Some Observations from the Hill

by HH (Hub) Brown of OwegoOne time when I was a young fellow and worked in the shoe factory in West Endicott, there was another worker about my age who had worked at a camp at Big Moose Lake the summer before. All the winter he had told me of his experiences of the preceding summer in the Adirondacks. His stories usually ended up with the fact that he had left a knife and a blanket up there and he wanted to take a trip to bring them home. Work was real slack right then and we had no trouble getting the boss to let us have a few days off for there were several married men on the same job and this would give them a little more work to divide up between them. My oldest brother, who was a moving picture operator, had a friend who worked in a theater in Binghamton. Mitchell was a good natured guy and he said we could borrow his Harley and sidecar for the trip. This trip was all for the benefit of Paul, who wanted his knife and blanket, so I assumed he would furnish the money. I had $5 in my pocket which I thought would take care of my personal needs.

When we stopped in Utica for lunch, he had to eat in the grillroom of a big hotel. Late that afternoon when we reached Old Forge, he took us to a tearoom where he ordered steak for both of us. The steaks cost 75¢ a piece but when we got back outside, he said, "Well, that's the end of my money."

The road from Old Forge to Big Moose was all dirt and I was told that we wouldn't be able to drive out there yet. I thought I would drive out a little way and see how bad it really was. We met an old man coming into town leading a donkey with a pack saddle on. He said he didn't think we could make it so we turned around and went back and slept in the waiting room of the railroad station.

I don't remember if we ate anything the next morning before we started on our 11 mile walk to Big Moose. Some places where the road was open to the sun the sand would be hot and dry, but if you wanted to cool off, just step into the trees and the snow would be up to your knees.

We reached the camp at Big Moose in the afternoon where Paul's friends fed us and put us up for the night. That day had been sunny and warm but when we started out after breakfast the next morning it was raining. It rained all the way back to where we had left the Harley in some people's backyard. I found out some kids had been fooling with the machine and it wouldn't start. A man nearby with an old Dodge truck said he would tow us to get started and when I asked him how much I owed him and he said, "Oh, that's alright." I felt real relieved for I had a dollar and some change in my pocket.

We both had Army ponchos for rain gear and I found out if I tried to go more than 35 mph, these ponchos would fill up like sails and the hind wheel would start to spin on the wet pavement. I also found out that every time I drove through a puddle, water would splash on the sidecar and then back on the spark plugs, shorting them out. I also soon found that my passenger was not only much of a money handler, but didn't much like open sidecar riding. Every now and then he would start complaining he was wet and cold. I thought to myself, well, at least you've got your blanket.

When we finally pulled into Sherburne, he was so miserable I stopped at the railroad station and we draped ourselves over the radiators to get dry. I'll tell you next time about getting home.