From: Krasna, Bessarabia
16 December 1910

Our head mayor Gottlieb A. Leinz gave up his office on 15 December. He was well liked and respected by all during his tenure, not because of his wealth, but because of his common sense and foresight. He officiated as mayor for five years, even receiving a gold medal from our gracious emperor Nikolaus II in the year 1908 with the band of St. Stanislaus. Now Mr. Leintz is the supervisor of our orphan administration.

Currently, we have rain and fog almost daily. We have no snow. To the joy of the farmers, all winter crops look very well. The cattle and sheep are still out to pasture every day. The temperature is steady at 5 to 10 degrees Reaumur and the farmers are busy in the vineyards every day.

In closing, I would like to submit a funny anecdote: The Oven Cleaner.

Brothers Joseph and Albrecht Bauer were two poor orphans, and in addition, were disabled. They lived alone in their father's house. They took turns daily in cooking the soup and stoking the stove.

One day, the stove did not want to fire up. Joseph then said to Albrecht, “Come out, you lazy bum and bring the hoe. The stove acted up yesterday already and I have to check it out.”

He put on his jacket and crawled into the oven, taking along the hoe. Inside, he complained about the darkness and that he could not see a thing. So he shouted, “Albrecht, bring me some light, so I can see what is going on here!”

Albrecht, the trickster, then took a handful of straw, ignited it and threw it into the oven so his brother had light to see. He then went into the yard whistling a tune to himself. The smoke rose in the oven and threatened to suffocate poor Joseph. What to do? He could not go back and he did not want to die, so he took his hoe and began beating the stove wall for all he was worth. He had a large opening almost instantly and managed to get back into the house. He raced outside to take in fresh air just as Albrecht wanted to come in. They collided and did not have the most pleasant exchange of words.

I would like to know if my friend Jakob A. Kopp from near Dogtooth, North Dakota and my brother-in-law, Martin A. Kopp of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, Canada, are readers of this publication. (* Publisher: The first one is not, but the second one is a subscriber. It is still possible to change premiums since the maps are not ready yet. Instead of the maps you will receive the scissors.)

Greetings to all readers and the publisher as well.

Anton Gedak