16 - On The Train - 3 June 1936

Click here to read story from beginning 

 Story so far: Grandma Cecile had planned her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. Finally after months of planning, she was on her way, riding the train from Salem, Oregon, to Portland, Oregon, where she had to change trains. From Portland, the Northern Pacific train headed east to Chicago, Illinois. 

*****

Pullman stub - front

Pullman stub - back

 

 

 

Grandma Cecile was heading east on the train for the third day. She did not have a lot to say. The swaying of the rushing train apparently made her a little seasick.  

 Her notes have mentioned food twice already, and she was not eating much. When my parents and aunts and uncles talked about Grandma's trip, they always talked about everyone worrying about her health. She had problems with anxiety. Personally, I can relate. When I was younger, especially when I was in school, social situations made me shy and anxious. When I was in the middle of an episode of anxiety, the last thing in the world I wanted to do was eat. Just looking at food could make me sick. Grandma was probably feeling the same way. 

 Her first sentence refers to "that old lady". It is not clear who she was referring to, herself or someone else riding on the train. By other comments she made along the way abiout people around her, it was probably a fellow passenger. 

 Here is her next diary entry:

JUNE 3 Nothing to tell except that old lady is really too feeble to travel alone. Today the train crew wanted to make up for lost time. If we dared to walk a little, we were cast from one side to the other. I ate very little. I had hot milk, black bread and figs (canned) and am feeling okay.

Since Grandma Cecile didn't have much to say, I'll include more pages from the Northern Pacific train schedule. The document is 62 pages long, so I tried to select the more relevant pages and some interesting ads.

The map below did not fit on my scanner, so I had to join the two scans together.Grandma's train followed the main route across the top of the map.

Map

Remember, to see the pictures closer, just click on any of them and then you will be able to scroll through them all.

Detail closer to Chicago, read up

Page 14 & 15, Montana through North Dakota

Ad for Hawaii travel

Sights to see!

Grandma went by north side of Yellowstone

Notice the vintage of trucks and trains!

Sleeping Car Rates

General Information for travelers

 *************************************************

Story to be continued......

To read Post "17 - Coach 777 Out Of Chicago - 4 June 1936" Click here

15 - Diary From the Train - 2 June 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has been planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has all her plans made and schedule set.

*****

Finally the day arrived when Grandpa Alois and her young daughter Betty drove with Grandma Cecile to Salem to the train station where she departed. It took her until the second day on the train to settle down, gather her thoughts and begin to write.

Being frugal, she conserved paper by writing in a continuous block, no paragraphs, no line spaces between dates, she just kept writing. To make it easier for you to read, I have inserted breaks, but I have not changed her words. In the image shown at right, you will notice a question mark over "(1936)" and a page number in right hand corner "1." Those marks were added by Sr. Agnes Beitel when she made her copy of the diary.

If you are unfamiliar with the initials J.M.J. at the top of the page, it is essentially a prayer, it stands for "Jesus, Mary, Joseph". We used to put it at the top of all of our paper work in Catholic Grade School. Grandma put it on the first 34 pages of her journal.

Here is Grandma's first diary entry: 

 

Top of first page of the diary

J.M.J
JUNE 2 Can’t realize that I am in Idaho. I want to begin writing down the happenings of my trip. After I left poor Betty and Papa, I felt like I lost the whole world, but I prayed God should help me and on we went.

The conductor came‐‐ a friendly man, which is almost second nature of the S.P. employees. He looked at my ticket and said— “Aha, this is going to be a nice trip for you lady.” After a second he had found a companion already, an elderly lady going to London. He introduced us. 

Front of the train schedule, folded

In Portland I certainly got a shock. I always thought I would go with the U.P. [Union Pacific] and my ticket was written to the Northern Pacific. So they directed me to my train which stood on track 7.

From the train schedule

When I came to my berth, my suitcase lay on my bed. They took it out of my hands and took it here long before I came in. I wanted to go to bed right away because I was tired. I heard a lady say, “Well, this is the standard of yesterday.” I think she meant, because we were in the tourist car, but everything is just as nice as it can be. 

I slept the biggest part of the night and dreamed there were 4 horses hitched to a railroad car. They pulled so hard because it seemed they were deep in the mud.

It is raining here and it is dark, just like at home yesterday. We are passing through a rather nice valley. The train goes at a pretty great speed. It makes writing difficult. We are not transferred until Chicago. To think I wanted to see Weisers [Dan and Bertha, one of Alois’ sisters] in Columbus [Nebraska]. Now I am going south of New Rockford, N.D. [Alois’s sister, Mina and her husband, Frank Allmaras lived in New Rockford].

From the Train Schedule

I had breakfast in the diner; a bowl of oatmeal, a soft boiled egg, some toast and coffee — 68¢. For supper last night I had a bowl of tomato soup (15¢).

Pg.s 5&6, Portland to Chicago, read from bottom up

Pg. 23, Portland to Spokane, read up

Back page of the train schedule, unfolded

NP routes map

Grandma Cecile mentions that she had thought of seeing Weisers in Nebraska (along the way), but the route she was on did not go through Nebraska. To get to Nebraska, she would have had to take a side trip off the northern route around Billings, Montana. She may have gotten that idea from the Beitels' train trips moving from Nebraska to Salem, Oregon in 1909, then back to Nebraska and finally back to Stayton, Oregon, in 1915. It is likely that those trains went a different route, more directly through Nebraska, perhaps that is the way Union Pacific went, which she was expecting to be on. Without the Interstate highway system, travel was much easier by train. 

John, Grandma's oldest son and my father, told a story about their moves. The train was the best way to get back and forth. If you traveled by train, so did your possessions. One toy he brought along from Nebraska was a little wooden wagon with iron wheels. My sister-in-law now uses it as a side table with a glass top over the little wagon box. That little wagon has a lot of miles on it!

One other thought about travel, since the big hydroelectric dams were just under construction at the time, how different did the Columbia River look? Were the train tracks in the same location as they are now, or were they moved? 

Some of the towns have changed since the days of Grandma Cecile's train schedule. For instance, two early "flag" stops out of Portland are Cape Horn and Prindle, Washington. Not much there today in the way of train stops, perhaps a siding at most. The stops listed are on the Washington side of the Columbia River, not the Oregon side.

****************************************************

Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "16 -  On The Train - 3 June 1936 Click here

14 - Suggested Itinerary - Around May 31, 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has been planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has her documents in order; her family and friends have gathered at Lulay's home in Sublimity to wish her well.

*****

Now she makes her final travel plans and is given this "Suggested Itinerary". The costs are all listed and the deposit paid is reflected. There is no date so I'm not sure exactly when this was done. It's possible it was written up the day she left, June 1. I don't know for sure if this was precisely what she paid, but it is the route she traveled.

Suggested Itinerary, with costs shown

One thing to notice is the Visa - travel permit, not credit card. The charge was only $0.75. Besides the low cost, it is interesting that Grandma paid the fee for the Visa to the Railroad Company, not to the State Department, or whatever government agency those come from now.

Another fact is that this itinerary only gets Grandma Cecile from Salem, Oregon, to Prague and back to New York City, NY. She wanted to take the return trip via the southern route, so she must have left that until later, so she could decide which way she would travel when the time came.

Back of the Suggested Itinerary (with smoke damage)

To see any of these images up closer, simply click on one of them and you will be able to view them all.

In case you have trouble viewing this document, the general items are:

Leave Salem, Oregon 6:34 pm Monday, June 1

Arrive Portland, OR 8:30 pm Monday, June 1

Leave Portland, OR 9:30 pm June 1

Arrive Chicago, Illinois 8:50 am, Thursday June 4

Leave Chicago, IL 11 am, Thursday June 4

Arrive New York, NY 7:40 am Friday June 5

cost of Visa           0.75

R.T. Salem - New York, NY  117.95

New York to Prage[sic] via Bremen 150.94

Bremen to New York, NY 126.00

Total                  395.64

Deposited               25.00

Sub-total owed             $370.64

Sleeper Portland to Chicago 8.25

Total                  $378.89 

Apparently Grandma decided at the last minute to get the sleeper car to Chicago. I'd say that was a wise move for $8.25, at least by today's rate. And if you've ever ridden on Amtrak, you know that those seats in the standard car which look like they are going to be very easy to sleep in are so very uncomfortable by the time morning arrives! Of course, those are the seats of today's trains, the seats and the sleeping arrangements would have been different back then.

Over to the right side the details of the New York to Prague details are given:

132.50 (this must be the ocean voyage)

    5.00 tax

 13.44 rail Bremen to Prague

150.94 total

As for the map on the reverse side, it advertises "4 Great Scenic Routes For Transcontinental Travel". It does not appear to have the route that Grandma Cecile took from Salem to Chicago. The eastern route shown on the map goes south to Klamath Falls. Grandma went north to Portland, then east to Pascoe, Spokane, Butte, Billings, Fargo, Minneapolis and then to Chicago. I will show the train schedule in another post. The smudges on the map are smoke damage from the house fire that the papers went through in 1985.

 ****************************************************

Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "15 -  Diary From The Train 2 - June 1936 Click here

13 - Farewell Party at Lulay's - 23 May 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has been planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. The days before she departs were counting down and most of her travel plans were made.

*****

On May 23, 1936, family, friends and neighbors, even the parish priest, Fr Joseph Scherbring, gathered to wish her well. The party took place at the home of Bill & Marie Lulay, my aunt and uncle. Aunt Marie was the oldest of Alois's children, Grandma Cecile was actually Marie's step-mother. (Marie's mother had died when she was very young.)

The only way I know of this party is from photographs. One of the group photos was in the bag with Grandma's other souvenirs and letters. Nothing was written on it, so I had no idea what it represented.

In recent years I was visiting my Aunt Betty, the child Grandma wanted to accompany her on this trip. My cousin Marilyn, one of Betty's daughter's, was digging into the old family photos to see what kind of family history we could find. Although Aunt Betty's eyesight was extremely limited at that point, most of the time when we described a photo, she remembered it and would tell us about it. A similar photo came up in her collection. On the back of it was written "Taken on May 23, 1936."

Aunt Betty remembered that the photo was of the Farewell party that they had for Grandma before she left. The house in the photo was Uncle Bill & Aunt Marie's. I recognize it. The house is still in Sublimity on the main road east out of town, not far from St. Boniface Church. Uncle Bill & Aunt Marie lived there for the rest of their lives and I knew it well. 

Farewell Party Group Photo, fig.1

This photo, fig 1, is not a great photo, but I include it here for 2 reasons. One, is that historically this is the photo that has the date written on the back. Two, there is a person in the background who cannot be seen in the better photo. All you can see is part of a hat, (see fig. 1, arrow to left). The person wearing that hat may be my Dad, John Beitel. It looks like the kind of hat he used to wear, so it might be him.

The arrow on the right side of fig.1 points to Grandpa Alois, with Grandma Cecile beside him in the print dress. I added those arrows to the picture for clarification.

The next photo, fig. 2, is another of Aunt Betty's photos. Grandpa Alois is standing with Grandma and Fr. Joseph Scherbring by Lulay's house.

Grandpa & Grandma with Fr Jos. Scherbring, fig. 2

Farewell party, May 23, 1936, fig. 3

The third photo, fig. 3, is the one that Grandma kept with her souvenirs. This photo had better exposure than the first, so people are a little easier to see and identify.

Starting on the left end of the back row, the people I can identify: Uncle Bill and Aunt Marie Lulay holding their son Clement. On the other side of the woman in the dark coat  and hat - a man with 3/4 of his face showing - that could be Uncle Tony Beitel.

Now, find Grandpa Alois. Behind him in that back row, the 2 faces to the left are Ann (Krantz) & her fiance, Gus Beitel - another set of aunts & uncles of mine. Look to the right of Grandpa - the dark haired face peeking around is probably my Uncle Florence "Squeak" Beitel. The tall white haired man behind him is Joe Bernt from Mt Angel, a cousin of Grandpa Alois. Grandma Cecile is next to Grandpa in the black & white print dress. On the far right back row is Fr. Scherbring, pastor of St Boniface in Sublimty.

In front of Grandma, the boy in the white shirt is Donald Lulay, left of him is my Aunt Betty (Beitel) Silbernagel (light dress). Next to Betty is Stella (Lulay) Neal (dark dress).

In the front row, in front of Betty is Ruth (Lulay) GrosJacques, and sitting in front of Stella is Margaret (Lulay) Berning. I'm not positive that I have identified the children correctly, but I have compared them to other photos I have. Since all the rest of Bill & Marie's children are present, Billy Lulay and Joanne (Lulay) Kintz Kowitz must be there somewhere, but I'm not sure which they are.

Also, if "the hat" wearer is John, and the half hidden faces in the back are Tony and Florence, then all of Alois and Cecile's children are there as well, except Sr. Agnes. She was in the convent and was not allowed to leave very often. Their rules were much stricter than.

A couple of other facts about the date of the farewell party - it was a Saturday, and it was my Dad's 30th birthday. 

If anyone has any corrections or additions to the identity of any of the people,please let me know! You can add a comment below or send me an email. Thank you!

Remember, to see the pictures closer, just click on any of them and then you wlll be able to scroll through them all. 

****************************************************

Story to be continued......

To read Post "14 -  Suggested Itinerary - Around May 31, 1936, Click here

12 - Postcard From Sr Agnes - 21 May 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has been making arrangements for her travel. The days until she leaves are dwindling.

*****

On May 21, 1936, Grandma Cecile's daughter, Sr. Liliosa (Agnes) Beitel, writes her a quick postcard to let her know that she would like to see her before she leaves.

One thing to remember - back then, and perhaps even now, the novices were not allowed many visits home. Sr. Liliosa was only a novice at the time. She would not make her final profession of vows until later in the coming summer. Novices were allowed maybe one visit a year. They couldn't just hop in a car and drive out to Stayton to see their relatives. Nor were there cell phones for instant communication or laptops for "Skype". The nuns and novices were allowed to have visitors.

As you will see in the message, Sister was concerned that Grandma might come and she would not be there. Here it is:

The envelope:

St. Mary's of the Valley

The envelope

Beaverton, Oregon

Mr. and Mrs. Alois Beitel

Stayton,

R.F.D.1 Oregon

The card:

2:30 P.M.   

St. Mary's of the Valley

Beaverton, Oregon

May 21st - 1936

Dear Mother, Dad and all, [1]

I was expecting to see Marie [2] and a few more from home today but I see it must have been impossible. The reason I am sending these few words is because I'm expecting to have my tonsils removed tomorrow, Friday, and I'll probably be at St Vincent's [3] till Sunday P.M. Of course I would like to see you, mamma, before you leave, so if it is convenient for you to come sometime next week it will be all right.

Love - Sister M. Liliosa

The postcard in the envelope

[1] - Mother, Dad and all, refers to Grandma Cecile, Grandpa Alois, and the siblings still at home, probably John, Tony, Gus (getting married in about a month), Florence "Squeak", and Betty. 

[2] - Marie - Marie Beitel Lulay, my Aunt Marie, the oldest of the Beitel children and half-sister to the rest. She was already married with children

[3] - St Vincent's, a hospital in Portland,

***

Tonsillectomy is an operation that was fairly common when I was a child. Today, tonsillectomy for adults is considered serious surgery. Perhaps more complications are possible for adults, or children just heal faster?

Sr. Liliosa (Agnes) would have been nineteen years old at the time of this letter. Considering medicine has advanced light years since 1936, it seems that this would have been thought of as risky. Sr Liliosa does not give any indication here that she is concerned, or even give details about having been ill.

I don't remember if my Dad or other aunts or uncles had their tonsils removed, so I'm not sure if this was considered normal or not.

May 21, 1936 was a Thursday. Why Sister was expecting her sister Marie Lulay and others to visit, I'm not sure. Had it been a Saturday or Sunday, it would not seem so  unusual.

 ****************************************************

Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "13 - Farewell Party at Lulay's - 23 May 1936" click here

11 - Treasury Department - 16 May 1936

Click here to read story from beginning

Story so far: Grandma Cecile has begun planning her trip to visit her relatives back in her home village of Nieder-Mohrau, Czechoslavkia. She has been making arrangements for her travel, including checking on visa requirements.

*****

By now it is the middle of May. She may or may not have yet received the sad letter from Minna, announcing the death of her niece, Elfrieda. It's back to the business of planning the trip. 

Grandma Cecile received a letter from the Treasury Department - the Internal Revenue Service. She must have asked them about whether or not she needed to be concerned with taxes. Not sure if she was thinking about taxes in the United States or abroad, but the answer is fairly simple. 

Again, the subject of whether or not she is a citizen comes up. She does have a passport, so she must have been naturalized by then. 

 Here is the letter: 

TREASURY DEPARTMENT

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

Salem, OREG. May 16, 1936

OFFICE OF THE COLLECTOR

DISTRICT OF OREGON

IN REPLYING REFER TO

Mrs. Cecile Beitel,

Box 207 Rt 1,

Stayton, Oregon.

Dear Mrs. Beitel:

If you are an American Citizen you will not need to attend to any Income Tax Report, but I would suggest that you carry your Citizenship papers with you. Are you an American Citizen?

Yours truly,

Thomas C. Frazier 

Deputy Collector

Post Office Bldg

Salem, Oregon

the letter

I've been on several trips abroad, but never have thought to be concerned with matters of the Treasury, so this letter seems odd to me. Maybe she knew she was going to be staying a while, or thought she'd be working while she was there? Maybe she was just being thorough. 

 **************************************************

Story to be continued...... 

To read Post "12 - Postcard From Sr Agnes - 21 May 1936" click here