From: Krasna, Bessarabia
15 December 1912

Dear friend Niklas [Nickolaus] Kahl!

You wrote in Edition #17 of the Staats-Anzeiger calling on me to keep on writing the truth. You write: “The truth is powerful and must endure.” My dear friend Niklas [Nickolaus] I will do so and have done that, because I can no longer put up with the injustice that exists in our village. But this is what happens in such places and villages where the people do not have any education. And where there is no teaching, there is no knowledge. In times past, not only in Krasna but in other villages as well, when the children returned from school they carried an empty bag home with them, as far as teaching and knowledge were concerned. Today that is the case only in Krasna.

Dear friend Niklas [Nickolaus], you do remember when you were still in Krasna how the people of Krasna pursued an education. They are still like that today. You and I went to school together. If you hadn’t left for America, then you would not be writing in High German in the newspaper. But I can tell by reading what you wrote in the paper that you have learned more in the few years that you have been in America, than you would have learned in Krasna in all your life.

Dear comrade, you have to forgive me for writing so simply in the newspaper. If I knew High German then I certainly would write in High German. But where should I have learned it? There never was a teacher in Krasna who really taught the children how to write. I have often thought that even though I had not learned anything that maybe later on there would be an improvement with the school so that maybe my children would learn something. But dear God, it’s getting worse as time goes by.

At the time when you and I went to school all children were still accepted and enrolled. At least then one learned even though not much, but at least the ABC’s. The gifted one, after leaving school, continued with his education until his wedding, at which time he was able to sign his name to the marriage certificate. Today, the teacher chases the kids away and they are not accepted in school. Then some time in the future will they also be able to sign their names to a certificate?

Nowadays no one among us wants to serve as a soldier. But as many say, thank God that I became a soldier else I would still be as dumb, as are so many among us. There are quite a few men among us who have learned a lot in the service just like I did. But since they do not know how to write in High German for the newspaper, they just leave things the way they are. Then there are some among us who have learned High German while serving as soldiers, but these write reports to the newspaper that have no value. These men could write a lot about the truth. But I don't know if they are afraid that then the truth about them would be written as well, or whatever the reason could be.

With one word dear Niklas [Nickolaus], the poverty among us is very extensive and the injustice is even greater. Should a poor man face a rich one in court then the poor guy will certainly lose. And then if the poor man shows any dissatisfaction, he will soon be locked up behind bars. The rich fellow will then join the judge and say that’s the way we have to act with fellows like that. But it wasn’t too long ago when a few rich fellows appeared in court with a woman. What a mess they were in! The judge was not on their side. The matter was too enormous and the rich guys had to bite into a sour apple with a punishment of 5 and 10 “sutke”. Next to the jail, a small house with a window should be built for such widows. Women who carry on with the subject matter until it reaches its limit can then look over and observe the guilty ones licking the sour apple serving 5 to 10 “sutke”.

Dear comrade, I could write to you in great detail about everything, but you read the newspaper and know too well what happens when someone writes the truth in the paper. Then it is not supposed to be true and the editor will be contacted right away and asked to make public that the one who had written the report was wrong, and the one who had been written about wants to make himself look good and have the reporter punished. (*Editor: Yes, dear friend, such people however will receive the cold shoulder at the Staats-Anzeiger. When you write the truth to us then it will be decisively better for the targeted ones to swallow the medicine. We side with your classmate Nikolaus Kahl; “The truth is powerful and must endure!”)

Dear Niklas [Nickolaus], I have decided not to write too much to the newspaper unless something really drastic should happen.

I greet all the readers of the Staats-Anzeiger.

A Farmer

From: Petrofka, Bessarabia
20 December 1912

On 6 December, I started a short business trip to the Arzis Colony to visit my nephew Thomas Januschaitis. Before I left my family, I wrote a short report about the weather and mentioned several general rules about the weather. I would have had a lot to add to that but the time to depart was upon me and I had to stop writing. But now that I am home again, I want to return to this topic.

Pay attention in spring to April and May my dear readers, when the oak trees already have leaves before May, you can expect a nice and fruitful summer with a good wine harvest. When the frogs lay their eggs in deep water in spring, a warm and dry summer will follow. When the frogs lay their eggs on the shoreline or in shallow water, a wet summer will follow. This rule is based on the unproven possibility that frogs feel the nature of summer ahead of time and make sure that their spawn is put in a place where there is enough moisture for proper development. When the cherry trees bloom well the rye will also blossom well. When the blackthorn blooms before or on 1 May, then the rye will ripen before or on “Jakobi” and one can hope for nice weather for the haymaking. The later the blackthorn starts blooming after 1 May, the worse it will be for the corn harvest. When one can hear the bittern sing early then one hopes for a good harvest. When the hedge sparrow sings before the wine sprouts, there will be a good year for wine.

Early thunder – later on hunger indicates a wet summer. When you hear the finches sing before sunup, they indicate rain. When the skylark flies straight up and sings high up in the sky, she announces nice weather.

The summer months of June, July and August - rolling thunder doesn’t disgrace the summer. If you count 8 beats of your pulse between lightning and thunder, the thunderstorm is still ¼ mile away. The fewer beats you count, the closer the thunderstorm. You can expect thunderstorms when at noon the livestock gasp for air. When it smells with wide-open nostrils into the air and runs around the meadow with tails straight up in the air. When the donkey is taken from his stable to the outside and he sticks his nose up into the air and shakes his ears hard then rain or a thunderstorm is to be expected. Haze in the summer is the indicator of a hard winter. When the fireflies have an exceptional glow, you can be sure about nice weather. If they are not to be seen up until “Johannistag” (Midsummer Day) then that is a sign of cold and unfriendly weather. When the spiders weave their nets diligently outside then the weather will be nice. If they don’t work at all, the weather will be bad. When the spiders work during a rain, it means that it won’t be long for nice weather to start. When the snails and slugs are found in flower and vegetable beds and on paths, thunderstorms will come up. Before a thunderstorm, the swallows fly low to the ground.

Fall months September and October - Lots of fog in fall indicates lots of snow for the winter. If the leaves fall off the trees early, you can expect a nice fall and a mild winter. If the leaves stay on the trees until November, a long winter will follow. If a thick fog is hanging over rivers, creeks and meadows during sundown, it indicates fair weather. Dense fog often indicates rain overnight.

More agricultural signs are: If there are still blooming trees in fall, it indicates an unfavorable year. – Roses blooming late in the yard (like in September) indicate nice weather and a mild fall.

Winter months November, December, January, February and March: A late winter indicates a late spring. When willows and birch trees have green leaves on the top but the rest of the leaves have fallen off early, it indicates an early winter and a nice spring. The rules mentioned before all indicate that a warm fall comes before a delayed and cold winter. I also want to mention that after a rich harvest of hops, a severe winter will come along and a good year for growing corn will follow. Thunder during the winter months brings us severely cold weather. (That means that warm winds around “Martini” indicate a severe winter) Lots of fog in fall indicates lots of snow in winter. Fog in winter with an east wind blowing and cold temperatures, indicates a thaw. With a west wind blowing it indicates rain. Settling fog indicates harsh and cold weather. When the trout spawn early there will be lots of snow. When the rabbits relocate from the hills to the valleys, cold weather continues. When the first snow falls and melts right away, the weather is going to be unstable. Mind you the lower region will be too warm and the cold of the upper region is not strong enough. You can’t go by the behavior of the first snow and base the rest of the winter on it. If the snow falls lightly, you can expect continuously cold weather. If the snow falls in large flakes and you can easily make snowballs, moderate cold temperatures can be expected. That is very true since light snow stays on the ground and large snowflakes are the transition to a thaw. That’s why the saying is; Small snowflakes mean lots of water. Large snowflakes mean little water. A snowy year is a rich year.

The way the weather is in the 12 days following “Fristenach”, that’s how the weather will be for 12 months. If the New Year day has morning glow, there will be lots of thunderstorms in the summer. A cold spring will follow a mild January. Lots of fog in March means 100 days of rainy weather. If the goose steps onto ice on “Martini” then she will step into dirt at Christmas time. Green Christmas indicates a white Easter. When the cranes and wild geese migrate then winter isn’t far away.

All these rules have been observed for many years and were always found to be true. But today, it seems that the rules are less dependable than they used to be and it seems that there have been big changes. Indeed, we shouldn’t be too surprised about this fact, since every living being on earth, just like the human being, changes constantly. So why shouldn’t the elementary powers of nature also leave their paths? Especially the human being leaves his from God’s stipulated paths daily, so that one can soon look at him as something else and call out after such observation:

The world is like a box of monkeys. That certainly is true.
And whoever thinks that it is something else certainly is wrong.
The child already starts to ape. That is just in the blood.
Only what others have already accomplished only that one accepts as good.
Even if it was the biggest nonsense someone told us about.
We ape this nonsense with dignity and honor faithfully day and night.
How vile is certain food and you surely know it too,
And still you eat this and that just because the neighbors do.
…….Text missing……

Dear reader, look around to all the different parts of the world and you will find that among the people, virtue, moderation, patience, chastity and love of God are nonexistent. If you are sitting at home with your family by the hearth you don’t think about the changing world, but if you take a little trip, just like I did a while ago to visit my nephew in Arzis, then you will see enough changes to write books about. I have hardly been gone two months from Krasna, but when I also visited there during my trip I had to listen to so much there, that I could write for hours to get it all on paper. But I don’t want to waste any time on it, but will leave this to the correspondent “A Farmer”, who reports from there on and off. He is more informed about the circumstances and I hope he won’t sleep like many of the other correspondents.

Mr. Anton Gedak, the correspondent from Krasna, reported in #14 of the Staats-Anzeiger that it was impossible for him to correspond during the summer due to lack of spare time and because he thought that Mr. Dirk would report everything. He was wrong about this. If Mr. Gedak would have taken a closer look at my correspondences, he would have noticed that not just a few things but a lot of things were left to report about Krasna. The correspondences I was writing at that time for the paper had very little or nothing reported about the conditions in Krasna.

I am greeting the editorship and all the readers.

Romuald Dirk

From: Raleigh, Morton County, ND
24 January 1913

Our weather is excellent with very little snow. The old adage has it that the fat end always comes last, so can be the case with winter as well. Martin and Mrs. Heinert of Odense are visiting their parents and parents-in-law here.

Nikolaus Ternes of Strasburg in Emmons County is visiting here because his brother-in-law J.A. Kopp is still ill. Simon Kopp and his son Wendelin from Petrel in Adams County, North Dakota, exchanged two claims of land with him and bought two more claims of land. Wendelin has already arrived with a load of their things and is of the mind to begin farming in this county in the spring, near Schaller. He was fed up with Adams County.

As he sits idle, I am of the mind to invite him to a rabbit hunt. The hunters hereabouts shoot the rabbits dead immediately. I cannot do that, I usually hit their tails and then they are impossible to catch.

I haven't seen any correspondence from Krasna in a while, for instance Mr. Anton Gedak, Melchior Weber, and E. Bauer (A Farmer). Are the gentlemen tired of writing? (*Publisher: Well, these gents correspond quite well, especially recently.)

So onward, dear friends, we love hearing your reports.

Jochim Both in Emmental, South Russia, wanted to have my address. It is:
Nikolaus Kahl, Raleigh, North Dakota USA.

Finally, greetings to all readers of the Der Staats-Anzeiger, and the publisher too.

Nikolaus Kahl

From: Schaller, Morton County, ND
29 January 1913

I have been a reader of this publication for three years, but this is my first correspondence. I do not write well, and therefore I have been silent so far. Perhaps publisher F.L.Brandt would make the necessary corrections? (*Publisher: Most assuredly, please do write all the news!)

Our winter weather is very nice, even though it snowed today. It’s almost like the weather is playing a joke on us.

There are quite a few new land buyers in our Morton County. Among them are Michael Moser, Vinzens Moser, Gabriel Bangoski [Bonagofski] and others.

A 20-year-old Russian committed suicide by hanging yesterday, January 28. No one seems to know why.

My wife spent the holidays visiting her mother and siblings in Logan County, and the relatives were very happy at being reunited.

I am quite sad, though, as I lost two horses, which I had counted on for my spring labors.

(*Publisher: Received the subscription money; newspaper is paid until February 15, 1913. The postmaster in Schaller informed us that you no longer get the paper there, so we will send it on to Raleigh. If that's incorrect, please let us know!)

Perhaps the Staats-Anzeiger can help me find the address for Lorenz Masset and Martin Zahn, or perhaps a reader will know. You may write to me directly or through the paper. Dear publisher Brandt, I would love to get the address of my father in Mannheim, as well. (*Publisher: Glad to do it…)

Author????

From: Hettinger, Adams County, ND
30 January 1913

I do not want to miss out on the Staats-Anzeiger, since I am interested in what goes on in the world. Therefore, I am sending $1.75 for the subscription and the wall maps. Please send the maps to my cousin Valentin Herrschaft in Krasna, South Russia, for whom I had subscribed the paper. He has not received the maps. (*Publisher: Maps have been mailed and please accept your subscription for another year, so it is paid up until May 1915 and many thanks!)

There are no newsy items to report, so I come to a close and send my regards to all readers of this paper.

Sincerely,
Thomas Ehli, son of Franz

From: Brisbane, North Dakota
1 February 1913

A young Russian fellow named Sam Kofka hanged himself in the night of January 26/27. One assumes he chose this terrible way to end his life because he could not get over the brutal death of his mother. She was gored and impaled by a mad bull and tossed into the well. He could probably not face life as an orphan.

The weather is still quite good. We have no snow and it doesn't look like any at this time. It rained heavily on January 25 and water ran in the creeks as if spring had arrived. The sled and sleigh sellers are unhappy, but perhaps they will have better luck next year!

Thanks to the Staats-Anzeiger for the beautiful wall maps, which I enjoy greatly. Small wonder they are highly praised by all and sundry! They make such wonderful gifts! I can only encourage readers to order these as their premium for prepaid subscriptions. They will not regret it.

Greetings to all fellow readers and especially my friends in Canada.

Max Erker

From: Brisbane, Morton County, ND
1 February 1913

Dear Staats-Anzeiger:

I am hoping you will accept my few lines, even if we are not registered subscribers to your publication.

I always enjoyed reading the Staats-Anzeiger at my sister's house. Now the time has come for me to order my own subscription. I hope that many readers will follow my example and order their own copy as well, if they can afford it. (*Publisher: Received the money and mailed the wall maps. You will get the newspaper on a regular basis now. Thanks much.)

Greetings to my father Romuald Dirk, my dear mother and siblings, and friends in South Russia. Also regards to all readers and the publisher of this paper.

Amalia Gross
Wife of Ignatz