Baby, Burn

Monday, July 11, 1921, was a day of joy the Kegebein farm, as Albert and Frieda Witt welcomed a baby boy into the world — their fifth child.

Tuesday was a day of disaster.


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From the Hobart Gazette 15 July 1921.

Going into Hobart, Albert had actually seen the town's fire engine rush by him, never suspecting it was headed towards his own place. Perhaps someone telephoned Jim Chester, who lived on Water Street, and told him go find Albert; the Herman Neef residence, where Jim caught up with Albert, was on Lake Street.

It must have been a shock to the unnamed sister (in-law) staying with Frieda when she looked outside and saw the roof of the 36' x 66' barn all on fire, and she in charge of a sick woman and five children. The Bullock home to which Frieda was carried was probably the Claude and Mary Bullock farm on the bank of the Deep River.

With no fire hydrants in the area, the Hobart fire department had to rely on its "chemical engine." When its chemicals were exhausted, the house and new granary had been saved, but the wreckage of the barn and other buildings was still smoldering. The last of the fire was put out with a hose "attached to the feed pipe running from the creek [Deep River] to Ainsworth used in mixing concrete."

Frieda recovered, and so did the baby, whom they named — not Blaise, Incendio, or even Phoenix, but — Clyde.

(You will notice just above the newspaper report of the Kegebein fire, another barn fire in Hobart.)

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In local sporting events we have Hobart's Everett Newman triumphing at the Roby speedway, and a mercenary baseball team from Valpo.


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From the Hobart News 14 July 1921.


Additional Sources:
♦ "$5,000 Fire at the Kegebein Farm, Tuesday Afternoon." Hobart News 14 July 1921.
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ "Births." Hobart Gazette 15 July 1921.

Heat, Dust, Fire, Fists, and Speed

The Hobart Speedway's event of July 3, 1921, organized by the Gary Auto Racing Association, was described as a "free for all" — meaning that any driver, from anywhere, could participate who paid the $20 entry fee.

Among the entrants was a 27-year-old Hammond resident, Emil Huff, who owned an auto repair shop; a racer of at least four years' experience, he seemed to be something of a local celebrity. Riding beside him in a remodeled Essex roadster (maybe something like these) would be Earl Nussear, his mechanic, who, the previous year, had been "pit man" to the famous Gaston Chevrolet.

A Chicago driver, Eston "Bill" Winston, would be driving a Ford. Other out-of-towners came from East Chicago, Indiana Harbor, Gary, and Whiting, including Bill Harris, driving the "Red Devil," and Bill Vogt, piloting the "White Streak," also known as the "Million Dollar Ford."

"The track has been chemically treated to eliminate dust," the Gazette promised. But as the racers and the spectators — about 2,000 of them — gathered on Sunday, July 3, the temperature reached 98 degrees and the sun beat down pitilessly. The dirt track and the vegetation around it baked to dryness, with predictable results.

The Gary Evening Post gave the most complete account of that exciting and miserable day:


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By sheer luck I have acquired a series of eight photographs that I believe show the July 3, 1921 race (since the details in the handwritten captions match up to that unusual race). They were taken by Willis J. Imes, an 18-year-old letter carrier from Hammond.*


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*I have a whole album of his photographs, dating generally to the 1920s, most of them with captions, but since only the eight above relate to Hobart and none to Ainsworth, I don't know if I can ever come up with an excuse for including them in the blog.


Sources:
♦ 1920 Census.
♦ 1930 Census.
♦ "3 Spills, One In Hospital, Fire, Fist Fight, At Hobart Speedway." Gary Evening Post 5 July 1921.
♦ "Auto Races Here July 3rd." Hobart Gazette 1 July 1921.
♦ "Bad Spill in Hobart Auto Races." Lake County Times (Hammond, Ind.) 5 July 1921.
♦ "Hobart Was a Very Quiet and a Very Warm Place Over the 4th." Hobart News 7 July 1921.
♦ "Lake County Racers Tune Up Machines for Hobart." Gary Evening Post 1 July 1921.
♦ "Race Fans Receive Several Thrills at Speedway, Sunday." Hobart News 7 July 1921.
♦ Smith's Directory of Hammond, Ind. and West Hammond, Ill. for 1921-1922. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
♦ "Two Hurt at Auto Races." Hobart Gazette 8 July 1921.