The Mission is Set

On Friday, March 10, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Cold-Cloudy. Arose at 7:30 a.m. Mary made fire. Norman has sore eyes from exposure. Wyndham Stokes came in office. Indexed and filed mail. Annah Lee is 2 months old today. Mrs. Raines and Harry ate dinner at our home for first time today. Mrs. D. Spangler died suddenly. Mr. Raines gave me new axe and block of pine. On Saturday, March 11, 1916 Bonnie wrote: Cold-Sunny. Maggie Bonarita called at our office. Mr. E.S. Moore requested me to call at his office regarding Skin. I phoned Loam. Went to post office. Herbert Gregory's office and Bank. Got my bank book. Talked to Carter Thompson. Mr. Raines put up shelves. I shaved and cleaned house and yard. Talked to Frank Lakes. Went to Hurst's & Mrs. Raines. She got mission set. Took a bath! Again, not much time while away at class. But I sure do wonder what mission Mrs. Raines got set? Happy 2 months to Granny! You reckon Skin is close to getting a job? Or does he already have one? I can't remember. My head is too full after class this week. Good night. Graduation is tomorrow and I am looking forward to coming home. Busy week next week too.

Bandits

On Thursday, March 9, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Cold-Clear. Norman 13 months old. Arose 7 o'clock. Got to work at 8:20 a.m. Beat all there. Mary went to Mrs. Raines. Mr. Schick left on #2 - 6:30 p.m. I bought steak. Papa came to office with me to see Mr. Raitt about painting. Mexican bandits under Villa murder Americans at Columbus, New Mexico. Mr. Schick left on train no. 2 for Philadelphia.

Mildred's Marriage discussion

On Wednesday, March 8, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Cold-Clear. Arose 7:15 a.m. Mary made fire. I rolled Norman up to Mrs. Raines. Ate dinner and shaved at Mrs. Raines. Mr. Schick came in. Snow in p.m. I signed up telephone contract. Talked to Mrs. Wilbourn and Nell about Mildred's marriage. Came by Mrs. Raines & took Norman home on car. Cleaned shades and lights at night. Pitzer delivered coal. Again, very short tonight. 2 homework assignments to do and a test in the morning here at the National Fire Academy. To my regular family readers though, any help on who Mrs. Wilbourn, Nell, and Mildred are would be greatly appreciated. Sounds like they may be family. I did my Daily Audio Bible reading this morning and remember it being very meaningful, but I since have had so much information poured into my head that I don't remember much about it! I will need to review.

Painting

On Tuesday, March 7, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Raining. Afternoon sunshine. Mr. Schick away. Work in p.m. 3 o'clock. Mary rolled Norman to her mother's. I went to Mayhew's for bread. Went to Joe Milan's in p.m. for candy. Went to gas office and then up home for supper. Caught ball with Jake. Went to Bijou. Came home on car. Mary painted hall and kitchen. Read paper before going to bed. These posts may be rather short as I am away at a class, but I don't want to get behind on what Bonnie and Mary are doing. Sounds like they are still getting the new place in order. Bonnie doesn't say what he saw at the Bijou, but at least he got bread and candy!

Settling In

Need to catch up and even get a little ahead. On Friday, March 3, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Snowing. Skin met and gave me tax receipt. Work well up. Ordered load of wood from Adams, Payne & Gleaves. Ate lunch at Mrs. Raines and took ham, pine, and hatchet home. Mr. Chas. Sullivan was in the office. Put up shades. Very high wind and cold. Cut wood. Mr. Raitt went to Norfolk on #16. We retired at 10:30 p.m. Went to have phone removed. On Saturday, March 4, 1916 Bonnie wrote: Very Cold Wind. R.E. Tryson & S.H. Staples in office. Arose at 6:30. Got wood from stable. Took ashes from front room. Cut on water. Got to work at 8:40 a.m. Mr. Raines came down and fixed stable door, water, gate, etc. I went to Brown's for pictures & wash board. Shaved and took bath at night. Married 2 years today. On Sunday, March 5, 1916 Bonnie wrote: Chilly-Sunny. Arose at 7:30. made fire. shaved - Harry Raines came down. Put up pictures and unpacked things. Ethel Wade over. Mrs. Raines ate dinner with us. I took Norman to Mrs. Raines from 6-7 p.m. Stayed in at night and read Railroad journal. Retired at 10:30 p.m. On Monday, March 6, 1916: Cool-Cloudy. Arose 6:30 a.m. made fire. Got to work at 8:30. Mr. Raitt returned from Norfolk. Went to Roke. Ry. & Elec. Co. to have meter put in. Put name plate on door. Took cough syrup to office. Went phone office. Repaired hat rack at night. Mary scrubbed. Talked John Mason. Stopped by Mrs. Raines for eggs, socks, etc. I will be going out of town tomorrow for a class for work. I should be able to post while I am gone but it also may depend on how much time I have. That is why I went ahead and posted the entry for March 6 today. Sounds like the Elmores are still settling in to their new diggs. Ordering and picking up necessities, fixing things, unpacking, etc. Not sure why Bonnie worked on Saturday, other than maybe with those visitors in town, he needed to be in the office, or with having taken some time off to move he had some things to do. Just very interesting to see what all they did back then and realize how things have changed and how some things have not changed. From Mark 12:18-37 today: the 2 great commandments: "Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself." Combine that with Psalm 46's "Be still and know that I am God" and the Great Commission and you have some pretty basic instructions for Christian living that seem very simple but often prove to be oh, so difficult. Saw the movie, "Letters to God" last night. Really good movie about a boy with cancer who writes letters to God and how those letters change others around him. I am thinking that writing a letter to God may not be such a bad idea. I hope you will plan to see the movie opening weekend, April 9, 2010. Cancer affects so many people and yet so few churches have a cancer ministry.

Moving Day

On Thursday, March 2, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: "Moving Day" Arose at 7:00 a.m. Phoned Capt. Rowan wouldn't be in. Went to gas office. came to cottage at 9:30 to put piano in. RGL Co. man came to cottage to inspect meter connection. At 11:20 a.m. Gave Pitzer men 5 cents. Maj. Taliaferro died in New York. Talked to Mr. J. W. Waynick. Paid Pitzer $4.00 & ordered coal. Shaved in p.m. Talked to Maggie Smith. So, today was moving day for the Elmores and I bet they were exhausted. Check out the moving bill: $4.00!! Wow what a difference from today's cost. I looked up Maj. Taliaferro but didn't find much helpful. Busy evening coming up. I have to prepare for Wednesday night service at church, ferry kids to play practice and think about going out of town on Saturday. Today's New Testament portion of the Bible reading was from Mark 10:32-52 and talked more about being a servant. Also, the story of blind Bartimaeus. Lord, help us to see as well. Help us to see things from a Kingdom perspective which would makes us more of a servant. Jesus set the perfect example for us.

Cures what ails ya'

On Wednesday March 1, 1916 Bonnie Elmore wrote: Foggy-cool. German submarine program goes into effect today. Paid some bills. Preparing to move. Rec'd letter from Moving Picture Corp. Wrote Leo. Delaney. Packing up to move. Went to pay bills and to see Pitzer. Norman improved. Put $1.00 in bank for Annah Lee. Gave John Hicks a hat & a cap. Had shoes fixed. Mr. Brown disconnected gas pipes. Bought sweet spirits of nitre. Today is one of those days when I think Bonnie has left us with all sorts of gems. He starts with a line about World War I. The program I believe Bonnie is referring to, is one where German U-boats (submarines) would start attacking armed and unarmed merchant ships in the Atlantic unannounced. Some of this was already being done, but it apparently intensified in March 1916. Prior to this, U-boats were to surface before firing on an "enemy" ship. During the intensification this "cruiser" policy of surfacing before firing torpedoes was done away with. Today in 1916 was a day of errands and getting ready to move for Bonnie and Mary, Norman and Annah Lee. Bonnie is still writing to and receiving letters from movie companies. Pitzer is a long time moving company here in Roanoke, VA. I was surprised to see that they were in business in 1916. I am not sure that they still are in 2010. Mr. Brown is the landlord. I had a lot of fun looking up "sweet spirits of nitre". It appears that in 1916 this was a drug of sorts that basically cured whatever ailed ya'. I found that it was common ether and can be used for gun blackening and electroplating and metal coloring. From the pharmacology stand point it was used for fevers, horse colic, trouble with urination, bee stings, breaking up congestion, etc. The FDA has ruled that it is useless and dangerous and so it is very hard to find these days. In fact, a lot of people have never heard of it. Maybe Bonnie was anticipating being really sore and having some blisters after the move. Blisters was also another of the things mentioned that it supposedly helped cure. Maybe Caleb needs some. He has badly sprained knee and will be out of soccer for about a week to 10 days.