Part 21 (1/2)

GOT MARRIED, DROVE TRUCK, FARMED, CATTLE DRIVE

A year or two after I quite high school I got married It was either in 1928 or 1929 The stock ottheot married June the second, and I believe it was in 1928

After our honeys were not as we had expected the a lot ofthe couple gettinghappily ever after They didn't say one single word about the husband having to drive a truck six days a week, and so to wash and iron and cook and keep house Those were our big disappointot married and had to work hard ever after

After we married Ima and I lived in Hamlin in Papa's rent house west of the truck warehouse I was driving a truck on a daily run to Abilene and back to Hamlin That hen I learned that a truck driver could live on two meals a day I didn't have time to eat three meals

The rule of coroup had authority over, and the responsibility for all the younger ones, proved to be a poor ruling after kids becos whatsoever Earl told h to drive a truck to Abilene, which ice as far away froular run was only to Staht than Earl did I had to deal with people he didn't even know and I had to confor methods which he had not been exposed to Why, I saw trucks on US Highway 80 headed for California with greater loads than Earl's truck and cargo combined I saw those same trucks return with more ht drive in ten weeks I witnessed the advent of balloon tires on front wheels of large trucks and I saw theh pressure tires had been running on front wheels, and at half the cost-this before Earl realized that balloons were even being used on trucks

Conflict between Earl andto shoveto be bossy just to see if he could be Rather he was trying to do what he thought was best for the company But he didn't always knoas best for the cootten way out ahead of Earl and he had not realized it What was good for Earl and the truck line to Staood for ht it was tiht back I was tired of listening to his his way But he didn't think it was tiht back also

We didn't take ti, bare fisted I wasn'torders which didn't always fit the occasion However, I was glad he re each other in the face That could have hurt; noses bleed and teeth cost -at least mine did I'll admit he hurt me, and I tried to hurt him It was not that I really wanted to hurt hihis He was too small to drive both of them

Finally I said, ”Boy, I'm tired and sore How about you?”

He said, ”Naw, I'm not tired”

I told hiain he said, ”No, I' each other, We rested awhile, got us a drink of water, and went on with the business of getting our trucks and cargo ready to roll All this took place without a cross word from either of us-and without a witness And with no witness, I can tell it like I want to; it's ood used tire for his Hupmobile Earl was unable to find a suitable one in Stamford, so I was asked to pick up one in Abilene And Earl warned, ”Be sure you don't get a Goodrich”

Well, I looked all over Abilene and the only tire I found that I would consider buying was a Goodrich-a half inch oversize It only cost 450, so I bought it Of course I didn't buy a Goodrich just to bug Earl, but when I showed up in Haht I had set fire to another keg of poith Earl sitting on it He was sure the tire would break and blow out Besides, he had told et that brand

I told him that if it blew out, I would pay for it But it didn't blow out; it gave good service This was another case where I had to ood decision It was another step towardthis time I'd had experience with oversize tires and low air pressure onthrough Abilene with low pressure in front tires, and it worked there also So, I wasn't surprised that it worked on the Hupe truck with all four wheels and tires the same size Up until that year they had used much smaller tires on the front wheels But this truck had heavy-duty wheels and tires in front just like the ones on the back

I told Papa that, if he had the money and wanted to invest in two balloon tires for the front, at 30 each, he could save the 60 heavy-duty tires to use on the back wheels later when needed

Earl told Papa that I was crazy to think that a 30 tire would run as far as a 60 tire

Papa listened to ht the balloons, and they did run as far This pushedbrother Of course, I though it was tiht have a littleto follow a leader, who knows, he and I ether ever after

Other problems came up in Abilene, the likes of which Earl never had to face in Sta clerk at Wm

Ca to Stamford and he wondered if I wanted to haul them I told him, ”No, Earl told me to let Rountree's truck haul all shi+pments to Sta to stop listening to Earl and start telling Earl?”

Well, Earl was the acting , and he had told ht

Then the clerk told me that the man in Stamford ordered the s shi+pped either by Johnson or by rail Then the clerk added, ”By lae can force you to haul them, but ouldn't do that We'll just shi+p the back when there was soetter” But noas being held back by an invisible force 40to feel about as useless as a knot on a stick, and I was being treated as such by big freight et a driver with the ability to solicit and haul freight Co