Tuples and Attributes

Here’s a brief paragraph from Grandpa about his non-existent social life as a young man and then a story about his escapades with a motorcycle:

Father and mother both took a very protective hand in looking after us, and directing us in what was proper to do. This was so evident that at 21 when I went away to college, I had a severe struggle to adjust myself to make my own decisions as to what was proper to do. When we became young men, and other young men of the community had a buggy and team to go riding with their best girl friend, father did not believe such privileges should be granted to young people. If we went any place without our parents, we either walked or rode a lumbering farm horse. Of course such a mode of travel was no invitation acceptable to a girl. Father said that he did not believe that we should be allowed to use riding tools on the farm; because if we walked all day in the field, we would stay home at night, and not be out after dark like other young men were. Especially in the plowed field, my feet would ache so badly that after I would get the chores done, I would lie down in the front yard and bawl with aching feet. Only once my brother Irvin was permitted to take the double seated buggy and take a girl cousin of ours to a gathering. It was such an unusual occasion that I watched every detail of the proceedings even as to how Elsie was dressed.

My next escapade involving an accident was with a motorcycle in the summer of 1912. The Omaha Daily Bee advertised that they would give away a motorcycle to the one getting the greatest number of subscriptions in a given time. I had no way to travel, so I went and bought the motorcycle, with the agreement that they would give me my money back if I won the contest. I was a bit late in entering the contest, so had to make use of every day to get subscriptions. I crossed and crisscrossed the county getting subscriptions. I rode the thing until I got so sore that I counted it a favor if I was allowed to stand while eating.

I was nearing the close of the contest, and since the sun was getting low, I decided to strike out for home 25 miles to the east. I was riding down a country road that paralleled a railroad track. I had up pretty good speed when I spied a spur track coming off from the main track. It was a very bad crossing, and the rails were some inches above the bed of the road. When I hit the rails, it threw my motorcycle flat on the side. I remembered riding astride until it bounced the third time, and then I felt the stubs of weeds beside the road scratching my face. When I regained consciousness, I had the motorcycle up in the road trying to spring the wheels in line so I could push it. It was dusk and I saw a whole string of car lights coming up the road toward me. A train had passed me while I was lying in the ditch and had reported that a man had been killed up along the track. A doctor, and an undertaker, and a lot of town people had come out to get me. As soon as it was evident that I was not hurt, the doctor, undertaker, and town people all left. Two claim agents from the railroad company stayed with me and helped me push my wheel the three miles into town. When they questioned me as to what liability there was to the railroad company, I was so peeved at myself for being so foolish as to have been driving so fast on a strange road, that I would not ask for a cent. I had been warned that a motorcycle was a dangerous means of travel but I was not going to admit it under any condition, but said it was just my carelessness. I pushed the wheel into a garage and went to a hotel for the night. When I wakened the next morning, I could not imagine why I was so sore and stiff. I finally remembered the accident of the night before.

Instead of going home that day, I decided to go stay over Sabbath with a family 40 miles to the south. I had known the daughter in college. It was a very bad sandy dusty road to this family, and I became smeared with dust and grime. As I was passing a farmhouse on the way, a dog came out to meet me. I eyed him closely to see if I should speed up and go down along the road. I decided he was harmless, so I slowed up and made a left hand turn in the road. As I was making the turn, the dog jumped on behind me, and grabbed a chunk of my coat tail and jumped off with it. I stopped at the house to register a complaint, but they insisted that the dog was harmless and would not do such a thing. I could not prove it, as I and the dog were the only ones that saw it. I had to go on without the back of my coat.

I think that dirty and all as I was, and without a proper coat-tail, I did not make a very good impression to the co-ed, and they did not invite me to stay. I struck out for home, another 40 miles away, but was 12 miles from home when darkness overtook me. I tried to make it without lights. On the way I heard some rattling and was aware that I was passing a wagon in the other lane. I got as far as my grandfather’s place, pushed the wheel beside the road and crawled up in the haymow for the night.

When the report was made on the contest, I was notified that I had one third more subscriptions than I needed to win the contest. I only rode the wheel once after the accident. I sold it to a neighbor boy, for $299.00. I had enough money from it and my savings to put me through college the next year.