When the weather was warm?"
Quoth Jack Ricketts: "Not I."
My heart was so light that I smoked night and day,
And all neighbors looked gay."You just smoked, Jack you say?
Go then," said Dick, "just smoke winter away."
Thus ending, Dick lifted the wicket
And out in the cold, turned poor Jack Ricketts.
Some folks think this a fable
I tell you, it’s true.
Real crickets have four legs,
Jack Ricketts had but two.
No more groceries did we have to let out for
work! But what should we do? All the groceries and dry goods, oil, etc. we had just
recently purchased on 30 day credit had all gone up in smoke. Our losses would easily run
to 15 or 16 thousand dollars.
Our creditors advised us to rebuild our store.
Said we had made good in the past until we had the fire. We were owing to Z.C.M.I. the
most money, about six to seven thousand dollars!
We purchased from Fred Peterson a more suitable
site on which to build and we built the store now owned by LaMont and Luella Walker. The
store building was completed and ready to be furnished by Christmas time of 1930.
My wife had run a little store out in the car
shed during the fall, and when the cold weather came, she really suffered with the cold.
It was the 8th of April, the
following spring of 1931, when Harold was killed in the terrible train and car collision
at the Springville crossing when we were on our way to the Stock Show being held at
Spanish Fork.
No one can realize or understand our feelings
and sorrow. Only those who have gone through a similar experience. No one knows how much
we loved that boy. No one knows how much we missed him. No one realized how hard it was
for his mother and I to try to take over the work and the responsibility that he had
before carried on his shoulders. No! I could not do it. I tried my best. Van was in the
mission field in New Zealand and was not as well acquainted with the kind of work Harold
had been carrying on and neither were Ralph, Deloy, Omni or Clair. They had been kept
closer with the ranch work and with the cattle.
Harold had gone out each year on the show
circuit and had had wide experience and acquaintances. He had better learned the art of
salesmanship. The other boys had been with him only part of the time. No one could be
better than my other boys. It was only that Harold was the older and had the broader
experience.
After those many years, things have changed,
the other boys have had much experience. No others could take their places