From: Elardee, Saskatchewan, Canada
16 March 1920

Worthy Staats-Anzeiger!

Instead of spring, which we have been longing for during the last days, we have a terrible snowstorm today. But that’s the mode of March. The weather has been so nice so that one was hoping for spring, but today it doesn’t look like it.

The farmers here are getting ready for the fieldwork. Seeds for planting are being picked up at the elevators in town. Of course, with that the business people in town are making a good chunk of money.

There is a lot of talk here about a new railroad, which will pass through 5 miles south of my property. I am not pinning my hopes on it, since usually the rail is being built in winter, and in summer the ice is cut.

The marriage fever has subsided a little since it carried away the widower Gregori Obrigewitsch and the widow Eva Herle.

I am advising Friedrich Speidel in Gackle, North Dakota that Zachäus Ternes, whom he had asked me about, used to live in Krasna, Bessarabia. He came to America in 1905 and died several years later. Those left behind live here in Canada.

I am greeting my brother Zachäus, my sister Karolina and my Uncle Anton Gedak in Krasna.

Joseph M. Kopp

From: Prelate, Saskatchewan, Canada
18 March 1920

Worthy Staats-Anzeiger!

Today it looks a little better outside, but there is still a lot of snow on the ground.

On March 14, it started raining in the morning. Suddenly the wind turned, blowing from the north and it snowed then until evening. In the evening a terrible snowstorm arrived lasting 20 hours. I have never experienced such a storm during the 10 years I have lived here. Many cattle died because of hunger and the cold, which was evident by the looks of their hides that were taken to the city.

Today I received a letter from my parents in Krasna, Bessarabia in which they informed me that everyone is healthy and still alive. They would like to have an American newspaper. Herewith I am ordering the Staats-Anzeiger for them.

My brother Romanus Gedak is sending a greeting in that letter to his brother-in-law Rochus Ternes in Raleigh, North Dakota. He lost two toes during the war due to frostbite.

With a friendly greeting, Melchior Gedak