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A Fourth Of July Fire

    Herman Meier, at 85 years, remembers quite well July 4, 1919. He had been out to the field cutting hay that morning and at noon came in for dinner, after putting the horses in the barn along with the other two which he would hitch up for the afternoon work. As he was eating, a storm came up quite suddenly, and it turned out to be an electrical storm with strong lightning. All at once a sharp bolt hit the barn, and it was on fire. Herman and his wife, Auguste, quickly rushed to try to get the horses out, as the hay was burning right in front of the stalls. As they got them out, they tied them to the gates so that they couldn't run into the burning barn. With small calves in the basement of the barn they went back three times to get them out. But eight calves which still couldn't be rescued died in the fire.

     Neighbors finally arrived to help. The only means of notifying everyone was to give a general ring on the party line, as on the holidays the telephone operators were off duty from 10 A.M. to 4 P. M. Bucket lines were formed to dip water from one tank to pour on the burning barn, since there were no fire trucks at that time.

     Along with the calves that were lost were also 20 tons of loose hay and straw. Since the barn was so close to the corn crib, which was also the garage at that time for a new Buick, just purchased from Hans Andresen, the danger of that getting on fire prompted them to try to get the car out. Since the back end of the driveway had a deep drop off, the only way to get the car out was to the side of the fire. Auguste stood by and quickly opened the door while Herman, inside, had the car running ready to drive out at the moment the door was opened. At least their first new car was saved.

     The entire supply of smoked meat, packed in salt in barrels in a bin in the barn was destroyed. The fire kept burning for a couple of days. Some harnesses were salvaged, but it seems that the hired man's halters were burned, since he (Albert Licht), too, had been given the day off for the holiday, and had taken off with his horse and buggy. So, he had nothing left when he returned.

     The newly cut hay was later made and stacked inside. Later in the year a new barn was built, which still stands. However, because of the war, lumber was green and very hard to get. Therefore, needed repairs came sooner because of the condition of the wood used.

     Another incident Herman remembers is watching a ball of fire from lightning hit the windmill, bounce off and hit the hog house roof and fall off in a puddle of water, and die off. One big relief after witnessing one fire caused by lightning.

     Talk of picking corn by hand led to another amusing grin on the faces of both Herman and Guste, as they both went out to pick while it was still dark in the morning. They would lose their husking pegs and have to light matches to find them. Good thing Herman was a pipe smoker. At least they did not have to go after matches. It's funny now, but probably not so amusing at the time.

              Mrs Walter (Evelyn Meier) Hack