From Book 3
Bobby Thomas had been busy while we were gone, there was a new flagpole in the yard and, as Josiah drove the truck into the yard, an American Flag was run up the pole. The hands and Foremens were all gathered to welcome two of their own back home. Steven insisted on stopping his chair and with mine and Josiah's help, he stood and saluted the flag. A great cheer went up, Steven sat back down and every hand and Foremens came up to him and welcomed him home. They hugged John, more than a few tears were shed. Peace was declared and the war was over, we got our warriors back home, I wondered how many didn't make it.
Chapter -1- INFLUENZA
It is surely grand to be home, Ella Marie is feeding me every two hours, like a baby. I can feel myself growing stronger with her care and I have begun to take over some of the business matters. My Uncles and Family had done a wonderful job of keeping everything together.
The first thing I did was appoint John Fiest as my assistant, I am not sure what to tell my Family, but, had not been for John Fiest, I would have died on that snowy mountainside in France.
I had negotiated a truce with the German Commander so that we could evacuate the Saint Mary of the Mountains School. There were 900 boys and girls there and they were trapped between our two forces. John led the children down the mountain, with me following them.
Suddenly, a German machine gun opened up and I was hit. John came running back and gathered me up in his arms, machine gun bullets whizzing past us.
I knew he was hit, but he shielded me with his own body and carried me back to our lines.
I learned later, after the peace was signed, that the German Commander, Baron Rudolf von Gort had the machine gunner hung.
I woke up in the field hospital, I guess I made a fool of myself, I insisted that John be placed beside me in the same ward. The President of France came to the hospital and decorated me and John, I understand that our own government has a box of medals for us as soon as we are fully recovered.
I insisted that John come to live in the house with his boys. He was hesitant at first, but I reminded him that after living in a tent together in France, there was nothing that we didn't know about each other, besides, Josiah and Toby eat with us regularly, what is one more appetite?
The two boys call Ella Marie, Mama anyway, so we are just one big happy family.
There are several cases of influenza in Marysville and even more in Redding. Dr. Falcon has asked for ward space, Josiah cleared out the olive warehouse and bought a bunch of Perfection Heaters to keep the place warm.
They make sure that John and I don't get anywhere near the sick folks and Mary Jane Thomas chased Uncle Jimmie out also.
Our hands are slowly being released from the Army, Uncle Tim tells me it was touch and go having enough help during harvest. The hands are mighty pleased to be back home, each one comes to see me, Gil Bates said he didn't care if he never even went into town anymore, he was home and was gonna stay there!
Josiah came to see John and me, he was as nervous as a hen in a snake farm, "Ahh errr, Mr, ahh Mr. Steven an' Poppa, I eeerrr ugh, DARN! Poppa, Mr. Steven, I want to marry Miss Matilda Gardiner!"
John and I wanted to laugh, but Josiah was so upset, we each held his hand and told him that we thought it was a fine idea.
He dashed out the front door, yelling, "YAHOO" and jumped in his pickup. That was the last we saw of him until bedtime, when he came sauntering in the door, his hair mussed up and a silly grin on his face.
The next morning at breakfast, he told us all about asking Tillie's Daddy to marry his daughter. Both John and I chuckled and asked him if she had said "Yes"?
He looked at us as if we had just climbed out from under a damp rock, "Of course she said YES"!
Ella Marie just came in the room to hear that and right away she started planning a wedding!
A young Major Thompson came by that afternoon, he told John and me that there would be a Mustering Out Ceremony at Camp Beale Friday next week for those of us who have returned.
John asked, "Colonel Blount is still confined to his wheeled chair, cannot the ceremony be done here. There is even a flag pole, if you want to use it?"
He looked out to the yard and replied, "Why not, we will do just that."
I got busy reading the weekly production reports that Toby has been producing and John went off about his business. I should have been suspicious, I looked up and saw John speaking with the Major out in the yard, but I was so impressed by Toby's reports, it failed to register on me.
It is hard to believe that Toby is only 14 years old, his reports are the equal of any I have ever seen.
Christmas came, it was so wonderful to be with my Family.
My babies are not so little now, they love to climb up on my lap and eat from my plate.
Isaac loves to sit there and tell me all the exciting things he had done that day, he gets all breathless as he tells how Mr. Snake snatched him off the swine fence or Mr. Josie (Josiah) showed him how they milked cows.
Marie likes to be held and show me her dollies, then she will cuddle up and go to sleep in my lap.
We had sent away to a company named Archer Electronics for a new radio kit for Jeffery, he will be able to send and receive short wave. He needs to apply for a license to operate it but we didn't think that would be a problem for him.
For Josiah, there was a new 1919 Ford - T-model pickup. He was so surprised, his mouth just opened and closed with no sound coming out!
Toby got a new Royal Typewriter machine, he was in high heaven.
For my darling wife, there was a diamond and pearl broach, with our names engraved on the back.
She gave me an ebony walking stick and told me to get busy and use it!
The babies got toys and dollies, the Snake brothers gave Isaac some handmade Indian leggings and Maria a beaded vest.
The Wednesday between Christmas and New Years, trucks began arriving from Camp Beale. The band set up next to the flagpole and a speaker's podium was set in place.
At twelve noon, the band began to play and we all gathered in the yard. Major Thompson headed up the soldiers and stepped to the podium, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Officers and Men of the United States Army, I introduce to you the Vice President of the United States, Mr. Thomas Marshall. Mr. Vice President"
He stepped from the podium and a man we presumed to be Mr. Marshall stepped up, "Ladies and Gentlemen, Officers and Men of our United States Army, we are here to honor two of our own heroes of the recent war. Colonel Blount, will you please come forward. On the first day of October of 1918 Colonel Blount did arrange a truce in the fighting with the German Imperial Army in order to evacuate school children trapped between the two forces. He, and his orderly, First Sergeant John Fiest, please step forward Sergeant Fiest, went into the school, directly in front of the German positions, and collected the children and their teachers. Sergeant Fiest led the children and teachers from the school and Colonel Blount brought up the rear to make sure no child was left behind. A rogue machine gunner in the German ranks opened fire on the children and Colonel Blount. Without regard for his own life, Colonel Blount rushed the children down the hill, shielding them with his own body. Colonel Blount was severely wounded, but no teacher or student was hurt beyond a skinned knee. Sergeant Fiest, seeing his Commanding Officer down, returned and carried Colonel Blount down the mountainside, himself being so severely wounded that he lost his left arm. For these actions, in the greatest tradition of our United States Military, the President has ordered me to award both of you the Medal of Honor. In doing so, I and all our people recognize you as men and soldiers of great courage and honor. Your actions have brought honor and distinction to your Country and your People. God Bless you both."
Ella Marie came to me and threw her arms around me, "I don't know whether to kiss you or sock you, you could have been killed, but you saved all those children!"
She hugged me and then went to John and wrapped her arms around his neck.
She kissed his cheek and said, "Thank you for saving Steven. We want you to stay with us forever, BROTHER!"
We closed out 1918, Jeff and Toby collaborated on the annual report. Our net profit was $8,970,500.
The banks were in stable condition and the stores had done a brisk business for Christmas. We voted to enlarge the store in Marysville and add a Blount Emporium for women's clothing.
We also agreed to finance a health clinic in Marysville, Dr. Falcon and Dr. Prescott, a new doctor who had joined Dr. Falcon's practice last summer, wanted to provide health services to the town.
The number of influenza cases is worrying, Dr. Falcon is treating 60 town people and a couple of our hands in a makeshift clinic at our olive warehouse.
Major Thompson lent us beds and blankets for the sick folk.
More and more of our hands are coming home from the war, I heard that a few of them are having nightmares at night in the bunkhouse and wake up screaming.
Josiah and Tillie have set February 15th as their wedding date, Pastor Colin Peterson is going to marry them in our parlor. Ella Marie and the hired girl are bustling around getting the house ready. Every time I look at Josiah, I think of that little, skinny boy of 13, asking me if he could work half days.
He is a full grown man now, over 6 feet tall.
His baby brother, Toby is only slightly shorter and looks to catch up to his big brother soon.
I don't know what I would do without John, I can walk some in the house, but the front steps are more than I can handle. He gathers all the daily reports from the foremen and the production reports from Toby and puts them on my desk each morning.
The Packet Captain of the William Blount reported this morning that his boiler ruptured several firetubes. My Father had the boat built nearly 50 years ago, after discussing it with Uncle Tim and Uncle Joe, we have decided to commission Rule Boatyards in Vallejo to build a new packet, with a diesel engine rather than a steam boiler.
The packet boats are still the fastest way to get freight to and from the San Francisco Bay Area. A packet boat can carry about 20 tons of freight each way.
Ten of the hands reported sick this morning, the influenza is growing. Nothing that Dr. Falcon or Dr. Prescott can do seems to help, they just have to let the sickness run its course.
We have not had any deaths yet, but reports from Redding tell of deaths there, especially the very old and young children. We may have to cut back on farm operations if any more of the hands come down sick.
The wedding is next week, Josiah asked me if he could take the new truck on their honeymoon. I told him it was his truck, if he wanted to go someplace in it, that was his decision.
He told me that Toby would handle his job while they were away. I know that John will help Toby if there is something he is not sure of.
I saw an ad in the Redding newspaper about a school in San Francisco, Heald's College, I showed it to John and asked him to sound out Toby if he would like to go.
It would be a wonderful investment for Blount Farms.
Josiah picked up a contract with the Commissary Department at Camp Beale to supply milk, butter and cheese on a daily basis. There are about 1,000 soldiers over at the Camp and the Commissary Officer ordered 10 cans of fresh milk, 20 pounds of butter daily and 100 pounds of cheese each week. He has been delivering it in his pickup truck, Toby has promised to make the deliveries while Josiah is on his honeymoon.
I talked with John about starting a delivery service, we could deliver to both stores at the same time as Camp Beale. He thought it a good idea and said he would look into it.
Knowing John, the next time I hear about it, it will already be in operation.
The day of the wedding rolled around, clear and cold. Josiah was so nervous, I was afraid he would break.
John stood next to his oldest son as Tillie's Father escorted her to the altar. She was as pretty as a picture, I could see Josiah's hands shaking, but he firmly said, "I Do" and they were Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Fiest!
Toby had gotten a 100 pounds of rice out of the warehouse and the happy couple was properly "grained" as they ran for Josiah's truck.
They stopped long enough at Tillie's house to change their clothes before heading to Sacramento and points south.
The weather turned wet and blusterly, typical upvalley weather for February.
Another ten hands reported to Dr. Falcon, with our men and the townspeople, every bed was filled. We now did not have enough men to start spring planting when the weather improved! I called a Family meeting, we needed to make some decisions fast.
We decided to plant the red wheat and rice, but we would plant no corn this year.
It would impact the profits, but there just was no help for it.
The winter wheat was already in and we would be able to harvest that before it was time to harvest either the red wheat or the rice. John offered to take over maintenance again and Toby said he would run the dairies and packet boats. He was already acting as Shipping Forman.
We figured if nobody else came down sick, we could survive until the fall.
Josiah and Tillie returned from their honeymoon and we set them up in one of the staff bungalows.
Josiah agreed to be the foreman of the harvest crew and supervise the orchards.
Josiah taught Toby how to drive and we gave him one of the pickup trucks to get from place to place.
He had just turned 15, but this was an emergency.
Toby took the delivery over to Camp Beale and when the Commissary Officer was told of our problem, he offered to send his soldiers over for the daily delivery of dairy products. Soon, we had soldiers around Blount Farms, picking up the Commissary order.
They looked enviously at our farm, one said to me, "Colonel Blount, I am getting out of the Army in two weeks, would you have work here for me?"
I replied, "Son, I am no longer a Colonel, but if you want work, we can surely use you and any of your fellow soldiers when they get out."
He smiled and said, "Yes sir, Colonel sir!"
We hired Jeff Bolt and six of his fellow soldiers, but I was never able to break any of them from calling me Colonel Blount!
The soldiers were a Godsend, they knew how to work hard and they followed instructions. We would have not been able to run the farm that summer without them. Three of our hands died of the influenza that summer, Jeff and his six friends worked for us for the remainder of their working lives.
Chapter 2 THE GOOD YEARS
By fall, the influenza seemed to lessen, we got the winter wheat harvested in June and we took a chance and planted 40,000 acres in red wheat and oats.
The rice headed up fine and we were harvesting it by mid-July. Caleb Vance was happy, he got 40 cars of rice and didn't have to dodge other buyers for it.
The summer wheat was a little late heading up as we were slow getting it planted. We put Jeff Bolt to understudy John as Harvest Foreman and John felt he was ready in time to start the harvest. The red wheat came in and nearly buried us, we kept all six combines running until early October, between a bumper crop of wheat and the extra amount of oats, we had to screw the wheat directly from the trucks into the rail cars.
The silos were full of oats!
Sadly, as winter began, four more of our hands died of the influenza, our little graveyard was growing.
Despite the deaths, our hands were content, we had build a new bunkhouse and renovated the two others, they were all now two men apartments, with private showers and sanitary facilities in each room.
We hired an assistant for Cook and also a baker.
I was growing stronger every day and in late November, I asked John to turn over the Maintenance Forman job to Jeff Bolt and come back as my Assistant.
I wanted to see the two stores and the Emporiums. Also, Rule Boatyards had our new Packet Boat ready, so we rode to Vallejo on the Isaac Blount and I watched as our crews took possession of the new William Blount Packet. It was twenty feet longer than the original, at 80 feet, it was the largest packet boat on the river and could take 60 tons of cargo!
John and I rode the new William Blount back to Blount's Landing in Marysville, it was a lot quieter and rode smoother than the old packet did. Packet Captain Gary Lancer was impressed and proud to be her Captain.
When we got back, John drove me up to Redding to see our improved store and the Ladies' Emporium. The new fall fashions had just arrived and The Emporium was a woman's madhouse, we looked inside and we both decided to come another day!
I was not happy at what I saw in the store, the meat display was poor and the vegetable were all limp. The shelves were not neat and the floor was dirty!
Gene Wilcox, the store manager was still sick with the influenza and his assistant, Paul Moore could not be found anywhere in the store.
John called Josiah and asked him to come up to the Redding store right away, and to bring some hands to clean this place up.
When he got here, he also had Tillie with him, she lit into the two clerks like a tornado and the store was clean before closing time! Tillie said she would stay in Redding with her cousin and run the store until we found a new manager. I saw she could do it, every time she glared at one of the clerks, they ran to do whatever it was she was looking at.
I figured they would be praying that we found a new manager VERY soon!
We hired Porter Fielding as the new Redding Store Manager and gave him free rein to hire/fire any of the clerks. Before the end of the year, the Redding Store was in a firm management and doing well.
We closed out the year with slightly reduced profits, we cleared $6,025,500 and felt lucky it was not worse. We hoped 1920 would be better for us, business was booming and new homes were being built in both Redding and Marysville.
Tillie Fiest asked if she could supervise the two stores and emporiums, after seeing her in action in Redding, I had no doubts about her managing the stores.
I had sent a letter to Heald's College asking for information and they sent their catalogue and requirements for entrance. I sat down with John and proposed we send Toby to get his degree.
John looked at me google-eyed, "errr ah MY TOBY? Degree?"
I replied, "John, Toby is a bright lad. He has more than earned this opportunity, we will pay his tuition and living expenses while he is in San Francisco, plus a small stipend. He WILL have a job here when he finished."
John sat down, tears flowing from his eyes, "Mr. Steven, God was surely guiding me when I came to you for a job, you have treated me as a brother, given my sons a life and now you wish to send Toby to college. God Bless you, Mr. Steven."
After he had regained his composure, he went and got his youngest son. Toby was excited at the prospect of going to college and promised to do his best. He chose Business Management as his course of study and he was accepted for the spring term.
John and I took him to San Francisco on the William Blount and got him set up in a residence room at the San Franciscan Hotel. He could take the cable car back and forth to the school and both Packet Captains knew that he was to have free passage back to Blount's Landing anytime he wanted to come home for a visit.
While we were there, I took him to be outfitted in new clothing so that he would fit in with his fellow students. I deposited $1,000 with the hotel manager that Toby could draw on. He was to be allowed $10 a week spending money and more at the manager's discretion. His meals at the hotel, laundry and incidentals were to be billed to me directly.
The WCTU (Women's Christian Temperance Union) was active in Redding and Marysville, they held smashing parties, breaking up the few bars and taverns in the towns. Congress passed the Prohibition Acts and it was made the law of the land in the Constitution.
We had learned our lesson about alcoholic drink as children, but many of the hands were not pleased.
We knew there were illegal taverns around and that some of the hands had a few drinks, but as long as they behaved themselves and didn't come back drunk, we turned a blind eye.
In June of 1920, Aunt Maggie came screaming in my front door, "Steven, he is GONE!"
Ella Marie and I rushed, as fast as we could, to their house, Uncle Jimmie had died in his sleep.
Willie and Joe were sitting on the couch, numb in grief.
Aunt Maggie was only marginally better, Ella Marie took her upstairs and put her to bed.
I sat with the boys and comforted them best I could. I told them we would handle everything, all they need do is comfort their mother. They said that they would and went upstairs to sit with her.
John arrived and we planned for a funeral. He helped me back down the front porch and I saw that one of the hands had lowered the flag to half mast.
I telephoned Pastor Peterson and he came right away. After he had seen Aunt Maggie, he came over and spoke with me, we decided to have the funeral next Saturday, since the weather was good, it would be held outside, in the picnic area.
John asked two of the hands to open a grave in the Family Plot and we made all the preparations to say goodbye to Uncle Jimmie.
Saturday arrived, clear and bright.
Ella Marie and Tillie helped Aunt Maggie, Josiah and Toby stood with Willie and Joe. Toby had rushed home on the Isaac Packet Boat to attend the funeral.
Aunt Maggie was glassy-eyed and had to be helped, she cried as the hands lowered Uncle Jimmie's casket into the earth.
Willie and Joe were trying their best not to cry, but they lost the battle as the casket was lowered into the ground.
We all were hurting and it was a somber evening for all of us.
Josiah took Toby down to the Packet Landing the next morning to catch the packet boat back to San Francisco. I watched as the two brothers hugged each other, then Toby walked over and hugged his sister-in-law, Tillie, and then he hugged me.
We stood on the landing until the boat was out of sight and then we went back home to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon, mostly remembering Uncle Jimmie.
We harvested the winter wheat, the buyer from Rainbow Mills bought the entire crop. Caleb Vance came up to watch us harvest his rice, it was a full crop, he had ordered up 40 rail cars and had to rush an order for another 10!
He left us a happy man.
The oats filled the silos again this year, so we were forced to screw the grain directly into the rail cars.
We let a contract to construct three more silos, hopefully that will solve the problem.
I named Josiah General Manager over the dairy operations and the fruits. Tillie remained in charge of the retail sales operations in both Redding and Marysville, both stores never looked better and revenues were greatly improved.
Toby came home briefly for spring break and decided he would attend summer-session at the college. He showed me his Spring Term grades, that young man never fails to impress me. He asked if we could increase his weekly stipend to $15, I authorized the Hotel Manager to increase the stipend to $20.
I heard later that Toby refused to accept the increased amount until the Manager showed him my letter!
Josiah sold 200 barrels of aged olives, he got $175 a barrel for them, that was unheard of!
We still had 800 barrels in the warehouse, and the crop looked to be at least another 500 barrels!
He told me he would be away a few days and I saw him at the Packet Landing in his best suit and shined shoes. Josiah came back a week later, carrying an armload of sales orders, he had sold all 800 barrels of olives for $190 a barrel!
I talked with Uncle Joe and Uncle Tim and we all agreed, I promoted Josiah Fiest to be Blount Farms Sales Manager. He hired four salesmen and most of our crops were sold before we ever had a chance to harvest them.
John was popping his buttons in pride, he hugged his oldest son and told him so.
Josiah told me that he had stopped in San Francisco to see his brother, Toby, and that they had created a sales scheme together. I was more determined than ever to make Toby our Business Manager as soon as he graduates.
When the peaches ripened, Josiah sold half of them to Valley Canners. They had taken over the old cannery in Redding and rebuilt it. They marketed the peaches as Blount's Pride and their stock was gone by December.
The other half of the crop, Josiah sold as fresh fruit to a new company, Hegeblad and Margulias, down in Fresno.
I was astounded at the price he got.
He did the same with the feeder beeves and swine, it was going to be a very good year indeed!
Toby came home at the end of the summer term, again, his grades were over the top. He and Josiah spent two days with their heads together before Toby took the packet back to San Francisco.
I added another $1,000 to Toby's account at the hotel and told him that he could draw however much he needed without restriction.
When Tobias reported the annual profits, we were stunned, he reported a profit of $10,760,400!
The new clinic in Maryville was in operation, there were still a few cases of influenza, but the worst seemed to be over.
Uncle Jeff has turned the accounting over to Tobias and we told Tobias to hire a couple of clerks to help him.
Uncle Tim and I gave out the bonus' this year, the hands were bug-eyed and a couple of the foremen actually cried.
We hired four more ex-soldiers as hands, except for their insistence in calling me "Colonel" they are all fine workers.
Tillie recommended we open another store and emporium in Sacramento. She said that Josiah had told her that there was no upscale store or source of fine women's apparel in the entire town.
She went down to Sacramento on the packet and negotiated for the land and ordered construction of the buildings.
We heard a story that a contractor balked at working for a woman and that she had put "the Fear of God" in him!
That summer, we made her Vice President, Retail Sales!
We purchased several surrounding properties, bringing our total acreage up to 97,000 acres under cultivation.
Willie and Joe were happy to order two more combines and several tractors.
The equipment barn was far too small, so we had it torn down and several connecting building constructed to replace it.
Josiah's first love was the dairy, even though he was no longer in charge of it, he still kept his "hand in". He designed a package for Gourmet Cheese and had the dairy fill it with a selection of their best cheeses. He test-marketed the package in San Francisco, he sent 10 tons of refrigerated cheese on the packet and it was sold out in less than an hour!
He recommended that we increase our dairy operations, he had been right on everything so far, so we purchased Falworth Dairies and Gaines Brothers Dairy. In less than six months, Blount Gourmet Cheeses were being sold as far east as Chicago and all four of our dairies were running "flat out".
Chapter 3 ROARING TIMES
1922 opened with a bang, Toby had spent Christmas at home with us and, as he was preparing to go back to school, he said, "I am going to go to summer session again this year and I will graduate next December."
Only half joking, I replied, "Your office will be ready and waiting for you, Your Majesty!"
Toby said, "Oh, oh, Josiah told you?" I replied, "Yep, and we are all so proud of you!"
His face got red and then he grinned, "Maybe Josh and I can pull out another rabbit out of the hat this year?"
He went down to the Landing to catch the packet, Josiah went with him and I could see them talking earnestly. I wondered what miracle those boys were going to come up with next.
I had gotten almost full use of my legs back, I did use my walking stick to steady me when I got tired, but, otherwise, I was completely healed of my wartime injuries.
Camp Beale was expanding, they now had two full battalions stationed there. They had increased their dairy order and were also buying beef and pork from us. They were good customers, they always sent their own trucks and the soldiers loaded and unloaded the deliveries.
Major Thompson had been promoted to Lt. Colonel and he was a frequent visitor for Sunday Dinner.
We had not had a case of influenza for six months now, hopefully, the plague was over.
All the families had moved out of Blount House, so we hired a contractor to paint it inside and out. It needed a new hot water boiler and we added a high tank to control the water pressure. The county has stopped asking us to tear the place down, they now realized that its value in hard times.
The German folks never went back to Redding, they all stayed in Marysville or Blount's Bluff. Oskar Heinz was a prime machinist and we hired him to run our machine shop. It seemed like there was nothing he could not make on a lathe or milling machine. His son was learning his father's trade and Oskar asked if he could apprentice his boy, Lothar. It was fine with us and we ended up with two superb machinists.
Some of the older combines were beginning to show their age, so we had Willie order three new ones for us.
Earthworm Tractors had changed their name to Caterpillar Tractors and they had a new super tractor out, called a D-12. Uncle Joe thought it would be good for the sub-soiler, so we had Willie order one of those, also.
We had 30,000 acres in winter wheat and Josiah had it sold before we even started cutting!
Jerry Bates had succeeded Josiah as General Foreman over the dairies, swine and beeves. He and Josiah got their heads together and he ordered 10,000 feeder calves along with 1,500 feeder swine. I questioned the order, but Josiah just smiled, so I let it go through, everything else Josiah had touched had turned to profit so far.
He talked Manteca Beef into building a slaughterhouse in Redding and had the railroad build a siding to serve the plant. He was right, we started shipping beeves to the slaughterhouse in July and swine in August. It took all our oats and nearly all the corn to feed that many animals, but we were shipping as far east as New York City!
They were marketing as Manteca Corn Fed Beef and getting a premium price for it.
There was a huge crop of olives, but they had to cure for two years before they could be sold. The peaches were good and, again, Josiah had them all sold before we ever picked even one!
That young man could probably sell ice to the Eskimos!
Tobias reported our year-end profits to be $14,975,400, despite the expenditure for a new store and emporium in Sacramento!
Tillie is after me to authorize an emporium in San Francisco, I will bring it up at our annual meeting.
The packet Isaac is getting pretty old and we ordered a new one built by Rule Boatyards, it will be the biggest packet on the bay, 110 feet long! Even with the new road and the railroad, it is still the quickest and cheapest way to send freight to the Bay Area.
Toby came home with his diploma in his hand and we immediately made him Vice President, Business Manager. He is already expanding the stores and has renamed them "Safe Foods"
He is building stores in San Francisco, Stockton, San Jose and Fresno. He had Willie order 12 refrigerated motor trucks to distribute food and goods to the stores.
The years seemed to run together, 1923 and 1924 flashed by us almost before we could catch our breath. We lost Uncle Joe in late 1924, he dropped dead from a heart attack.
Aunt Maggie has had to slow down, Dr. Falcon put her on some pills for her heart and told her to learn to like her rocking chair!
We enlarged the Marysville Clinic into a full hospital. Dr. Falcon is the President of the Hospital and there are 8 doctors there now.
We finished out 1924 with a profit of $19,570,000 and voted to open a branch of banks in Stockton and Vallejo.
John Fiest has had to slow down a bit, his war wound is troubling him. It bothers him that he cannot be on top of what his boys are doing, but they both make sure they visit him often and tell him all that is going on.
Jeffery asked that we invest in a radio station, we bought KNA in Redding and built KLCA in Oakland. They aren't profitable yet, but they are at least breaking even now. Jeffery is managing both stations and Josiah is assisting him in obtaining advertisers.
1925 started out well, the weather cooperated and we were able to harvest the winter wheat in April, it was a good thing because our customers were desperate for the grain.
We doubled the acreage in oats again, Jerry ordered 12,000 feeder beeves, and 2,000 swine, combined with the milking cows, we were running out of animal feed.
The demand for dairy products has nearly doubled in the last 5 years, especially the premium products, fancy cheeses, butter and cream.
Our Safe Food stores are increasing their sales every year and we have opened 10 new stores in just the last year. Tillie has a staff of 20 employees just to manage the stores, we broke off the emporiums and made them a separate entity, the Emporium in San Francisco is the largest of the emporium stores and we recently completed a new building, it is 12 stories high in the heart of the fashion district of San Francisco.
Josiah is running a sales force of 30 salesmen and women and he is hardly ever home. He and Tillie have a home in San Francisco as well as here on the farm.
Josiah telephoned me the other day, he told me that he heard some disconcerting news about the economy and he suggested we sock away some reserves for hard times. Times are good and that is hard to believe, but Josiah has never been wrong yet, so we had Tobias plug $2,500,000 into gold and silver coin and place it in our private vault. Even with the set-aside, the profit for the year was historic, $23,396,900!
We still give bonuses' to the hands and foremen and Christmas bonuses' to all the other employees. Some of the hands are getting along in years, it was always Poppa's policy to let them live here after they cannot work the farm anymore. We can't see any reason to change that policy, so we contracted to build a retirement home next to Blount House.
The first residents were the Snake Brothers, Aldon and Roger. The two had not aged well and arthritis has them pretty well crippled up. Cook was the next to retire, he had been cooking for our crews for 50 years!
As soon as 1926 began, we started hearing rumors of financial problems, we voted to put another $2,500,000 into coin in April.
Sales orders were high, but we noticed that payments on billings were slower coming in. We advised our banks to exercise caution and we began to require 20% payment on placement of orders.
Just to be on the safe side, I told Jerry to reduce the feeder beeves and swine next year and to hold the feed in the silos. With the three news silos we built, we can hold all our grain, except for the rice.
The winter wheat came in and we only planted half the fields, we left the other half fallow.
Anchor Beer collected their rice and we harvested the corn and red wheat. The oats filled all the remaining silo space as we finished out the year.
Directly after Christmas, Tobias reported a profit of $19,150,300. We placed another $2,500,000 in coin in the vault and distributed the remainder, as usual.
1927 began with a bang, sales were up and demand outstripped our supply. Still, the rumors persisted and the banks were reporting higher than normal delinquent mortgage payments, a sign that Josiah was right.
Business remained brisk, however.
We reduced our exposure by fewer feeder beeves and swine and we reduced the number of acres under cultivation. We must not have been the only ones reading the signs, despite the lower grain production, income remained high. Tillie did notice that high end items in the Emporiums were moving slower and more items were being purchased on credit.
She instructed her stores to start restricting credit and reducing inventory.
We sold our feeder beeves and swine to Manteca Beef and satisfied ourselves with just dairy products. Our silos were full and we did not plant any winter wheat in the fall.
Despite reduced production, yearend profits were not seriously affected, Tobias reported $19,210,100 in profits. Again, we diverted another $2,500,000 in coin to the vaults.
Our employees were beginning to notice the reduced operations, we held meetings with them to explain what we believed was happening and to assure them that we were not closing down and there would be no wholesale layoffs or terminations.
They were not totally reassured, but we had a good reputation with our employees and they felt we could ride out the coming storm.
We began 1929 with cold and dismal weather, the heavy rains made us all miserable.
Josiah and Tillie decided to sell their home in San Francisco and return home. They got their property sold in May and were back with us in early June.
By the end of July, cracks were beginning to show in the economy and we started reducing the inventory in the Safe Food Stores. We made sure the banks knew our policy, there would be no putting folks out on the street, each bank had sufficient reserves to ride out any storm.
Hungry children were to be fed, no matter what!
Each store was told to make plans for a "soup kitchen" and they were to let us know if they spotted children going without food, clothing or a place to stay.
That was Poppa's policy and it was now ours!
On October 29th, the house of cards came tumbling down. Businesses and factories closed and there was a wave of suicides.
We readied Blount House, knowing homeless children were on their way.
By December 1st, the first children arrived, Sheriff Jacobs found them at the bus station!
TBC
Follow the Blount Family as they deal with the Great Depression. Waves of the homeless and the helpless are helped by this generous Family and the nation reels under the impact of Market Crash, no work and no food. They will survive and bring a whole new generation along with them in "CRASH"