(cover) NEMOSCOPE FALL 1947 (page 2) President's Corner For many years this College has been interested in visual aids as a vital adjunct to the educational program of the College. In the past some very fine work has been accomplished by the faculty through the means of visual aids. Recently this phase of our work has taken on a new impetus. This fall the Bureau of Visual Education, within the Division of Extension, was established with a director in charge. This program is designed to provide both on and off campus service of visual aids for those seeking this type of service. A film library has been established and already is doing a brisk business with schools in the Northeast Missouri district who are using films to a great advantage in their schools. Mr. Kenneth C. Sykes has been employed as Director of the Bureau of Visual Education. Those interested in securing the fist of films available may write to Mr. Sykes. Plans are now underway for a Visual Education Workshop to be held on the campus on January 16, 1948, at which time outstanding leaders in this field will be present for conferences. In addition, it is expected that a number of firms will be present to display the latest visual education equipment available. The addition of this service is in keeping with the policy of the College to extend its services where possible to every school in the district. CHANGE HOMECOMING Recently a group of alumni has requested that the annual Homecoming be held on Saturday instead of Friday as in previous years. Since Homecoming is designed primarily for former students of the College, it is felt that their wishes should be known in the matter. All those who would like to have next year's Homecoming on Saturday make it known by saying aye! COVER PICTURE This is the famous "Tom Sawyer Fence." The picture shows Mark Twain's early boyhood home in Hannibal, Missouri. The vine covered stone building is the famous museum about which the article is written. The picture is used by courtesy of G. Massie, Missouri State Department of Resources and Development. NEMOSCOPE NORTHEAST MISSOURI STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE KIRKSVILLE, MISSOURI WALTER H. RYLE, PRESIDENT EDITOR ROBERT L. MCKINNEY EDITORIAL BOARD WRAY M. RIEGER PAULINE D. KNOBBS BERENICE B. BEGGS C. H. ALLEN VOLUME II FALL QUARTER, 1947 NUMBER 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS MARK TWAIN MUSEUM, VALUABLE STOREHOUSE . . . . . 3 Berenice B. Beggs BASIL BREWER, EDITOR-STATESMAN . . . . . 4 Minna Littmann BETHEL -- NORTHEAST MISSOURI'S UTOPIA . . . . . 6 Pauline Dingle Knobbs A. B. CHANCE COMPANY MARKS ITS FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY . . . . . 10 HOMECOMING . . . . . 12 ALUMNI LUNCHEON -- ST. LOUIS . . . . . 12 ALUMNI NOTES . . . . . 12 A quarterly publication issued in November, February, May, and August. Subscription rate is 11.00 a year; single copy 1.25. Address all communications, to Robert L. McKinney, Assistant to the President. Entered as second class mail matter April 29, 1915, at the post office at Kirksville, Missouri, under the Act of Congress of August 24, 1912. Accepted for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized July 26, 1919. (page 3) FALL, 1947 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 3 Mark Twain Museum, Valuable Storehouse by Berenice B. Beggs Assistant Professor of English Education Northeast Missouri State Teachers College Almost any day of the year, cars bearing the license of the various states of the Union, park in front of two frame buildings in a certain block on Center Street in Hannibal. Missouri. Hundreds of tourists, long familiar with the picture of these two homes, eagerly enter the doors for the pen of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, has made them immortal. The home of Tom Sawyer is the mecca of Americans every season of the year, and sharing the honor is the Becky Thatcher home. Scholars and students of literature flock to a third building in this same area. It is the gray cement- block building adjoining the Tom Sawyer home, the Mark Twain Museum. Here they find a source of valuable material not available anywhere else in the United States. As one enters this most interesting building, he sees on the left wall near the main entrance many original paintings of that celebrated artist, Norman Rockwell. Close observation reveals the fact that they are illustrations of incidents in TOM SAWYER, the edition published by Heritage Press. On swinging panels on the opposite side of the room are fifty original illustrations by Dan Beard, the founder of the Boy Scouts of America. Few people associate Dan Beard as the illustrator of the first edition of A CONNECTICUT YANKEE AT KING ARTHUR'S COURT. It is most fitting that the great humorist, Missouri born himself, should at some time have his LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI illustrated by a talented Missouri artist of national recognition. The Thomas Hart Benton illustrations of LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI by the Limited Edition's Club 1944 attracts attention of many visitors. It is not book lovers alone who find a visit to the Museum a profitable one. but historians, artists, musicians and collectors. To reconstruct a picture of any era, one needs to know the life of its people. Clothes, furniture, jewelry, household decorations all reflect a particular time. The large china platters, the queer mustache cups, the patterns of the silverware and the quaint jewelry that are arranged in a large case cause visitors to tarry for observation. Many Missouri parlors from the 1860's through the 1890's often had displayed on marble-top tables, statuary groups of famous figures in history. The John Roger's statuary group of Lincoln, Grant, and Secretary of War, E. M. Stanton impress scores of spectators. This once outstanding sculptor lived in Hannibal as a young man and made his first statues from the clay at the bottom of Lover's Leap across from the Hannibal and St. Joe Railroad Shops where he worked. Accuracy of features and delicacy of line distinguished his work and made his groups a favorite in his day. The glass case in the rear of the Museum which displays the black velvet, basque dress of Jane Clemens, makes one recall that it was she whom Mark Twain characteris'd as Aunt Polly in ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. Her crocheted night cap appears quaint, indeed, to young women of today. Those who are familiar with Albert Bigelow Paine's account of the death of little Jean Clemens are touched with sadness as they gaze at the Orchestrelle, the hand-carved mahogany instrument eight feet in height. It was on this organ that Albert Bigelow Paine played at the request of Mark Twain when little Jean's body was carried from the home to her last resting place. Unable to go, Mark Twain knew when he heard the strains from Schubert's IMPROMPTU Op. 142 that the procession was leaving the house. The red and gray academic gown worn by Mark Twain when Oxford University conferred an honorary degree upon him was always a source of admiration and pride to the one-time Missouri printer and river pilot. The inscription on the glass case in which [photo caption] Portion of the Pilot's wheel from an early river steamer of Mark Twain's day as a pilot on the Mississippi is shown here. Courtesy G. Massie, Missouri State Department of Resources and Development. (page 4) PAGE 4 NEMOSCOPE FALL, 1947 it hangs informs us that it is loaned to the Museum by Mrs. Galbrilowitch, Clem's daughter. Certainly, the white linen coat nearby is associated with Mark Twain in his years of successful authorship for it was his customary garb and made him an impressive figure matching so well the whiteness of his hair. Artists have painted him so attired, seated in a comfortable wicker chair smoking a large cigar. His wicker chair and typewriter now in the Museum lend a touch of intimacy that makes one feel that the spirit of the great humanitarian, lecturer, novelist, philosopher, and lover of the common people is hovering near. Readers of the Mark Twain books in which he describes his steamboat days are glad to see the old pilot wheel from one of the Mississippi River steamboats of the 1860's. The pilot license in a neat picture frame hangs nearby. Family photographs, old Bibles, rare books, and letters, all furnish Mark-twainian scholars with choice material for research and writing. The Museum is indeed a great contribution to Missourians, and Northeast Missouri has reason to be grateful that Hannibal's enterprising citizens have made it possible. [photo caption] Tom's bedroom. The window is the one referred to by "Tom" in relating his nocturnal escapades. Courtesy G. Mamie, Missouri State Department of Resources and Development. BASIL BREWER, Editor-Statesman by Minna Littmann Once printer's ink gets into your blood, the saying goes, it's there for keeps. The saying holds in the case of Basil Brewer, nationally known newspaper publisher, a graduate of Northeast Missouri State Teachers College. Now principal owner of two newspapers, three radio stations, an aviation enterprise, the 21,000-acre Bar Double 9 Ranch near Tonapah, Nev., and connected with other interests, Mr. Brewer would be the first to say that newspaper work and writing, his first loves, still are his favorites. Old grads of the class of 1901 will recall Basil Brewer as a precocious lad who worked in his father's printery in Kirksville and won his Normal School diploma at the age of 17. His system first was inoculated with printer's ink in his father's shop. The Rev. Addison Lanius Brewer, a one-time Methodist circuit rider, ran the printery to supplement his evangelistic work as a minister. [photo caption] Basil Brewer Missouri-born, Mr. Brewer today is a New Englander of 16 years standing. His newspapers are The New Bedford, Mass., Standard-Times (daily and Sunday), and The Cape Cod Standard-Times (daily) of Hyannis, Mass., serving Cape Cod, to which New Bedford is a gateway. They are published by E. Anthony and Sons, Inc., of which Mr. Brewer is the controlling stockholder. Their combined circulation is 67,000. New Bedford, by the way, is New England's most important fine cotton textile center and the third largest groundfishing port of the United States. It often is called the Whaling City, in memory of its early preeminence as home of the world's greatest whaling fleet. Mr. Brewer's fine century-old New Bedford home was built by one of the old whaling families. The radio stations controlled by Mr. Brewer through E. Anthony and Sons, Inc., are WNBH of New Bedford, WFMR of New Bedford, first frequency modulation station in Southeastern Massachusetts, and WOCB of West Yarmouth, Cape Cod. WFMR and WOCB were established by Mr. Brewer. WNBH, one of the pioneer stations of Massachusetts, was in operation a number of years before E. Anthony and Sons, Inc., acquired it in 1934. The Standard-Times under Mr. Brewer has maintained and increased the long-standing prestige of The Evening Standard, founded nearly 100 (page 5) FALL, 1947 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 5 years ago, with which he merged the rival New Bedford Times in 1932. This year The Standard-Times established a readership record in a survey made by the Advertising Research Foundation which was highly complimentary to its publisher and his policies. Compared with 103 other newspapers of which similar studies had been made in 26 categories of readership. The Standard-Times exceeded the medians in 23 categories and equaled the median in one. Analysis of the 103 studies showed no other newspaper studied equaled The Standard-Times record in this respect. Editorializing on the probable reasons for the exceptional thoroughness with which Standard-Times readers read their newspaper, Mr. Brewer listed a number. He said most of them apply also to other good newspapers. but one he considered less common -- "The Standard-Times dares to speak its mind, editorially, on every pressing problem of local, state, national and world affairs. . ." He added, "The American newspaper reader prefers to have his newspaper take a courageous stand to fight for what the paper believes -- "even though the reader may not himself agree." Independent, aggressive, community-minded and loyal to its traditions as a family newspaper, The Standard- Times never has been provincial. The newspaper and its publisher have become known coast to coast through the crusading editorials Mr. Brewer wrote during the war period and in the crucial years immediately before U. S. entry into the war. As war clouds spread over the United States from the conflict in Europe, Mr. Brewer and staff became gravely concerned over the inadequate state of the national defense. He determined to do more than express concern. He and members of his staff made studies in various parts of the nation, seeking and learning the answers to serious defects in the defense program and defense production. Results of these studies were embodied by Mr. Brewer in a series of 15 articles published not only by The Standard-Times, but also in other newspapers throughout the country. They were offered free to a selected list of newspapers, of which nearly 100 accepted and joined Mr. Brewer in his patriotic fight for more efficient defense preparations. May 31, 1940, Mr. Brewer published an original "Preparedness Platform," which was circulated throughout the nation by the three major press associations. One of its planks recognized the increasing importance of co-operation throughout the Western hemisphere. It advocated "consultations with the other countries of this hemisphere on mutual defense now" and making agreements with them to the fullest extent possible. To study for himself essentials for achieving inter-American co-operation, Mr. Brewer made a 25,000- mile air tour of Latin-America, visiting cities of the East coast outbound and returning by way of the West coast. "I went to South America as an editor, trying to exercise editorial judgment," he commented later, "rather than as a reporter looking for ‘interesting copy'." As he traveled, Mr. Brewer sent back cabled editorial reports. These were published in 25 newspapers in various parts of the country under the series headings, "What Latin-America is Thinking" and "Notes of a Yankee Traveler in South America." Sigma Delta Chi, national journalistic fraternity, recognized the service rendered by Mr. Brewer in his defense editorials and series on Latin-America by conferring on him its 1941 award for distinguished reporting. Other honors crowned Mr. Brewer's work as a publisher the same year. The Massachusetts Press Association gave first award to the New Bedford Standard-Times for general excellence, and a first prize for typographical excellence was won by the Cape Cod Standard-Times in the N. W. Ayer contest. Mr. Brewer wrote again for a national audience in 1942 and 1943, when he drafted two full-page editorials, "A Dishonest and Disastrous Tax Bill" and "The Grapes of the President's Wrath." He assailed President Roosevelt's order limiting incomes to a maximum of $25,000 after tax deductions as a class measure, which would reduce incentive for production and might lose the war. He urged instead a tax bill which would encourage production and increase rather than decrease the volume of taxable income. Some of the largest newspapers of the country republished the editorials. His articles were recognized as among the forces which brought about the pay-as-you-go tax bill and helped translate a national conviction into a demand for action. Foresight, not hindsight, impelled Mr. Brewer's national editorials. Braving the disapproval of those who still hoped against hope this country might keep out of war, he released a full- page editorial, "Half At War -- Half Asleep," July 1, 1941. It was carried in the New York Times, the New York Herald-Tribune, and other prominent newspapers. Its author advocated openly and actively helping Britain "to blast Hitler while the blasting is good . . . because we love ourselves and our liberty. "This opportunity," he said, "will not last. If we do not embrace it, America itself may not last." A violent reaction from the Nazis was provoked by the editorial. Douglas Chandler, Hitler's American- born stooge, who was convicted of treason last summer in Boston and now is serving a life sentence, denounced the document and its author in a "Paul Revere" broadcast Aug. 10, 1941, from Berlin. It should have been titled, Chandler declared, "Be nonchalant, light another war." As initial reverses of the Allied war effort receded into the background and ultimate victory became virtually (Continued on Page 9) [photo caption] Basil Brewer is embraced by retiring ambassador from Portugal, Dr. Joao deBianchi, on the occasion of the decoration of Mr. Brewer by the Portuguese Government with the insignia of Knight Officer of the Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of Christ. The ceremony in which the Portuguese Government bestowed its highest civilian honor on Mr. Brewer took place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City July 27, 1947. Mr. Brewer is shown wearing the cross of the Order. (page 6) PAGE 6 NEMOSCOPE FALL, 1947 Bethel --- Northeast Missouri's Utopia by Pauline Dingle Knobbs Associate Professor of Social Science Education Northeast Missouri State Teachers College In the vast expanse of territory that is known in American History as the trans-Mississippi frontier a number of social, economic and political experiments were directed in search of the better life. The Commonwealth of Missouri was a proving ground for many of these experiments. In Missouri the Morman group sought to build the "City of Zion." In Missouri German migrants sought to build the ideal German state of the world. In Northeast Missouri on an obscure little stream known as North River, in old Bethel in Shelby county, a group of German migrants sought to build a settlement founded on their concepts of Christian communal society. For thirty-five years this colony was a testing and proving ground for their theories. The story of the appearance of this communal settlement is an interesting episode in the history of Northeast Missouri. The beginning of this experiment was in Pennsylvania when Dr. William Keil, becoming dissatisfied with economic and religious life, gathered a following and determined upon a settlement farther west. Of Keil's early life very little is known. William Godfrey Bek, former instructor in Germanic Languages at the University of Missouri probably recorded the most accurate account of Keil of any of the writers of this subject. He says: "Of Keil's early life we have no further record than that he was born on the sixth of March, 1811 in Blercherode, District of Erfurt, Prussia. His parents were German, and seem to have been of the middle class. In his home country he followed the profession of man-milliner. Nordhoff describes him as a "short, burly man with blue eyes, whitish hair and white beard." He seemed excitable and somewhat suspicious; gave no token whatever of having studied any book but the Bible and that only as it helped him to enforce his own philosophy. He was very quick to turn every thought toward the one of community life; took his illustrations mostly from the New Testament; and evidently laid much stress on the parental character of God. As he discussed his eyes lighted up with a somewhat fierce fire; and I thought I could perceive a fanatic, certainly a person of very determined, imperious will united to a narrow' creed." Keil seems to have experimented in Germany with the stage and then medicine trying to find a "Universalmedizan," a panacea that would cure all ills of mankind. He is alleged to have come to America about 1835 and to have lived for a short time in New York City. Then he moved to Pittsburgh, Penn. Here he practiced his healing arts and earned the doubtful title of "Der Hexendokter." In 1838 he was converted under the preaching of Dr. William Nast, the founder of the German Methodist Church in America. Shortly after his conversion he met the Reverend J. Martin Hartmann, who was deeply interested in the principles of communism. Keil was licensed as a local preacher in the Methodist Church but rebelled against the length of his probationary period and broke away setting up his own following. There were several peculiar ideas about his organization. He vowed that he would not serve in any organization where men served God for pay. He renounced all sectarianism, all church regulations, all title save that of Christian and declared his sole aim was to serve Christ, act according to the Golden Rule, and to live a pure moral life. He sent out followers to preach in German communities in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, and Iowa. Keil designated himself as the "Centralsonne" (central sun) and his leading subordinates as the princes and princesses of light. With the break up of some of the Rappist Communal colonies in Pennsylvania Keil acquired a number of followers. They gave him the idea of requiring confessions on delicate topics from members of the society and Keil seems to have used the information thus acquired as a powerful means of holding followers under his control. However, Keil had followers, who had no desire to become communists and give up their individualism. He steadfastly refused any written agreement for his communal organization. The Bethel Society as it was finally organized was a voluntary gathering of like minded individuals, never incorporated, whose foundation was the Bible and whose motto was the Golden Rule. It was held together by the indomitable and powerful will and influence of its leader. When that ended, the organization disbanded. Members entered the society under certain pledges, verbally made, and departed when conditions became (page 7) FALL, 1947 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 7 unbearable. Keil in setting up the western project promised his followers plenty of hard work, bread and water. Voluntarily they could enter the group; there was nothing particularly exclusive about the Bethel Society. This was a clever idea since public opinion in Missouri frontier democracy was bitterly opposed to "exclusive" societies such as the Mormans had organized. In 1844 when Keil had obtained quite a following he sent three subordinates west to spy out the country and to select a location for the colony. Adam Schuele, David Wagner and Christian Presser must have wandered far but finally selected a site in one of the choicest agricultural regions of the middle west. These men acquired a tract of excellent land on North River in Shelby County, Missouri. In the autumn of 1844 Dr. William Keil and his family together with a George Miller and a few others arrived in this western country. They spent the winter under considerable hardship dwelling in some of the old pioneer cabins on or near the purchase. In the spring of 1845 about five hundred colonists arrived. Some came overland by wagon. Some came by steamboat down the Ohio to Cairo, up the Mississippi to Hannibal, Missouri, where they made quite a sight as their covered wagons drawn by oxen wound their way forty-eight miles westward through the tall prairie grasses to Shelby County. The women with their stiffly starched white caps bobbing along through the waving seas of grass presented a unique picture in pioneering. The pattern of the Bethel colony was most interesting. The land was taken in the name of a few individuals (Keil and his subordinates) who held it for all. The 3,536 acres of land was divided into four settlements with Bethel as the center of activity. All settlements received Biblical names. On the south side of North river, opposite Bethel, was Mamri; one mile northwest of Bethel was Hebron; and one mile east of Bethel was Elim, where Keil lived in his "Governors House." Families lived in single homes but the unmarried members of the colony lived in "Das Grasse Haus" in Bethel, a sort of communal hall. A portion of this building housed the colony storehouse and another part represented the hotel, famed for its excellent German cooking. Most of the unmarried people living there were bachelors. The homes of the colonists were built close to the street, many with no front yard whatever. The style of architecture was very plain, without porch or ornamentation. Wooden frameworks were erected, filled with brick made in the colony and plastered inside and outside with mortar. Hinges and locks were handmade. No greater evidence could be had of the high regard these colonists entertained for their leader than the "Mansion House" which they erected for him at Elim. Built of brick and stone, fifty-two by thirty-six feet and two and one half stories high, this home truly symbolized the feudal position of Dr. William Keil. It is said that Dr. Keil protested this labor of love and later moved into a simple brick house. This "Elim House" had a large banquet hall where communal parties and feasts were held. The house was finished throughout with hardwood, which at that time was the only timber available. Bethel became one of the great manufacturing centers of the middle west. Dr. Keil managed everything through superintendents of work. Each man and each woman had certain duties. There were ranges of labor from highly educated and trained peoples, through the skilled artisan classes, to ignorant and unskilled groups in the colony. Eleven hundred acres were enclosed in one field and cultivated. The first steam mill of the section replaced Peter Stice's old burr watermill. All of the shafts of this mill were made of hardwood. The colonists established a distillery, a tannery and a colony laundry. All of these institutions used much hot water and they invented a conveyor pipe by hollowing out long straight beams about twenty feet long and a foot or a foot and a half in diameter. With a special drill they drilled a two inch hole through the entire beam. By hollowing out the larger end of the beam and tapering the other end they made a joint. This was then rendered watertight by taping this joint with flax or hemp dipped in tar. All fixtures and tools were made by hand, metal ones usually being constructed at the blacksmith shop. From the tannery leather for shoes was obtained. Bootmakers constructed stout workshoes, which were purchased from these German artisans by nearby Yankee settlers for themselves and their slaves. In this early period deer were plentiful in Missouri and doeskin gloves were made under the direction of the head-glovemaker, Adolph Pflugk. "Bethel doeskins" were known over the country and in 1858 at the New York World Fair they took first prize. For the operation of the tannery large supplies of oak bark were necessary. When the colonists heard of a contemplated clearing of the land they would propose to cut down the oak trees on condition that they might peel off the bark for their own use. Every man in the colony regardless of trade would assist until the task was done. Abundant walnut timber on the banks of North River furnished materials for the carpenter and cabinet maker. From their flax fields came the thread for linen weaving. From their flocks of sheep that roamed the North River Hills came the wool of the clothing. The colony hatter made felt hats from the fleece of lambs and the fur of rabbits. "Bethel felts" were well known in the region. (page 8) PAGE 8 NEMOSCOPE FALL, 1947 Common shelters were provided for their livestock. At Bethel a huge "Bank-Barn" one hundred and twenty by forty-eight feet was constructed. In the tremendous loft was stored the hay of the community. A large barn was provided for the work cattle and a huge pigsty also was built at Bethel. At Hebron there was a large barn for the cows and stock cattle. The distillery furnished them with alcohol -- but drunkenness was held in utter contempt. The corn and rye whiskey of Bethel was freely used by nearby settlers who paid excellent prices for this product. The commercial economic organization of the colony is of interest. There was a colony treasurer who took charge of the funds; then there was a common storehouse with a commissary to allot to each what was needed. The married couples received food and clothing from the storehouse. There are no records of financial transactions at Bethel and all of these seem to have been done on faith. There were some private earnings allowed in the colony. This income they were not compelled to turn over to the central coffers but each person could use it to provide things not obtainable from the society store. From their gardens and from the labor of the skilled artisans there were private earnings. The economy of Bethel was a strange mixture of religious communism, unbound by written contract, and the rugged self-sufficiency and private individualism so characteristic of the American frontier. The social life and organization of the colony likewise was a mixture of old world German custom and frontier work-play culture. In 1848 the colonists built a beautiful church building of brick with a commanding tower.The interior was finished in beautiful black walnut lumber; the floor was made of large red tile, while a spacious gallery ran along three sides of the half; near the tower a portion of the gallery was railed off and here the band played on festal occasions. A narrow pulpit stood at one end. In the tower hung three bells which rang in harmony for the bi-weekly services Dr. Keil preached but this strange church had no creed, no record, no ceremonies, no discipline save the rebuke of the leader. Ceremonies such as joining the church, experiencing religion, etc., so common to frontier churches, were unknown. Observance of the Lord's Supper was done by gatherings in private homes. Keil had no doctrine to defend or uphold. The chief aims of his preaching seem to have been directed toward moral living, industry and the fostering of the progress of the colony. Old world customs of celebrations of special days were observed. Keil's birthday was a colony holiday, then came Easter, Pentecost, Harvest feast, and Christmas. Most of these were held in the great banquet hall at Elim. Everyone was welcome from within and without the colony to share in the feast. A procession formed in Bethel and led by the colony band marched to Elim. The band played during the entire feast and in the evening there was dancing. At Christmas time the church was decorated with two large trees. The celebration began at four o'clock in the morning with a talk by the preacher and congregational singing and music by the band. Then, huge baskets of cakes, apples and candy were distributed to the colonists and strangers alike. The two Christmas trees remained up until New Year's and then the gifts on them were given to the children of the colony. One of the great interests of the German people was always music, Keil urged the organization of a band and finally under the direction of Henry Finck a twenty-four piece German Band was organized to give weekly concerts and to play on festal occasions. Their instruments, many handmade and some from the masters of the old country, were said to be very fine. A common school was established with one hundred thirty pupils by Moses Miller. Instruction was in English. Dr. Keil was opposed to higher education saying that it spoiled workers in the society. It seems that an aspiring young man would be permitted to go to school at the expense of the colony, provided he acquired some knowledge that would be of immediate benefit to the colony. During the California Gold Rush Dr. Keil became interested in the far west and decided to send a group of men to investigate the Oregon Country. These men reported favorably on a region in Washington and Keil prepared to go there. In 1855 a strange transcontinental journey was begun across the plains to the new "promised land." Dr. Keil's son had desired to go to Oregon and before the trip could be made the boy sickened and died. The father had promised his son that he would go to Oregon. So Dr. Keil sent to St. Louis, procured a metal casket, filled it with alcohol, placed the boy's body in it and put the casket in the front wagon of the seventy-five wagon train bound for Oregon. About the last of May or early June the journey began. Five months were required to make the journey, which ended in disappointment and a miserable winter in the Aurora colony. Dr. Keil practiced medicine in Portland, Oregon, and wrote contradictory letters back to the Bethel colony, sometimes urging his followers to come to the Coast and sometimes pleading with them to remain in Missouri. The Bethel colony lost confidence in Dr. Keil, who had left the affairs of the Missouri Colony in the hands of deputy presidents. The first deputy was Dr. Christopher C. Wolf, who was a well educated and very able man. He looked to the good of the people and under his rule they were contented. In 1863 Dr. Wolf led a wagon train of forty wagons to Oregon and Andrew (page 9) FALL, 1947 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 9 Giesy had charge of the colony. After Giesy's term, Jacob G. Miller had charge until Dr. Keil's death in 1877. The members of the Oregon Colony then asked for a division of the Bethel property. The entire Bethel colony was appraised by disinterested parties; prorated to the individuals according to the length of time they had been members. Each male member who was a minor when he joined the colony counted his membership from twenty years of age and each female from eighteen years of age. Each member was allowed the value of the property he had put in without interest. The appraisers found that the Bethel community was obligated to the Oregon community to the amount of $17,000. The remainder of the property was aggregated and divided by the whole number of years the colonists had served. Each male was entitled to better than twenty-eight dollars yearly for the time he was a member and each female to eighteen dollars. It is interesting to note that no law suits grew out of this dissolution. Communal life seemed not to have unfitted the members of the colony for individualism. They continued their farming, trades and professions and have done well. Pecuniary gain from membership in the society was not large. But these people had all of their wants supplied and lived without care. Those less able ones probably had a better living than they would have had if left to themselves. The artisans and well trained doubtless would have done better under individualism. The failure of this experiment seems to have been due to three things: (1) loss of their trusted leader; (2) loss of many able young men to the Oregon colony during Civil War where they went to escape draft into the Union Army; (3) outmoding of communal life by growing individualism, as the area surrounding Bethel settled up and the colonists observed the thriving of their independent neighbors. It remains a unique experiment in Northeast Missouri in search of an ideal commonwealth where "equal rights to all and special privileges to none." Perhaps it supports the theory that American democracy, as Americans understand and practice it, was an outgrowth of the frontier. Here the twin policies of rugged individualism and communal neighborly regard for the welfare of one's fellow man bred the way of life which Americans struggle to maintain and perfect. -- BASIL BREWER Editor-Statesman (Continued from Page 5) certain, Mr. Brewer, like many other patriotic citizens, felt that further glossing over the U. S. Fleet disaster at Pearl Harbor no longer was excusable. With the instinct of a true newspaperman, he assigned himself to a lone mission of ferreting out the facts. In extensive travels about the country to get at the truth, Mr. Brewer interviewed many persons who had first-hand knowledge of the underlying facts. These included Owen J. Roberts, then Justice of the Supreme Court, Army and Navy men of the highest rank, among them Admiral Thomas C Hart, commander-in-chief of the Asiatic Fleet, as well as men who were at Pearl Harbor when the Japs struck. The resulting full-page editorial, "The Truth of Pearl Harbor," was widely republished. It was hailed by many as the first clear exposition of the events that led up to the Pearl Harbor disaster. It spotlighted evidences of laggard thinking and complacent Administration leadership in Washington as responsible for the failure of both Army and Navy to be on the alert when the crisis came. Thousands of letters, nearly unanimous in their endorsement of Mr. Brewer's statements, poured into his mail following publication of the editorial "Half At War -- Half Asleep." A similar nationwide response has resulted from publication of his other editorials on subjects of national and international importance. An episode of the March of Time motion picture, "Mr. and Mrs. America", issued in 1945, in the interests of hemispheric solidarity, pictured Mr. Brewer at his New Bedford desk, writing one of his crusading editorials -- an evidence of the recognition his articles achieved. The Standard-Times has thousands of Portugese-American readers. New Bedford has a greater number of citizens of Portuguese blood than any other community in the United States. The efforts and contributions of this nationality group in the community, and Portugal's contribution to the winning of World War II through its benevolent neutrality, especially through its granting air bases in the Azores to the Allies, always have received recognition in The Standard-Times. In appreciation of Mr. Brewer's attitude as expressed by his newspaper, the Portuguese Government this Summer decorated him with the insignia of a Knight Officer of the Ancient and Most Noble Military Order of Christ of Portugal. This is the highest civilian honor the Portuguese Government bestows. Air-minded for many years, Mr. Brewer travels by plane almost exclusively. His newspapers have their own amphibian, which they use extensively on photographic and other assignments. Recently E. Anthony and Sons, Inc., acquired a Navion and a fleet of Cessnas, which are based at New Bedford's excellent municipal airport and are used in the company's newly established flight school. A Republican in politics, Mr. Brew- gave all-out editorial support to the Presidential candidacy of the late Wendell Willkie. Mr. Brewer was born July 22, 1884, at Rush Hill, Mo. After graduation from Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, where he wrote the words of "Old Missou", he taught school for a short time. He studied at the University of Chicago from 1903 to 1905. He was with Scripps-Howard newspapers from 1908 to 1921, serving as business manager of the Cincinnati Post from 1916 to 1919 and the Cleveland Press from 1919 to 1921. He was editor and publisher of the Omaha (Neb.) Morning and Evening Bee from 1921 to 1924; publisher and principal owner of the Lansing, Mich., Capital News, 1924-1929. He came to New Bedford March 6, 1931, as publisher and manager of The Evening and Sunday Standard and the Morning Mercury. The Mercury was discontinued in 1942. Mr. Brewer married in 1920 the former Mary M. Caswell of Huntington, Ind. He has a son, Given Brewer, Los Angeles consulting engineer, and a daughter, Mrs. Juliet Maxim of New Bedford, by a former marriage. His younger daughter, Alice Caswell Brewer, a Smith College graduate, is a graduate student of international affairs at Columbia University. He has two sisters, Mrs. Margaret McKasson (Mrs. Omer D.) of Kirksville, Mo., and Miss Jessie Brewer of Pasadena, Cal. For vacations, Mr. Brewer revels in the woods and streams at his Summer home on St. Mary's River at Desbarats, Ont., or visits his ranch. He is a good shot as well as an enthusiastic fisherman. Elburn Orland Gregory, 1944, is teaching in the Kersey High School. Greeley, Colorado. (page 10) PAGE 10 NEMOSCOPE FALL, 1947 A. B. Chance Company Marks Its Fortieth Anniversary [photo caption] A. B. Chance Founder and Board Chairman The manager of the telephone company in Centralia, Mo., was a sorely troubled man one winter night in 1912. A severe sleet storm was icing his telephone lines and threatening to put the entire system out of commission. As superintendent of service, head linesman, and man-of-all work he strove through that night to keep the lines clear, but to no avail. He had worried through the night while working, but he had been thinking, too, turning over in his mind ideas that could possibly speed up the lengthy, costly repair job he knew lay ahead. New poles had to be installed, new wire strung, and almost every pole straightened and re-anchored. Anchoring the poles worried him most -- and with reason. It took more time than any other repair job. The system of anchoring then in use was not particularly efficient. The usual method was to bury a log deadman, some four feet long and 10 to 15 inches in diameter and then cut a channel for the attached rod, thus making an anchor. Under normal conditions, one man could put in but two or three deadmen in a day. If only a better, easier installed anchor could be devised! This telephone manager, A. Bishop Chance, was also an inventor and had been operating since 1907 a small factory in an abandoned church, where pole line hardware and lightning arresters were made. As an inventor, manufacturer, and manager he had met many discouraging situations, but he was never afraid to try a new idea. He had decided that a smaller log or smaller hole would be a life-saver, even if only temporary. With this thought, he dug a hole at right angles to the guy wire instead of the old in-line way. Next he drove a rod into the earth at right angles to the hole and in line with the guy wire. The log was slipped into the hole, an- [photo caption] F. Gano Chance, President chored to the end of rod, and the new anchor was complete. Repairs were completed swiftly. Maintenance crews liked the new anchors, which didn't slip or creep because the pull was against solid earth, rather than the displaced soil of the old method. A metal plate was a natural development to replace the log, for it made fastening the rod far simpler and strengthened the anchor materially. So the Chance Never-Creep Anchor was born, and with it the foundation of the A. B. Chance Company was made [photo caption] A. B. Chance Factory and Office at Centralia (page 11) FALL, 1947 NEMOSCOPE PAGE 11 [photo caption] A. B. Chance Co. Switch Plant -- San Francisco secure. From that day forward, the small pole line hardware plant in the abandoned church -- started in April 1907 -- grew steadily until today, seven modern brick buildings house nearly 400 employees in factories and offices at Centralia, Mo., and San Francisco, Calif. With the Never-Creep Anchor as the cornerstone of the business, Mr. Chance gradually expanded his plant. In 1917 the organization moved into a two story brick building strategically located between tracks of two main line railroads at Centralia. Within a few years the Company was making all major types of anchors of the day and an expanded list of pole line hardware, bringing the industry into competition with other manufacturers. This competition was met successfully during the middle 1920's by increasing the manufacturing facilities and developing new products, so that the Company was able to weather the depression following the stock market crash of 1929. Until 1932 the Company was operated as a proprietorship by Mr. Chance, but in 1932 it was incorporated to facilitate handling of the now greatly expanded organization. Five years later in 1937 the Tips Tool Company of Taylorville, Ill., was purchased and in the following year the factory was moved to Centralia and the corporation absorbed in the parent company. The Tips Tool Company was a pioneer in the manufacture of liveline tools -- tools for working transmission and distribution lines without shutting off the current. The Chance Company did considerable research engineering on this new phase of the business and today Chance Hot Line Tools are known and used the world over by electric utility organizations. The slogan, "There's Nothing Too Good Where Life Is At Stake," completely exemplifies the belief of the people who make these tools: Their never-failing dependability has brought the Company an enviable reputation in the field, and has made it possible for electric power companies to give customers uninterrupted service by working lines hot. In 1940 Mr. Chance moved up to chairman of the board of directors and his son, F. Gano Chance, became president and general manager. At the same time the executive organization was increased in the important management, sales, and production positions. Under the presidency of Mr. Gano Chance, the Company has continued its sound progress through the war and postwar years. When the U. S. entered World War II in December 1941, the Company's manufacturing facilities were put at the disposal of the war effort. Many special products -- far removed from the regular line -- were made for use by the services until it was found that the U. S. Army Signal Corps would require 90 per cent of the normal peacetime products made by the Company. Thereafter war production stayed in those channels, and the production record set by the employees was an outstanding one. In December of 1945 the postwar plans of the Company began to materialize with the acquisition of the Bowie Switch Company of San Francisco, a move which diversified the line even further and made for increased job security. By mid-1946 the California plant was Chance-operated, with several former Centralians at the [photo caption] First Factory -- 1907 -- Abandoned Church Building (page 12) PAGE 12 NEMOSCOPE FALL, 1947 helm. Production is in full swing now at the A. B. Chance Switch Division. While the history of the Chance Company is intricately tied up with the life of A. B. Chance, its progress and growth has not been the result of one man's labors but rather the' combined effort and cooperation of many people under the common sense, down-to-earth leadership of the founder. The Company has paid its own way in that it was not founded or expanded with capital or land furnished by the town, but Centralia has grown and will grow further through its association with the industry. Ample proof of that is seen in the comparison between the depression-day payroll of $100,000 per year and the present $900,000. Most of this money is spent in Centralia. Working conditions for people in the factories and offices have been constantly improved. They compare favorably with those found anywhere in the country. Wages have risen steadily, while the Company has held to its fundamental creed of making quality products available to customers at a fair price in a competitive market. An outstanding Chance program for employee security is the Profit Sharing System, a savings trust fund to which employees may contribute and establish an account. The Company guarantees at least 10 per cent of its net operating income after taxes to this fund each year, and in some years has paid more than the pledged 10 per cent. Other job dividends accruing to employees and their families through a friendly, realistic industrial relations policy are group insurance, including hospitalization and surgical benefits, yearly physical examinations, safety glasses, recreational facilities in A. Buford Chance Memorial Park, employee magazine, educational and training programs, a suggestion system and vacations with pay. That is the fortieth anniversary story of the still forward-looking A. B. Chance Company -- an organization which has contributed, through engineering, research, and production, in substantial measure to the electrical industry, and, through its sound, ever- building policy, to the welfare of its people and their community. Vera Dale Fife, 1941, holds a position as reservations agent with the American Airlines. Her address is 14008 Roblar Road, Sherman Oaks, California. HOMECOMING The 1947 version of Homecoming was, in the opinion of many, the best that has been held in recent years. Blue Key Fraternity was responsible for the over-all planning for the day's activities. The Student Council and other groups cooperated to make the occasion a memorable one. At an assembly rally on the morning of November 7, Miss Elsa Webbink, Augusta, Missouri, was crowned Homecoming Queen. James Chevalier, Class of 1933, Principal of Moberly Junior High School addressed the students and old grads. Charles Kauzlarich, Class of 1935, Assistant Professor of Business Education, served ably as Master of Ceremonies for the program. President Ryle welcomed the group and pointed out that in order for a person not to be disappointed by changes taking place there should be a series of homecoming throughout the years. An excellent parade at noon time preceded the game between Maryville and Kirksville at 3:00 p.m. The loss of the game to Maryville was the only event to mar the day's program. A number of high school bands from Northeast Missouri participated in the parade and were guests of the College at the football game. George Olsen and his nationally known orchestra were featured at the Homecoming dance in the evening. A large crowd was present and many former students who were unable to attend the events of the day were present for the dance. ALUMNI LUNCHEON - ST. LOUIS At the annual alumni luncheon held in St. Louis during the meeting of the Missouri State Teachers Association one hundred and twenty-five former students and friends of the Teachers College gathered for a delightful reunion. Especially gratifying was the turnout of a group of recent graduates of the College. In commenting on this fact Dr. Walter H. Ryle, President of the College said, "I am highly pleased to see such a large turnout of recent graduates. It is indicative of the interest you have in the welfare of your Alma Mater." The motion pictures which were shown were universally liked by those present since many of them had not been on the campus for a number of years and were amazed at the changes which have taken place. In addition to the short talk by President Ryle and the movies shown, Jack Acuff, sophomore music major from Paris, Missouri, gave several vocal selections, accompanied at the piano by Stephen Melvin, Lancaster, Missouri. ALUMNI NOTES Wayne A. Frederick, Class of 1936, is teaching at Newman School, New Orleans, Louisiana. Wayne was a major in social science during his attendance at K. S. T. C. Leon Fox, 1937, returned to his position with the Mercantile Commerce Bank and Trust Company in St. Louis, after his service in the Pacific with the Navy during the war. Leon is now living at 5347 Gladstone, Normandy, Missouri. Ralph Seibold, 1938, social science major from Rhode Island, is now an instructor at Mohawk College, Utica, New York. Elmer Osborn, 1939, who majored in physical education and social science is teaching in the high school at Howe, Texas. Lloyd L. Garrison, 1940, whose home town was Shelbyville is now located at Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri. Flossie Elizabeth Herring, 1943, formerly of Elsberry, Missouri, is teaching in the Ecorse, Michigan, Public Schools. Address: 41 West Westfield, Ecorse 18, Michigan. Lowell R. Gudka, 1945, chemistry major, has a position as chemist and bacteriologist with Com Products Refining Corporation in Kansas City. Address: 3514 Tracy Avenue. Kenneth Kurz, 1946, who majored in Business Education, is an accountant for the Veterans Administration, Springfield, Illinois. From time to time it is planned to publish news items about alumni and their activities. A special edition of NEMOSCOPE devoted to alumni will be printed in the spring of 1948. Alumni are requested to submit information about themselves for publication in the magazine. -- The Editor.