Some History by Robert Grosz (pg. 14)
 

    Vets say the salt was only a burden to the horse and did nothing. The horse got well in spite of the rather bizarre treatment. Maybe, but I have watched Vets castrate hogs when the zodiac was "in the sign of the heart" and they lost the animal because the bleeding wouldn't stop. Another thing, Cows get wolf in the tail", that's where the last few vertebrae of the tail become soft. The cow will stagger, won't eat, give milk or a damn. The cure is to lance the area, make it bleed, pour on some "Savoss" and wrap a bandage, (well dirty rag) on it and in twelve hours she's well. It works. Durn Savoss will cure anything.

    Tiny was around till I was in college then Dad sold her to a good home. She was a lady.

    Dad had been selling milk to Charlie Turner for years. Charlie had a milk route and sold milk retail, delivered for 11 Cents a quart. Dad got 16 cents a gallon. Milk went up to 13 cents a quart and Charlie cut Dad to 15 cents a gallon. Whoa! He decided to sell milk at the barn for 25 cents a gallon, bring your jug. We could have sold 100 gallons per day but the cows didn't cooperate.

    The health inspectors were there and their instructions were always complied with. Turner was mad. He couldn't supply his route and no one else would sell milk to him so he sent inspector "Hardass" to the "Hillside Farms; G. R. Grosz Prop." with instructions to "shut him down".

    I was washing cans or milk buckets when this pompous ass strode into the milk house. "You, Grosz?" he demanded. "yes" "I'm Inspector Hardass and you're shut down". "Oh, why? was the retort. "Doesn't matter, I just told you".

    Now the guy was already in trouble but didn't know it. One did not throw his weight around my Dad unless he could back it up. Germans are Germans.

    Dad said "Mister, I'll do what I want to with this milk, I'll drink it, feed it to the pigs or throw it on you" "You can't talk to me that way ... you ...

    The lid of the cooler flew open, a five gallon milk can leaped out of the chilled water, the lid clattering across the cement and milk splashed all over.

    The guy made it for his car with five gallons of milk after him, my Dad had the can, you see. The guy jumped into his car and slammed the door. "aha" Wrong five gallons of milk was poured through the open window onto Mr. Hardass and his pretty upholstery. Ever smell raw milk after its matured a couple of days? The guy never came back. Pity.

    Seventy or so animals require a lot of feed and a lot of care. Particularly milking stock. Without electric milkers it also develops big wrists and forearms. We didn't have any little guys on the farm, always two or three lummoxes. Ole Harry had most of his marbles, well three out of five ain' t bad.

    Dad asked Harry to grease the wagon axles. So Harry got the barrel of yellow goop, the wagon jack and a stick. He methodically greased each wheel of several wagons. Later Dad, with a glint in his eye, asked him if he greased the underside of the axle or just the top. "Just the top". Well, said Dad, the weight of the wagon is on the bottom of the axle, it needs greased. "OK".

    Durned if Harry didn't go back and grease each axle again on the underside!

    Then there was old Singer, an escapee from someone's funny farm. Our employees slept in the house and Singer had his bed there too. His night clothes were a clean set of bib overalls complete with denim jacket and work shoes. He went to bed with clodhoppers on.

    Mom is tolerant, I mean, look at me, but those, clodhoppers tore the bejesus out of the sheets. "No shoes in bed lad, just no way."


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