Monday, Jan. 18, 1937

Henry & family & Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary were all here for dinner, helping us, clean 2 ducks, & baked 7 cakes & 10 pie crusts, cleaned basement etc. A fellow around selling pencils 2 for 5¢. Rosalia got a letter from Fr. Stern, congratulations & God’s blessing, for a happy wedded life. Beautiful day. Pap & Henry & Uncle Fred all went to Kammler’s Hall for a Farm Bureau & Benifit [sic] meeting, the hall was to cold & saloon not big enough, lot of farmers present, reelected new members, Ruhel – & President etc. Got the chev. license No. 655 – 890. Sure lot of people down with flu.

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 1937

Clean chicken house, got oats over. Bertie baked cookies. Sun don’t want to shine, still cloudy & slick icy roads. Eggs .21¢. Uncle Fred & Aunt Mary were up this afternoon. Loyd Pabst came brought book on the Orbon Stores, Iornmasters [sic – Ironmaster. Sure lot people dying from pneumonia, & flue epidemic, 35 died in Chicago 1 day; lot have it in New Athens. Hofmeister’s are sick; ugly weather, to damp. The paper & radio say the Matteson 10 yr. old boy that was kidnaped [sic] from his home at Tacoma Wash. 15 das. ago was found slain along a highway, was said to be the boy, was nude, blow marks on forehead etc. A case something like the Lindeberg’s baby that time; haven’t found the kidnapers yet; The Matteson family was to pd. a $28,000 ransom. Rosalia went to invite the neighbors for the dance. Leo came, then they went to see his uncle Geo. Roths family, Alois & Gertie were also there.