Source: Dakota Rundschau, 8 Januar 1932 · 📰

From: Krasna, Bessarabia
9 December 1931

Dear Editor Brendel:

After our wonderful rain of November 20, we had 8 inches of snow on November 24. The winter wheat and rapeseed are doing well underground. (*Editor: Winter grain, which has not gone into hibernation, can perish under a thick blanket of snow.)
Alexander Paul from here would like to hear from his brother-in-law, Anton Hilsendeger and sister Katharina, his wife. He has not had news from them in some time. Please convey the message. He might not be a regular customer.
Joseph Kahl and his wife nee Kopp from Emmental would like to get news about Edmund Hitl and family who lives in Canada.
Faustina Maas is ill and has been ailing for a long time.

Greetings to Mr. Joseph Fuhrmann in Roscoe, South Dakota. Thanks also for the report he sent me regarding remarks about me by a correspondent from another newspaper who doesn’t like me, which shed some light on this situation. Such reporters can be compared to the man attending a wedding when his wife was ill. On the way to the wedding, he sampled some butcher soup (boiled cuts) at a gathering. He ate and drank so much that he fell asleep with his head in the tureen and had to be carried home. When his wife saw him returned in such a fashion, she remarked, “How do I deserve such luck? From a wedding one usually brings some cake and meats, but you are bringing me the whole hog!”

On November 8, the widow Ternes died at the age of 78 after being ill for three days. – Joseph Plotzky, age 58, died of typhoid at the Tarutino hospital on November 16. He was buried in Tarutino leaving behind a widow and five children. – There was also a death in my immediate family. On December 5 at 10 AM, my father-in-law, aged 71 years, 6 months and 4 days, died very suddenly. He left behind my frail mother-in-law and seven children. One of which is Zachaeus Wagner in Leader, Sask., Canada. Please pass on the news to all the friends in America. Peace be to his ashes.

I wish all the readers and publishers a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year. A special birthday greeting to Mr. John Brendel. (*Editor: Many thanks to dear friend, J.B. Braun.)

Kindest regards,
Joseph Braun