News from Woodland Township, Decatur County, Iowa

Leon, Iowa area, date unknown

Woodland.

T. J. Stephens has his new house nearly completed; it is quite a commodious residence.

Mrs. Knowles is having an addition built to her house.

John and Jim Newlin are home from Charles City visiting their families.

Clyde Rain was an over Sunday visitor at his father's in Woodland.

It is our sad duty this week to report the death of our young friend Evert Stephens, son of James Stephens, of this township which occurred last Sunday evening at 5. p. m. Evert had been sick for three months or more and all was done for him that could be done by kind hands and loving friends; but he had to go. He was born and grew to manhood in Decatur county. He was 18 years 2 months and 15 days old at the time of his death. He was a member of the Advent Christian church. I think I would be safe in saying he had no enemies, but his friends were legion. He leaves father, mother and two sisters to mourn his loss. The family have the sympathy of the entire community.

Rev. Foster filled his regular appointment here last Sunday.

Lawyer Jackson, of Mt. Ayr, is visiting his brother Dr. Jackson for a few days.

Should Mothers of War-Dead Be Sent To France?

1920

A Suggestion

Why shouldn't the Government give the next of kin — or mothers, at least — of American boys buried in France, asks the Stars and Stripes, a soldier's newspaper, the alternative of having the bodies returned or of visiting the graves?

The Government has pledged itself to bring back all bodies asked for by the next of kin. It will cost no more — probably less — to take a mother to France than to return the body of her son.

Many mothers are not so anxious to have the bodies returned as they are to have some visual evidence that their sons are buried in proper surroundings. In recognition of this desire the Red Cross has taken pictures of graves, to be sent to the mothers.

Wouldn't it be a graceful and grateful act on the part of the Government, for whom these mothers have made the supreme sacrifice of womanhood, to take them to the spot where their boys are sleeping beneath the little white crosses?


None Too Much

Down in Connecticut, says the Boston Post, the courts seem determined to do what they can to end the pernicious activities of the automobile thieves who flourish there as everywhere else. As earnest of this intent, one Walters, the recognized leader of a gang of accomplished snatchers of motor cars who have stolen $30,000 worth of the machines within a short time, was given a sentence of twenty-three years and nine months in prison. An accomplice drew fourteen years. The first mentioned is said to be a record sentence in Connecticut for this particular offense.

It is a record that should be emulated by other courts.

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Feb. 28, 1920, p. 6.

Leave Taking When Visiting Someone

1902

A little nicety of leave-taking that is practiced by a certain well-bred woman, says the Dundee News, is to rise to end the visit while she is the speaker. In this way she is apparently leaving while she is much interested.

This is better than to start at the end of a pause, or to jump up the moment your hostess's voice drops. One way implies boredom; the other waiting for a chance to get away. This may seem a trifle of observance, but it is worth while if only to train one's self in the habit of easy leave-taking -- a rare accomplishment even among women with wide social experience. Once standing, leave promptly, and avoid spinning out a second visit in the hall.

Etiquette — "When a Guest, When Do You Retire for the Night?"

1910

Delicate Point at Issue

Whether Guest or Hostess Should Make First Move for Retiring for the Night

Until the end of time it will probably be a mooted question whether guest or hostess should make the first move for retiring for the night. When staying in a house for the first time this is one of the most difficult points for a guest to decide, and it takes a great deal of tact and discernment to arrive at a correct conclusion.

In the summer house at country or seashore the chances are, if the host goes to town for business every day, that the whole household is up early. The hostess is certainly, as a rule, if her husband is a business man. In that case it is almost essential that they go to bed early. Logical as this conclusion may seem, a guest fears to suggest going too early to her own room, lest she should seem to be bored during the evening, and thus it is, when both really would like to turn in at a reasonable hour, they and others are kept up by a desperate attempt to be polite.

If any rule of procedure may be laid down for a stranger in the house it is to find out, as soon as possible, at what time breakfast is served and when the host goes to town. It is a safe method, if he goes early, and especially if breakfast is served for all at an early hour, to suggest retiring by ten o'clock at the latest, and in more than one household in the summer the same people who turn night into day in the winter go to their rooms by nine o'clock in the evening. It is better for guests to err on the side of going too soon than too late, for nothing will make strangers more unpopular than to overturn the comfortable habits of the household.

Host and hostess are not required to go to their own rooms because guests may have retired to theirs, but they are obliged to stay up if the stranger makes no move to retire.

It is by no means difficult, even for a person making a first visit, to suggest retiring. She may say that she is tired from having been so much out of doors, or that the heat is rather trying, or any other such simple excuse as may come into her mind, and declare that she would like to retire. She makes her good-nights then at once, and the host and hostess are at liberty to follow their usual customs.