The Wood Pile
My father worked on the Nickel Plate Railroad as a Building and Bridge Forman. He was the type of person who threw nothing away and brought home a lot of wood that the railroad was throwing away. Sometimes he would bring it home by truck. Other times he would bring it home on a trailer behind a motorcar. Kinders coal yard had a railroad spur going into it. He would park on the spur and us kids would carry it home and put it in the woodpile or under the house.
The old water tower, which set on the railroad north of town, ended up in our woodpile before being turned into hog houses. The wood from the water tower was redwood and put together with wooden pins. It was about 3 inches by 8 inches by 20 feet and weighed a ton when wet but a few pounds when dried out.
He had a coal shed and a large workshop built from the sides of wooden railroad cars. He built chicken houses, doghouses, porches, tables and chairs for the girls. Dad found all sorts of uses for this wood.
His job kept him away for weeks at a time. When dad was away was when us kids found other uses for the wood.
It was late in the fall and all vegetables were removed from the garden. Someone came up with the idea of building a under ground fort. We dug a hole 8-foot square and 4 feet deep. We put 2 by 4�s across it and coverer it with sheet metal, which my dad had also brought home from the railroad. We covered the whole thing with dirt except the entrance, which we camouflaged the best we could. Finding the fort too small for all the kids in the neighborhood, we added anther 8 by 8 room connected by a tunnel. We had all the comforts of home except a fireplace. We dug a hole about 18 inches square in one end and added a chimmy with a post hole digger. A piece of steel grating sat on 2 bricks, and we were ready for the fire.
Roy Dell was in charge of building the fire. He had just got the fire started when Dad came out the back door with a load of clothes to hang on the line. David and me were outside of the fort to get some more wood and seen dad. Smoke was pouring out of the chimney and we both knew we would be in big trouble if dad found out about the fort. David, being the quick thinker that he was, set on the chimney to hide the smoke. So far, David�s quick action had saved the day. He was going to be a real hero. Just when we thought things would be OK, the kids in the fort were overcome by the smoke. They started coming out of the ground like rats. This got dad�s attention. A dozen screaming kids coming out of the ground would get anybodies attention and would doom our fort. We pleaded with him to let us keep the fort until it was time for the planting of the garden next spring. He had all types of reasons why we had to cover it up. What if the New Midrid fault shifted while we in the fort? We would all be buried alive. What if we had a flood? We would all drowned. It was a lot less fun returning the wood to the woodpile and covering up the hole than building the fort. I learned a lesson from my father. NEVER LET YOUR PARENTS CATCH YOU HAVING FUN.
Garry W. Tidler
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