1943 Floodstage: “Me & My Brother,” by Erwin A. Thompson

After Ruth and I unloaded and settled in at home, I prepared to fix the road. It was a hopeful venture. I was trying to use the trailer to haul the rock. I must have also quarried the rock.

But disaster struck again. I got stuck! Down on the Upper Bottom Road. There was no handy team of mules. Then I heard an unusual sound down in the west Bottom, along the railroad tracks. It sounded like somebody in trouble with a car.

My inquiry determined that it was Dick Lock, with his little Ford tractor. Beltrees Road was closed, and he was taking the milk from their daiy to someplace where it could be picked up.

Dick had tired of bumping along on the railroad ties, and tried going along side them. This maneuveur had proved to be a mistake. The ground beside the railroad ties was all soaked up from the flooding and the only place that he went was down!

The two of us retired to the Riehl barn and secured the various tools of our trade to rescue his tractor and dairy milk.

It’s remarkable what two healthy men, working toward a common purpose that they both understand, can accomplish. We rescued the tractor, and he delivered the milk.

Afterwards we took his tractor up to where my trouble was. We unhooked the trailer and rescued the car, getting it safely up to the top of the hill. Dick hooked onto the trailer with his tractor and helped me fix the road.

One time Dick told a mutual acquaintance that I was like an older brother to him. This reminds me of the joke of the little smart alec youngster whose friends gave a hard time: “How come you don’t know that? I thought you said you knew everything!”

“Naw,” the young boy replied. “I never said that. I said me and my brother knew everything. That is one of the things that my brother knows!” So between the two of us Dick and I solved both of our problems!