Fire Claims a Veteran's Souvenirs
A local veteran loses his home and irreplaceable mementos from his overseas military service to an accidental fire.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Fire last Sunday completely destroyed the home of O. W. Brown, a soldier settler south of town. Mr. Brown believes the fire originated from a defective oil stove he had lit to heat water. While he stepped outside to work, the fire gained too much headway to save the contents of the kitchen and one bedroom. Among the items lost was a chest containing souvenirs collected in Manila, Japan, and China during his service in the navy, which he prized highly. Members of the Dallas McGlothlen Post have offered to help him rebuild the house.
“He prized very highly a chest containing souvenirs that he had picked up in Manila, Japan, China and other places while he was in the navy.”
This story touches on the precarious nature of the 'soldier settler' programs following WWI, where veterans were encouraged to break new ground, often with little material security. The loss of his global souvenirs is a quiet, personal tragedy that underscores the vulnerability of these early settler homesteads.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.