Our Past Is Present September 12, 2017

September 12, 2017

            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.

            The “Junction City Union” newspaper reported in September of 1949 that “the firm of Hornbaker and Harper had collapsed.” However, they were also quick to point out that it was the cleaning business of the younger members of the families that had ended and not the law firm of their fathers. Apparently the young teenagers, David Hornbaker and Doug Harper had contracted with Grace Campbell to clean her cellar.  Miss Campbell had some jars of old canned foods she wanted destroyed and she gave the boys directions on how to break the glass safely with a hammer.  Nevertheless, first one and then the other boy came to her to be treated for a cut.  Although Miss Campbell gave first aid with a nurse’s skill, both boys began to feel faint.  She wound up with her cellar cleaners on the bed!  The boys soon recovered, however, and were back on the job and considered the incident all in the line of duty.  The newspaper suggested that perhaps Miss Campbell should think about carrying Worker’s Compensation Insurance. 

            Both of the boys became successful in fields other than cleaning and neither joined their father’s law firm.  Well… that’s today’s story on “Our Past Is Present”.