February 26, 1945 (Monday)

WATER IN BASEMENT POSTPONES WASH DAY

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A bright sunny day and

much colder to-night.

A high wind to-night.

Our basement was

covered with 6 in[ches] of water

and wouldn't drain

out, because of the tiles being

frozen so had the Road

Comm send out a

man with pump +

hose and pumped it

out. Good Work.

Didn't wash on account

of water in basement.

Jack borrowed our

trailer to go to Cedar

Springs to purchases a new

litter carrier.

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I am going to be honest here and let you know that I initially thought Jack borrowed the trailer to haul home a new letter carrier. I knew Jack was a farmer but I wondered if he may also have delivered mail. A quick inquiry to my dad set me straight. Jack was going after a litter carrier...a piece of machinery used to haul manure on the farm, not something to haul mail.

Louden Litter Carrier ad circa 1920

The Louden Machinery Company manufactured and sold a wide variety of farm equipment. They were founded in 1867 by William Louden and were most known for using a monorail system for a variety of equipment such as the litter carrier.

I don't know if Jack purchased a Louden litter carrier but it seems likely given that Louden was a well-known and frequently-used brand during that era.

Litter carrier on monorail system from barn to manure pit.

When looking on the internet for information about litter carriers, I came across this amusing story about three cousins getting stranded when they straddled an inverted litter carrier and attempted to ride it from the barn out to the yard.

https://www.farmcollector.com/farm-life/stranded-on-the-manure-carrier/