FORMING A EULOGY

by James L. Lynch

Entry T98 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

                Rest In Pieces

For many years I have felt that the old cow
chip of the hay meadow and prairie has never
been given the recognition that it earned and
deserved for the simple reason it usually was
available, unless rain or snow covered the
ground. Much of the time the old cow chip
was the only fuel the pioneers could depend
upon as a winter's supply of fuel in a treeless
country.

The cow chips were unique and conspicu-
ous by their shapes and sizes. Some were no
larger than a large cup while others proved
so big that you had to break them in two to
stuff them into a gunny sack. In thickness,
they ranged from a pancake to three and four
inches.

As to their production, the heavier the
grass was where the load was dropped, the
better the chip was for burning. Many of the
chips that were pulled up looked like large
turtles with the grass protruding from the
sides. Some of them had large bubbles
underneath them due to the air that was
trapped as it was dropped. The seasons also
had much to do with their value for burning,
especially in the fall when the cattle had
access to the abundance of plums that grew
along the creeks in those days. When you
found a chip that was about half plum pits
you had a very much desired burning article
that burnt just like coal and generated a very
hot fire which lasted far longer than the
ordinary chip.

A fully cured and dried chip had practically
no odor at all. If you found one that had
escaped being pulled up the previous year,
the chances were that it was infested with a
small brown and white beetle. An if you were
unfortunate enough not to detect them and
haul them into your old soddy, you were in
trouble. They scattered all over the house and
gave you much trouble. My gosh, how they
could bite you on the ankle or the top of your
feet.

Oh, those were the good old never-to-be-
forgotten days. Those were the days when
everyone was a friend to each other. The old
timer had a respect and devotion for others
due to the hardships and poverty that each
endured, that no other generation has even
been able to develop.