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It
is worth an occasional look back at the local news of a century
ago if only to see that the way we do things may be different, but
people really haven't changed that much.
In January 1919 the 36th Texas Legislature convened in Austin
where it meets every 2 years. Far too often some say.
As a result of the big rain in January, mail service was "on the
bum." Train service came to a screeching halt, and the automobile
mail carrier could only make one trip to Kerrville
for the entire week.
In February the government issued a warning about scalpers selling
phony war bonds.
On March 26, 1919 Old Pete Ferrel died. Everybody knew him. Born
into slavery, he worked on Captain Duff's farm 8 miles out the Austin
Road. In recent years Old Pete lived in a room at the jail in return
for odd jobs. He came down with the flu several months earlier and
never regained his strength.
On April 9, 1919 several cars of the eastbound train jumped the
tracks near Bankersmith,
demolishing the crossties for a short distance. Following the accident,
the engine carried the passengers on to the junction. There were
no injuries, but the west bound train was a day late getting back
to Fredericksburg.
In May a party of prominent Fredericksburg citizens went fishing
on the Llano
River. Before leaving, they boasted of their angling talents
and promised to return with a load of fish. The Fredericksburg
Standard reported that "As we don't know how long it will take
to catch so many fish, we cannot say when the party will return."
After all the crowing ahead of time "they dare not come back empty-handed."
There was a big debate on the street over whether a woman should
get a man's wages. The debate was an even split along gender lines.
Messrs. Mueller and Neffendorf butchered and canned an entire beef.
Quite a crowd attended the performance. Who says there's nothing
to do on Saturday night?
A passing bicycle frightened Paul Bauer's 4-horse team near the
fire station on Main Street. The wagon swerved to one side and upset
the high load of baled sugar cane. The accident broke the wagon
tongue and coupling pole. Mr. Bauer jumped to safety.
On November 1, 1919 a small bridge near the junction gave way under
the weight of 2 flat cars loaded with cotton. Several days later
a wrecking crew finally got the line operating again. For 5 days
there was no passenger or mail service. When the mail finally arrived
on Monday, customers swamped the local post office.
Three airplanes flying from Kelly Field in San
Antonio to El
Paso ran low on gasoline and landed in a muddy field near Fredericksburg.
After refueling, the planes tried to take off, but only 1 could
gain enough speed and altitude to clear the fence. That plane flew
on to El Paso.
The other 2 planes took the slow way back to San Antonio - in the
back of an army truck.
There has been a rivalry between Fredericksburg
and Kerrville
for at least a century. In a June 1919 baseball game, the Fredericksburg
Giants beat the Kerrville Athletics 1 to 0 in a 15 inning game.
According to the Kerrville Mountain Sun "It took the umps
and 15 innings to do it." The headline in the Kerrville paper read
"After 3 years' efforts Fredericksburg finally wins (?) a game."
John Ostrow, proprietor of the Ostrow Hotel in Fredericksburg, made
a trip by automobile to New
Braunfels by way of Blanco
City. He happily reported that "almost the whole road from New
Braunfels to San Antonio is tarviated."
Frank Van der Stucken, world famous composer and Kapellmeister (orchestra
conductor), spent Thanksgiving 1919 with his family in Fredericksburg.
He spent Christmas at his home in Boston.
As Christmas 1919 approached, the editor of the Fredericksburg
Standard offered a prayer. "We give thanks to the Highest for
our deliverance from drought, want and bloodshed. May we never have
to pass through anything like it again."
[See News in 1920]
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