Lennie Writes About History and War and Makes Red Ink

Monday, February 14, 1898
US war ship blowed up this evening.
Went to band practice.

Tuesday, February 15, 1898
Cloudy all day.
Fred Poff went to the country to stay.

Wednesday, February 16, 1898
Nothing happened. (In regards to Lennie's day, not in regards to the battleship Maine. Written in red ink)
Made some red ink.

Lennie is a poor historian. He records an explosion that sinks the USS Maine on the wrong date! The event happened on the evening of February 15 and not February 14! The explosion sank the ship with 260 lives immediately lost and six who died later. The photo shows the Maine passing Morro Castle as she entered Havana harbor, Cuba, on 25 January 1898. She was destroyed by explosion there some three weeks later, on 15 February.

You can read more about the USS Maine here.

You can read more about the Spanish-American war here.

The events following this explosion bring a bit of life to the city of Wakefield, Nebraska. A Nebraska guard unit will be camping (and drilling) in Wakefield for a short while before being deployed. Soldiers coming to town must have been a big event and we will read Lennie's occasional comments in regards to those fellows in uniform.

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Lennie Parties With His Friends

Lennie writes today:

Thursday, January 13, 1898
Had a party to Cheavers
Staid at Fred Poff.
John Dillon in ???

I think I spelled Cheavers correctly...Lennie's writing was tiny! And those tiny penciled notations were somewhat smudged.

Afterward, Lennie "staid" overnight at Fred Poff's house.

I haven't a clue as to where John Dillon was. Was he "in town"? Was he "in trouble"? We simply do not know. At first I thought Lennie might be referring to that infamous bank robber but I was wrong. That fellow's name was John Herbert Dillinger, not Dillon. And he would not be born yet for another five years. So, no, this was not the bank robber.

The word for today is "staid". Yes, Lennie used this word incorrectly. But it IS a word.

Staid - Adjective
...Marked by settled sedateness and often prim self-restraint.

I don't think anyone could ever call Lennie prim or sedate. Nobody who is out sliding down the hill nearly every day of the week could be called "staid".

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