LOUGHMILLER HUMAN INTEREST STORIES

     You gals, born in this scientific age, when money is plentiful and spent freely for robes and dresses, slacks, shorts and coats and who sometimes become frustrated at an early age, can't begin to imagine having just two dresses.
     Martha Harris Loughmiller planned that her four daughters have two dresses. They were half flax and half wool and were called linesey-woolsey. Boiled sassafras bark and twigs stained the material a pretty purple Sometimes they were brown from walnut juice. Many long tedious hours were spent in the process of preparing cloth to make into wearing apparel.
     And as for the young ladies who owned the dresses, it seems likely that they started the term, "haven't a thing to wear".
     Mothers in that early day seemed reconciled to hardship and rugged pathes in the new land for they sand of freedom and hope. In later years ladies wore calico dresses and aprons an reared daughters and granddaughters who wear uniforms as well as all sorts of finery and are forever trying to keep in style. Men in overalls have sired professional men who wear serge and medical smocks. With a little experience, it's not to difficult to dissect the man from the clothes he wears.



     Clara Loughmiller Franz remembers when she was 3 or 4 years old that her grandmother came to spend a few days in their home. Clarals father was Robert, grandmother Loughmiller's youngest son. Grandmother had a coin stuck in the finger of one of her black silk gloves which she asked Clara to get out for her. The little girl's tiny fingers quickly extracted the coin and grand- mother gave it to her for "keeps." Clara says, "Believe,me, that was a bigger dime than I have ever seen since." That was more than 75 years ago.



     Laura Loughmiller has in her possession a half dime with a note attached that reads, "To be used for bread only in great need". The family passed through many hard times of sickness, drouth and near disaster but there was always bread without spending the little half dime.



     Harry Loughmiller loved to tease, and because he had only sisters, they came in for a double portion of it. They lived a long way from the district school so their father took them many times. Frequently the Albin girls were added to the load which likewise added to Harry's fun. He tried various ways to scare them by trying to upset the buggy or by telling them that these were runaway horses. Line Albin Fairbanks, Harry's neigh- bor in Onaga, told of several of the pranks that Harry tried on that buggy load of girls.


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