- 23"
mules away with brooms, Mrs. Rehill and mac Lewis especially. At times an outfit of
mules would decide to run away, always looking funny to everyone but the driver.

Mrs . G. Parker

 
 
 

The Revelation of the Following story is Credited to A.K. Brown

J.H. Hooper was one of the last "horsemen to yield to pressure in the matter of
purchasing a car and in 1919 bought a Ford -- The "Tin Lizzy" variety but this one
did have the revolutionary self-starter.

However —- the story, has it, that one day as a group of men were conversing on
Sperling main street, John Hooper drove up with his Ford, drew in to the curb,
swerving out, and headed away from town. One of the men remarked that he bet Hooper
had forgotten how to stop the thing. Later, when challenged with this, wr. Hooper
admitted this was the case, and that he had gone home and headed the "darn machine”
into a hay stack! The family remained ignorant of this for years.

In the early days of the methodist Church, when picnics were held at the various
farm homes, there was the difficulty of transporting the delicacies over rough roads.
For years there was a considerable dip in the trail about a % mile south of the
Hooper's farm, It was there that mrs. Doyle's lemon pies came to grief. Apparently
the egg crate in which the luscious lemon pies were lovingly packed, slid in the
bag of the buggy, with disastrous results.

Bob Davidson, the towns livery man, once owned a goat. Its acquisition was of
course gib news among the young fry. One day Mrs. Hooper drove to town with her
well known sorrel driver, Nell. She was viditing with her sister-in—luw, Hrs. W.D.
Prior in the dwelling at the back of the Mhssey Harris building. (This is now a
loose housing shed on the Hooper farm). In rushed nephews, Gordon and Merton,
bubbling over with the news "Aunt Nay, Bob Davison has a goat!" Mrs. Hooper's reply
was terse and to the point "I know—~I smell it."

Hooper‘s horse "Nell" was a personality in herself. mrs. Hooper was never sure'
whether the horse with attached buggy would be available after the shopping was done.
There was a better than a fifty-fifty chance, that the outfit had been driven off by
one of the Prior boys with an admiring group of followers~~~to be returned after a
trip around the block, or at least as far as the Nyer's farm.

The Hooper driving horses were always in fine fettle and in the winter time when
word got around that Mr. Hooper was in town, there was always a string of boys and
sleighs waiting for a ride. It was wonderful when mr. Hooper did a "power turnlat
the corner in front of Sparling's store and Davidson's livery barn.

Nerle and Lewis Rehill were among the youngsters adding spice to Sperling
happenings, when they weren't out at the Hooper farm, doing the same.

Anyway, the Rehill cow used to be tethered out along the "track" or in some spot
where pasture was available. Of course, it was one of the "chores" for the youngsters
to bring her home. I'm sure hrs. Bob Smith, the Presbyterian minister's wife, and
anybody who happened to be home at Dr. Martin's one day wondered what had taken over
the usually quiet back lane. They didn't know of rockets or drag strips, but had they
I'm sure they'd have bet on its being either, or both, as the Rehill cow, yards of “
tether chain, a small wagon with two youngsters hanging on for dear life, swinging
around the corner of the methodist Church shed, on up the lane to the barn at the
end of the block! I never heard about the quality or quantity of milk in the Rehill
house that night!

I remember that when the old school burned in 1923 the only article of furniture
saved was the mirror that used to hang in the cloak hall of the high-school room.
There was a play being presented in Sparling's Hall that evening and the story was
that Alec thKenzie and John Tjaden thought they might as well have the mirror
(check for names, but I believe these are correct).

As a youngster I remember feeling rather disappointed in my home, when I visited
the Mbllard twins in their mobile home. Mr. mallard did custom threshing and the
family lived in a large caboose that moved with the gang. The twins had bunks and
everything"-—while we prosaically lived in one spot and slept in beds!

Another incident involving the Rehill children was the time Merle and Lewis, with
Betty and Kenneth NacKenzie took the two horses Mr. Rehill had brought in from the
farm, and rode out to Hoopers. Of course the message to get back at once was there

before them. On the way home one of the horses got skittish, Kenneth fell off and
his leg was rather badly injured. That evening there was a reception for the newly