A Visit To Fords Ferry in November 1917.

As the Crittenden Press  scribe traveled through out the county gathering subscriptions for the paper.  He would share his adventures and news of the places he visited with the paper.  His reports made interesting reading and provides us with some early history of the county that otherwise would be lost.

                                       A View of A Fords Ferry Home in the early 1900's.

A Visit to the  Community of Fords Ferry.    November 29, 1917

A number of splendid potato crops have been harvested in this part of the county during the past few weeks. The potatoes of the present year are unusually large and thrifty and some of the crops in this county have averaged at least 1000 bushes per acres.

The river is rising, rising and the steamboats are chugging, chugging as they play backward and forth up and down the great stream. The river commerce seems to be unusually active the present year and a large amount of stuff is being shipped by water.

The transportation facilities of the railroads are completely over crowded at the present time, which explains is a large measure the greatly increased activities of the steamboats.

A patent medicine vender recently visited this community and he endeavored in a most conscientious manner to convince some of the people that his medicine was the real, genuine stuff for all people who are afflicted with bad health. He refused to put any satisfactory guarantee behind his medicine, however, and was somewhat disappointed on account of his lack of success in this neighborhood. Your correspondent has got but little confidence in the great majority of the medicines which are being advertised and at the present time. There is no medicine in the world which is equal to the pure air, good water and bright sunshine which God has given us.

A large amount of splendid sorghum were produced in the neighborhood during the present season, which is quite remarkable when we take into consideration the unusually inclement weather which prevailed during the month of October.

Uncommonly large frost and even freezes failed to damage a large part of the cane in this vicinity and only one crop was damaged so badly that it could not be made up. There is something rather strange and un-explainable about sugar cane. Sometimes a single frost will ruin a crop of cane but there are other things when even a series of continuous freezes will not seriously damage it.

Your correspondent recently visited the Seminary School and he was treated in a real nice manner by the teacher and the pupils. Your pencil pusher was ardently requested to deliver a speech for the benefit of the school and after some persuasion he finally ventured upon the floor and gave his listeners a number of his ideas and opinions in regard to education and also narrated a number of his school experiences when he was a little boy. 

Both teacher and pupils seemed to appreciate the address and your correspondent was invited to come back again and make another talk, all of which he agreed to.