Memoirs of Peter Jansen; The Record of a Busy Life: An Autobiography Paperback -

From the publisher

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1921 edition. Excerpt: ... native of Wurtemberg and very accommodating and trusty but not very bright. About eight o'clock in the evening he called up on the telephone from Jansen and said he believed he could not get through the snowdrifts with his team. I told, him he would be a fool to try it; to leave the mules at the livery stable and himself to go to bed at the hotel. About midnight I heard a knock at the kitchen door. Opening it, there sood Carl, covered with ice and snow, looking like a veritable Sainta Claus, the mail pouch slung over his shoulder. I pulled him inside, as he could hardly stand, and commenced scolding him for risking his life in such a foolhardy way. Hie looked at me rather sheepishly and said: "Why, Mr. Jansen, I knew you wanted your mail." He had walked those four miles, feeling his way from one telephone pole to the next one, floundering through drifts six feet deep, often losing his way, but never giving up. It certainly was getting the news under difficulties. POLITICAL LIFE It seems but natural that I should have taken an active interest in the political and public affairs of the country of my adoption. Being a sheepman and in favor of protecting wool, it was also natural that I became a Republican from the start. However, I would probably have affiliated with the Republican party anyway. Its conservative policy and the achievements of the great men who founded it appealed to me. The Mennonite Church had never permitted its members to take an active part in politics. There was good reason for this in Russia and Germany, but here conditions were entirely different, and I soon formed the conclusion that the man who failed to do his part in maintaining good government was not a good or useful citizen. My people at first rather resented...