Duchess & Sadie's Snowy Domain

Bayfield, Colorado - Has Winter snow come your way yet? There are ways to get out and enjoying the Winter months and make something out of something cold and dreary. AND ... if you are an outdoors type of person, you might try skiing, snow-shoeing, cross-country skiing and making something out of all that snow.

Rob Skiing Vallecito -- Rob is testing out his cross county skis in this video we placed on our OkieLegacy YouTube site. We have included one video and a digital still photograph, one skiing and one snow-shoeing.



In this digital photo you can catch Rob Snow-shoeing up the mountain. OR ... is he really snow-assing down the mountain?

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Home Comfort Range (1934) - Chimney Construction

America - Last week we promised you some information from our Home comfort Range cookbook about the Chimney construction and the most common faults in construction and care of chimneys.

Chimney Construction

Until recent years there were very few chimney builders, or even architects, who knew anything about the science of drafts of the requirements of a chimney.

The average brick mason throws up a pile of brick and mortar full of pockets and offsets, and calls it a "chimney." The name is a misnomer. So, in the interest of the afflicted we give below for you guidance such information as our sixty odd years experience now suggests.

The first and foremost purpose of a chimney is to produce a draft that will cause sufficient combustion to carry off the resulting smoke. Many unsatisfactory cooking and heating plants, and much excessive fuel consumption are due to improperly constructed chimney. The chimney furnishes the draft. However, one often hears such expressions as --
"My stove will not draw;"
"It fills up with soot;"
"The fire will not burn;"
"The oven will not bake on the bottom."

Such complaints will never end until the cause is removed -- and the cause, nine times out often, is a poor flue.

If it were possible for the manufacturer to furnish a flue with each stove or range sold, there would be no such thing as a stove or range that did not do its work satisfactorily.

The National Board of Fire Underwriter's Report shows that a larger number of fires are caused by defective chimney construction than anything else.

Most Common Faults in Construction & Care of Chimneys:

1st - The use of unsuitable materials - Clay sewer pipe -- hollow building blocks, or unprotected concrete should never be used.

2nd - The improper laying of brick. Brick should never be laid on edge. Linings should be used in all brick chimneys where the walls are less than 8 inches thick.

3rd - The lack of proper support for chimneys. No chimney should be carried on any timber-construction of the building, and where it rests upon the ground sufficient masonry foundation should be provided to prevent settling.

4th - Building inflammable material into chimney or against it without proper insulation.

5th - Failure to keep flue free of soot and joints in brick work properly pointed. A leaky flue is the most frequent cause of draft troubles, high fuel bills and destructive fires.

Back in the 1930's they would test chimney for leaks by doing the following: First drive out cold air by burning paper. Then throw a wet blanket over top of flue and start smudge fire in range.

The draft in a chimney depends entirely upon the flue. The better the flue, the more satisfactory and efficient will be the operation of your cooking apparatus. The strength or intensity of the draft is dependent mainly upon the size and height of the chimney flue. A chimney may be high enough, yet have an area too small to carry the volume of smoke. On the other hand, the size may be sufficient, but the chimney too low to produce a draft. Either fault -- or a combination of the two -- will result in unsatisfactory service.

A straight, round flue not less than 9 inches in diameter on the inside and built higher than the house or other obstructions will furnish the necessary draft for family stove or range.

The minimum height of a chimney for family stove or range should not be less than 35 feet above the fire pot -- the higher the better. Some authorities contend that any flue under 40 feet in height will produce an erratic draft -- good some days and poor others.

Chimney Connections

Many fires are caused by more than one opening in the flue. This should never be permitted as sparks may enter the flue at one opening and pass out into the house at the other. Not only is there risk of fires from 2 openings, but this is one cause of unsatisfactory draft.

Next week we shall bring you some more information about Home Comfort Range materials. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

NW Okie's R & R - The Good Old Days

Bayfield, CO - We went back through our OkieLegacy archives and find another view of the McGill Bros. Swimming Pool in the early 1900's. The photo on the left shows the backside of the building and the McGill Bros Swimming Pool, with the young boys in the pool and standing up against the building are supposedly Alva businessmen and fathers of the boys. Grandpa Wm. J. "Bill" McGill is the tall, fourth gentlemen from the right, backrow, in front of a door or window.

We have included other memories we found in the archives concerning McGill Swimming Pool memories. See if any of these memories jog some more of your memories.

Did the snows finally reach the heartlands of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and on eastward toward Georgia. NOW! Do you believe in "Global warming?"

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McGill Swimming Pool

Alva, Oklahoma - Earl Fugit remembers swimming the McGill Swimming Pool. Yes! It was between two buildings. There was a skinny walkway from the front of the building on the eastside towards the back where the swimming pool existed. See photo in next paragraph showing location of McGill Bros. Furniture and the short building on the far right where the swimming pool was behind. Today, as you walk the 600 block of Barnes Avenue, you might see a short building with a "Hot Rod Mural" on the front. The swimming is filled in now, but sets behind this building.

If you look closely at the photo on the left you will see McGill Bros Furniture (where Smith Dentistry is today). On the far right of that same photo there is a short building and you can see a gap between it and the building next to it. I believe the McGill Swimming Pool was behind the short building on the right.

You can read more about the McGill Bros and their furniture store at this link: McGill Bros. Furniture, July 18, 1936. Maybe some northwest Oklahomans have some antique furniture stored some place with McGill Bros Furniture stamped on the backside.

Earl remembers, "In my younger days I swam in this pool. As I remember it was between two buildings. The distance from the pool to the buildings was only 6 feet if that much. The pool was small and if the girls in that picture were in the water at the same time, the water in the pool would have overflowed. The only other swimming pool in the area was at Carmen I also used to swim there in the 1930s and early 40s." View/Write Comments (count 1)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Nickels / Ensor / McClure Home Restoration

Alva, Oklahoma - The Nickels / Ensor / McClure home that stands at 13th & Locust Street, on the southwest corner, in Alva, Woods county, Oklahoma, is continuing its restoration of this pioneer home that dates back to the early days of this northwest Oklahoma community.

It was in our OkieLegacy Ezine, Vol. 11, Iss. 45, dated 2009-11-09 that Jerry Cathey comments on the feature concerning the Nickel/McClure Mansion Restoration. Jerry says, "I work at the Ponca City Art Center (Soldani Oil Mansion b 1925) One of the Soldani granddaughters married Doug McClure, the actor (he signed our guest book about 1985). I love the home in Alva and wondered if there was a connection. I did some research thru the Alva newspaper and one of the Nickols or McClure families made a train ride back to W Va (West Virginia) about 1915 for a funeral, I believe."

Restoration Progress On Nickel / Ensor / McClure Home

Mark Bellah purchased this pioneer awhile back and has been doing restoration and gives us an update of the progress,"The train ride would have to have been Nickel as McClure's time would have been in the late 1950's early 1960's. I would love to hear more about the train ride if you have more info. Yes! It was called the Ensor mansion, Dr. Danny Boy Ensor bought the home in 1941, and one daughter (Evelyn) still lives here in Alva. The address is still 1301 Locust, and the restoration is coming along slowly but surely.

"The home is mostly furnished now with turn of the century antiques, with the exception of the theater in the basement. We have had to do tireless work to find original light fixtures as some were missing throughout the home. The tile roof will be the largest task to date and should begin in the Spring. The kitchen and ballroom are underway at the present. We are still searching for pictures of George and Lena Nickel, and pictures of the interior of the home pre-1940 if anyone can help. Thank you." View/Write Comments (count 3)   |   Receive updates (2 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

NWOSU's Lincoln Bust

Alva, Oklahoma - Lisa Ingels - Ayala comments on the feature (NWOSU's Lincoln Bust), in Vol. 9, Iss. 4, dated 2007-01-27, "Thank you for displaying the bust with my great uncle, Frank Ingels, brother to my grandfather, Roland Ingels. Anyone out there, I would appreciate help in obtaining a family tree that leads from Roland Ingels to Quanah Parker.

We have a lot of American Indian blood and I am proud of that. Thank you."

The Lincoln Memorial & Sculptor was done for the Class of 1915 that placed on the campus the shaft erected to Honest Abe. The bust was made by a Northwestern student. The bust was donated to the Class of 1915 by Frank Ingles as his token to Alma Mater thru his brother Roland, a member of the class.

The bust came from the studio of Lorado Taft, out to the plains of Oklahoma, to Northwestern's very campus. Here it stands thru the white heat of the summer noonday, thru the chill of the winter winds, staunch, unflinching, a benefactor to all who heed.

It was delivering a silent message to the generations of Rangers passing by. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

This Day In History (January 10)

America - On this day in history, January 10th, do you remember back to 1964 when the rock-n-roll british group known as the Beatles introduced their first album (Introducing the Beatles) in the United States?

1861 - Florida seceded from the Union.

1863 - London's Metropolitan, the world's first underground passenger railway, opened to the public.

1870 - John D. Rockefeller incorporated Standard Oil.

1920 - The League of Nations was established as the Treaty of Versailles went into effect.

1957 - Harold Macmillan became prime minister of Great Britain following the resignation of Anthony Eden.

1964 - The Beatles' first album in the United States, "Introducing the Beatles," was released.

1967 - Republican Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, the first black elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote, took his seat.

1971 - "Masterpiece Theatre" premiered on PBS.

1984 - The United States and the Vatican established full diplomatic relations.

2000 - America Online agreed to buy Time-Warner for $162 billion. (Time-Warner decided to spin off AOL in 2009.)

2003 - North Korea withdrew from a global treaty barring it from making nuclear weapons.

2005 - CBS issued a damning independent review of mistakes related to a "60 Minutes Wednesday" report on President George W. Bush's National Guard service.

2007 - President George W. Bush announced he would send a "surge" of 21,500 U.S. forces to Iraq. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

McGill Swimming Pool Memories

Alva, Oklahoma - This photo on the left shows what the 600 block of Barnes Avenue looks like at the present. Behind the short building is where old McGill Swimming Pool once filled many young lads and girls in the early 1900's during the hot summer months.

We did a search back through our OkieLegacy archives for more memories of McGill Swimming Pool stories and found the following memories featured in Vol. 7, Iss. 13, dated 2005-04-02:

This is some more information we gathered about the McGill Bros. Furniture stores and swimming pool: "The McGill Bros. Furniture had two stores in the 600 block of Barnes Avenue, in Alva, Oklahoma. The first store was just East of DeGeer's two-story building. The DeGreer building had the Grocery Store on the bottom floor, main floor and apartments on the second story."

"I think the pool was almost behind Bill Brands pool hall. I played lots of dominos there. Nothing but soda to drink. When I went out the back door, I seem to remember going around the edge of the pool. Never remember it having been used. This would have been around '54 or '55. Wow, has it really been that long ago? How time flys when you're having fun! Hope you are too!" -- Steve

"I remember the swimming pool, used it often in the 30's. Can't remember it being open in the 40's, but there was a pool room either right or left of where the pool entrance was. It didn't sell beer and was a hangout for the teen-agers. I can't remember the name of the guy who owned it. I and several of my close friends hung out there during the summer of about 1940 or so. Max McAlister, Jimmy Appleman and I. Those were the days!!" -- Max

"That swimming pool behind the south side of Barnes Avenue was still there in the 60's, but it was full of weeds and hadn't been used in years. My mom used to tell me that she swam there in her youth." -- Scott

"The street was Barnes Avenue, of course. As I recall, Bob Shorts Dad had a store there and next door was a barber shop. You walked between the stores, by the old pool, to the alley. Across the alley was the Doctors offices and clinic." -- Richard

Remember this following poem about the McGill Bros. Swimming Pool, written by Wm. J. "Bill" McGill:

McGill Bros Swimming Pool
At the close of sultry summer day
Join the crowds that wend their way
To plunge in water fresh and cool
At McGills' most popular Swimming Pool.
And just a few steps from the door
You'll find their Famous Furniture Store.
There, too, your needs will be supplied,
And all your tastes be satisfied.
McGill Brothers, S.W. Cor. Square. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

Gene & Bob McGill (July 1923)

Alva, Oklahoma - We found this photo of our dad (Gene McGill, age 9), on the left, and his younger brother (Bob McGill, age 7), on the right. The date written on the back was 24 July 1923. You got to love those swim suits & caps that they wore back then, don't you.

In the Summer of 1923 you can see that Chick Studio was advertising along the west wall of the swimming pool. Amongst other downtown businesses in Alva, Oklahoma. View/Write Comments (count 0)   |   Receive updates (0 subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe