Monday, February 6, 1922

Fair, bright, cool, damp day. Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Father & I out on business all day. Supper. To High School 7-9 P.M. for typewriting. Watched bowling. Up to American after Mildred Swart. Talked. To bed 12 P.M.

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By American, Stanford means the American theater, where Mildred was apparently watching a movie earlier in the evening. Stanford must have picked her up after attending his typewriting class and watching bowling, something he did, no doubt, to kill time until the movie was over. According to the Schenectady Gazette, that evening the theater was showing a comedy starring Will Rogers, Doubling for Romeo. Here is the newspaper article about the movie:

Sunday, February 5, 1922

Fair, cool, nasty, day. Arose 10 A.M. Fooled around house. To S.S. Good turn out. Mr. & Mrs. Clyde Stewart to dinner. Called on Norris's and Finch's in P.M. Lunch at latters. To Epworth League and Church. Out for walk alone. Home. To bed 11 P.M.

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I was unable to find Mr. & Mrs. Stewart in Schenectady. There was a couple who lived in Gloversville at the time, Clyde and Phoebe Stewart, but since it's not clear whether Stanford's couple is visiting from another town, I can't say it was they.

Russell Norris and Merlin Finch are still close friends at this point.

Russell Norris ultimately married and moved to Endicott, NY where he worked as a shop teacher at Union-Endicott High School. This picture of him was taken from the school's 1948 Yearbook.

Norris secured a patent in 1954 for a push stick, to be used with a jointer or similar machine. Below is a drawing of the invention and a description provided by Russell Norris.

This invention relates to a device for use in pushing a board over a jointer or the like.

In the use of jointers, Shapers and other woodworking machines, the manual pressing and moving of a small piece of wood over the table and past the rotating cutters involves a very great risk to the hands of the operators. While pusher devices have been developed which include a plate with an abutment at one end to engage the rear end of the board, these pusher devices cannot be used when the wood is disposed on an edge or when the end of the wood extends beyond the table.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a device for use in pushing a piece of wood over the table of a jointer which can be used for pushing a long or short piece of wood, either atwise or edgewise.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of this kind which will eliminate any danger to the hands of the operator in using the jointer and will provide for the smooth and proper cutting of the wood and to lessen the Vibration felt by the operator.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Saturday, February 4, 1922

Fair cool day. Arose 9 A.M. Breakfast. Out delivering. To Y for shower. Dinner. Arville Weaver here. Delivered eggs. To Union-Hamilton B.B. game 3 P.M. Score 27-12. Down street. Cleaned up. To ΦΝΘ house dance 8-12 with Mildred Swart. Talked. To bed 3:30X.

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I couldn't find any information about Arville Weaver. The Union-Hamilton basketball game was mentioned in the Saturday morning Schenectady Gazette, pointing to the rivalry between the two teams. So Union's win must have been sweet!

Friday, February 3, 1922

Fair Clear day but windy. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Father & I out on business all day. Sales better. Supper. Bowled with Church League at Scotia 160-149-180. Took 2 games. To Church to tail end of E.L. Business meeting & social. To bed 11:45 P.M.

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Once again, Stanford is bowling with the Church League, this time at Scotia Lanes against the Pilgrim Congregational team.

Thursday, February 2, 1922

Most wonderful, bright, warm springlike day. Arose 8 A.M. Cut wood etc. Dinner. Worked outside in P.M. Greased ford etc. Supper. Shined shoes. To K.S.P. meeting at Church. Walked around with Ed Gemlich. Bowled at Morse. To bed 11:15 P.M.

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Ed Gemlich is one of Stanford's friends from the Epworth League but must also be a member of Knights of St. Paul (K.S.P.). Ed was first mentioned in a June 1919 entry: Gemlich. He must be about 18 years old now. By 1930 he is living in Scotia, working for GE as a draftsman, married to Ada, but both are living with his widowed mother (his father died in 1929). By 1940 he is divorced and still living with his mother. His tombstone, however, shows that when he died at age 56, he was married to Ina Mae Brown. She married a Mr. Plowright in 1980. Both Ed and Ina are buried in Park View Cemetery in Schenectady, as are Ed's parents. Ina attained the age of 94, having outlived two husbands.

Edward Gemlich's Grave

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Wednesday, February 1, 1922

Beautiful bright mild day. Arose 8 A.M. Breakfast. Errands abut premises. Dinner. Wrote letter to Russell. Supper. To High School 7-8 P.M. for instruction in typewriting. To ΦΝΘ house. Down town. Home. To bed 10 P.M.

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Stanford is writing to Russell, presumably, because he left for Buffalo (with Merlin) a few days before. Why Russell and Merlin went to Buffalo, however, is unknown. Were they looking for a college to attend? Were they attending a pattern makers' convention? 

Tuesday, January 31, 1922

Beautiful, bright, mild day. Arose 8:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Out on business; Trade quiet. Dinner. Up to ΦΝΘ  house. Errands about house. Down street. Supper. Candled eggs. Wrote letter to Hanford etc. To bed 10 P.M.

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As you may recall, Hanford now lives in Boston where he is attending Divinity School.