One Event In The Summer of 54

In the “fifties”, many knew Mr. (Arthur) French as simply being “ The Old Gentleman that rides the motorbike”. I bet if you think back for a moment you can recall having seen him on many occasions riding one of many motorbikes in and about the streets of Senath. He was often seen riding to and from Kennett on Hwy. 25. I never knew anyone in town that did not both like and respect the “Old Gentleman”, Mr. French, although a very quite man, was a true symbol of the quite and peaceful times of my growing up in the “fifties”. The following story is but one memory among many that were part of my growing up as a kid in Senath.

This story, although about Mr. French; is very representative of the general mischief that was so prevalent while I was growing up back in Senath. Such mischief was surely “bound up” in my mind. It seemingly was constantly looking for a path of escape and was often times “running over” in the minds of many of my schoolmates. Many years have now passed through the hourglass of time since the events of this story occurred. Mr. French has long passed away. His presence and the sound of the motorbike around town are forever gone. However, because of the incidents noted below, I shall certainly never forget the “Old Gentleman” , Mr. French.

His presence in my life will always be among some of the fondest memories of my childhood. This story is but one among many of the memories I cherish so dearly. Such memories are hanging securely about the halls of my mind. Come join me, as I walk down one such hallway and recall certain events, which happened in Senath around 1954. It happened almost fifty years ago.

First let me say, I am confident Mr. French would not (seriously) object to me sharing the following memory with you. Knowing him as I did, I think he would just look at me and smile. Most likely, he would then mount his motorbike and ride off as I began to tell the story.

The story starts out with a friend of mine and me playing in the far back corner of The Senath Park. We were along side the old “slough” ditch, that borders the Park and runs south under the bridge on Hwy 25.

Perhaps some of you will recall the name of my friend, J.D. (David) Rainey. David was a year or so younger than those of us in my class. It was mid afternoon in the late summer of 1954. David and I had encountered and killed a large king snake in the City Park. I had the snake flung around my neck as we continued exploring the grounds for any other creatures we might pray upon.

I suppose this is a good time to mention that Mr. French lived in a very small “Airsteam” house trailer at that time. That trailer was located beneath a large tree just off the Park's main entry road. As I recall, the city had allowed Mr. French to park his trailer there on a temporarily basis. The trailer had neither water nor sanitary provisions. As I recall it having electricity provided by a “drop cord” made off the one and only power pole located in a tree approximately 100 feet off the highway on the entry road into the park.

As David and I worked our way across the Park towards where Mr. French's small house trailer was located we saw him entering the dirt road into the Park. Naturally, he was riding his motorbike. I stopped for a moment, took the snake from around my neck, looked at David and said something like “I have a great idea as to what we can do with this here snake.”

Remember, me having already told you that the trailer had neither water or sanitation facilities? I should have mentioned that Mr. French used the rest room facilities located in the Old Sinclair Station. My dad worked there together with Elmer and Freeman Green and several others.

Mr. French was well known by us for his regularity in attending to his early morning and late evening duties of visits in that rest room. His regular schedule was important to my idea on the use of that dead snake. I put the snake in my shirt and together we headed to the Sinclair Station.

At that time the rest room was only three walls and was without a ceiling. It was open to the rafters above with the door facing east.

Upon arrival at the station I approached Elmer Green and informed him of my intentions to “clean up and stock” the oil can racks in the front sales room. Elmer was a great guy and certainly deserving of our volunteer efforts. Although Elmer was quick to accept our offer and gave us his usual grin followed with a laugh; he had no idea what we are going to do. He did not even know we had the snake. At that time Miss Nell Harden kept books at a desk located in that sales and office area. It was not the day she was scheduled to work. The environment for putting my plan to work was right. It was “ready and waiting”.

Upon our entry to the sales office, I quickly put David to work. He was positioned in such position as to allow him to keep an eye out for Elmer, my Dad, or anyone else that might just happen along. Meanwhile, I got busy with a string and began stacking boxes high enough to allow me to reach a ceiling rafter located directly over the top of that rest room.

I think I can condense this story considerably by simply saying that once the set up was completed we needed only to await the arrival of Mr. French. That evening arrival was always timed shortly before closing time.

Time was passing. David and I continued our “clean up and stocking” project and awaited only the arrival of Mr. French. After his arrival, we would need only the closing of that restroom door, followed by the sound of the turning of that toilet tissue roller hanging on the wall of that restroom. We were now “ready and waiting”.

At this point it is better that I move ahead quickly by just letting you know that upon hearing the sound of that toilet tissue roller turning on that wall, I pulled that string and released that snake directly over the location of the toilet bowl.

I will never forget the noise made by such a small man in such a little space. I remember looking at David and thinking it best if we quickly vacated that gas station. We did just that. We walked quickly across the street and up town, turned at the stop signal, crossed the street and then started our return back to the station.

we had done a great job on the “clean up and stocking”. Then he informed me that he thought I better go ahead and clean up the rest room while they were closing up. I never recall having asked Elmer if he knew what we had done or if his telling me to clean up the restroom was just coincidental. I considered the clean up assignment as being appropriate justice for what I considered a REALLY MEANINGFUL JOB - WELL DONE.


	Senath Mo.Class of '58 Back to Stories Page One Event In The Summer of 54 In the “fifties”, many knew Mr. (Arthur) French as simply being “ The Old Gentleman that rides the motorbike”. I bet if you think back for a moment you can recall having seen him on many occasions riding one of many motorbikes in and about the streets of Senath. He was often seen riding to and from Kennett on Hwy. 25. I never knew anyone in town that did not both like and respect the “Old Gentleman”, Mr. French, although a very quite man, was a true symbol of the quite and peaceful times of my growing up in the “fifties”. The following story is but one memory among many that were part of my growing up as a kid in Senath. This story, although about Mr. French; is very representative of the general mischief that was so prevalent while I was growing up back in Senath. Such mischief was surely “bound up” in my mind. It seemingly was constantly looking for a path of escape and was often times “running over” in the minds of many of my schoolmates. Many years have now passed through the hourglass of time since the events of this story occurred. Mr. French has long passed away. His presence and the sound of the motorbike around town are forever gone. However, because of the incidents noted below, I shall certainly never forget the “Old Gentleman” , Mr. French. His presence in my life will always be among some of the fondest memories of my childhood. This story is but one among many of the memories I cherish so dearly. Such memories are hanging securely about the halls of my mind. Come join me, as I walk down one such hallway and recall certain events, which happened in Senath around 1954. It happened almost fifty years ago. First let me say, I am confident Mr. French would not (seriously) object to me sharing the following memory with you. Knowing him as I did, I think he would just look at me and smile. Most likely, he would then mount his motorbike and ride off as I began to tell the story. The story starts out with a friend of mine and me playing in the far back corner of The Senath Park. We were along side the old “slough” ditch, that borders the Park and runs south under the bridge on Hwy 25. Perhaps some of you will recall the name of my friend, J.D. (David) Rainey. David was a year or so younger than those of us in my class. It was mid afternoon in the late summer of 1954. David and I had encountered and killed a large king snake in the City Park. I had the snake flung around my neck as we continued exploring the grounds for any other creatures we might pray upon. I suppose this is a good time to mention that Mr. French lived in a very small “Airsteam” house trailer at that time. That trailer was located beneath a large tree just off the Park's main entry road. As I recall, the city had allowed Mr. French to park his trailer there on a temporarily basis. The trailer had neither water nor sanitary provisions. As I recall it having electricity provided by a “drop cord” made off the one and only power pole located in a tree approximately 100 feet off the highway on the entry road into the park. As David and I worked our way across the Park towards where Mr. French's small house trailer was located we saw him entering the dirt road into the Park. Naturally, he was riding his motorbike. I stopped for a moment, took the snake from around my neck, looked at David and said something like “I have a great idea as to what we can do with this here snake.” Remember, me having already told you that the trailer had neither water or sanitation facilities? I should have mentioned that Mr. French used the rest room facilities located in the Old Sinclair Station. My dad worked there together with Elmer and Freeman Green and several others. Mr. French was well known by us for his regularity in attending to his early morning and late evening duties of visits in that rest room. His regular schedule was important to my idea on the use of that dead snake. I put the snake in my shirt and together we headed to the Sinclair Station. Perhaps some of you remember the rest room being located about half way along the west wall of the stations sales/office. At that time the rest room was only three walls and was without a ceiling. It was open to the rafters above with the door facing east. Upon arrival at the station I approached Elmer Green and informed him of my intentions to “clean up and stock” the oil can racks in the front sales room. Elmer was a great guy and certainly deserving of our volunteer efforts. Although Elmer was quick to accept our offer and gave us his usual grin followed with a laugh; he had no idea what we are going to do. He did not even know we had the snake. At that time Miss Nell Harden kept books at a desk located in that sales and office area. It was not the day she was scheduled to work. The environment for putting my plan to work was right. It was “ready and waiting”. Upon our entry to the sales office, I quickly put David to work. He was positioned in such position as to allow him to keep an eye out for Elmer, my Dad, or anyone else that might just happen along. Meanwhile, I got busy with a string and began stacking boxes high enough to allow me to reach a ceiling rafter located directly over the top of that rest room. I think I can condense this story considerably by simply saying that once the set up was completed we needed only to await the arrival of Mr. French. That evening arrival was always timed shortly before closing time. Time was passing. David and I continued our “clean up and stocking” project and awaited only the arrival of Mr. French. After his arrival, we would need only the closing of that restroom door, followed by the sound of the turning of that toilet tissue roller hanging on the wall of that restroom. We were now “ready and waiting”. At this point it is better that I move ahead quickly by just letting you know that upon hearing the sound of that toilet tissue roller turning on that wall, I pulled that string and released that snake directly over the location of the toilet bowl. I will never forget the noise made by such a small man in such a little space. I remember looking at David and thinking it best if we quickly vacated that gas station. We did just that. We walked quickly across the street and up town, turned at the stop signal, crossed the street and then started our return back to the station. Upon our arrival we were met by Elmer as he was coming out the front of the office. Elmer sort of motioned to me and said we had done a great job on the “clean up and stocking”. Then he informed me that he thought I better go ahead and clean up the rest room while they were closing up. I never recall having asked Elmer if he knew what we had done or if his telling me to clean up the restroom was just coincidental. I considered the clean up assignment as being appropriate justice for what I considered a REALLY MEANINGFUL JOB - WELL DONE.