ------442 Mary Jo's Graduation from Sacred Heart School, 1956. ------482 Mary Jo's Wedding to Joseph Alton Sweat, June 23, 1956. ------443 Mary Jo. Moved to Seattle Washington, 19$6. ------445 Mary Jo. Went to Hospital in Seattle. 1957. ------455 Mary Jo. and Family Returned to Memphis, 1958. ------462 Mary Jo. and Family moved to Chattanooga Tenn. 1961. ------467 Mary Jo. Embarrised by Children's "Cheers" in Church. ------468 Mary Jo. and Family moved to Nashville. ------486 Mason, Ray, Chief Inspector, Pres. Island Sewers, 1941. ------386 Masonic Funeral for Papa, Stephenson Chapel Cemetery, 1951. --- 415 Massachusetts, Countryside, 1916. ------561 Massey buys Lend on Neely Rd. and builds Home, 1934. ------310 Massey end Ethel's 50th. Wedding Anniversity, 1970. ------524

Massey in Hospital, 1981. ------582 Massey in Hospital, 1982. ------589 Mattox. W.T. Effected by change in Management, 1956. ------439 Mattox. W.T. History of his Service to Public Works. ------460 Mattox, Wayne T. Died, May 1958. ------461 Continued on next page. ------11

INDRX

CHAPrER SIX throu~h CONCLURION

SURJECT -M- (Continued) PAGE

Maui Island, visited, 1965. ------494 Maxson's advice to.Woman frightened by Flood, 1937. ------330 Maywood ~wimming Pool, Where Idea was born, 1940. ------345 McDonal, L.J. Hired as Job Supervisor, 1935. ------313 McKellar, Senator, Pres. Isle. Industrial Park, idea, 1946. --- 384 McTighe, Will. Hired for Estimating Costs, 1934. ------308 Medicare Insurance, signed inti Law, JUly 10, 1965. ------497 Memphis approved Rond Issue to bUy Rlectric Rystem,·1934. ----- 310 Memphis Projects constructed by W.P.A. Program. ------313 Memphis earns "Cleanest City" title, 1940. ------344 Memphis and Shelby County Port Authority, 19408. ------3.84 Memphis-Arkansas ~ridge, 1949. ------366· - 387 Memphis plans for Interstate Expresswat System, 1955-56. ------444 Memphis, Change in Form of Government, 1967. ------502 Memphis Firemen went on Strike, (3 days) July i, 19?8.~---573 - 575 Memphis Police went on Strike, August 10, 1978. ------576 Men and Women, live together, Un-married, 1982. ------605 Military Draft, Objections, 1966. ------498 Military Defence contributed to Change in Lifestyle, 1982. ---- 617

Millionairs, 1900 and 1980. ------616 Minneapolis, Picked up Pat for Seattle Trip, 1957. ------448 Mitchell, Mrs. R.D. (Syb1el Fowler's daughter and Secretary. -- 336 Momma, (Minnie Josephine Laughter\ nied March 4, 1949. ------406 Montevido Minn. Sunday Night Parade, 1957. ------448 Moon-landing, Watched on Television at Motel, 1969. ------516 Moore, Gerold, Chief Administrator for Mayor Loeb, 1968. ----- 505 , .- ; Continued on next page. ------IS

INnEX

CHAPT~ SIX through CONCLUSION

SUBJECT - M - (Continued) PAGli:

" Morals Changed, 1982. ------605 Mount Saint Helen, ·Volcanic Eruption, May 18, 1980. ------577 Moved in with Mrs. Saino, March 1945. ------379 Moved to 2910 Southern Ave. July 1945. ------379 Moved in with Papa, on Mitchell Ave. September 1945. ------380 Moved to Farm on Brunswick Rd. June 1947. ------394 Moved to 4715 Sequoia Rd. just before Christmas 1952. ------423 Movement of people from Cities to Suburbs, 1982. ------599

Moving Picture Shows, ------602

- N - National Defence Mediation Rd. To prevent Strikes, 1941. ------352 National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act, passed 1935. ------.-- 312 National Aeronautics and Space Admin. eN.A.S.A.) 1958. ------459 Neighborhood Shopping Center, first in Memphis, 1948. ------402 Neighborhood Loyalty changed, 1982. ------605 Netty-e. ·tSaino's visit with Verne at Hospital, 1942. ------357 New Rrunswick Canada, Countryside, 1976. ------564 New Haven Conn. 1976. ------561 New Jersey Turnpike, 1976. ------560 New York City, from across the Hudson River. 1976. ------560 Nixon, President Richard, Resigned August 8, 1974. ------548 Noise Abatement Ordinance in Memphis, 1941. ------~----- 351 Nonconnah Sanitary Sewer Project, 1944 & 1945, ------362 to 372

. I Norsworthy, Mac. & Claudie, Companions, L.A. & Hawaii. 1965. 487 NO~8 Scotia Tour. 1976. ------558 to 568 Nove Scotia, Countr7side, 1976. ------564 J 9

~ N D R X

eRA PTER RIX through C()l~CLURION

-,SUB'JECT -N- CContinl1ed) Page

Novenber 6th. Street in }7emphis, 1934. ------310 Nuclear Rnergy tested for Electric Generator, 1951. ------413 Nuclear Energy for Private Industry, 1954. ------426 ~uclear Bnerey, contribution to change in Lifestyle. ------616 Nylon Invented, 1938. ------333

- 0 - Oahu Isl~nd, ~iehtseeing Tour. 1965. ------490 Office of Price Administration, to control Inflation. 1941, --- 352 Oil Embargo against U.S. by Exportinf COllntries, 1973-74. ---- 544 Olive Curtiss. Died, -- ..._------474 Orgill, Edmond, ~uccessfu1 Candidate for Mayor, 1955. ------435 Overton Park, Controversy about ExpressvTsy Route. ------444 overton, Watkins, Unsuccessful Candidate for ~layor, 1955. ----- 434

- p - Pacific War Activities, .1942. ------354 1944. ------.- 360 !~ 362 Papa had Electricity connectec to their Home, 1936. ------·325 PapA's ~ent8l condition (senile), 1949,1951. ------407 & 414 Papa's will formulated, 1949. ------_.'_.. - ...------408

'Papa' admitted to Rhelby County Haspi ta~, 19.51. ,. ------411~ Paps, (Joseph J. Laughter) Died 11ay )0, 1951. ------414 Papa's Will adMinistration finished, 1q52. ------419 Parrotta, Louis, purchased 3~ acres of lRnd, 1946. ------391 Pesce Demonstration in New York City, 1937. ------332 Pearl Harbor Rorobardment, December 7, 1941. ------351 Pearl Harbor, on Oahu Ts1and, Visited 1965. ------491 - 1 Continued on next na~e. ------Tl~DEX

through cnllCLUS TO:N

RURJE~r; -P- (Continued) PAGR

Pegues, Robert, Inducted into Army. ------359 Penicillin Shot ta Verne by Rrunsuick noctar, 1951. ------417 Pension Plan, for City Rmployees at l~:enphis, 1949. ------403

People movinr frOM Cities to Ruburbs, 1982. ---.. ------599 People Independent and Relfish, 1982. ------604 Perkins, A.C. Hired as Rookkeeper, 1935. ------~------313 Philajelphia, celebratinr Nation's Bi-Centennial, 1976. ------559 Pickering Joe, l·Tired our I:ome fa!' Rlectrici ty, 1950. ------441 Pidgen, Frank, Presidents Ts1and Industrial Park, 1946. ------384 Pineapple Plantation, on Maui Ts1and, 1965. ------494 Pines Hotel, at Digby, Nova Scotia, 1976. ------567 Pinkney, Roy, Looked after Papa in Hospital, 1951. ------414 Pitts, R.e. Retired because of the Gompulsery ~ul~, ------473 Police in Memphis went on Strike, Au~ust 10 1978. ------576 Polio Veccine perfected by Dr. Jonas Salk, 1955. ------431

Politics in Rhelby County, 1820. ------576 Politics in Memphis, 1627. ------576 Politics in l1eMphis,1978, (In~luence of Black Voters)---- 576 - 577

Pope John Paul II, wounded by Pistol S~ot, }Iay 13, 1981. ------585

Portland Maine, 1976. ------561 Postal, John, Hired as DraftsmAn, 1936•..------321 1. e ve I Poverty Lalvel, 24.7 million below, 1977 • ------593. Power for Industry, 1982. ------610 Powers, Miss. Sue, at Tobey's Funeral, 19~5. ------435 Presidents Island Industrial Parl{, 1946. ------)84 Presidents Island, Sanitary Sewer Cons~ruction, 191~7. ------385 Cnntinued on next ps~e, ------~J ,.- i ,-..1

IllDRX

CHAPT:Im RIX through COII~LU3I01~

RURJRCT -P- (Continued) PAG~

Presidentie1 CaMps. ign of 191.;.8, was a "doozy". ------:--- 401

President Reaeen wounded by Pistol Shots, ~:nrch 30,~1981. ----- 583 Prince Charles Rnd Diana, ~arried in London, July 29, 1981. --- 585 'ProphAne Gas, used for Coolring on the Farm, 1947. ------395 Public Works Office l:oved to 119 Court House, 1934. ------308 Public idorl:s Office, }:oved to 247 v!ashington Ave, 1955. ------433

Public ill! orks orr ice 1~1oved to ne'tv City 11811 J 1966. ------499

Public Works PartiRlly Reorganized by Ferris, 1960. ------466 Public ~Torks Construction nept, Organized 1961.------468 to 471

'Public 1·i iorks Con~ress &. 'Rquipment Rho\-l, Los Anreles, 196" ---- 486

Public ~Torks, Office Location Map, 1966. ------500 Public ~,Torks, Garbage ne;>t. Rtrilre ended, 1968. ------510 Puerto ~ico Island, Visited on Caribbean Cruise, 1971. ------534 Punch Rowl Cemetery, near Honolulu, 196$. ------491

P.'.!.A. Federol ProrrsY?1 benefited l/!e!'1phis J 1934. ------308

-Q- (:None)

- R - """ r - .-' ~ _.

I 1~ n EX

CHAP':~R RIX throu~h CONCLUSION

RURJECT -R- (Continued) PAGF: Reagan, Presi~~nt, \\Tollnded by 'Pistol Shot, LRrch 30, 1981. 583 Reagan's Promise to cut back Federal 5pendinc, 1980. ------615 Real Rstate Law, Night Course at U.T •• 1956. ------444 Redwood Trees, neRr Arcade Calif. 1957. ------456 Religious Instructions ~anned in Public Rchools, 1948. ------401 Religion, 1982. ------0------.------606 Retirement Systen adopted by City of ~:emphis, 1949. ------403 Retired from Public vTorks, June 26, 1971. ------538 Richerd Verne Latlrhter, Rorn J~nuD.ry 24, 1941 • ------.- ... ------348 Richard's reluctance to School at st. Thomas, 1946. ------390 Richard's saddle horse, from ~~r. Sander, 1950. ------410 Richard and Rill George, Lost in the "Toods, 1950. ------422 Richard playing Football At St. Ann School, 1956. ------440 Richard's Friends, 1956. ------.. ------440 Richard, nccinently shot in leE by Jim Kenney, 1956. ------482 Richard's Airplane ~rip to Reattle, 1957. ------446 Richard at Christian Brothers HiGh School. ------463 Richard Joined U.S. }iarines, 1958. ------484 Richerd mArrien }Iiss. Louise Harvey, 1961. (Divorsed 1963). --- 484 Richard joined Rky nivin~ Club, 1963. ------485 Richard's various Jobs. ------484 Richard married ~Iiss. Bonnie Monroe, 1964. ------485 Richard and Ronnie at 417 Cecilia Drive, 1967. ------570 Richard with Scale Testing Co. 1967. --.. ------570 Richard buys 5 Acres of' L~nd in l~iss issippi, 1976. ------571

Richerd and Ronnie Divorced, 1977. ------571 , .- ! Continued on next page. ------11'JDEX CHAPTER STX through CONCLUSION

SlffiJECT -R- (Continued ) PAnF: Richard buys Home at 3046 S. Goodlett Rt. 1977. ------571 Richard m~rried Joyce Jones, 1980. ------572 Ries Julia Naris, Escorted Nova Rcotia T01~J 1976. ------558 Riots and Looting, }lemphis, after King's deAth, 1968. ------509 Riverside Drive, First P.W.A. Project by Public Wks. 1934. ---- 309 Rock and Roll Concer't, by ~Noodstock i~;usic e:. Arts FAir, 1969. -- 518 Roosevelt, President F.D. Died April 12, 1945. ------375 Roosevelt Pres. Rules and RegulAtions for Econo~y. 19308. ---- 591 Roosevelt's Rconomic Plan, 1933. ------~------614 Rough t,TAter, Encountered on Caribbeen Cruise, 1971. ------536 Rubber Shortage in U.S. 1942. ---~------353 Ruby Lee Roper, R tarted at Public T:Torks, 1958. ------459 Rushmore 110untain Carvings, 1957. ------449.

-S- Seino, Mr. Trip to Chicago. 1934. ------307 Raino, Mr. Felix L. Died DeceMber 17, 1940. ------348 ~aino Manufacturing Co. Airplane Hanger Doors Contract. ------359 Reino, Krs. Lone Rtukenberg, Died July 5, 1945. ------379 ~aino Family Affairs, 1945 to 1974.------549 to 552 Saino, Louis, 'Die'd Apr·i'l 4. '1969. ~------~------"550 Re c:/lfoJt Saino, Nettye BeaBftn, Died June 10, 1974. ------550 ~aino, Nettye' s l,Till, 1974. ------S50 ... and 552 ~8ino Fanily Reunion, July 5, 1980. ------578 ~aint Jude Hospital at Memphis, given by Danny ~ho"as. ------431 ~t. Maartin Island, Visited on Caribbean C~uise, 1971. ------529 Rt. Thomas Island, Visited on Caribbean Cruise, 1971. ------534 Continued on Next oa~e. ------•

I l~ n R 1.

CHAP~EE SIX throu~h C011CLUS IC:~

SURJECT -S- (Continued) PAGE st. John, New Rrunswick, Cannd~, 30 foot ~ide, 1976. ------563 Ra1e of 3~ acres of land to Louis Parrotta, 1946. ------391 Sale of Household Goods, etc, in Nettye's estate, 1974. ------551 Salk, Dr. Jonas, pe~fected Polio Vaccine, 1955. ------431 Ralt Lake City, l.rith Eunice and 'Ren, 1969. ------512 Ran Francisco, '.Tith Eunice and Ben, 1969. ----. - ..- .. ------513 Sander, G.J. lfeighbor acros~ Brunswick Rd. 1950. ------... - 410

Satellite Vehicle Pro~ram started, 1948. ------402 Spti11ite, First successful l~unching by U.S. 1958. ------459 School Rusing System for Intergration. ------h27 Scottish Rride, Friendly to us at Los Angeles, 1965. ------487 Reattle l,'tash. Trip to visit l:ary Jo. 1957. ------445 to 452

~eett1e, Room rented co!' PAt nnd Verne, 195?·--·_------4.52 Seattle., ~rip expenses. 19~7. --- .------458 Selective Se~vice set nraft Re~ister Age, 18 to 64, in 1941. -- 352 Recurity Exchen~e Commission, 1982. ------.. ----.. ------615 Selective Rervice, changed the riles, 1943. ------358 Selling Livestock, Equipment, and Toola on Far~, 1952. .------421

Sequoia NAtionAl Park, 1957. ------457 ~~.q~.~~.~. !~.~~~,i.~~~l~ rR~~{., .. .'~.T.~~~. Eunice and B~n,,, .19~9. ------513 Sex becomes an outspoken subject, 1982. ------605 Shaver, Joe, Protestant Chaplin, CarabbeAn Cruise, 1971. ----- 528 ~helby County Hospital, Pnpa AOMitted, 1951. ------414 ~hip Building in lvtemphis during \-To:,ld "Tar II. ------359 Shutters from ~~r. Saino's, use"~ on Farn. 1947. ------396 Risson, Pete, Successful GAhdidate for pub. Wks. Comm. 1963. -- 477 .- , Smith, Vernon, Hired as nraftsMan, 1935. ------... ------313 Continued on next pa~e, ------

I 1~ n "R X

CHAPTER SD: through CO~!Cr_.1JSIOII

~URJEC~ -S- {Continued PAGh ~mith, Vernon, Tnducted into C.Bs. ------359 & 38i Sniper 1': An-hunt, after }:Iartin Luther !:ing' s deA th, 1968. ------509

Racial ~ecurity Act, 1935. ------312 Routhern Ave. Home Sold, l·Yarch 15, lQ45, ----.. ------379 ~pRce Travel, 1982. ------...... ------609 ~pace Program Cost, 1982. ------.. ------611 Spain Airport, North ~lemphis, Property ocquired, 1969.-- 520 to 524 Sputnik, First ~rtificia1 Satillite, (Russian) 1957. ------445

Steff ~:eetings for Public T,Torks, 1956. ------··43=7 ,& 438

Stock }'Iarl=et Crash, 1929. ------591 Rtock Market reaction to Reduced Interest Rntes, 19B2. ------592 storm Drsinaee Problems in Memphis, 1936. ------320 strike called by Garbage ~!orkers Union, 1968. ------506 Su~ar~An A.L. Unsuccessful Candidate, Pub. ~Tks. Gonm. 1959. --- 464

Super4:arket, 1982. ------601 Rurvey for Nonconnah Sanitary Sewer, 1944. ------364 Sweat, Joe, Reques ted pe]~t'lission to Marry l~a:r'Y Ja. 1956. ------442 Sweat Joe, Joined U.R. Navy, 1956. ------445 sweat, Joseph Verne, Born at Seattle, August 15, 1957. ------456 Sweet, steven Alton, Born at Me~phis, January 31, 1959. ------463 Sweat Steven, Serious accident to Finger, 1960. ------467 sweat, l-lichael, Born July 5, 1961. ----.. ------467 sweat, Joe, Takes position at Vanderbilt University. ------486 sweat, Cindy, Born at Nashville, KRy 7, 1965. ------486 Sweat, Joe, Returned to live in Memphis, 1968. ------506 Sydney, on CApe Breton Island, Canada, 1976. ------565 -

INn R X

CHAP':'ER STX C()ll~LUS TO~1

SURJECT -T- PA(l~ Talley, Charles ,.rilliam, Rorn to Lloyd & Euth, ~~a:t 27, 1949. 409 Talley, Mickey Lloyd·~ Rickey Aaron, (twins) b. Nov. 3, 1955 432 Talley, Ivlelanie, Born l·larch 3 1973. ------543 Talley, BriAn L. Rorn July 23, 1975. -----.. ------557 Talley, Charles 1'~i11iam Jr. 'Aorn October 12, 1976. ------569 Telephone conversation with Laughter Fe~ily, Dec. 2$, 1971. -- 539 Television appea~ed to Public, 1939. ------341

Television, Firs t broadcas t from Memphis, (':1 .I1.C. TV) 1948. --- 400

Television, our First Set, 1950. ------412 Television's influence in Presidential Ca~peign, 1960. ------465 Television ~our of l'!hi tehOtlSe,. by ~'lrs • Kennedy, 1962. ------473 Television provides a variety of Home EntertainMent, 1982. ---- 602

Television Industry, 1982. ------611 Television's contribution to Ch~n~e in Lifestyle, 1982. ------616 Tenant ~ouse for Lonnie, st~rted on. Farm, 1951. ------416 Tennis, 1982. ------603 Theater furnishen Entertainnent, ea~ly in the century. ------602 Thelm~ Saino Wolbrecht, Died Ma~ch 28, 1976. ------569 .Thomas, Danny, gave ~~emphis and ~"Torld, st. Jude 'Hospital. ----- 431 Throat Ailment on Verne, 1951. ------417 Tobey, Frank, became Mayor of }~eMphis, 1951. ------424 Tobey, Frank, Garage location Controversy, 1953. ------425 Tobey, Frank, Candidate for Mayor, 1955. ------434 Tobey, Frank. Died September 11, 1955. ------434 Tom and Lizzie .Nelson; Tenants on Farm, 19L~6. ------393

Towboats and 'Marges on Rivers'. ------384 - { Continued on next page. ------27

IX'IDBX

throur;h COlrCLUE IOli

-T- (Continued) PAGlC: Trackless Trolleys for }ie~phis, 1952. ------424 Transistor invented, .1947. ------"397 Trensport~tion, 1982. ------609 Travel Conveyences, 1902. ------603 Trip to FloridRrl }lrs. Saino, Jessie, ~iary and 'Terne, 1935. ---- 317

Trip to Reettle VTASh. to visit 1-'Iary Jo, 1957. ------445 Trip to Victoria CanAda, from ~eattle by Excursion Rhip. ------453 Trip to Hawaii, from Los An~eles, 1965. ------468 Trip to visit Chester at Chico Calofornis, 1969. ------510 Trip to Chico CAlif. by RUs, 1973. ------541

Trip to NOVA Scotia, 1976. ------558 Truck, (pick-up) purchased 19~6. ------)88 Truck broke down on way to school, 1946. ------389 Truman, Harry, bRrely elected President, 1948. ------401

Turkeys raised on the Farm, 1948. ------400

-U- Unemp10ynent in 1982. ------596 Unidentified Flying Objects, 1940. ------402 United Nations OrgAnized in San Francisco, June 26, 1945. ---- 376 u.~. preperation for Probability of wer, 1940. ------343 University of Hawaii Campus, Visited 1965. ------491 U.T. Football, Coaches for the Vola, 19205 to 1954. ------426 Un-wed Mothers, end pe~centAges of babies so born, 1982. ------605

.- f I 1'1 DEX

CRA PTE!: RIX through C01ICLUSION

-V- PA (}'tt: V-l Rocl~ets used by Germe.ny in ~frorld "lar II, 1944. ------361

V-2 Guided r.lissi1es used by Gernany in 1}Torld \·lar II, 1944. ---- 361

Vaudeville faded Away, ------602 Vacation Tours. ------603 Verne end Jessie l sAuto ~reck, Southern at Roston, 1933. ------315 Verne, back on Full Time at r~emphis Public l-!orlrs, 1934. ------308 Verne promoted to Assistant nr~inR~e Engineer, 1940. ------344 Verne and Family, living with Papa and MomMs, 1946. ------387 Verne's throat ailment on the FarM. 1951. ------417 Verne took Night Course in P~al Estate Principles, 1953. ------425 Ve·~ne tool: ~'~irrht Course in ?eAl Rstate Appraisal, 19~C;. ------432 Verne's proMotion to Assistant Rngineer, }~ay 16, 19~8. ------461 Ve~ne Promoted to Construction Enrineer, 1960. ------466 Verne Joined Engineers Club of }:eMphis, 1963. ------476 Verne awarded Engineering License, 1964. ------481 Verne has strange growth in palM of left hand, 1965. ------485 Verne and Jessie Attend Pub. 1,rks. CongresfJ, Los Angeles, 1965.- 487 Verne promoyed to PrincipRl Civil En~ineer, 1966. ------499 Verne gets Real RstAte AdMin. job added to his duties, 1969. -- 520 Verne's discussion with Mayor Loeb ahout Spnin Airport, 1969. - 523 Verne in Hospital :for Cllecl~..up, 1977. ------572 Verne's 80th. birthday, October 24, 1982. ------~97 Veterans Honus, 1936. ------323 Victoria CanAda, boat trip from Seattle, 1957. --~------453 Vietnam ~,Tar started ~ec. 14, 1961, Ended Aug. 15, 1973. ------473

Vietnam Activities, 1966. ------498 'Tn' t"~"i ~ EY'untion of ~~ount st. Helen, }~ey 18, 1980. ------577 - 30

INDRX

CHAPTRR RIT through COlle LUS Iorl

RURJRCT - X- 'PAG"R Xerox Cop~ier Machine, invc~ten 1937. ------.332

- y - Yalta }~eeting of "Rif Three", Post-1,TAr Plans 'MAde, 1945. ----- 375

Yermouth, Nova ~cotia, Departure by Ferry, 1976. ------568 Yellowstone Netionel Park, 1957. ------451 Yosemite National Park, 1957. ------~------457 Yosemite rlational Park, ~·~i th Eunice and Ren, 1969. ------,513

-Z- Zoie Futress, Verne's First Secretary, 1958. ------462 C HAP T'E R SIX

As the year of 1934 began, positive signs of improvement could De recognized in the national economy. It was spotted here and there. instead of being general. About 2,500,000 of the unemployed had found jobs, and some raises in pay had been given to others. There were still some 11,000,000 workers in need of jobs. The relief rolls were still reported to,be between 16 and 18 million. Money was being pumped into the credit system. The qold Reserve Act, passed January 30th. gave

the President the right to pe~ the value of the dollar. He immediately devalued the dollar to 59.06 cents. ~1ithin a month, gold worth $100 million found its way to New York City. The stock market went up.

The "alphabet agencies" started by the government the past year. continued to grow in 1934. There was the F.F.M.C, Federal Farm Mortgage Corp. passed January 31st. providing refinancing of farm debts.

Farm prices began to olimb. The F.e.C. Federal Communication COMM. was set up to regulate telephone, cable, and radio communications. S.E.C. Securities and Exchange Commission, was established to regulate the stock exchange.' And the F.H.A. Federal Housing Administration,

created to insure loans made by banks and other lending institutions for construotion of homes and farm improvements. For business reasons, Mr. Saino found it necessary to go to Gary Indiana. He still had that big Reo Flying Cloud oat he used on his Lou·ise.j ana' -fIt-e/r California trip. He told Jessie. hId ~ close girl frient, Mary Hutton, -;1 ...

if they would go with him, he would go' on to Chicago, and see the

Century of Progress Expositiom, which was running its second year. ~Ie didn't have to twist their arms to get them to say "yes". As I remember, there were only two things important connected with that trip. The first was the birth of the Dionne quintuplets, May 28, 1934. Jessie said they were on Broadway of the exposition when the announcement was made. Everybody stopped looking at the exhibits, and started talking about those five babies. The other thing was that Jessie brought back for me my first bottle of legal whiskey. It had aged only about two months, and was so green it wasn't fit to drink. The City of Memphis management began to realize the benefits to be derived from the P.W.A. program. street Improvements qualified for 90 per cent grant from the government. Our projects gave the Memphis

contractors work. The materials used, helped vendors pay their taxes. Labor reduced the relief rolls. The negative reasons were that the Engineering Dept. didn't have the manpower to do the preliminary work needed for government approval. The cost of that work was not included

in the grant. In spite of the City being low on ~oney, a decision was made to proceed with the program. That decision brought Yockey amd me back to full time. That guy claimed parciality because he said he lost one more half month's pay than I did. Our department was also short on office space. Arrangements were made, and we moved to room 119 in the Court house. That move gave us twice the space for the big office and about the same accomodations for Mr. Fowler and the· Commissioner. Gradually, hiring of new personnel

began•• Johnny Barr was hire~ to help on a survey party, and later to help on construction inspection. James Berryhill was hired for survey party work. W.H.Briggs was hired ·to bolster the bookkeeping force. Mrs. Charlotte Christie was hired for typing. And Will McTighe, a retired contractor, was hired to help with estimates. ~OcJ -.J ,'

The first street project approved and construction started was Riverside Drive from Washington Ave to Iowa Ave, It was a new street along the River Bluff. The work involved 8 great deal of grading, and a considerable amount of concrete paving at both ends of the project. Asphalt pavement was used on the center portion, because of unstable sUbgrade. Carrier Construction Co. was awarded the contract. Mr Carrier had been pioneering the idear ·of delivering ready mixed concrete to the job site. At that time he was hauling the concrete in a specially built truck bed. He simply cut 8 cylindrical steel tank half in two long-wise.

Then fixed one of the hal~es on the truck chasis, which was equipped with dumping machinery. In the rear end a hinged gate was fixed so that when the bed tilted, the concrete spilled through the gate onto the ground. There was no provision on his rig for agitating the mixture in transit. ~he truck had to travel about six miles from the mixing plant to the job site. Mr. Fowler objected to that method of delivery, saying "the mixture had become segregated in transit." Then he added, "I'll accept it if the concrete is dl1mped on a board and remixed before its final placing." Mr. Carrier was just as positive when he said, "It don't need remixing. I'll guarantee its consistency and strength." The job went ahead without remixing. In spite of the fact that procedure violated all modern criteria of handling concrete, the pavement endured about as well as if it had been delivered in a modern mixer truck. So far as I know, that was the crude beginning of delivery of ready mixed concrete. There seems to be very little mankind can do about the freaks of nature, except to suffer, survive, and try to recover. Such was the case in the southwestern plains during the spring and summer of 1934. Beginning in April a drough moved in and stayed untill late summer. It was considered one of the\worst that section of the country had ever seen. The loss of crops, pastures, and mos~ livestock was almost complete." -

The freakish thing about th~ drough was the continiou8 high winds.

They swept the top-soil off the ~round and blew it in clouds of dust

for many hundreds of miles. In Memphis it was not unusual to 'see those

greyish hazzy clouds in the sky. That yellow ~low in the west just

before sunset was 8 si~ht to behold. 40 Years later, I was told,that section of the country had not yet regained productivity that was lost. One of the biggest changes to the economy of the City of Memphis, and its citizens, took place in an election held November 6, 1934. In that election the voters, with a majority of 32,735 to 1,868, approved the sale of bonds with which Memphis could build and operate its own

electrical distribution system. To memorialize the dicision made by

the people in that election, 8 down-town throfare known as Maiden Lane,

located between Main st and Second St, was renamed Novenber ~th. street. At the tine of the election, electricity and gas was being furnished

by Memphis P6~e~ & Ligh~ Co, a part of the huge Electric Bond and Share Co. After the City made plans and started construction of a duplicate distribution system, negociations started between the city and the Power Co. An agreement was reached on Pebruary 16, 1939, whereby the

Memphis Power & Light Co. would sell ~ both the electrical and ~as distribution systems to the City of Memphis. That sale was a culmination of Mr. B •..dI. Crump's dream which began in 1908. My brother Massey, who had moved his family about four times since he and Ethel married, decided to put a stop to that practice. He reasoned with Papa and Momma, if they would sell him five acres of land, he would r,n ,., "S 4-tI build a house for his family. An agreement was reachedl and he became the owner od five acres located in the south east corner, facing Neely Rd. At that time, the I.e.R.R. Car shops.were disposing of scrap &Crap lumber on a dump, which would be burned from time to time. That lumber was the residue of damaged box cars And other miscellaneous waste from the shops. Now and then there would be some usable lumber placed ....

~. J

placed on the dump, and i t was the bes·t grade money could buy. The

man8~ement had no objections to the public hauling the lumber away.

Massey, being laid off, had plenty of time to haul all he needed ~ for framing the house he planned to build. ,Massey was 8 good carpenter, and knew just how to plan his work so as tonot waste any lumber. Papa, at the age of 64, volunteered to help. Together, they got the foundation piers placed, the floor joist laid, the studs and the top-plate in place, and most of the rafters up. At that point, unless it is well braced, house construction is vulnerable to wind damage. That night a thunder storm came with strong gusts of wind. The next morning when Papa and Massey reached the site, the lumber was scattered allover the field. pap~ said later, "Massey was completely heart broke. He sat on a pile of littered rafters, bowed his head and looked at the ground. He shook his head in silence as the moisture collected in his eyes. Finally he spoke in a low tone, I've never had anything of my own in my life, end it looks like I never will. I give up. I'm whipped." Momma came along, and with Papa they tried to console his grief. After a long pause, Massey raised his head, looked out into the distance, gritted his teeth, and stood up. With a conquoring look on his face, he said, "Let's get busy and s tart allover." They started allover, and finished a good house. He had a large

living rOOM, dining room, kitchen, two bed rooms, and a bath. Later he added the third bed room and a spacious porch across the front. He must have braced it well, 48 years later he's still living there. The great depression itself was by no means over in 1935. But it was a good time to look back and examine the pitfalls that engulfed our social customs. Suffering had been experienced from top to bottoM of our social scale. The wealthy investors, the bankers, the farmers, the working people, the unfortunate poor who looked to charity for ... . ,'-' • ..,-. . I

survival, and especially the old who had no pensions, but had to depend on relatives with little or no income. The old customs furnished

no protection to any of those. President Roosevelt must-have had those circunstances in mind when he made plans to extend the "New Deal" into the areas of social reform. The Social Security Act became a law in 1935. The Banking Act was passed. And the National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act.) although quite controversial, provided assistance to organized labor. The Ruel Electrification Administration made it possible to extend service into thinly settled areas. The Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.) was established in 1935. Its purp'ose was to get the Federal Government out of direct aid, and

into a system of work relief. It was designed to ~ive jobs to common and some semi-skilled labor. That program provided more jobs in the Memphis area than any of the other programs. It also provided the city with more permanent improvements. The rules and regulations, like most Federal programs, were extremely complicated. The over-riding

rule was that Federal contribution of each approved p~oject must be divlded exactly so that 85 per cent went to common and semi-skilled labor. The sponsor, by legal affidavit, must prepare the application, supervise construction, and furnish all skilled labor. That 15 per cent remaining in'Federal funds might, but not always, be used for materiel. The types of projects most likely to be approved by W.P.A. were

those which used a v~ry large percentage of commom labor. Such as moving dirt with shovel and wheel-barrows and mixing and placing concrete in forms. Each individual project required an application filed and

ap~roved b~fore any work could be started. The package included a plan showing the work to be done. The estimate of all items of work and their quantity were taken from that plan. Then came the master puzzle, filling in the application blank. Detail had never been extended to such extremes. Every item of work on the estimate had to be broken down into manhours. Then manhours had to be seperated into common, semi­ skilled, and skilled. Everything had to balance out at various check points. To avoid using all labor before the job was co~pleted, the estimator must include manhours spent at the water bucket, and the privy. To begin with Yockey and I were the only people available to make those complicated applications. The W.P.A. program in Memphis accomplished some very worthwhile improvements, many of them were permanent. Such as the concrete stands at Crump Stadiun, the excavation and fill necessary on the extension of Third st. from McLemore to South Parkway, and the excavation and fill neoessary necessary on the extension of Bellvue (Elvis Presly) from South Parkway to 9rooks Ave. Most of the labor was used on drainage, for the benefit of malaria control. More than a hundred miles of open ditch channels were enlarged and paved, and most of that paving is still intact. A greet number of minor streets were improved with concrete curb and gutters. In the latter pert of 1935, it became obvious that Yockey and I could not possibly do all the preliminary work necessary to keep those Federal programs going. Other divisions of Public Works also were falling behind an their responsibilities. So a massive hiring spree took place by the city. For the drafting dept. Paul R. Beale, H.E. Brooks, Fred Davis, Vernon Smith, and L.e.Stephens were put to work.

For the survey parties, ~~illiam Humphrey, Lloyd Lang, and Frank Wingfield, wer hired as chiefs, an~ other men were ·hired to fill out the parties. For job supervision, Ed. Bailpy, George Edmondson, Roy Jonhson Jr. Frank Koehler, L.J.McDonal, and Pete Watson were hired. Bookkeepers W.R.Graham, and A.G. Perkins were hired. For the unbelievable aMount of typing, Mildred Brooks, Ellen Margaret Harrell, Eva Mae Johnson, Frances Lee, Josephine LaDolce, and Martha West were ~ired. - ,..... I ' -- ..,~

The big office force naturely contained a wider variety of personalities. I recall an experience Tom Maxson had with paul Beale. Paul, a new drs.ftsman, was a single fellow from out of town. :Ie rented

8 room in a small residence on Decatur St. just north of Chelsea Ave. Paul was a good draftsman, but at times his conduct was a bit unethical. Once in a while he came to work with a noticable scent of alcohol on his breath. Maxson was tolerant, being a good christian, and mainly because good draftsmen were hard to find. One morning, Paul came staggering into the office, blearry eyed, When he tried to mount his stool. Paul and the stool both fell to the floor, cresting a lot of noise and attention.

Maxson, with 8 look of vengence, grabbed Paul's coat collar at the back of his neck, yanked him to his feet, and guided and pushed him out the door. About an hour later, Maxson came strolling back into the office, with a look on his face similar to a cat after it had devoured

the canary. We all gathered around to hear Maxson's report, "On the way to Paul's house, he fell asleep in my car. I remembered reading from a doctor's book, Castor Oil was great for riding the human body of the effects of alcohol. I stopped at a drug store and got a big adult dose of Castor Oil. I shook Paul untill he became semi-conscious, and made him drink the whole dose. When we got to his house, I drug him up on the porch and leaned him against a column. Then I found out the landlady was gone, and the house was locked." Maxson said no more, and after

a pause, someone asked, ""That happened then?" Maxson grinned and said, "I left him there." Another incident happened several weeks later, that was funny to

everyone within ear shot, except Bill Humphrey, one of the new par~y chiefs. Bill was a nice pentlemanly fellow who made friends with everybody he met. He was a graduate of U.T. and was an excellant party chief. Unknown to us in the office, Bill and his sweetheart had set their wedding date. When that day came, Eill who had been assigned to

Mr. Mattox, was in the office working on ~.P.A. applications. About mid-afternoon, we saw Bill raise his head, and when he spoke in a hushed voice, we could barely hear. "Matt, can I go now?" Matt's answer could be heard allover the room, "Not yet, I'll let you know." Bill hung his head and continued his work. About an hour later, Bill definately couldn't keep his mind on his work. so he asked again to be dismissed. That time Matt's answer was loud and gruff, "NO. Why in the hell do you want to leave so early?" That brought the blood to Bill's face, and he lost some of his composure.

'ATi th his voice equally as gruff. he answered, "Damn-it Matt, I told you I was getting married at seven o'clock tonight, and I don't want to be late." Matt kind of squinted his eyes as he looked at Bill and said, "You don't need all that time to get to church, so go back to work." Bill retorted. "By God, you aught to give me enough time to take a bath before I get married." Matt made no further remarks unt111 about 30 minutes before quitting time. when he said, "You can go now, Bill." Back in 1933, Jessie and I were still using that old Ford Coupe I owned when we married. One night when I was working late, Jessie came up town to shop. She joined me at the office, and we started to drive home together.. Nothing happened untill we were driving peacefully along Southern Ave, preparing to cross Boston st. At that time, Southern' Ave. was a narrow two lane street running close to the base of the Railroad embankment. Boston st. from the south passed under the railroad tracks in a long two barrel tunnel. There was absolutely no way to see a vehicle comming from that tunnel, I was not concerned because there was a stop sign for the oncoming Boston st. traffic. On that fateful night, just as our car got in line with the north­ bound barrel of the tunnel, I saw a car's head lights burrowing into the right front fender of our car. I heard a crashing noise like metal -

against metal, and glass shattering. I felt our car floating through the air sideways. I reached over with my right arm and pressed Jessie against t.he seat. I felt our car hit something solid, (a low concrete wall)then turn over on its left side, and come to a stop. I was sure I wasn't hurt, but I was anxious about Jessie who had somehow managed to brace herself against the steering wheel. I said, "Honey, are you hurt?" She answered, "I don't think so." I heard footsteps, and people talking.

~hen someone was crawling up on the high side of our car. A big colored man looked down into our car and asked, "Are you hurt?~l ",rhen...-I said no, he reached in and carefully pulled Jessie out. Then he and some

others got me out. We were both 8 little wobbly, and Jessie had a nasty cut on her forearm. As I looked around, there were a gang of cars stopped, I supposed for curiosity, but I heard a voice coming froM one, "Verne, is that you?" I recognized Zelna Mason. Jessie's brother-in-law. He put Jessie in his car and headed for the doctor, and on the way he alerted the Saino block.

Within minutes I was surrounded by my in-laws, and I loved them everyone. Our car was a total wreck. The car that hit us was still standing where it had bounced back from the col1ission. Its front end was demolished. I was told, the occupants of the other car jumped out

immediately and ran back throu~h the tunnel. I learned later the other

car had been stolen. It was driven by a young colored boy who, with a bunch of his friends, after leaving a nearby night club, were speeding through the Boston st. tunnel. He was a minor, and a nephew of the car owner. Neither could be held responsible. Following that collision, Jessie and I were without a car, untill the fall of 1934. At that time Yockey decided to trade his car in on a new one. When Yockey told me how much the agent was going to allow him on his trade-in, I offered to buy it for the same price. He accepted. It was a four door Chevrolet touring car in real good condition. In the early part of summer, 1935, Mrs. Saino received word that her brother in Jacksonville Plorida had died. The administrator of his will informed Mrs. Saino, it was necessary for her to come to w()~en - Jacksonville to sign some papaer. The womwn folks of the Saino block had a council meeting. It was decided, I arrange for a week's vacation and drive Mrs. Saino to Jacksonville, and then on to Tampa, where she had other relatives. After some begging and arguing, the vacation was

~ranted. Jessie invited Mary Hutton to join us, to make a foursome.

The route for our travel was selected by Felix, because he had made tha~ trip previously. Felix had a mental fix on the selection of routes out of Memphis. On every trip, the first stop had to be Nashville. It could have been because his wife's family lived there. The route laid out for us passed through Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Albany, Lake City Fla., then to Jacksonville. All the highways we traveled were paved, two traffic lanes wide, crooked and hilly untill we got to Fla.

We started our journey on Saturday, after I got off from work 80 one o'clock. After we had traveled about one. hundred miles, Mrs. Saino turned to Jessie and Mary,on the back seat, and said, "I don't remember putting an underskirt in my suitcase." I orfe~ed to turn back, but she said, "No. I'll buy one the first time we stop." That night she checked her suitcase at Nashville, sure enough there was no underskirt. None of us looked upon the task of buying an underskirt as a problem. As we drove happily along through the country side that was new and interesting to me, our stops were at the gas stations and motels, and there were no drygoods stores in sight. After the second day that underskirt problem began to grow. We began to stop at every store that looked like it might have an underskirt, but for one reason or another, we couldn't find one. It was unbelievable, but when we returned home,

Mrs. Saino had not yet found an underskirt to her liking. On the way down, somewhere in Georgia, Jessie and Mary flirted with some men loading watermellons into a box car. They waved us down and gave us a extra large watermellon. At the next shade tree, we stopped and ate the sweetest watermellon I had ever tasted. Mrs. Saino loved watermellon. As we got into Florida, I saw the hanging moss on the trees for my first time. In Florida, I was amazed at the number of cows qicn'l grazing~ the sides of. the highway. After we had stopped at Lake City, where I took a drink of the worst water I had ever tasted, we were on our way to Jacksonville. It was in the lazy part of the afternoon when one of those cows decided to cross the road right in front of us. I slowed down as quick as I could, but not quick enough. My right front fender hit her right hindquarters, and she went head over heels down the bank. Jessie and Mary watched from the back window, and saw the cow get up and wander into the woods. At Jacksonville, the administrator who was an attorney, told us the cow had the right of way, and we would

have been liable if we had damaged the cow. Today that law might be oalled, "Cow' s Lib." Leaving Jacksonville, we stopped to visit the old town with the narrow streets and the fort at St. Augustine. They told us it was the first white settlement on the North American Continent. Then we went

to Daytona, where I wanted to see the sand beech where the automobile speed records had been made. When we got there, the fog was so thick, we couldn't see 40 yards. From there, we traveled through the central part of the state. We saw the large vegetable fields and orange groves. We passed through the beautiful town of Lakeland. gefore we reached Tampa, we passed thos's stinking pits where they mined phosphorus.

In Tampa we visited with Mrs. Saino's nephew and ~iece. They were two families of wonderful people. They insisted on showing us the sights. We drove over to the Gulf Coast, and it was the first time I had seen

'& body of water tlcouldn' look all the way across. To me, it looked llke the surface was going up-hill before it got to the horizon. We - ". .J

went to Tarpoon Springs and saw the bO'ats the divers used to harvest sponges. In. town we saw men making cigars. In a bar, we saw them posting the numbers which would win that week's "11umbers Game." On the way back, at Atlanta, we drove out to see stone Mountain. At that time the tremendous confederate carving had been damaged bu an

explosion set off by some fueding contractors. It was nothing short of criminal to deface such a master piece. When we left Atlanta, headed for home, it was pleasing to reflect on a delightful trip. Nothing had happened, except one small encounter with a stubborn cow. The car had behaved perfectly. So well, in fact. we began to take it for granted. Taking that car for granted was a bad mistake, and a few miles out of Atlanta, we were reminded of it. We were rolling blissfully along when suddenly the engine quit like the switch had been. turned off. Just before our momentum came to a stop,

the engine started again as nice as we could have wanted. Almost in 8

single breath my three companions asked, "What's the matter?" That

question always aggriva tedt~me, especially when. I didn't know the answer. The car seemed to be running all right for the next several miles, when the same thing happened again. Age.in they asked, "What's the matter" Again I said, "I don't know." Jessie, always the practicle person, suggested we pull into a filling station and get the car looked at. The filling station man examined everything he could think of, and assured us there's nothing wrong. From there to Chattanooga, the car's misbehavings came more frequently. We were spending the night in

Chattanooga. 80 we put the car into B Chevrolet agency shop for a complete examination. Next morning he told us he put in a new set or spark plugs and tested the car, and it seemed O~K. From Chattanooga to Nashville, it got worse. It wouldn' start up again before the momentum ran out, but after sitting a while and using the starter, it would start running. We agonized our way into Nashville...... r, .,"' ....." ---,'

The rest of them had a good lunch. I had a headache. I was about crazy. Jessie, Mary and myself were due back on our jobs in Memphis the next

morning. I suggested that Mrs. Saino and the two ~irls board the bus.

and I would somehow ~et the car to Memphis, if it took all night. After many stops,waits, and starts, we finally pulled into a station for gas at Camden. There was a tall slim middle aged colored man that waited on us. I had been telling everybody that would listen the trouble we were having, When I told that man, he grinned and said, "I bet I know what's wrong." He pointed to a cylindrical thing about three inches in diameter, and about five inches tall, fixed to the dashboard above the engine, and said, "That's your vacuum tank. I hed one to go wrong on me." That sounded like the most intelligent remark I had heard since we left Atlamta. The colored Man went on to say, "If you want me to, I'll look at it. If it's like mine, I'll fix it." I didn't say so, but I would have agreed for him to preform open heart surgery on me right there. There were little rubber hoses going to and from the top of that cylinder. When he took the top off, I could see an arrangement of small ,steel wires bent and looped in a crazy way. At his first glance, hesaid, "There's your trouble, that little wire with a loop is out of place." He bent it back to where it belonged, put the top back on, and told me, "It's fixes." I tried to pay him, but he wouldn't take it. We drove to Memphis, holding our breath. We used that car for many more years, and never had any more trouble with the vacumn tank. In 1936 there were ~ large number of locations in Memphis that consistently flooded each time a heavy rain came. The existing drainage systems were inadequate to carry the storm water away as fast as it aCCUMulated. One of the Many reasons for that inadequacy was, in the past, drainage structures had been designed and built in a piecemeal fashion. No regard was given for overall capacity throughout the system. 3zr

There was no consistency on size or gradient. To remedy that flooding problem, each system ~ust be analized from beglnlng to end. Inadequacies must be rebuilt to conform to a modern design for size and gradient. In the past, the cost of such a remedy had been too great for the city to undertake. Some of us who were closely associated with the city's storm drainage problems~ pleaded for Federal help in that area. After presenting bundles of justifications, P.W.A. approved the Lemoyne Bayou Drainage Improvement Project. in 1936. That project worked out so well, that it was followed by dozens of 'similar drainage projects. The burdensome task of preparing plans, specifications, end applications for all the Federal projects kept us draftsmen busy day and night. New names that had been added to our payroll were, John Postal. draftsman, Frank Koehler Jr. foreman, and W.A.Soefker, chief plumbing inspector. That fellow Beale, who was sobered by Maxson with a dose of Castor Oil. dropped out of the pictUre. Somebody told me that Beale said, "I couldn't stand that loving care that Dr. Maxson gave me." No matter how busy we were, occasionaly something would happen to break the monotiny. Almost every afternoon, an Italian peddler would wander into our office. He was a short slender fellow more than $0 years old, had a mustach, and wore a cap. On a little platform supported by straps aruund his neck, he displayed his merchandise. He sold candy bars and other goodies. All of us enjoyed the opportunity to refresh and relax. The best part was the intertainment he gave us when he talked his mixture or Italian and English language. Someone would draw him into conversation, then the rest of us would gather around and have fun. Commissioner Kruger began to notice that interference to our work. He would stand at his private o!tice door and watch the peddler Make his rounds. The more Kruger looked, the more his face turned into a ...

frown. After several days ~f staring and frowning, Kruger ~ot up the nerve to approach the peddler. The little peddler, with his keen black eyes, saw the Commissioner coming. He changed his customary route, and siddled out the front door. From then on for a couple of weeks Kruger and the peddler played cat and mouse. We were loosing more time from our work, watching and giggling at their game, than before it started. Finally, Kruger c·aught up with the peddler and ordered him not ever to return to that office. One night when we were bUSy with our work, Commissioner Kruger came strowling into the office, and placed a big paper bag on the counter. He said, "Gather around fellows, I've got something for you. He had brought us a variety of super delicious fruit. From then on, about twice a week, he would come in about 10;)0 with a fruit treat for us. We thought that maybe his conscious was hurting because of the Italian peddler. Later we found out that every night after his supper, he would go to Court Square and visit with his friend, Toney the

refreshment stand keeper. Kru~er and Toney would sit and talk untill time for Toney to close up and go home. One night Kruger saw Toney throwing some fruit into the garbage can. When Kruger asked the reason. Toney said, "It's fruit that will be too ripe to sell tomorrow." That was the reason we, instead of the garbage can, were getting the fruit. The Commissioner was walking from the Court House to his room in the Devoy Hotel one night. He saw two big husky men coming his way. He thought he was in for a mugging, so he took his large roll of money trom his pocket, and jammed it down in his underwear. The men passed him by with no bother. As he entered his room, he had a sudden urge to go to the toilet. Forgetting about his money, when he finished, he flushed the toilet. Then it dawned on him, he had flushed his money down the sewer. He called the sewer maintenance dept. telling them his plight, and demanding they go to the river where the sewer empties and recover his money. They did as he ordered, but had no success. Commissioner Kruger was found ill in his room one morning. They rushed him to the hospital. When he began to recover, he discovered a lady nurse attending him. He dismissed that nurse, and demanded to be furnished with 8 male nurse. His demand was complied with, and he seemed to be recovering nicely. On June 14, 1936 Commissioner Kruger had a heart attact and died. His only relatives lived in Kentucky. end Mr. Kruger was sent there for burial. Oscar Williams was appointed to succeed Commissioner Kruger. He was a likable tall thin man with a strange lau~h. It seemed like his vocal· chords would catch only the first syllable, and the remainder was silent exhalation of air. Mr. Williams lived in the Messick neighborhood, not far from our home. He also was affiliated with, some labor union. The war veterans finally received the rest of their bonus on June 15, 1936. It happened only because Congress passed it over the President's veto. More than 3,000,000 servive men were in line for a total payment of $1,$00,000,000. That was a booster to the economy. For the people with heart trouble, there was a welcome change that took place in 1936. At the International Scientific Congress in Copenhagen, Charles Lindbergh, with the help of Dr. Carrel, displayed a pump. That pump could be used as an artificial heart. 1936 also gave the world Radar, the great detector, thanks to inventor Sir Robert A.W.Watt. Through the SUbsequent broadening of applications, the use of radar seems almost limitless. Probably, the best known use is by the policeman, who from his hidden position, can detect the rate of speed of moving vehicles. Sir Watt could never win a popularity contest from those drivers caught for illegal speeding. When I was a kid, growing up in the country, I would sometime hear

... .,Q C1RmA or golf mentions. It seemed(' silly to me why a man would enjoy -

hitting a little white ball with a club, then go find the inocent thing.

and hit it again. He'd repeat that act untill he knocked the ball in 8 hole. To me it couldn't be classed as a fun game, and the thoughts of me playing the game never crossed My mind. Bill Wolbrecht. my favorite

brother-in-law, told me one day he was learning to play golf. He and his two brothers, Arthur and Pat, were taking lessons from the professional for the golf course at McLean and Vollentine. Bill was the kind of fellow, when there's fun to be had, he wanted someone to join him. He insisted that I come along and play with them. just for fun. My interest and money were not enough to justify proressiona: lessons. As a kid, I could hit a snake with a stick, why not a golf ball. Bill borrowed a set of clubs for me. I don't think it was a graduated set. One of the iron clubs had the word "Mashie" on its back, another said "Niblet". There was one long handled club with a wooden head. Altogether there were five clubs. I found out later, I was getting in on the last of an old tradition that that named each club. The modern system identified each club by a number. Before our time to tee off. Bill coached me on how to catch hold of the club handle, how to swing and hit the ball, which was different from the stroke I used to kill snakes. I was confident I would do well because years back I was able to hit a baseball with a bat. When time came for our foursome to tee off, I asked them to let me go last. I watched the others as they stood in position to knock the ball in the desired direction. Two of their shots went straight, the other one went crooked. Then I took my place. I remembered Bill saying, "All you want to do is to hit the ball, the club will do the rest." Determined to do better than the rest, I sq'.linted my eyes, took a hell or a swing and missed the ball completely. Bill said, "Keep your eye on the ball untill after you(ve hit it. and don't swing so har~. With all my confidence gone, I tried to do what he said. and my next swing hit the ball. It made a" lovely whacking noise, and sailed

down the fairway al~ost as far as their's. From that shot on, I was captivated by a game that I had thought I'd never like. I became anxious to play whenever I had a chance. Improvement was slow, but once in a while, I'd whack a good shot, and I

liked the way it souhded. I thought I was R hero when I finally broke 100. There was a mixture of joy and sorrow when the Greyhound Race track opened at the end of the Harahan Bridge in Arkansas. The track was licensed by the state of Arkansas, and para-mutisl betting was allowed. Momma was one of those who, under any other circumstances, would be sorry to see any place exist that promoted gamboling. She always thought gamboling was a sin that couldn't be forgiven. Circumstances turned out differently that time. One of the dog owners was looking for a suitable place to kennel and exercise his dogs. I never knew how he found out, but he came to Papa who had exactly what the man was looking for. There was a vacant barn and a wide open field. As a bonus there was a vacant room for rent. The dog owner and his wife were so well pleased, they told another dog owner about their find. The second family rented trailer space, kennel space, and the use of the open field. That was the first time I ever watched an owner train greyhounds for racing. To my surprise, he used guinea fouls. Even with their clipped wings, those dogs couldn't catch those raskals. With that new income Papa and Momma put it to, what I thought was, their best use. They had the old house wired for electric lights. They got more pleasure from that convenience than anything they had ever done before. The natives who live along the Mississippi River, south of its junction with the Ohio, are well aware of the annual threat or high water. They know the water shed from the Rocky to the Appalalachian Mountains, contains about a million square miles. In Memphis the run-orr from -

ever rain-fall in that vast area has to pass under the Memphis bridges. The natural river channels throughout the water shed, have the capacity to carry the run-orr from normal rain-falls. Freezing temperatures in the northern portion of the water shed usually retain the run-off from the heavy winters precipitation untill the spring thaw. When that thaw is gradual. no serious flooding occurres. If the thaw is sudden, usually some flooding occures. Rain-falls, rreezings, and thaws, make flood forecasting a hazardious science. In January 1937, one of those hazards became a reality. It was confined to the Ohio River valley, where the water shed is only about one fifth of the Mississippi at Memphis. In the early part of January, the Ohio River water shed received the heaviest concentration of rain­ fall ever recorded in its history, in a ten day period. Freezing temperature failed to hold much of it back. The disastrous results were a flood that broke all records. Flood water in the ohio and part of the Mississippi River valleys reached 196 counties in 12 States. There were 900 deaths, 500,000 driven from their homes, and damage was estimated to be $300 million, in all 12,700 square miles was covered with water. I remember that Monday morning, January 25th, at the Memphis Public Works ofrice. Mr. Fowler was in the drafting section when Roy Johnson came in. Roy was Superintendent of Memphis Flood Control. Mr. Fowler asked Roy, "What kind of shape is Sarrrans Pump station in?" That was the pump that protected the Gayoso Bayou basin, and had to go into service when the Beale st. gauge reached 34 feet. Roy answered, "I closed the gates and pumped the reserv~ir down yesterday. Everything worked

perfectly. II Roy continued, "The Weather Bureau predicts 34 in the next rew daY's."!~ Mr. Fowler grunted and said. "Get ready Roy, you fellows are going to be on 24 hour duty, and its gonns be a long time.It As aoy started to walk away, Mr. Fowler called him back, and questioned, "How's that little pump at the South Memphis levee?" Roy hesitated before he answered, "It runs fine, but it is small, and there's

very 11ttle reservoir. n Mr FO'tller shook his head, and with a hopeful voice said, "Keep your fingers crossed." In the last part of 1936, the Weather Bureau fixed a new river gauge on one of the piers under Harahan bridge. At the time it was fixed, the water surface readings were tha same as shown on the Beal St. gauge, but at that time the river was very low. As the river water rose, the two gauges would differ in their readings, because the Ha2shan bridge was about two miles down stream. The old Beal st. gauge remained in place, and its use was continued by the Corps of Engineers and Publis ~!orks. because it was the basis of flood control programing. The Weather Bureau published daily readings from their new gAuge, and there was no consistant figure that would corelate the two ga~ges. That confusing situation caused quite a bit of trouble with our pUblic relations. The rise in the river became More rapid each day. News from the Ohio Valley created great concern to Memphis prospects. The little levee in South Memphis had been built with private Money. It was located south of Industrial Ave, running east and west froM the Horn Lake Rd. It was built to protect seneral industries and a few residents. The threat of back-water over-running that levee had happened in the past. The 1937 flood predictions indicated the little levee was doomed. A group of industry and land owners called on Mr. Crump for help. Mr. Crump responded, and took charge personally. He summoned all County road crews and their supervision. They started filling, transport1~E and placing sand bags (burlap bags filled with dirt) on top of the levee. The back-water was rising faster than the levee, so they went on a double shift, and was still loosing the race. The story we heard was,

"Mr. Crump. in desperation, sent some or his men to the Beale St. night - ."'"A r;!.5 '-' .".,.

clubs. They conscripted every able bodied man." The story must have been at least partly true. A friend who was helping supervision told me, "I saw a lot of dudes wearing dancing shoes, working like the devil." It was a nip and tuck fight, and when the crest came, the sand bags were only a few inches above the water. If the wind had blown waves from the south or west, the levee would have been lost. The flood control levee in north Memphis, was built in 1914, to protect Gayoso Bayou basin. On the low areas behind that levee were induatry, warehouses, stores, and many residences. Probably the most

important was that vulnerable basement of St. Joseph's Hospital with 8 floor level e~ual to 34 on the Beale St Gauge. The I.C.R.R. tracks ran along the top of the existing levee, at an Alevation of about.48 feet on the gauge. When Mr. Fowler and Mayor Overton discussed Hortb Memphis flood control with !-lr. Crump, he simply said, "Don't you let a single drop of flood water get inside that levee." Mr. Fowler, with his, "Do it now" reputation, lost no time in organizing a mamouth sand bag operation for the Sarrarans levee. The City crews were just a starter. Every contractor on the city's P.l~.A. program, stopped their contract work, and brought their trucks and men to Sarfarans levee. The W.P.A. jobs closed down, and reported for levee work. Roy Johnson raised the elevation of the discharge from his pumps. The whole operation ran to perfection. When Mr. Fowler thought everything was better than safe, he invited Mr. Crump to Make an inspection. Mr. Crump took a quick look and said, "Make it higher and wider." His wishes were carried out. When the crest finally came those sand bags sat there high and dr7. The I.C.R.R. had to abandon the use of their main line tracks along the river front, because of en overflow in the Loosehatchie River bottoms. They routed that traffic from Woodstock around the Belt Line to Nonconnah Yards. Their tracks just eas~ of Nonconnah Yards had water about two feet deep on them, but it didn't stop their use. The Y.& M.V. southbound tracks near Engly Bottoms were abandoned for several weeks. As the flood water continued to rise, it began to back out into the low lands along the tributaries of Wolf River on the north and

Nonconnah Creek on the south edge of Memphis. At that time we didn't ~ have a suitable contour map of those areas. To keep the office informed of the water encroachments, on-my way to work each morning, I'd mark the

water's edge on 8 city map, with 8 red pencil. Before the crest came, the north end of Orchi St was inundated. Four or five families were evacuated. In the Workhouse Bayou basin a few families had to leave home. There were a group of homes on May sf. .~. north of Chelsea, from which the families had to be evacuated. The largest-numbsr_of families chased from their home by high water were in the subdivision north of Chelsea, east of Watkins St. The Cypress and Lick Creek basins were the ones where the flood waters scared more people than anywhere else. North of Chelsea there were several families moved out. South or Chelsea, in the Lick Creek basin there were a lot of low areas inundated and the water was getting ,t./'fJse into many of .tAos yards. People dreaded the "tomorrows,It because they were afraid they'd step out of bed into water. Water that had backed in through underground drains, was standing in the intersection of Snowden and Montgomer7. Mr. Pitts, our permit clerk, lived in that neighborhood. Just saying he was uneasy would be putting it too mild. In South Memphis, except for that magnificent battle with the flood

against that private levee, there was no significant damage. A lot or low ground was covered with water, but it was vacant. During those weeks of high water the Public Works office served as headquarters for the flood fighting, and as a source of information to thousands of concerned citizens. We had to stay on duty untill late at night seven-days a week. Most or my time was spent on the telephone. Most of the calls came from people who lived close to the encroaching edge of the water. They wanted to know how much higher it would have to get before it would come into their yard. They also wanted to know how much higher the water would go before it stopped rising. In some of those low areas where the streets wer barely above flood water level, the sanitary sewers failed to function properly. To relieve the pressure, water would spew out of the tops of the manholes and spread out on the street. The only remedy for that circumstance was to place sand bags around the manhole high enough to equalize the pressure. I remember such a behavior beginning to act up at the intersection of

Chelsea and Decatur St. Maxson arranged for R maintenance crew to meet him there. His plans were to place sandbags around the manholes and catch basins to prevent the water from spreading allover the intersection. While they were frantically laying out the work to be done, a lady from one of the corner houses yelled to Mr. Maxson, "Come over here a minute, Mister." Because her house sat up on a terrace, Maxson knew

she was in no damger of flooding, 80 he made out like he didn't hear her. The lady was not to be discouraged, she came out into the street and began to question Maxson with such rapidity, there was no way for him to get an answer in edgeways. Finally, in self defence, Maxson held out his arm with the palm of his hand facing the lady, and said, "Lad,., I'm just a working Man, I don't know a thing about what you're asking me. If you'll go back in the house and call the Public Works Dept. Ask for Mr. Maxson, end he will give you all the answers you want. 'I It was 8 dirty trick to play on the lady, but it was· the only way he could tree himself from her. There was one Sunday afternoon when there was noone in the otfice except Vernon Smith, Fred Davis, and I. For once the office was quiet. Vernon and Fred were in the back or the office, and 8upposed17 busy at work. I sat at the telephone desk, tabulating complaints I'd received. Suddenly the phone rang. ~hen I answered, a man's voice in a tone of anger and anxiety said, "I want somebody to come out here and see me about this back-water." I asked, and he told me where he lived. I knew his address couldn't be in trouble. With my best effort in diplomacy; I answered, "Sir, this is Sunday afternoon. and I am unable to reach anyone who could help you. I'll put you down for a visit tomorrow.t~ His quick retort wa.s, "Why in the hell can't you come?" From then on he became very abusive, and I was no match for his attack.

I thought I heard a giggle, and I looked to the back of the office. There were Vernon and Fred peeping over the top of a desk. One of them was impersonating the irate caller, and having 8 good time out of it.

As the flood continued to rise, Memphis became 8 haven for retugees. They came by boat, they came by trains, they came in wagons, and some came on foot. They were from the flooded low lands of eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee, and they numbered in the thousands. The Red Cross did a magnificant job. The local governments, along with church organizations gave all the help they posiblV could. Those unfortunate people were housed in buildings at the Fair Grounds. All but one of those buildings had sanitary sewer facilities. When it became necessary to use· that unsewered building, within two hours of notice, a construction crew with a trenching machine were laying a new sewer line to that building, In the third week of February, 1937, the flood came to its crest at Memphis. The readings were about 48 on the Weather Bureau's gauge, and a little over $0 on the Beale st. gauge. That set a record that has stood for 45 years. Considering the loss of lives, the prop8rty~ damage, and the hardships, °I hope that record will never be broken. Organized Labor, which had been favored b7 recent Federal legislation seemed more aggressive in 1937. Naturely Industrial management exercised some resistance to that aggression. During the year there was the West Coast Shipping strike, the General Motor's "sit-down" strike. Chicago's Taxie Cab strike, and the Republic Steel Co's strike, in which 10 people were killed. Also two of the Nation's lar~est steel companies, U.S.Steel and Carnegie-Illinois Steel Co. were threatened with a

"sit-down" strike. Concessions were gained by the Labor Unions in all those encounters. President Roosevelt was expressing some concern about the increasing belligerence in other parts of the world in 1931. He was trying to maintain a position of neutrality. Back in the World War f ~ays, the general attitude of Americans was genuine patriotism. That attitude seemed to have changed in 1937 when the largest ever Peace demonstration was held in New York City. The participants asserted that they would, "refuse to support the Government of the United States in any war it may conduct." Another change took place in 1937, and it was on the good side of the ledger. It was the Xerox Copier machine, invented by Chester Carlson. It wasn't the first copier, but· it proved to be the best. It just about made carbon copies obselete.

The National Economy experienced 8 mild recession that began in 1937 and continued into 1938. Unemployment rose an additional 2,000,000. The Industrial Production went down from 117 to 76. The Stock Market reached its lowest point in four fears. To stablize farm produce prices, the Federal Crop Insurance Corp, was extended to cover the wheat crop. The minimum wage of 2$ cents per hour was established. As a result of that act, about 800,000 workers received immediate raises. In 1938, the tenseness among the governments and their people began t' to grow in E~ope. Chancellor Adolf Hitler of Ge~an7 was starting his offence. He annexed Austria. Then he occupied Sudenten land in Czechoslovk1a. Japan also increased its belligerency. The people in the United States were preaching, "Isolation." The House Committee on Un-American Activities began some investigations. President Roosevelt was granted permission and funds to start building a "Two Ocean Nsvy." There was no better time or way to divert the American attention away from European troubles than the bizarre flight of an Irish lad

by the name of Douglass Corrigan. ~lith an old Curtis Robin J-6 monoplane that had cost him $900 six years berore, he took off from an airport at New York City, supposedly headed for California. His equipment did not include a radio, and his compass was faulty. The next message received from Corrigan was he had landed in Dublin Ireland, instead of California. He blithely informed the officials there, "! accidently flew the wrong way." The fact was, he became a hero, 'tiith a.lmost as

. much notority 8S Lindberg achieved. When he returned to New York, he

was given 8 ticker tape parade. Corrigan became famous with the name or "Wrong Way Corrigan." There was a glamorous change to fabric material in 1938, when Dr. Carothers invented Nylon. The popular thought was that nylon would be. used only to make garments. Later it proved to be a Material strong enough to be used in industry. It also was excellent material for the manufacture of thraad, twine and ropes. Radio exercised a tremendous influence on the American public i~ 1938. It provided news, sports, and all kinds of entertainment. Radio's power over its listeners was somewhat unique, because its message was confined to sound. That encouraged the listener to use his imagination to form a mental picture of the message sent. There was no better illustration of radio power, than a program broadcast b1 CBS, Sunday October 30th, at 8;00 P.M. It was the night before Halloween. The program was announced to be, "H.G.Well's War or the Worlds." Later ref'ered to as, "The Great Martian Invasion." To enhance the drama of that science-fiction story, the writers decided to use real locations in New Jersey instead of fictiou8 locations. •

As the program started, the· listeners were lulled into relaxation by a few bars of classical piano music. Then the announcer described the show to be given. Evidently only a few of the millions of listeners paid any attention to that description. Next, the announcer said, "We now take you to the Meridian Room in the Hotel Park Plaza in New York,

where you will be entertained by the music of Ramon Raquello and his orchestra." Suddenly the music was interrupted by news bulletins.

The bulletin described a mys~erious gas eruption on Mars, as seen

by astronomers. The program switched back to Raquello pleasent music. ' Soon there was another bulletin, saying a strange object, shaped like a cylinder and emitting a humming noise, had fallen to earth at Groves

mill, 22 miles from Princeton New Jersey. After a little more soothing music, another bulletin, which was broadcast from the site of the strange object. The announcer got his mike within 25 feet of the object end the listeners could hear a metalic scraping noise. In the background, emergency sirens could be heard. In an excited and frantic voice, the announcer described the opening of a door in the cylinder. Then a horrible monster as lsrge as a bear, with gleaming black eyes emerged. Between musical interludes, the horrors mounted. The police approache

and were turned into flsming torches by the Martians tlame-throwers, a kind ot "heat ray". Other space ships began to arrive. Some announcer, talking like the Governer, called out the State Malitia, and placed that part ot New Jersey under Marcial Law. The invaders quickly wiped out all military defenders. Within a few minutes, chaos was spreading and crossing the river into New York City. All railroads and communication lines were destroyed. A cloud of black poisonious gas poured in from the marshes. A voice, sounding like President Roosevelt, came on the air with an inspireing speech. Just before the program's one hour time had expired, it was announced that the program would be continued next week. •

What had happened to those millions of A~erican people before that last announcement? They had gone crazy. They were hysterical. They

were indulging in 8 massive panic. Except for the very few who were familiar with the science-fiction story, and others who were rational enough to detect flaws in the presentation. The rest honestly believed what they heard on the radio. The streets were jammed with people trying to flee to sarty. The churches were full of people praying. The saloons were full of drinkers. The many crazy things those people did under that spell of nysterior, would fill a b9ok. As I look back on the experiences of some of the Public Works employees, it is aMazing how a change in a person's life style can pivot on a seemingly insignificent incident. I remember Bob Bernardo, who started there in July, 1921, as a foreman of the Sewer Stoppage Gang, under Mr. Mattox. His starting salary was $100 a month. By 1932, he had worked that salary up to $150, then the depression cuts reduced it to $75 a month. In the few years following the depression, Bob thought his salary was recovering too slow.

One day Bob asked Mr. Mattox for a ten dollar raise. Matt grunted,

and then gave Bob a lot of conversation about the City having 8 hard time. In anger Bob said, "If I don't get a ten dollar raise, I'm gonna quit." Matt quickly answered, "Don't do that, Bob. I'll see if I can get you a five dollar raise." Bob said, "I've quit as of now. n He

turned and walked away. Bob was raising B family and needed an income. He got a truck and equipment and went into business cleaning septic tanks. The adventure went well. Within a few short years, Bob Bernardo went into the contracting business,' and became one of the most successful sewer contractors in Memphis. The shifting of personnel in the Public works Dept. quite orten created excitement. Such was the case when Mr. Fowler's secretary for the past many years decided to move to a better job. Several months Cyble l s husband Bob worked as a reporter for the Me~phis Press- Scimater. His assignment was to cover the news from the Court House. The policy of the paper was to print only the bad things that happened, the good things were not newsworthy, Bod frequently visited with his wife in Mr. Fowler's office. They seemed to be a model couple. One day, to satisry his boss at the paper, he had sOMething derogatory printed about Mr. Fowler. when Mr. Fo~ler read the article, he went into a rage. The next time Bob came to the office, Mr. Fowler ran him out. He actually chased him out, and because Bob was fleet of foot, he escaped bodily harm. That left Syble in the middle. She did her best to lead \. the difficult life of neutrality. Ashort time later, Bob got e job with a newspaper in New Orleans, Syble resigned and followed her husband. It was one of those clear autumn days, when the cooling breeze russeled the colorful tree leaves, and some of them whirled in a zigzag course to the ground. Tom Maxson, my boss, stopped by for a short visit with Jessie and I. The conversation jumped from SUbject to subject untill it finally settled on canning vegetables and making preparation for winter. Jessie made the remark, "I saw an add in the newspaper this morning that was a real bargin for cooking apples, but we don't much like cooked apples." Maxson, being a practical person who could put anything to its best use, replied, "'-lhy don't you get some and make them into cider?" I remembered Papa had an old lard-press designed to press the grease out of cracklins at ~og killing time. I asked if it would press the juice out of apples? Maxson said, "I'll bet it would. Get some apples and I'll COMe by and help you. Jessie got two or three bushels of red cooking apples. I got the lard-press. A few nights la~er Maxson came. We cleaned out a space in our basement and started our operation. It failed to work. I wasn't sure whether the fault was in the press or in the apples, but we couldn't make any juice come out. Maxson said, '~el1, to keep from wasting the apples, let's make them into 'Apple Jack'." That idea sounded better to me than the cider idea. I cleaned out my old beer crock, and the three of us started pealing and cutting up apples. We had to use Maxson's recipe, because Jessie or I knew nothing about making apple jack. We pealed,cored, and cut up apples for hours. Maxson would place a layer of apples, a layer of sugar, and some other ingreadients that I have forgotten. When we finished, a cloth was tied over the top for

protection. As we were cleaning up the mes.s, Jessie asked, "Tom. where is that butcher knife you were using?" We all looked high and low, but we couldn't find that butcher knife. In due time, when fermintation was finished, we strained and bottled the apple jack. Maxson took what little he wanted, and left the rest for us. To my knowledge, Maxson very seldom drank anything containing alcohol. Jessie couldn't stand the taste of alcohol, so a large portion of apple jack was left for my consumption. A few weeks later I tested to see if it had aged enough. I took a big swig, then shoveled some coal into the furnace. That burst of heat into my face from the furnace door was all the apple jack needed to prove its potency. I climbed the steps out of the basement, and at the top my feet kept on climbing. I felt like I could fly loke a bird. Jessie and I had been married almost 13 years. Both of us wanted children, but it seemed fate was against us. Several times our anxiety was turned to disappointment by misscarrages. Jessie talked to Father Newnan, Priest at St. Ann Catholic Church, where she was a communicant. We both hoped Father could put in a good word for us at St. Peter's Orphanage. Father did speak to Mother Superior at St. Peters, and we were invited to come for an interview. The interview was very pleasant. and we were told that a baby had been picked out for us.

When we went into the nursery, the baby girl picked out for us was a darling. She lay there sleeping so peacefully. A couple of beds away there was another baby girl, wide awake, kicking up her heels, and having herself a big time. Jessie and I walked over to look at that frisky little baby. She looked up at us with the most beautiful brown eyes I had ever seen. When we smiled, she smiled and clapped her hands. There was a sparkle in those eyes that captivated us both. It was a magic moment, something seemed to be pulling us toward that baby. vIe asked Mother Superior, 'could we have that baby, instead of the one that had been picked out for us? She looked at some papers, and then said, yes. After we. had been given instructions. about baby care and diet, we took that precious bundle home with us. On our arrival, news flashed to every house in the block. In seconds, our house was full of relatives, seemingly as happy as we were. Jessie and I had already decided on the name of Mary Josephine. When Mr. Saino asked, and we told him the name, he looked down at the floor for an instant, then said, "My mother's name was that, and this is the first grandchild to have her name." The next day at the office, I was walking on a cloud. The gang

swarmed around me wit~ congratulations. I asked Bob Surrensey, City Right of Way Agent, who was also an attorney, would he handle the court proceedings for us? He did it willingly. The afternoon we appeared in court, the ease before our was running overtime. As we sat there waiting, Mary Jo. became restless. The Juege looked over, but said nothing untill an ongoing testimoney was heard. Then he announced, "1 want to interrupt this trial for a few minutes. There is a young lady waiting to appear before me, and I'm not going to keep her waiting." The hearing was short and simple. Arter instructing us of our rights, and the child's rights, he named Jessie and me to be the parents of Mary Josephine Laughter who was born May 20, 1938. That was one of the happiest days or my life. Soon after the flood wAters of 1937 receded, studies began for adequate flood control aro~nd Memphis.. It was the latter part of 1938 before the plans were finalized. The U.S. Corps of Engineers designed and drew the construction plans. They received the bids, awarded the contracts, and supervised the work. Several years expired before all work was completed. The entire project was divided into eight seperate sections. (1) Near Wolf River's bank, from Jefferson Ave. to near Auction Ave. (2) Raise the existing levee from near Auction to Henry Ave. (3) West or Second St. from Henry Ave. to Second St near Lep Ave. That·· section included a pUMp station for Sunflower Bayou near Marble Ave. extended. (4) Near the south bank of Wolf River, from near Second St. and Leo Ave. to Thomas st. (5) From Thomas to Willett St. north of Chelsea Ave. Crossing Bellevue north of Charles Ave. end crossing Watkins at Louisville Ave. That section includes a pump station for Cypress Creek at Bellevue. (6) From Willett north of Chelsea north and east to Hollywood St. (7) From Hollywood to Holmes st. north of Douglass Park. That section included a pump station for Workhouse Bayou. (8) North of Nonconnah Creek, from Riverside Park to high ground at Bodley Ave. east of Prospect st. That section included a pump station for Mallory Bayou at Third St. Black clouds of inevitable War were hovering over Europe in the beginning of 1939. Germany had already annexed several small neighboring countries. Italy had occupied Albania. England and France agreed to protect Poland if it was attacked. On September 1st, the German 'blitzkrieg overwhelmed Poland. September 3, 1939, England and France declared War on Germany. The American attitude of isolation was disintergrating. President Roosevelt took steps to bolster the United States defence. His statement to the public on September 3rd, plainly had a double meaning, "This Nation will remain neutral. ----- Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his trlind or close his conscious." In October of 1939, secret meetings were held to discuss the posibility of making the Atomic Eomb. President Roosevelt manaped to get his administration reorKanized so that

government affairs could be more readily carried out. ~hen there was the Hatch Act, which forbid Federal civil service employees from taking active part in political campaigns. The first food stamp plan "went into effect at Rochester N.Y. in May

of 1~39. The plan quickly spread to many other cities. Those stamps permitted people on relief to receive free surplus commodies to supplement their regular food budget. With several changes in regulations, that plan of relief has continued more than 40 years. There are those that believe the unqualified reciputants of food stamps, who manage somehow to receive then, have added at least 50 per cent to the cost of the program. Television made its appearance to the pUblic for the first time in 1939. It was at the New York World Fair. President Roosevelt was the first president to appear on Television. The first Major League baseball game was televised by N.B.C. on August 22, 1939. It was in Ebber's Field at Brooklyn, and Red Barber did the announcing. One Saturday morning, while all of us were diligently working at

the office, Maxson came to my table and said, "What are you doing this afternoon, Harry?" Harry had been my nickname at the office fore more ' ten years. MY' answer to Maxson was, "Nothing in particular." Maxson continued, "What'd you say, we go and take a look at the inside of Lemoyne Bayou culvert we. built year before last?" I liked the idea, so we arranged for me to pick him up~.at his home, arter dinner. We both knew it would be a nastY' job, so we dressed worn-out clothes, hip boots. and rain-gear. To get into the lower end of the culvert we wanted to inspect, we had to go to a large open ditch north of Poplar Ave, west of Watkin~ .••rzL?i ,-

and walk throu~h an old culvert a distance of about 900 feet. The headroom in that old culvert was not enough to allow us to stand up. We had to walk in a stooped position, with our hips and knees flexed. Neither of us were used to walking in that position, and making our way through cob-webs, trash, and broken glass, made the distance seem like miles. We tried stopping for rest, but standing or squatting was just as painful as walking. When we got to the new culvert, we could stand up straight. it was a delightful relief. We then were walking under an old, run-down, residential development. We came to a location where a street catch­ basin was directly over the culvert. That seemed to be the disposal point for the whole neighborhood. The floor of the culvert was completely covered with garbage. There were enough chicken guts mixed in with the garbage to fill a wash-tub. It stunk to high heaven, and was saturated with magots. We finished our inspection, finding no faults of design or construction. On the way back, we were dreading that stooped walk through the old culvert. When we came to where an access manhole had been built, Maxson wisely seid, "Let's get out of here and walk on the surface. To get that heavy iron top off the manhole, I had to stand on Maxson's shoulders. I managed to get out, and at a glance, I saw that we were in somebody's back yard. About 30 feet away a lady was hanging clothes on a line. She had her back to me, and apparently was unaware

o~ what was going on. I reached down to help Maxson. When he was almost out, he gave a loud sigh of relief. I heard a screem. When I looked around, the lady was gone. Maxson was in position to see the whole show. He said, "1,lhen that ladY' turned and saw us scarry looking creatures coming up out of the ground, she screemed, threw her basket dOwn, ran into the house, and sla~ed the door." I looked at Maxson, he had his hip boots folded down, making his legs look gaulky, he had on a dirty raincoat with the sun shining bri~ht. his hat had cob-webs strin~ing from it. and his face was smeary black. I looked just as bad. We couldn't blame the lady for thinking we might be from outer space. A couple of Monday evenings later. Bill l'Tolbrecht came to our home for a visit. There was nothing unususal about that, except he was wild-eyed with excitement, The reason was, the evening before he had visited with a friend who had ~ badminton court. He told Jessie and me that he played the game with them, and found it most facinating. The game, he said, could be played by anybody, regardless of previous experience. It was very similar to tennis, except a shuttle-cock was used. instead of 8 ball. He seid the game got its start many years ago, somewhere in England. Bill had found out the sets were available at the stores, and su~gested we get a set and enjoy the recreation. We bought a set, which includes rules for playing the game. The court fit snuggly between the back of our house and a big cottonwood tree. High above on a tree limb we hung a light, so we could play at night.

Every night 8 large crowd gathered, some to watch, and some to play. When a good play was made, the crowd would cheer loudly. Jessie would run into the house to see if our baby, Mary Jo. had been awakened. In Europe, World 1,Jar II was foraging swiftly wes tward .from the German border, in 1940. The British had evacuated Dunkerque. German troops had entered Paris. Up to that time it appeared that the German military forces were unbeatable. In the United states, Rn attitude of alarm among the people was developing. People were thinking that Hitler's next move would be the invasion of the United States. Roosevelt, with the cooperation of Congress, was putting forth a Massive effort to strengthening the military and naval forces. He called for the building of 50,000 planes annually. War Materials, including aircraft, wer being supplied to England. The Alien Registration Act was passed June 28, 1940. In the first peacetime draft, more than 16,000,000 men were registered for possible military service. My brother Joseph Laughter was one of that number. Being married-put him on a temporary deferred list. Untill May 15. 1940, most everybody thought it would be impossible to get any kind of aircraft, except a baloon, off the ground without a long running start. Only 37 years had passed since the Wright Brothers had such a hard time. even with· a running start. There was one exception to that thinking, Igor Sikorsky believed it could be done. On May 15th. he demonstrated the first direct-lift aircraft in the United States. The machine was called the Vough-Sikorsky helicopter, and it worked. The 40 hour week went into effect October 24.1940. It was a provision included in the Wages and Hours Act of 1938. Unfortunately that Act had no effect on municipal employees who were not unionized. The Memphis Public Works Dept. had a few union employees who benefited. The rest of us continued our long hours with no overtime par. Early in the year, I had been given a little raise, and a big title. Following my name on the payroll was added, "Assistant Drainage Engineer." The title had no effect on my regular duties. I had been assisting Mr. Mattox for years. It took Memphis ten years to get there, but in 1940 it gained national recognition. Memphis was awarded the honor of being the. "Cleanest City." Ths.t title was the result of the consistant hard work of the City Beautiful organization, During the past four years, Mrs.

~m.B.Fowler had been the chairman of the board. Her work had been enthusiastic, and her ideas had been creative. She had managed to develope neighborhood pride into every block in the city. She fought the carelessness and neglect shown in industrial yards, and probably her most obstinate viet-1ms were the Railroad right-or-ways. Back in the early part of 1939, before campaigning started tor the up-coming fall election for mayor, there develpoed a misunderstanding between Mayor Watkins Overton and Mr. Ed. Crump. Overton had, been mayor since 1928 with the blessings of Mr. Crump, but for some reason that blessing had disappeared. Overton, during those three terms of office,

had built up a following that, in his oppi~ionJ would elect him to a fourth term, even without Mr. Crump's help. Mr Crump scanned his list of prospective candidates, and the only man who could out-run Overton was Walter Chandler. At that time Mr. Chandler was a representative in

Washington, ~r. Crump didn't .want to dist'lrb Mr. Chandler's important position there. So when Watkins Overton announced his candidacy for mayor, Mr Crump announced himself as his opponent. The campaign was the usual mud-slinging affair, and it was really hard to tell which one was ahead. When election day finally caMe, Mr. Crump won the race. Although his age was creeping up on him, Mr. Crump was just about as active as ever. His hair might have been a little greyer, but,his mind, sparkling smile, and quick witt were just like they used to be. Many of us around the Court House thought maybe

Mr. Crump would, jus~ for the hell of it, take oath and serve ~he term. Nothing public was said or done untill New Year's eve. Mr Crump invited a large party to be at the Central Depot where he and several friends were going to board the train for New Orleans. The most dramatic swearing-in ceremonies took place two minutes after midnight. As Mr. Crump boarded the platform on the rear coach of the Pamama Limited, he was haulted and given the oath of office for the Mayor of Memphis.

He immeadiately turned to his crowd and in B loud voice said, Itr resign in favor of Walter Chandler, who is your new Mayor." The conductor stArtec the train so Mr. Crump wouldn't be late for that afternoon's Sugar Bowl game. Out U.S. Highwat 78, (La~ar Ave.) just across the line into Mississippi, there's a big sign on the right saying, "Maywood Swimming Pool" Down the side-road a short distance, in a grove of large oak trees, sets the swimmimg pool complex. The grounds were laid out nicely to ~A~ ..

advantage of the contour of the land and the shade of the trees. The

pool was formed by placing an earth dam across a small valley. Fresh

water was supplied from B deep well continiously spouting water hiBh in

the air. l~hite sand, imported from Florida, was used for the surrounding beech. The bath houses, benches, and picnic tables harmonized in a

rustic design to give 8 comfortable rural look. The place had become exceedingly popular. Vernon Smith, a fellow draftsman at Public Works, visited Maywood, and the following day, in the office, he told the rest of us how exciting it was. He thought the development could be duplicated at a reasonably small cost. Later in the summer, Jessie and I with some friends, visited Maywood. After our picnic lunch, while I was relaxing, I began to analiza the simplicity of the development. In my head I tried to estimate the cost of each item, and the total was surprisingly low. I counted all heads

t ,cQuld see, and multiplied that by the admission charge, and it made a lot of money. It suddenly dawned on roe, that man was getting rich orf a fairly small investment.

I had a vision of Jessie an I buying 8 plot of land suitable for that type of improvement. If we could manage someway to build a swimming pool and picnic grounds, then add other attractions as the money became available. My imagination saw no limits as to the possibilities. We could provide horse-back riding, tennis courts, softball diamonds, and when the money was right, we could provide a narrow-gauge scenic train ride. I was completely facimated with the idea. I talked with myoid friend Dave Renfro, superintendent of the Memphis Parks. He crammed more enthusasm into me than I already had. He told me I had an excellant idea. He said, "Find a location within easy driving distance from Memphis, with plenty of trees, and contours of the land suitable for your plans. When you do, I'd like to go with

vn". and tAlk Ahollt the lavout." - .- 1'-'" -. ..:-

After Mary Jo came into. our family, Mr. Saino seemed to be rejuvinated. He was so happy when she was given his mother's name. He loved to hold her in his arms and talk to her. As she got old enough

to coo back to him, he'd laugh out loud. One day a Sears & Roebuck Co. truck brought Jessie an elegant baby buggy. Jessie argued with the

driver, telling him, "There's some mistake, I didn't order this baby buggy.

Take it back." The Man replied', "Lady, my ticket says it's paid for,

and it has your name and address on, you' va got to keep it.If ',~lhen tvir.

Saino heard 8bou~ the rukus, he just giggled. We learned later that Louis had taken him to Sears on a special trip to buy that buggy. Mary Jo, at that time was the only baby on the Saino block. She had the looks and disposition that made friends with everyone. When Christmas came, our livingroom was a sight to behold, we couldn't walk for the presents. As Mary Jo got a little older, Louis and his wife Nettie would borrow Mary Jo and take her to the fair grounds to see the sights. Other times they would take her to the store and buy her some pretty clothes. Lottie Muth use to insist that Jessie and I go somewhere so she could baby-sit with Mary Jo. . It was the night before Thanksgiving when we heard a loud knock at our back door. We opened the door, and there stood Mr. Saino. He . turned and said to someone we couldn't see, "Eli bring it in." (Eli,', a colored man, was Mr. Saino's personal helper.) In came Eli with a child's rocking chair. It was the ~rettiest piece of furnature I had ever seen. It was upholstered with white leather. The arms were rounded ofr, and nowhere were there any sharp edges. The rockers were purposely made t longto prevent turning over backwards. It looked strong enough to withstand any kind of abuse. The woodwork was stained perfectly. That child's rocking chair was the last piece of handcraft Mr. Saino' made. That was the last time he went to his shop on Colorado Ave.

110 ~~, ~ "0 "T f'AA1 f'A"QT'i~". T'm O'o1,,~ home and to bed." The next morning he didn't feel well enou~h to get out of bed. The doctor came i1"cW' and prescribed medicine. The next two weeks saw him frow weaker day by day. Mr Saino passed into a stage of semi-como. He would lay on his back with his hands over his chest. He would move both hands as if he working on some handcraft piece. Someone rema.rked, "As long as his hands are working he will survive. When his hands stop, his life may stop too." The doctor told the family that Mr. Saino had gone into pneumonia, and hopes for his recovery were not good. On December 17, 1940, Mr. Felix L. Saino died quietly.

Mid-summer of 1940, Jessie discovered that she was pregnant, She and I were the happiest couple in the world. We had waited so many years

for that discovery. We were told by a number of people, "Loving the first child, will surely bring the second." With Jessie's history of miscarrages, we were hoping with all our might, this time will be all right. Jessie had been a patient of Dr. Cecil Ward in her previous

disappointments, She and I both had the ut~ost confidence in him, so ~ssJe we chose him again to see jessie through to the finish.

It was a cold rainy day in January. Jessie was not due for 8

couple of months, so I was at the office without 8 care on my mind. In the middle of the afternoon, Mr. Fowler's secretary, Ann Gordon, came briskly walking into the big office and said to me, "Laughter, I just had a call saying Jessie is in St. Joseph's hospital having 8 baby." I stood like a man in shock. I couldn't believe the words she was saying.

Ann grabbed me by the arm, and in a demanding voice said, "Get out of here and over to that hospital." It was pouring down rain, but I Made it to the hospital in record time. I kissed Jessie, and told her how proud I was of her. She told me it was a boy, and they wanted a name for our baby. I never liked my first name. it was too feminine. I asked Jessie, "How about naming him - ." .~ (1 __-. I.-.I

after someone with courage and bravery like Richard?" I had in Mind

Richard the Lion Hearted of England. Jessie, not being in B disposition to argue,' agreed. So I wrote on the record, Richard Verne Laughter, born January 24, 1941 When the nurse brought Richard in for a short visit, I was as proud as I could be. Then in came Dr. Ward. He was a slinder, middle aged man, with sharp features. His voice was Masculine and firm. His demeanor was kind and sympathetic. He told us our baby was perfect, except for being premature. He recommended the immediate service of a Pediatrician.

~e had used Dr. Kinsey Buck with Mary Jo, several times, so he was called in to look after Richard. The next day, Dr. Buck discovered Richard was not dijesting his food. The formula was changed, and Dr. Buck watched for an improvement. Richard began to loose weight. Dr. Buck was searching for a formula which would be compatible with Richard's dijestive track. Jessie was unable to breast-feed her baby, so Dr. Buck sent me to the John Gaston Hospital where breast milk could be purchAsed. My first trip was a revealation. As I passed through their maternity ward, almost all of the patients were colored people. They were having a ball, sitting up in bed, laughing and talking, with no sign of pain, worry, or distress. I was amazed at their quick recovery, and display of strenght and endurance. At the desk, I bought 8 ounces of brest milk for 75 cents per ounce. Back at st. Joseph's maternity ward, where all the patients were White, as I walked down the hall and looked through

the open doors, I saw nothing but solem races, most of them rerlec~ing pain, and a lot of them grunting and groaning. I decided to myself,

that the colored people had an advantage over the white people, 8S far

8S reproduction was concerned. When Jessie was able to be dismissed, she had to go and leave ~1ehard at the hosnital. Our worry and concern was a heavy burden. l~e hoped and prayed that Richard would survive. The breast milk did ceuse some improveMent, but it was inconsistent. Richard's stomach became distended, and he began to show signs of Yellow Jaundice. Dr. Rusk decided to transfuse some of my blood directly to Richard. It produced a definate improvement. From then on, the transfusions were made about every two or three days. The Yellow Jaundice disappeared. Dr. Ruck tried a formula of.predijested baby food. Richard's stomach accepted it, and he began to gain weight slowly. Again it was inconsistent. On one of his adverse spells, they gave him a few drops of burborn whiskey. It made him frown, instead of smile. After Richard was about five weeks old, he was pronounced able to go home. He had become a special patient. The Sisters and nurses who had given him such loving and tender care, hated to see him go. At home Richard gained weight slowly. He ocasionaly would have spells of indijestion One such ocasioD happened about 8 o'clock on a Saturday night. I called Dr. Buck, who lived about a mile from our house in Chickasaw Gardens Subdivision. He was telling me what we should do for Richard, and out of my other ear, I could hear Jessie going into hysterics because Richard was vomitting violently. I asked Dr. Ruck if he could come to our house? He said he and his wife were having company, and they were in the middle of a card game. While he was telling me that, Jessie was screaroing, "Richard is going into a spasam." I passed that information on to Dr. 'Ruck. He said, "I'm on my way.'t He came instantly, and worked with Richard unt111 midnight. He finally got his stomach relaxed and willing to retain food. Jessie and I will never forget the compAssion demonstrated b7 Dr, Ruck that night. That night was a crises. Dr. Buck's patience, knowledge, and skill preformed the turning point. From then on, Richard's health improved. He began to gain weight. strength, and have a normal growth. ,. ~Ur' Memphis was building itself a reputation~ pioneering new end unique ideas. In 1941 the Noise Abatement Ordinance was passed. It ..:~~ became against the City Law to blow an automobile horn, or make any loud and disturbing noise without reason. Most people thought the law would increase the number of wrecks, but instead it caused the drivers to be more alert and drive defencively. Jessie, unintentionly, tested the law before it was two weeks old. While driving along Adams Ave. in front of the police station, she spied her friend Mary on the sidewalk. Jessie wanted to attract Mary's attention, so she made a loud honk on the horn. Mary turned and waved, Jessie waved back. Before Jessie got to the corner, a motorcycle cop presented her with a ticket. Mary's wave cost Jessie $2.00. At our house on Southern Ave. it was Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. Jessie had taken her mother to church. I had finished reading the paper, and was having the time of my life playing with the children. Mary Jo was almost three, and Richard was almost one. Jessie was busy in the kitchen fixing ~undey dinner. Our thoughts were completely consumed with the pleasures of our home. It was a little after 12 when we sat down to eat. ~erore we could ask the blessing, Louis from next door, came bursting in our back door. His eyes were glary and his face was red, and in his course voice he yelled, "The Jape are bombing the hell out ot Pearl Harbor." At first, my feeble mind couldn't associate any importance to his announcement. I didn't know where Pearl Harbor was, or who it belonged to. Louis explained, Pearl Herbor was close to Honolulu in the Rawiian Islands, and the U.S. Pacific fleet was stored there. Louis'S information had come from a radio newscast. The horrible news came to us in bits and pieces throughout the rest ot the day. To put it in sequence, we learned that about 8 o'clock Honolulu time, a wave of Japanese bomber planes came from the north, swooping low over the mountains and unloaded their bombs on the surprised -

and unprotected warships and harbor facilities. The first formation of Japanese plenes were followed by others, untill the sky was literlly filled with bombers who were facing no resistance except antiaircraft guns on the ground. The enormous loss of men and ships were not immediatly reported. Many years later, when all the facts were sifted and sorted. The Pearl Harbor attack proved to be the most devastating naval loss in history. The next day. December 8 1941, United Rtates declared War on Japan.

Three~days after that, December 11th. Germany and Italy declared War on the United States. In 1941, before War was declared, Congress had passed a long list of legislation pieces to strengthen our country's defence. Included were, National Defence Mediation Roard to prevent strikes in defence plants, Office of Price Administration to control Tnflation, The U.S. auto makers agreed to reduce their output by 1,000,000 units annually. Gasoline was rationed in the Eastern States. After War was declared, a new selective Rervice Act was passed, under which all men from 18 to 64 years of age must register (That included me.) Tn 1942, industry retooled their plants for the production of armaments and other goods necessary for War. Unemployment just about disapeared. The Civil defence organization, with its first-aid training , spread throughout the country. Along with Louis Saino and Zelna Mason, I took a course and considered the knowledge received excellant. There was a strong feeling among our people, especially on the West Coast, that Japan planned to invade the United States. That was the reason

Memphis Public Works got their Chief Sidewalk inspector back. ~illy Haack had gone to California as a welder to get rich from those high wages. Just a rew days after War was declared, Rilly showed up at our ofrice wanting his old job back. The War effort at home with the ordinary people in 1942, meant doing without a lot of things that had been taken for granted before. Home Rweet Home, wasn't quite as sweet after sugar was rationed. Probably the biggest change to daily habits came when gasoline was rationed, nation wide. ~ach car owner had to go to the Rationing Board and make application. He was issued a ration card identified by a number and classification, It showed ,the applicant·s name, address, and his automobile identification. The ordinary person got cupons allowing two gallons a week. other classifications got cupons allowing a more generous amount. Nation wide, the automobile speed limit was reduced to 35 miles per hour. People caught joy riding were given citations, and ration cards could be forfeited. Most American people were patriotic and abided by the rules. There were others who thought their patriotism was being stretched too rare The black market appeared in the gasoline business. Faked cards became available.

~uddenly, the United States became aware that Japan controlled 90 per cent of the natural rubber producing areas. All the crude rubber on hand was assigned to the war effort. Automobile tires went on ration. When an ordinary person's tire wore out, he had to go to the Ration 'Roard, There he would beg, plead, and prove the need of a stamp with which he could buy a new tire. After succeeding, he was faced with a long search to find a tire for sale.

~eats on passenger trains were rationed. The fellow who thought he could get there by walking was OK untill he wore out his allotment ot two paire of shoes. ~hoe rationing put our fami17 in a pinch. We had two young children who could eit~er outgrow or demolish shoes in no time. Jessie's mother came to our aid. Her regular allowence was in excess ot her needs, so she gave us the unneeded stamps. There was a long list of other things on the ration list, such as fuel oil. fire-wood, and coal. The foodstuff list included meat. nne meatless day each week was common practice. The grocery advertisements in addition to prices, quoted the number of food stamps required. Tnspite of all those restr8ints~ the working people were making more money than ever before. ~xcept City employees, who just had to work harder, to make up,for those already gone to military service. Tntlation waskeeping pace with the salary raises. Washington was turning out money faster than ever before. The Wage-f~ice Guidlines were installed. and intorced. Protests were loud, but futle. The regulations were vindicated by a report on food items not covered by controls, they rose 7.3 per cent in two Months. Tn the early part of 1942, War in the Pacific was in favor of the Japanese. Tnstead of attacking the United States mainland, they choose to turn back west and take possession of all American held Pacific Islands. That included the Philippines. The Japanese, apparently headed for Australia, were turned back by the U.S.Navy and a strong air foree at the famous battle of the Coral Sea. The turning point came in June 1942, when the Japanese were defeated at the Midway Islands, In August, American forces attacked Japanese held Guadalcanal. It was Febuary 1943, before the Americans gained complete control of that Island. In August 1942, the U.S. Airforce was becoming active in the European War. Ry November U.S •. troops had landed in French North Africa. In December American B-24s were used to bomb the Italian mainland. ~~Q tf'/#f At the age of 40, I s till had the appetite of a ~w4:8g boy. At the office most of my coworkers were the same way. Whenever we heard ·or a resturant where the helpings were generous nad the price was right, we tried it out. One Friday we were trying out the resturant at the corner ot Washington Ave. and Fourth St•• The helpings were very generous, ~_~ ~~o ~aQ~~ ~R~ nA'i~ious. Refore I consumed all my rood, I lost my ." .~~...... , _...... -

appetite. Never '!-1snting to pay for something T didn l t use, I crammed the rest of the food down my unwilling throat. As we left the resturant, I felt like a stuffed pig. While walking those two long blocks back to the office, I felt a pain in my stomach. As I was sitting at my table, trying to get my mind on my work, Mr Mattox came over and asked, n'llhat's the matter with you, Harry2" I told him, "r just feel a little nauseated, and once in a while I get a pain in my stomach." Clyde Keenan, our superintendent, was standing by, and he remarked, "Fellow, ypur face is as white as a sheet, you better go home." I told them, "I'll be all right." and tried to make out like I wasn't sick. When they found out my transportation was by street car, Clyde insisted he take me home. The way I felt made it easy for me to accept his offer. Clyde led me to our door, and while he was talking to Jessie, I made it to the bed room and piled into bed. I was hurting real bad. - Jessie immediately call Dr. MacIntosh, the Saino family doctor. Rhe said he was considered a good diagnostician. The last experience I had with a doctor was when my adenoids and tonsils were removed some 30 years back. Late in the afternoon, Dr. MacIntosh came and exa~ined me for appendix trouble. All the information I could get was grunts and head-shakes. Finally he said, til can't tell anything for sure, but I'm going to get a physician to look at you tomorrow."" He gave me a pill and left. I spent the night alternating between sleep and pain. The next morning I discovered tha~ if I didn't move, I had no pain. After twelve o'clock, in came Dr. Albert Grobmyer. He was a nice looking fellow in his late 208, and had on the best looking suit I'd ever seen. He examined me carefully. He tried to find the point of pain by pressing with his ringers. During the test he would raise my right knee up and ~tlcJ.f' My pain had deminished somewhat, so he decided to come~'ch the next day. Runday morning, Jessie called Dr. Grobmyer, telling him I was worse, and I had a high rever. He came just before noon, and seemed disturbed about my fever. He said, "Let's go to the hospital and be safe." When the ambulanoe came, they carried me out on a stretcher. It was pouring down rain. For protection, I was covered with a sheet of polyethelene. Big raindrops hitting on that cover gave me an erie feeling. Suddenly a corner was raised, and Jessie stuck her head in and asked, "Is your insurance paid up?" I had never given much thou~ht to how I would feel when the time came to die. Rut, at that instant the thought c crosses my mind, "I'm not sick enough to die." I remember being placed in a bed in room 206, St. Joseph Hospital. I was given a shot with a hyperdermic needle. Then I was loaded on a cart, As I was rolled out into the hall, there stood my brother Joseph, and Mr. Mattox. I have a faint memory of being placed on the operating table, and seeing the brieht light overhead. They were tying my hands down when I dropped off to sleep. The next thing I knew was about 11 o'clock that night, when I woke up and my eyes were so bleary I couldnt~ see who was in the room. With a weak and shaky voice, I asked, "Jessie, have they operated yet?" She told me, "yes", then I went back to sleep. The next morning I woke up again, my head was clear, and my vision was norma~. Jessie and a nurse were there, both wishing me a good morning. I remembered when I had my adenoids and tonsils removed, they put me to sleep with ether, and when I woke up, I was so nauseated I couldn't hold anything on my stomach. This time my throat was hur~ing, and I was very thirsty, but T was afraid to ask for water. When I couldn't postpone it any longer, I asked for a drink of water.

Jessie then introduced me to my private day nurse. ~he was a very pretty young lady, with blond curley hair hanging to her shoulders, h1uA eves. nice features. and a ~ood complexion. With a sort friendly voice, she answered my request, "would you rather have a coke instead of water? Dr Grobmyer said you can have anything to drink, and it won't make you sick." I took a big awallow of coke with a feeling of

aprehension. To my surprise T heard a gurgling noise over my ear. I felt up there and found a rubber tube. ~hen I traced it down T found it was coming out of my nose. 'Vlhen I asked, "what in the hell is this?" I was told, "Its a wagonsteen, an arrangement that removes the contents of your stomach. That's why you don't feel any nausea. Later I was told how obstinate I had been the night before. After an intern ~d my nurse worked diligently and with great difficulty finally I got the tube upmy nose, and down my throat to the proper position in my stomach, I reached up and pulled the tube hand over hand untill I got it all the way out. It took all the restraint they could muster, to keep from bashing my head in. My night nurse would have never won a beauty contest. She had a grurf and bossy disposition. She made me think it was my fault she had to stay up all night. The thing I disliked the most about my night nurse, was because she didn't come to ~y resque when Louis and his wife Nettye came to visit me on that first Monday night. I hadn't been out of the operating room more than 24 hours. I was feelong weak and tired.

My mind was lazy, and conversation was something T wanted to do without. Nettye had a loud, high pitched, and nasal toned voice. Her laugh was bo1sterious and seemed artificial. That night she took possession of the conversation, and she was agressive. Rhe attacked me with a barrage of quastions, such as, "Who's your doctor? Why did you get him? How long are you going to stay in the hospital? rThat's your nurses name? and many many such questions. I tried my best to satisfy her, but T tailed. When I weakly answered, ttl don't know." She laughed, and said, ttyou don't know anything, do you?" I'll never forget that After a few days, when T began to feel better, Jessie told me what happened on the afternoon of my operation. She said, before she left home, she was scared, so she called ~r. Mattox and Joseph. They both stayed with her during the operation. T was in the operating room from 1 o'clock untill 6 o'clock. Frequently during that time nr. nrobmyer came out, and in a kind soothing way told her how he was getting along.

My appendix was not at the norma·l location. That was what had puzzled him on the diagnosis. My appendix had ruptured and gangrene had developed. It was necessary to vacumn the infected waste that was scattered into the crevices of my intestines. Rulphur treatment had been very recently introduced, and nr. Grobmyer recognized he must use it to save my life. When T returned to my room, nr. Grobmyer caMe and stayed with Jessie untill the night nurse came on duty at 7 o'clock. After being in the hospital 10 days, my recovery seemed satisfactory to TIr. Grobmyer, and I was dismissed. He made several visits to our home, just to check on my recovery progress. On one of those visits he told us in a proud way, "Refore sulphur came into use, a person found to be in the condition I was, would have been sewea back up and allowed and allowed to die." Jessie and I have dearly admired that man ever since. When Dr. Grobmyer sent his bill for all services, it was only $100. The hospital bill was $126.85. The pay scale in 1942 for private nurses was $6 per 12 hour day, plus $1 for board. Roth nurses were used six days. Any time a person can get his life saved for $310.85, its a bergin. Tn 1943, the Federal Manpower Commission and the young men in this country were watching each other like a hawk hovering over a bunch or chickens. March 7th, the 4-H deferment was dropped. That qualified men trom 38 to 45 years of age for conscription. April 12th, they announced all able-bodied men from 18 to 38, not essential to war industry, may be inducted before the end of the year. ~trective October 1st, fathers Those announcements were getting close to home. October 1st, put r; my name back into the pot. Jessie had two nephews that ~ent into service. Robert ~ovington into the Marines, and Rverett ~augh into the Navy C.Bs.

My younger brother, Joseph ~. Laughter, married, went into the Marines. My older brother, Massey had two boys to go into service, William G. Laughter into the Medics, and Joseph Lloyd into the Navy.

From the Memphis Public Works drafting department, Vernon ~mith,

and Robert Pegues, both married, went into service. ~ill Humphrey, the fellow who almost missed his wedding, was. having a nip and tuck race with

the Manpower ~ommission. ~ill started the race one year ahead of the

maximum age. At ~ill's next birthday he relished a little cusion. Tt was not for long because the Commission raised the maximum right up to

his coat-tail. ~lll suffered anxiously through the duration, but finally won the race. One of our good friends, Pat Wolbrecht, who was a batchlor and about 41 years old, was inducted into the Army. There never was a time when such rapid ship building took place in our country. They were being built in a wide assortment of types, shapes, and purposes. Even ships with concrete hulls. Pidgeon Thomas, a local

iron company b~ilt a large number of steel hulled landing cr~t at Memphis. That operation was guarded with the greatest degree of security. The wages paid to the workers were fabulous.

F.L.Saino Manufacturing ~o. was awarded a contract to build a large number of Airplane Hanger doors to be used at a military airport in Texas. Felix and Louis asked me to help them in my spare time. The Public Works Dept. was not very bUSy at that time, because, with a low priority, they were unable to get materials for their projects. I got permission from Commissioner Williams to work half-time on the Raino project. My income ) trom Saino was twice the half salary I was getting from Public Works. Those doors were colossal.;. ·The,. were about 12 feet wide and 22

~-_~ ~~_~ ~~~,~ ~~~~oa ~~~~~. ~hA ~imhe~ framework was braced in every direction. All joint~ had to be bolted with iron plates or clip angles. Any misfits were not tolerated. That contract, like all military contracts, called for partial delivery in a very short time. To speed the progress, Louis rented from the I.C.R.R. the abandoned freight depot at the foot of Reale St. On that platform there was roo~ for about five doors to be worked on at the same time, and there was a roof overhead. The parts were fabricated in the shop on Colorado Ave. then trucked to Reale st. where they were assembled. The Saino Manufacturing Co. since its beginning more than 50 years back, was a family affair. Not only its ownership and management, but also its workers. The company owned a number of· tenant houses where most of the workers lived. All of their key workers had been with them for many years. The management and workers were both satisfied. Union organizers never had any success with that group. On that contract, union carpenters had to be used to assemble those doors. The union's agent called a meeting on the platform. He objected to his men using parts fabricated by a non-union shop. He even objected about me working on the platform. It was a pretty ugly discussion for a while, but Louis stood his ground. The shop remained non-union, and I was classified as part of management. The shut-down was only about an hour. At the beginning of 1944, United states had been a participant in World War II for two full years. In the Pacific, the United States had established a successrul orrince, but the Japanese still controlled all the Islands critical to their defence. In Europe, U.S. troops landed at Ita171s Anzio Reach January 22. 1944. It was May 25th before that beachhead was firmly established. The U.S. Airforce had grown in strength, and was considered adequate to protect ground crews in the Pacific-and in Europe. Hitler. his starr, and most of the world believed the Allies were going to cross the English Channel and invade the German held European Continent. Only the exact place and time were kept in secret. Germany had ample time to fortify about 800 miles of coast, where they thought the landing would take place. In the southern part of Rngland, the Allied forces were standing on ready, waiting for a favorable weather repory. That favorable report came in the late afternoon of June 5th. Immediatly word went out to go as planned just after mid-night June 6, 1944.

The world had never seen such a remarkable movement of men, equipment, and ships that took placi in and around southern England that night. Around dawn that morning a landing was made on a 60 mile stretch of Normandy Reaches. It was a brutal fight, and losses w~re tremendous, but the invaders held on. Heroic execution of excellant plans made it possible to drive the Germans back. Within a few hours the Allied forces had taken several beaches to the east. They say, the landind at Omaha. Reach was the bloodiest of all. The success ot those invasions spelled the doom tor Hitler's 3rd, Reich, and the news was flashed back home by radio. The German people, throughout their history, have been recognized as a leader in devicing military mechanics. Their scientist and engoneers rose to the occasion during World War II. The first surprise weapon was the jet propelled rocket. It carried about a ton ot explosives, and traveled 350 miles per hour, with a range to reach London easily. In tact it reached London very frequently, adding more misery to the already devastated area. The Germans called it the V-l Rocket, the English people called 1 t the I'Buzz Bomb." On September 8, 1944, the Germans launched their first guided missile, and called it the V-2. That ingenious weapon could accuratly be guided to hit a target 200 miles away. It carried more than a ton -~ -~~'~~~~oa C~~ t~RvA'ed faster than the speed of sound. It earned the ne.me of 'tRlock Ruster." The only d.efence against that missile was to destroy its launohong site. The guided missile represented one o~ the several major changes in warfare during World War II. After the landing on Normandy beaches ·on June 6th, the Allied troops pushed forward with great momentum. On August 25th, Paris was liberated trom German troops who had occupied the city for four years. From there the line of battle moved eastward towards Germany. The Allied push seemed unstopable, untill December 16th 1944, when the German Army mustered a major counterattack. It lasted about ten days before the ground troops, assisted by the Airforce. could stop the Germans. It was called the "Battle of the Bulge.'''' In the Pacific, during 1944, the United States forces steadily attacted island by island as they moved in the direction of Japan. Each success was the result of bitter fighting. The Marshall group was captured February 22nd. New Guinea invaded April 22nd. ~aip8n of the Marianas was taken July 9th. There the Japanese demonstrated the most massive ''Banzi'' (suicide) charge of the war. MacArthur returned to the Philippines October 20th. Duam was finally captured August 10th, It was one of the most deadly battles of all. Massive R-29 air raids on Tokyo, and other Japanese targets, started November 24th. The flights originated from the Marianas.

~ack home in the United States there was a different kind of contest going on. It was between the Office of Price Administration and the ~lackmarketeers. The ordinary person, ir he knew the ropes, could get about anything that was supposed to be rationed. If he was willing to pay about three price.s. On August 24, 1944, the War Production Board permitted return or production and sales of a number of specific consumer goods that had been unavailable, except on the black market.

~ack in the early 1930" when the sanitary sewers were installed -

end of Shotwell street into Nonconnah Creek. Later when residences

began to build in the vicinity of the Creek, complaints CErne to the Health nept. saying, "The odor is unbearable, when the creek water is low, the evidence or sewage is horrible." The Engineering Dept. was forced to construct a primary sewage treatment plant. The Imhoff type plant was approved by the health Dept. Even when that type of plant is working perfectly, the effluent is stil,l contaminated. During the early part of World War II, the Federal Government decided to build an Army Hospital at the corner or Shotwell and Park Ave. When the decision was made, some lady recognized that Shotwell was not an appropriate name for a street running in front of an Army Hospital. It surely would have a depressing effect on the patients. So by ordinance the street's name was changed to Getwell. There was no way to change the fact that the sewage discharge from that huge hospital facility was going to overload the little Imhoff

treatment plant about a mile down stre~. In addition to the hospital, there was a military instalation at the Memphis Airport without sanitary

sewer service. Also the hu~e Army Depot under construction between Airways and Perry st. south of Dunn Ave. needed sanitary sewer service. To satisfy the Government sanitary sewer needs, required an outfall main from the Mississippi River to Getwell Rt. a distance of 9.5 miles. One sub-main to the Army Depot, 1.0 mile, and two sub-mains to the Airport, 2.5 miles. That was 13 miles of sewers they wanted the City to install, right away. Those sewers were outside the city limits, and use to the very few residents could not justiry the large expense. I never knew what went on in the hassel between the City and the Federal Government, but they did come to an agreement. The Government

was willing to pay all costs for a sewer large eno~h to satisfy their instalations. without any capacity to serve anybody else. For design purposes, the City requested from each instalation the amount of discharge - "'" .J : ..:;J".....,

they would produce. The Depot and Airport seemed reasonable with their amount. The Hospital on Getwell reported an enormous amount. Maxson said, "r think they got their deci'Mal point in the wrong place, but we'llL use it, and wind up with an outfall main big enough to serve all needs for many years."

I was surprised when Maxson c~e to me and suggested I go and work with Frank Wingfield, survey party chief, who was making the preliminary, from which the plans would be drawn. His explanation was, 'tHarry I you've never worked on a survey party. You need the experience, This is a good time to get your feet wet." Frank Wingfield, a slinder fellow, about average height, was in his 50s. He smoked a pipe, and had an easy going disposit~on, and maintained everybody's respect. Fayette

Berryhill was the instr~~entman. Dan Daniels and R.D.Long were the combination or rodman and chainmen. Also there was a young fellow with a deformed hand, whose name I have forgotten.

~reviously, under the supervision of Mr. Mattox, the route for the proposed sewer had been established. It was through open fields on private property. ~eing close to Nonconnah ~reek. the land was flat, and subject to overflow. More than half of the route was on a power easement between two rows of cable towers. On my first morning, Frank called in with the flu. I was well acquainted with all the crew, except the fellow with a crippled hand. We started at the water's edge of the Mississippi River, just south of

Nonconnah Creeko Later that river channel would become McKellar Lake. Nothing unusual happened untill we had to cross abig ditch half full or water. Atter searching, we found a risky looking toot-log. I noticed the rest of the party waiting for someone to test the log. As a country boy, I had met such challenges and enjoyed them, so I started across. As I causiously and tediously placed one foot ahead of the o~her,

------' .&.\-- ~.r~~~ ~.,,"e a 1"t': w-'nAT' thRl1 I first thouQ:ht. and my balance was not what it used to be. ~ith a lot of hand waving I finally got close enough to jump safely to the far bank. As I turned and looked back, there came R.D.Long with a big burlap bag of stakes on his shoulder. next was Dan with a sledge-hammer and ax. Then came Fayette with the tripod and instrument on his shoulder. I asked them, fhwhere is the young fellow with a crippled hand?" Fayette kind of chuckled and said,

"You can't get that boy to wAlk .8 log. He's gone to find a better way to cross. He'll catch up with us before long." When Maxson told me that job was a good place to get my feet wet, he didn't tell it all. It was a better place to get my shoes muddy.

That gumbo mud was something special. ~lhen it's wet, it is slippery as ice, and stickey enough to stick to a person's shoes. After a few steps, a heavy wad of mud builds up under and around each shoe. It looks like each shoe has stepped on a huge black pancake. It was noticed most, late in the afternoon, when that heavy foot has to be raised up to straddle througb a barbed-wire fence. r'tI We started that job late in the fall, and I¢ll never forget our experience when the first hard freeze came. Early that morning walking was easy on that frozen ground. As the morning wore on, the sun thawed a thin skim on the surface, then everybody was slipping and sliding. We were making some forward progress untill we came to a dry ditch. Ordinarily that ditch would not have interfeared with our progress, but that particular morning was a different story. The ditch was only about 7 or 8 feet deep with sloping banks. Getting down on the near side was no problem, but on the far side that bank was as slick as ice. Finally, the young fellow with a crippled hand made it to the top. He found a little dead tree limb, which he hoped he could use as a life­ line to pull us out of the ditch. Starting with the li~ht-weight people, he did manage to get us out one by one, untill he got to Fayette. Favette was a big heavy man, his hands and feet were about the largest I had ever seen. Fayette was devoted to his tripod and instrument, he thought they were unprotected unless they were on his shoulder, so that's where they were when he grabbed the limb and started up the bank. All seemed to going well untill Fayette got almost to the top. Then the limb broke, and Fayette went head ove heels back down the slippery bank.

We found a stroner limb and ~anaged to finally get Fayette out of the ditch, but the instrument was badly damaged, and had to be sent to the shop. On that sewer route there were several places where we had to cross Nonconnah Creek. Those crossings,within the power easements, had a cable foot bridge to accomodate the power line inspector. Those bridges had two low cables,stretched from bank to bank, on which cross planks provided a place to walk. Also there were two cables .about four feet higher for hand holts. All the cables had sagged, some more than others. It was not unusual to find the cross planks tilted badly to one side. Some of the cross planks were missing. and some rotten. The~Wtt,ekind of bridges that took real courage to cross. One or those bridges was totally without cross planks. It was about 200 feet long, with the sagging cablea about 20 feet above the ice cold muddy water. The first time we had to cross that bridge was full of excitement. It was obvious, the only way to manuver the crossing, was to stand sideways on the bottom cable with both hands grasping the cable above. Progress would be made by sliding the feet and hands sideways, and in so doing, keep the body verticle. Another problem was, how to transport our gear~ Fayette, with a piece of rope, made a haulter and tied his tripod and instrument securely on his back. He was the first to go, and like a tight-rope walker, he made it without incident. Dan put the sledge hammer in the sack with the stakes, tied then around his waist, and slowly made his crossing. ~he~ Whe Dan set foot on solid ground, he hollered back to me, ttl forgot the ax. Will you bring it with you?" I was standing on a high steep bank, and on the other side of the water there was a low sand bar. It looked to me like the easiest way to get that ax across was to throw it. From my viewpoint, it looked easy. I took the ax handle in both hands, and swung it around like they do in the ol~pics. I let it go with a big grunt. The ax sailed out in the intended direction, but about half way there it dropped down and made a splash in the water. During the many years that followed, everytime I would see Fayette ~erryhill, he would kid me about throwing their ax in the creek. Frank Wingfield had returned to the party, and was in good health. He was the next to side-step his way across the creek. Frank was not a musclur type person, in ract, he looked a little frail. When he got about midways, the cables got to swinging in different directions. His feet shot out frontways, and his hands swung backwards. From where

I stood, I could see the agony of fear on his face. I felt sure I was watb.hlng a catastrophe. Fayette hollered, "Frank, hold tight with both hands, stay still till it quits swinging, then try to get yourself straight up and down." Frank did as he was told, and inch by inch he made his way to the other side.

~7ith the good and bad examples set before me, I cauciously made my crossing. On the way, I could see how Frank got into trouble. That bottom cable trried its best to get out from under a person. Unless a person's reactions are quick and firm, his balancing is lost. When Our long survey was drawing to a close, I looked back to relish the experiences we had. Frank Wingfield, and his entire crew made it a pleasure. They were congenial, considerate, and were interested in doing their job well. We had a lot or hard times, and together, we overcame them. We had a lot of good times, and those memories were a treasure. To me it was like living my boyhood allover again. It

.,.yea a", 'm""'~ 1;'lrA t:hA i"v;'T'onment in which T g:rew UP. I have heard people

1"""""" r _ - 1_.-

as a lubricant. The weight of that large spoilbank forced the semi­

. fluid soil beneath it downward. That force continued in the p~th of least resistance. The result was an upward movement in the bottom of our trench. Mr. Maxson designed a method of construction that would hold the pipe down untill enough back-fill was placed to offset the upward thrust. The plan was to drive piling into the sUbgrade deep enough to cling to the soil below the range of the upthrust. Then fix a running board securely on top of those pilings. To prevent the soil from ozzing in from the sides, a timber retaining wall on each side of the pipe high enough to cross-brace above the pipe. The pipe was then laid on the running board. That unusual method of laying sewer pipe worked. It had to be used for a distance of more than a thousand feet, There the soil became stable enough to hold the grade. In fairness, the contractor was paid extra money for his unanticipated work and delay. With no farther serious misshaps, the Nonconnah Sanitary Sewer we!dflter project was eoropleted on time, and before the winter .&e1tther took over. During the past winter, during the preliminary survey, I carried Nonconnah mud home ever night on my shoes. I was glad to see the construction finished before I had to repeat that mud earring business. Back in the spring season of 1944, Sundays were the only days of the week I could spend with my family. On that day I would try to get reacquainted with my daughter, Mary Jo age 6, and mY,8QD~ichard age 3. I would enjoy so much playing with them. The sound of their laughs and giggles were more delightful to ~y ears than any music I had ever heard. We were aggrivated whenever anything came along to disturb our pleasure. Something did come on March 26, 1944, and made a horrible impression that never has been forgotten. That Sunday Morning was chilly, and I

started a fire in the furnace in the basement. During t~e day the n"t:~ide temnerature rose rapidly, and the furnace fire was forgotten. •

About five o'clock that afternoon, Jessie, who had been down to her .-...... / mother's, came in our back door and announced a big black cloud coming from the south-west. I went to the back yard to see. Sure enough there

was a monsterous black cloud, It looked close enou~h to throw a rock into. Relow the cloud was a greyish maize with verticle streaks that . \ reached the ground. I heard a roaring noise that wasfast growing louder and nearer.

The thou~ht of tornado came into my mind. I dashed into the house

yelling, "Everybody come with me, we're going to the basement." \"Then we first moved to that house, I recognized the safest place to be,in case of a storm, would be in the basement behind the furnace and against the concrete wall. At that instant, before I had taken the second step in that direction, I remembered the fire in the furnace. A dreadful picture of my family wedged in that small space under a demolished house, which had caught on fire, flashed into My mind. I turned and

pushed my family back into the kitchen, trying to make up my mind, what~ was the best thing to do for their safety.

Suddenly somethin~ hit the roof of our house with a loud bang, like a giant had thrown a brick high in the air, and it fell on our roof. Quickly we heard other bangs. With some relief, I turned and said, "Its not a tornado, it's just hail". MY' relief vanished when I reasoned, "If it's just hail, it sounds big enough to tear all the shingles off, and everything in the house will get soaked." The banging grew more fierce, more frequent, and roared like the rattling of a salute from a gigantic drum corps •• We could teel the house shake from gusts of wind. SUddenly we heard the shattering of broken glass, and a whiff of wind chilled us to the bone, as we stood in the kitchen. I rushed w~ere into the dining room~er the front window was~shattered. The drapes were standing out like a flag in a storm. There was hunks of ice on ~~o ~~h'A and allover the floor, and everthing was drenched with water. • ...... ~.''( -......

I closed all doors to the dining room to stop the air movement, and to protect the rest of the house. When that first bang hit our roof, Mary Jo was frightened. She ran

over and hu~~ea her mother's knees. Each succeeding bang added to her fright. Jessie took Mary Jo into her arms, and tried to sooth her fears. When the dining room window was knocked out, Mary Jo became frantic. I tried to reassure her that wel.d make it all right, and the storm would soon be over, but poor little Mary Jo was too scared to listen. She was

screeming. ~hose big tears were rolling down her cheaks onto her mother's arm. I'm sure her mind was convinced all of us were going to be killed. Richard also was scared, but he was able to keep his composure.

It seemed like hours, but actually it was so~ething like 20 or 30 minutes, the hail storm stopped as suddenly as it had started. I opened the back door, the yard was covered with the most unusual looking hail I had ever seen. There were hunks of ice in every shape imaginable. Very little of it was round balls such as I had seen many times before.

I measured the biggest sliver i could find, it was 7 inches lon~ and 5 inches wide. It weighed three pounds. As I stood there ankle deep in that crazy stuff, the sun broke through the clouds, and it glissoned like some fairy land. About a year before the hail storm came, Jessie hired a coloBed girl, a little over 20 years old. Her name was Rosilee, She did housework and helped with the children. I had closed in the summer house in our back yard and made a nice place for Rosilee to live. She was there during the storm. When I knocked, she came to the door shaking like a leaf. She loved our two ·children as if they were her own. Her first words, that afternoon, was, "Is MY' babies all right?" Before I could answer, she ran into our house and closed the door. Out behind Rosilee's house we had two ducks in a pen. They had been given to our JlYerdv children the Raster before, and now theyjfull grown. I found one had -

fared the storm, but the other lay limp on the ground with a broken neck. When I told the sad news to the family, Rosilee vollunteered to clean and cook that duck. Rhe made it taste delicious, but our childrem would have none of it. They were too sentimental.

Rtanding~in the yard, the asphalt shingles on our roof looked bedly ( bruised. but allseemed to be in place. I looked in the attic and there was no evidence of leaks. Our insurance was handled through E.H.Crump Co. About two days after the storm, the insurance adjuster came by to write up our claim. Untill then I had looked upon insurance companies as being a one way operation. They take the premiums, but don't pay the claims. That adjuster changed my mind. He generously paid for new roofs on the house, garage, and Rosilee's house. He paid for a new rug in the dining room, and for refinishing all damaged furnature. I found out later, Mr. Crump had personally told all the adjusters to go as far as they possibly could to restore all damage to the inocent victims of the storm,

The raging World War II, both in Europe and the Pacific was running about on schedule from the Allies point of view. Victory was within their sights. The big three Allied leaders, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Rtalin, met at Yalta to discuss the postwar problems of the world. Their decisions created the greatest change in international affairs, that had ever· happened before. They agreed to form s peace-keeping organization for the future world. They divided Ge~any, soas• to destroy their militarism and Nazism. It was agreed to assist the Axis powers to rebuild their economy, and to create democratic forms of government. Many other less important agreements were reached. That meeting proved to be the last page in the history of one of the stronaest leaders in the Unitrd States. He had resqued our countries economic balance, when national bankruptsy seemed imminent. He had steered the country's course through a major war to a point where complete

~~~~~~~ YOQ 4~ ,~i~w_ v~~ hA was denied the nrivilid~e of living in the ~ -- "'" .:::: ' ..,

promise-land. At the age of 63, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died quietly at Warm Springs Georgia, April 12, 1945. Leaving his authority to Vice President Harry S. Truman, who immediatly became President. German resistance completely collapsed on April 25, 1945. The Italian mii~tary power ceased to exist on April 30, 1945. At a ceremony at General Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims, General Alford Jodl signed ~ iJI"1"ende]l' Germany's unconditional ~urrenfer to the Allied forces, May 7, 1945. Tn the pacific, the final year of the war against Japan brought about events that shall never be forgotten. Such as the ferocious battle of Iwo Jima, where, under intense gun-fire, the Marines raised the U.S. flag. Then came the capture of Okinawa only 350 miles from Japan. That island provided a base for the major attack on Japan. That attack never became necessary.

On August 6, 1945, 8 U.S. B-29 bomber flew over Hiroshima Japan, and released an Atomic bomb on the eiy five miles below. With a destruction capacity equal to 20,000 tons of TNT, the bomb leveled about four square miles or the city, It killed about 80,000 people, and injured many many more. Three days lRter another Atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On September 2, 1945, General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz received the formal surrender of Japan aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Ray. The idea conceived in the meeting at Yalta, was born into reality in SanPrancisco. Delegates from 46 nations met there April 25th to for a world body that would, "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." 'R,. June 26, 1945, the Charter or the United Nations was completed. The body of the organization would be housed in New York Cit,.. Rack in 1940, atter visiting the Maywood swimming pool down in the edge of Mississippi, I had a dream or buying land in Shelby County on which we could develop a recreation complex. World War II came along

-' _. _._--~---~ --- """o~e.... .c .... ",.p "'~"'ClQ ",'n+:A"+:"nT1~. The delav only •

Q"e added to my desires to find a suitable tract of land. ~ day in the latter part of 1944. Mr Davis, an agent for the Abernathy Realty Co. was

in our office. We had become acquainted previously by their contacts with Public Works Dept.I told Mr. Davis the kind of land I was looking for. He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Fellow, you may have just hit the jack pot. If the place I'm thinking about is still available, it has been surveyed for a fishing lake and picnic grounds. I'll check with the owner and call you back." Mr. Davis called later, saying the farm was available. It was located on the south east corner of Brunswick and Memphis-Arlington Rd.

It contains 1)2 acres. ~1r. Abe E. Reaty was the owner. I remembered l·~r. Reaty who was a Deputy Sheriff and worked with Papa years before when Papa was a Constable. Jessie and I looked at the property. I was impressed with its potential for the development I had in mind. The only improvements were one old delapidated log hous, and another one room frame with a lean-to much farther back from the road. Tenants were living in both houses. The lay of the land, and the location of the trees were just whRt I wanted. There was a large drainage ditch crossing the place near the center. There was a branch running off to one side into a heavy wooded area. Before I would make a commitment, I wanted to Make a survey to determine if the lake I wanted would encroach on other property. When I did that, I found out r needed about four acres of other property. I wrote a letter to Mr. Cockrill, Secretary of the Rhelby County

'Planning Commission,' describing my intentions of the development of the Reaty property. I inclosed a map, showing approximately how the different instalations would be located. MY' question was, "This land, at this time is zoned Agricultural. I would like to know wheather or not, a formal request for Zone Variation to accomodate the above described development , would conform with the general intentions of the Planning Commission?" •

A few days later Mr. Cockrill called me saying, "Your letter was discussed at yesterday's meeting, and was informally approved."

I had been told by several realestate men, land in Shelby County, . could not be bought for less than $100 per acre. When I met with Mr. Davis and Mr. Beaty, January 3, 1945, to discuss prices and terms, I was prepared to use my need for more land as a wedge to hold his price down.

After a little wran~lin~ about prices, I described My ueed for four

additional acres. Mr Beaty paused, and I suppose he was runnin~ fi~ures through hismind, and finally said, fll own that land from which those l four acres willcome. I'll sell you both the four acres, end the 132.69 acres for a total of $9,.530.00." When I ask about terms, he said, "I've got to have $2,2.50 down, and the balance in ten yearly notes of equal amounts." I knew I had a bargin so the sale was made. I learned later that Mr. Beaty was hard pressed for money, and that farm he was selling, wasn't producing much revenue. During World War II years there had been no residences built in Memphis. Defence jobs and other wartime activities had caused the population to grow significantly. A serious housing shortage had developed. 1 The price of houses went sky high. Jessie and~talked about selling our home on Southern Ave. provided we could find a place to rent untill we could build a small house on our new rarm. Our hOMe was free of debt, but the notes on the ferm were of some concern to us, especially if a member of our family became sick or injured. Since Mr. Saine's death in 1940, Mrs. Saino, who's age was in the 70s, was not in the" best of health. She lived in the large old home place., Her youngest daughter, Louise, lived with her. Louise worked at theMallory Airforee Depot, and since her divorce several years back, she was away from home quite often. Mrs Saino's nieee also lived ·there and worked uptown. Every day Jessie went down and helped her mother

- _~,L.\- ... ~,... ",,~,.,e 0 , ..,,",,""'v Ann sometimes pre~8red the meals. When Mrs. Saino -

heard about our indecision about selling our house, She insisted we sell,;

end come live with her. Jessie asked the other children what they thou~ht

of the move, They, realizing their mothers's need ~or help, readily agreed. Mr. Davis had been so good with the farm purchase, I asked him to March 15, 1945, sell our home at 2920 Routhern Ave. Two days later' he brought a buyer,

Mr. O.M.Braun to look at the house. Before he lett, we had a~reed on a sellin~ price of $8,500.00, with $2,500 down. In 1931 we had paid only ~3,500 for that same house. We stored our belongings in the left or Mrs. Saino's and moved in. Mrs. Saino's health,at that time, was gradually deteriorating. She was constantly depressed. There was something worring her that neither Jessie or I could change. Not long after we moved in, Mrs. Saine became bed-ridden. The doctor visited regularly, but could not improve her condition. Finally she was hospitRlized. On July 5, 1945, Mrs. Lona Stukenberg Saino died. She was one of the most noble women, that I have ever known. After the funeral, all the children came beck to the old home place.

Most were sittin~ in the large back bedrOOM where Mr. Saino slept, before he died in 1941. Jessie was sitting on the edge of the bed, wiping the teard from her eyes with a hankerchief. In walked Felix, He turned and faced Jessie, and in a loud and commanding voice told her, "Jessie, 70'11 are gonna have to get out. You needn't think you're gonna stay here and live off Louise," I responded for Jessie, ""le'11

find a place and move itrmlediately. It Felix turned and walked out. I never knew it Felix's mandate was spontainous, or as a agent tor someone else. It could have been either way. The little four-room frame house we had lived in when we first moved to Southern Ave. belonged to Jessie's niece and nephew, Rose Marie and

~ "'~O?l+: ,..,.. ~n"i 'Moa+:nn.. ~nh hAd not returned from service. The day -

following our eviction, Rose Marie told us that the little house would

be vacant in a few days. She wanted us to move there. ~Te were grateful for her kindness, and accepted her offer. The housing problem in }Iemphis steadily grew worse as the service

men be~an to return home. Rob Covin~ton, co-owner of the house we were living in, returned from the Marines. or course there was great joy when any of the soldiers came home safe and sound. A few days after Bob's arrival, he walked into our kitchen where we were sitting. There was a funny grin on his face. His voice seemed forced, like a person who had rehearsed a speech he didn't want to deliver, as he said, "Aunt Jessie, yo'll are gonna have to move. I've decided to sell this house,n I felt like e. bolt of lightening had struck me, and I was responsible for it. I had bought a farm without a livable house on it. I had sold our comfortable home. As a result, we had been evicted twice. In desperation, I went to Papa and Momma. They were living alone in their old house. There was ample room for our fsmily. Jessie was too heartbroken to object to the idea of moving in with my family. We were aware that Momma had never accepted Jessie as a weloome daughter-in­ law, and she failed to show any effection towards Mary Jo. Under the circunstances, we had no other choice. When we humbly asked Papa and Momma if they would take in a destitute family, they agreed. With a badly battered pride, we moved into my old home on Mitchell Ave. The

house was arranged so it could be divided into two apartments. ~hat gave us the opportunity to live separately under the same root. As the boys came home from war, they brought with them many exciting stories. Jessie's nephew, Everett BauRh was in the Navy C.Rs. He called them the "Confused Bastards." He saw service on many of the Pacific Islands. Their job was to move in after the initial attack and build Air-strips and barracks. He told us, for their safety, they always

A~,~ ~~Y_Mn'p~ thA verv first thing. They had not been molested by the -

enemy, untill one afternoon when they were sitting on benches outside a

temporary shack. ~hey were tired and drowsy. Like Most of the others he had taken off his shoes to rest his feet. Suddenly he ssw a low flying, strange looking, plane swooping down on them. He hollered, "RAID". As quick as a squirrel, they ran about 50 feet and jumped into their fox-hole. As they lay there quivering, the Jap plane strafed the ground as ·it zoomed by. It turned and did it

again before it left. No one in the .fox-hole was hit. '~hen the !tAll's fhe" clear signal was sounded, .~~ound themselves surrounded with excavated sharp sea shells that was murderous to their bare feet. Everett told the others, nWhat in the hell are you flinching about? You didn't pay a damn bit of attention to those sharp shells on the way over here." My brother Joseph Laughter was stationed on the British Island of Rermuda, off the coast of South Carolina. He told me his service there was uneventful and monotonous, untill his outfit was sent to the west coast. They were scheduled for shipment to strengthen the proposed Japanese invasion. All soldiers piled their knapsacks on the dock, so they could be loaded on the ship. Word came that all men there with enough points for service were eligable to be demobilized. He had those points. His biggest battle was the scramble to find his knapsack. My nephew, Hilly Laughter was assigned to the Medical Corps. He saw service in several Army Hospitals. Rilly achieved a lasting benefit from his service. He was alert, curious, and studious. He picked up a lot or medical inrormation that helped he and his family the rest of their lives. His brothe Lloyd (Sonny) was in the Navy, and saw nothing but ordinary service. Like most of the others, he was wishing to be home.

Vernon Smith, 8 Public Works draftsman, was assigned to the C.B.s. He was shipped to England, where they prepared for D-Day. In the last hours ot preparation, Vernon and his squad were given a jeep, with wa~er's edge and wait for instructions. When they took their place inside the landing craft, Vernon's jeep was lined up behind a great big truck. It was a long trip across that channel. but time passed too quickly. It was June 6, 1944. He felt the craft scraping on the bottom.

When ~hey lowered the exit gate. the water was too deep for the jeep. The commander yelled, "Tie that jeep to the truck, and get the hell out of here." The command was. obeyed and away they went with a big splash. With their heads barely above water, Vernon and his squad were pulled viciously to land. The truck driver didn't know, or didn't care, about the j aep being tied to the trllck. \\fhen he hit land, he gave his t engine allit would take. The truck went bouncing up the steep incline. As they went over the hill, they gained speed and roared into Normandy with a jeep full of C.Bs. tied to the back end. It was miles before the truck came to its appointed spot, and there it stopped. A barrage ot bullets, shells, and all kinds of explosives had been deafening since the craft had opened its gate. When the driver came around to the back . LIed" of the truck, the C.Bs. w~re too~ear to hear his questions, and too scarred to ask any of their own. It was the next day before Vernon and I hi squad managed to get a ride back to their appointed statiom, but just being alive was something they were gratful ror. Our good friend, Pat Wolbrecht, who's age rated him as a senior soldier, was assigned to office work in the vicinity of London. He had many anxious moments during those air raids. To offset those fears, he had many happy hours in the English Pibs. Pat was a jolly good soul who really enjoyed about any' kind of drink. With the congeniality of the English to the American soldier at that time Pat's service days had some compensation.