Lucas County on a hot tin roof ...

My dad used to speak of 1934 with a degree of awe --- as if he had survived a great cataclysm. And in a sense he and hundreds of thousands of other Iowans had, as record-breaking temperatures and drought heated the knife of the Great Depression, plunged into the heart of the state's farm-based economy, to the searing point. Southern Iowa was especially hard hit.

That was the year the state's official heat record --- 118 degrees on July 20 --- was set in Keokuk. Dad, not long out of high school, was working as a farm hand and counting himself lucky that he could find work at all.

The cartoon here was published on Page 1 of the Chariton Herald-Patriot on June 28, 1934. By this time it was becoming clear that the year's crops most likely would fail, but no one could predict just how hot and dry July and August would prove to be.

I've been thinking about this a little lately while complaining about this year's heat --- in the comfort of an air conditioned room. Then going outside to do a little watering (Chariton had only one reservoir to supply its water needs that year and levels were dangerously low).

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By July 19, 1934, it was becoming clear that this would be a crisis year. The Herald-Patriot of that date headlined its lead story, "Heat Strikes 111 to Set All-Time Record in City: Seventh Consecutive Day 100 Or Above Is Experienced As Drought Situation Reaches Crisis." Here's how part of that story read:

"An all-time heat record was set in Lucas county today as the mercury officially touched 111 degrees at 3 p.m. This mark, which may go higher before the afternoon ends, exceeds by one degree the previously recorded record of 110. Only twice in 40 years, the second time Sunday, has there been a 110-degree temperature recorded at the local station.

"Today, Weather Statistician C.C. Burr said, is the seventh in a row with temperature of 100 or above.

"The unrelenting heat wave has brought a crisis to the drought situation. With no cool winds Wednesday night the corn remained "curled" and much of it will not even serve for fodder, farm observers declared. Today's torrid winds are continuing the damage and without immediate rains even corn on bottom lands will burn beyond recovery.

"Drought relief plans for Lucas county are under discussion by state and local authorities. What can be done to aid the farmers beyond the decisions that they can make themselves is not definitely determined."

By the following Thursday, July 26, the heat had let up a little --- that day's high was 84, according to Burr. But there still was no rain.

"Clouds, accompanied by a stiff breeze that continued during most of the night (Wednesday), sent the temperature down but brought no rain beyond a short-lived sprinkle near 8:30 a.m. Although rain would have received an enthusiastic welcome the withdrawal of extreme heat which allowed the first comfortable night of sleep in two weeks brought general commendation."

But worse was yet to come. 

"Heat Touches 114 As Local Record Is Set," read the headline in the Herald-Patriot of August 9:

"All previous Lucas county heat records went tumbling into oblivion at 3:15 p.m. (on August 9) as the mercury boiled to an official 114-degree peak. The mark is but one degree below the new state record set Wednesday at Ottumwa."

"Off to a sizzling start Sunday with a mercury reading of 109," the Herald-Patriot reported, "August's heat wave is proving more distressing than that which lasted for almost two weeks of July. Since Sunday temperatures have not been below 108. It stayed at that figure Monday  and Tuesday and zoomed upward to 112 Wednesday."

Despite the extreme heat, more than 5,000 people had crowded the square that Wednesday to celebrate "Children's Day," a celebration organized by Chariton merchants and others to take everyone's mind off their troubles with a parade, costume contest, games and other activities. Stock tanks filled with ice water were placed on the courthouse lawn to keep the crowd hydrated.

In the absence of air conditioning, many Lucas Countyans moved outside to sleep.

"After suffering through Wednesday's record-breaking heat many Chariton residents looked upon attempts to sleep during the night as rather a futile undertaking. After midnight many dozed off on porch chairs and swings. Others took pillows and bed springs or blankets to spread on their lawns."

"Sleeping on benches was once considered the lot of vagrants. Such beds were welcomed last night, however, and there were complaints this morning of wrinkled and aching backs. As late as 6 a.m. many of the downtown dwellers who slept in the courthouse park were rolling up their blankets. One tired fellow, distributed over two benches at the northeast corner of the park, refused to give way to the first warming rays of the sun. Pulling a cover over his eyes, he continued to sleep."

Workers in the coal mines near Williamson were among the few Lucas Countyans laboring in a cool environment.

"Varied types of cooling systems are being used in stores and offices with just as varied success," The Herald-Patriot reported. "One of the most popular plans is to place a fan behind a large cake of ice. Among the most successful systems is that used by the Lucas County Telephone Co. building where ice water is pumped into the radiators. It takes 600 pounds of ice a day but an inside temperature of around 80 degrees is worth it, Manager A.J. Adams and his staff believe."

A week later, on Wednesday, Aug. 15, the first substantial rain of the summer fell --- three-quarters of an inch in Chariton. The last substantial rainfall recorded in Lucas County had been six-tenths of an inch on May 13.

Both drought and heat-wave were broken, although there would be no crops that year, and The Herald-Patriot was able to report on August 26th: "After a week of cooler weather Lucas county received another favor from the weather man this afternoon. A pounding shower of rain fell near 3 p.m. and the clouds held promise of further moisture.

"Rains now will go a long way toward relieving some of the drought damage here. The principal help will be in revival of pasture areas.

"In the wake of a record heat wave, temperature recently has been below the 90s during the week, touching a low of 65 Monday night."

The 1930 heat wave & a threshing disaster

We're having something of a heat wave here this week, as indicated by that big rust-colored splotch on this morning's national weather map. And it's dry in Lucas County. Nothing like the legendary 1934, of course --- but hot and dry enough.

Back in the 1930s, Lucas County had its own weather observer, Clarkson C. Burr, whose farm out in Warren Township was equipped the the latest in government-approved weather observation gear and who provided The Leader and The Herald-Patriot with weekly updates, routinely published on front pages in the days before forecasts and summaries were available instantly on any number of digital devices.

Here's his Leader report from July 15, 1930, the year that kicked off a grim decade in terms of  both weather and economic conditions:

The Weather Made People Hunt Shade

For a Week the Temperature Averaged More than One hundred Degrees and in Harvest at That

"July 14, 1930 --- The temperature for the past week was 100 or above, on five of the seven days, and it was the  busiest week of the year, as the grain harvest was in full swing; the wheat and barley were taken care of, and one of the largest and best oats crops ever grown in the county was saved. An immense amount of hay was put up, while others were giving their attention to the belated corn, and much of the replanting was given the last plowing, while the harvest of grain waited.

"Monday started in with a record of an even 100 degrees. This was followed by 102, then two days of 105, and as there was but little air movement, the heat became almost unbearable and resulted in many fatalities of both horses and men in the harvest field. Iowa and Nebraska appeared to get the full force of the heat wave and northern Iowa reported higher mercury than we had. The highest temperature reported was from a station in Missouri, 112 degrees. All of these records are from stations equipped with government instruments; in the best shade, or weather house shelter; to this we must add 20 degrees to find the average heat in the harvest fields where the field work is done.

"The sunshine was 100 percent until Saturday noon, when clouds appeared, with a trace of rain, and the mercury dropped suddenly from 101 to 66 degrees, to the relief of everyone.

"On Thursday when we were sweltering at 105, we were advised that Canada weather was only 42 degrees above, and the movement was coming south, and it required full two days to reach Iowa.

"To find anything to compare with last week we have to go back to the first week in August, 1918, when there was a heat wave of four days' duration, and the last day the mercury climbed to 110, and this was accompanied by a hot wind that wilted all vegetation and did immense damage in many states, and in Iowa some of the early corn that was in tassel was damaged  as to yield; this was followed by an old fashioned storm that broke the heat wave, while at the present time, our much needed rain has not appeared. On Monday morning the temperature was down to 52 degrees --- a very radical change. --- C.C. Burr"

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As the heat accelerated in Lucas County that long-ago July, huge threshing machines --- some horse-drawn and others pulled by tractors of one variety or another --- were lumbering from oat field to oat field to perform their duties in stationary splendor.

One ran into considerable trouble on the Blue Grass Road just southeast of Chariton, as reported in the July 15 Leader under the headline, "A Burlington Train Created Sad Havoc: West Bound No. 9 Struck Burnett's Threshing Outfit, Completely Wrecking It."

"A somewhat unusual accident happened southeast of town on Thursday evening which may result in a court inquisition, as a few years ago there was a similar case happened on the Rock Island, northeast of Chariton.

"Now that harvest has well advanced and the threshing season is at hand, R.M. Burnett, who owns and operates the Bartholomew farm, later purchased by C.S. Hechtner, assembled his threshing outfit and was preparing it for service, soon expecting to get it into commission.

"He had attached the traction engine on the separator, and with all other things entrain, was proceeding down the road west of the Scott farm and undertook to cross the railroad track shortly before passenger train No. 9 was scheduled to go west. He claims there was plenty of time, but owing to the soft dirt on the crossing at the side of the track the drivers sank in such manner as not to gain the necessary purchase to cross over.

"Realizing the situation, he started down the track to flag the train on its approach, but it was near upon them and not being able to halt in time, suddenly crashed into the barriers with disastrous effect. 

"When tractors are used as the transporting motive powers of grain separators it will be called to mind that the front of the separator extends probably two-thirds of the way over the tractor, so it all appears as one machine. The locomotive struck the threshing outfit about midway, completely cutting the separator squarely in two, leaving the severed and dead equipment by the roadside upon the highway. Both separator and tractor are now junk --- a heavy financial loss." 

The "sirocco" wind of 1894 and a rainmaker

I didn't intend to get stuck for two days straight on the weather, but happened upon the small article at left while reading over the weekend about the drought and extreme heat that struck Lucas County (and much of the rest of Iowa) during 1934. It was published on the front page of the Chariton Herald-Patriot of July 26, 1934, and reads as follows:

"Just 40 years ago today, July 26, 1894, occurred one of the greatest crop tragedies in Iowa.

"Lucas county then was in the midst of the famous 'drought of '94." At noon, according to C.C. Burr, federal weather statistician, the temperature was 105. A hot wind arrived and within a few hours cooked all vegetation.

"Damage was as great that afternoon in Lucas County as that caused by the heat wave in all of the last two weeks, Mr. Burr declared."

In search of more information, I went back to The Patriot of Aug. 2, 1894, but found only the following brief report:

A MEMORABLE DAY

"Thursday, July 26, 1894, will never be forgotten in Lucas county while a man, woman or child lives who suffered from the terrific heat of the sirocco-like wind which came from the southwest and blew at a speed of thirty miles an hour, scorching and withering everything it touched. It was the climax to  the terrible drought which has been so disastrous this summer. Reports from all parts of Iowa show that the hot winds were general all over the state. It was a most alarming visitation, the like of which has never been seen or felt in the state. The thermometer ranged from 102 to 111 in the shade."

The "Iowa Weather and Crop Report" for the week of July 31 also was published in that edition of The Patriot and it noted that, "The past week has been the worst of the season. The daily temperature averaged seven degrees above the normal. On the 26th the temperature ranged from 100 to 107 degrees, with winds 20 to 35 miles an hour --- the severest in its effects upon vegetation every known in Iowa."

During the week prior to the great wind, several prominent men of Chariton, including the venerable Warren S. Dungan, had called in W.S. Swisher of Lincoln, Nebraska, a rainmaker.

In return for $500, Swisher "promised to bring about a rainfall of one inch covering an area of country extending 10 miles each way, Chariton being the center, within a period of five days. If the promised rain did not come, no money was to be paid."

Those attending a meeting with Swisher at the courthouse took up a collection, raised the $500 and Swisher set to work --- his methods were not specified.

"It was in every way a praise-worthy act," The Patriot opined, "and if productive of hoped for result would greatly benefit thousands of people."

Alas, "the rain did not come --- that is according to contract. Monday, south and west and north and east, refreshing showers fell, but in, and within two or three miles of Chariton, there were very light showers. Just how much the rainmaker had to do with it, we are not sufficiently posted to say.

"At all events, he failed to cause the prescribed amount of rain within the stipulated time, and therefore cannot draw the five-hundred dollars."

Let there be lights (and heat)

A friend who among other tasks coordinates outreach to schools for a rural electric co-op that serves big chunks of rural Oklahoma and north Texas is focusing student attention this winter on cold-weather farm and ranch life before the Rural Electrification Administration brought power to the Plains.

I'm thinking about that, too --- just trying to make myself feel better about the current situation by remembering the "good" old days. And the current situation isn't even that bad. The temperature here this morning is a moderate 12; we have snow, but not that much; and the roads in general are in good shape.

Even though it's kind of pretty, I'm still not liking much about winter. Despite the fact the furnace kicks in at regular intervals day and night to keep the house at an even temperature; bright lights are just a flick of the switch away; and going outside at inconvenient times is optional. No chores to do.

My first four years were spent, however, in a big drafty old farmhouse with neither insulation nor a furnace parked at the highest point on a hill, battered by cold winds from every direction.

I was maybe three when the RECs went to work in Lucas County, a new power line marched up that big hill and the late Quincy Robb arrived to wire the house. I may remember, then again maybe I don't, arrival of the oil stove equipped with an electric fan to circulate the heat that soon was installed in the dining room (only the dining room and kitchen were heated during the winter even after the oil stove arrived, unless company was coming).

A refrigerator was installed in the kitchen; then an electric stove arrived to supplement the old cook stove, still used for heat. The kerosene stove my mother had used for some of her cooking in pre-electric days was retired to the back kitchen and used to heat boilers of water for the electric washing machine that had replaced an earlier model, powered by a small gasoline engine.

Amazing stuff; but now --- along with much more --- taken for granted. But, seriously, thinking about how it was then makes me feel a little warmer now.

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One of the curiosities of life is that rural areas now tend to be bastions of  what folks fancy is conservatism, where complaints about government spending and government programs (unless they involve farm subsidies) often are heard.

But the RECs that for the most part still power rural America were and remain government programs. Private utilities, back in the 1930s, refused to extend their lines into the country, arguing no potential for profit.

So Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, despite screams of protest from the private sector, launched the Rural Electrification Administration and issued loans to local cooperatives, dismissed as communist by some, which built the rural infrastructure and acquired (and in some cases generated) power for distribution. In 1934, fewer than 11 percent of U.S. farms had electricity; by 1952, nearly all did. No thanks whatsoever to the private sector.

Today, the Chariton Valley Rural Electric Cooperative (Albia) and the Clarke Rural Electric Cooperative (Osceola) continue to power most of rural Lucas County.

Chariton's 1891 battle over baptism

Back in early August, 1891, the congregation of Chariton's First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) --- small in numbers but mighty in aspiration under a new pastor, the Rev. B.H. Lingenfelter --- erected a large frame tabernacle on the vacant lot north of the northeast corner of the square (now the Pierschbacher Funeral Home parking lot) where it hoped to build a new building. The congregation was housed at the time in an 1869 frame building on South Grand a block and a quarter south of the square.

To conduct the meetings, the congregation imported the Rev. George Franklin Hall (1864-1925), a rising Disciples evangelist then stationed at Emporia, Kansas, and his sidekick, Prof. Edgar Morton Hutto (1863-1934), who provided music and led the faithful in song. The photo here, with Hutto at left and Hall on the right, was taken in Chariton during the weeks those meetings were in progress.

The Rev. Mr. Hall was a very effective preacher, but a somewhat abrasive one --- insisting that the Disciples' Campbellite theological outlook was the true expression of the will of Jesus and that in order to be redeemed one needed to be fully immersed during baptism. This, of course, did not set especially well with Methodists, who generally baptized by aspersion, and others, Protestant and Catholic alike, who tended to favor affusion. 

James A. Campbell, editor of The Chariton Democrat, was distressed enough to write the following in his editorial column of Sept. 3:

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The editor of the Democrat makes no pretensions to being a theologian, but the position taken by the so-called evangelist who is holding meetings at the tabernacle is so ridiculous that we cannot refrain from characterizing him as a bigot who is at the same time egotistical and ignorant. He believes that salvation cannot be found in any church but his, any more, nor indeed so much, as it can be found in the Board of Trade in Chicago; because they have their interpretation of the Bible written out in what they call a creed; yet a sinner cannot be admitted to the church which he represents without subscribing to his interpretation of the Bible on questions of baptism.

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The somewhat divisive nature of the meetings brought them to the attention of other newspapers then circulating in the south of Iowa, including The Des Moines Leader, The Des Moines Register and The Ottumwa Press.

Feeling a bit of heat, the Disciples' governing board invited the Rev. Dinsmore Austin (left), a veteran soldier of the Cross then serving as pastor of Chariton's First Methodist Church, to preach on the topic of baptism from that denomination's perspective on Sunday evening, Sept. 6.

That seemed to be going well --- until the Rev. Mr. Hall arose at the conclusion of the Rev. Mr. Austin's remarks to deliver a sermon of rebuttal not on the original agenda. The Rev. Mr. Austin, having had his say, wisely did not stick around and retired from the field of combat. It must have been a very long evening.

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None-the-less, the editors of both The Chariton Patriot and The Chariton Herald seem to have been encouraged. On Sept. 9, The Patriot published the following:

Rev. D. Austin, pastor of the M.E. church, preached an elaborate and able sermon at the tabernacle, on Sunday night, to a large audience. The preaching of the evangelist Hall at the tabernacle has caused some comment favorable and otherwise, but we believe that every honest Christian effort to make the world better should be viewed in the light of a broad charity rather than by criticism and opposition. The Patriot has not thought it best to take note of any disputation as to the doctrine and creeds which has arisen, believing that, in the advancing progress of the teachings of him who taught peace on earth and good will to men that creeds and doctrines, without charity, are but sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. 

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The Chariton Herald had the following to say in its edition of Sept. 10:

The evangelists are still drawing immense audiences at the tabernacle, and while the community is divided on the doctrines taught, and the manner of conducting the meetings, it is but justice to say that the meetings have excited widespread interest and, considered from the standpoint of numbers, are a remarkable success. We learn that at the end of three weeks, about sixty persons have joined the church. People are attending from all parts of the county, and many from adjoining counties. Sunday afternoon the tabernacle was almost filled with women only, who listened to an address, "What a Woman Can Do," which we understand was highly appreciated. Rev. Austin, pastor of the M.E. Church, preached there Sunday night on "Baptism," evangelist Hall replying the same evening. It is estimated that 15 to 20 hundred were in attendance, many being unable to find even standing room inside. At the close there were twelve additions.

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Even the Ottumwa media were encouraged, if this report headlined "How it Looks Abroad" from The Ottumwa Press of Sept. 11 is any indication:

Baptism seems to have become a political issue in Lucas county. Some time since, a frame tabernacle was erected and a young man by the name of Hall has been preaching nightly to large audiences and has secured about sixty conversions. He belongs to the Disciple church and is very outspoken in his interpretation of his faith --- especially on the part which refers to baptism.

Recently, the local democratic organ, edited by a namesake of Campbell himself, and whom rumor says was baptized three times face foremost, attacked Hall's  position in a three column article and committed his party to free trade and baptism by application, and directly following this action was aired through the Leader, the state organ at Des Moines.

Now, to illustrate some of the inconsistencies of politics, ex-Auditor Brown, of the Herald, who has always been a Dry Land Methodist, and had the ordinance performed long before his infant mind runneth to the contrary, accepts the issue, and binds his party to prohibition and baptism by immersion, and an appeal is taken to the Des Moines Register, which sustains Bro. Brown under the circumstances.

While the politicians quarrel over their issues, Rev. Hall invited Rev. Austin to present the other side of the question in the tabernacle on Sunday evening which he did to a large audience. This evened matters to the satisfaction of all, and the editors should now feel that they have graduated in theology. 

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Of course the Rev. Mr. Austin's sermon did not even things out. We don't know if there was overt hostility on the streets of Chariton, but part of the aftermath was a flood of long and very tedious letters to the editor of The Democrat, the only one of Chariton's three weeklies that was interested in serving as a forum on the topic.

I'll spare you those, but they're available to read on two digital platforms should you be interested.

From a practical standpoint, the controversy helped to fan the flames of evangelical fervor and the meetings themselves were a rousing success. When Team Hall-Hutto departed in triumph for Kansas City during late September they left behind 156 freshly minted Disciples and pledges in excess of $2,700 toward a new building for the sponsoring congregation.

Construction of the new church building commenced as soon as the tabernacle was torn down and the congregation moved into its fine new brick quarters during 1892.