Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on November 1, 1935.
Who’ll Drive New Fire Truck Is Question Irking Hebron; Old Timers Recall ‘Pranks’
(By ROBERT ALLETT)
Just who should drive the new fire truck is the question bothering the Hebron town board these days. Two weeks ago Boone township bought a two-thirds ton job and presented it to Hebron officials for operation. A modern truck with a 400-gallon “booster” tank, the new equipment can give the township adequate protection against fire damages. How much protection it will give, however, is another story and one which will be aired at the next meeting of the town board to be held next Thursday night at 8 o’clock in Attorney Petrie’s office.
Two schools of thought concerning the township’s need in the line of man-power to operate the fire truck provide the basis for the controversy. At the present time Hebron has a volunteer department of twelve men and in the past the first one to reach the fire-house after a call, was privileged to drive the old truck.
Glenn Norton, president of the town board, thinks a man should be hired for twenty-four hour duty to be responsible for care and operation of the new equipment. Other members of the board, Leland Buchanan and Guy Albertson, are not entirely sold on the idea, it is understood. General sentiment in Hebron seems to support Mr. Norton’s opinion. Trustee Harry Williams is in favor of hiring a full-time fireman and the township has offered to cooperate in paying his salary.
A strong argument in favor of President Norton’s proposal was offered early Monday morning when a garage and tool shed owned by Joseph Reif, who lives east of Hebron, caught fire at 2:30 o’clock. Fifteen minutes elapsed between the time of the siren call and the truck’s response. The building burned to the ground with loss of many patent models and a Chevrolet auto, awned by Reif. Sam Folsom, commenting on the length of time it took the volunteers to get organized and reach the scene of the fire said, “the boys were just out of practice.”
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The good old days when Hallowe’en was a night of terror for Hebron residents is gone forever, according to Isaac Cross and Otis Childs, only they agree that those old days were sometimes not so “good.”
The citizens still remember the time, many years ago, when pranksters put Pastor Kruell’s buggy on the Pennsy tracks, just north of town, and watched the train smash it flatter than the wonderful one-horse shay. Detectives spent many days in Hebron following the incident, trying to find the guilty parties. Memory of their presence and the arrival of heavier conveyances combined to put a damper on such activities and for the past several years October 31 has been comparatively quiet. Heaviest casualties occur in the line of outdoor conveniences, that of Mr. Cross having been tipped over annually for the past forty years. “I fooled ‘em this year,” said Isaac, who has lived in Hebron for about seventy-three years, “and put ‘er inside.”
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In spite of the fact that the state conservation department has repeatedly stocked the Kankakee basin with small game, hunting in that vicinity is poor this year. An abundance of fox are said to be killing rabbits and pheasants. Fox pelts bring little or no price and Porter county does not offer a bounty on their heads so little has been done to wipe out this small game menace.
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The Hebron Men’s club, sixty strong, will begin its winter program of card parties next Thursday night. Last year, according to George Gidley, until last year president of the group since its organization seven years ago, average attendance was about fifty. The club is a live-wire body which each Christmas sponsors a fund for poor children. Andres Crawford is the new president.