EARLY CHILDHOOD - Part 4 Baseball, Bears & School

Timelines and Stories is back to  sharing the writings of my Grandfather, Alfred Moehlmann. The last post about him mentioned the big event of an arc street light being installed. I found the Edison Tech web page that describes how the arc light works. I think the invention of the light bulb must have been one of the greatest inventions of all time. Now back to Alfred's story as he continues with his early childhood in Indianapolis and some activities he shared with his father Fred:

"My father was an ardent base ball fan and while very young he took me to my first ballgame on Labor Day to see the Louisville Sluggers and Indianapolis Indians play at the Ball Park on East Washington street and sat in the bleachers – admission was 25 cents for adults; kids free.  Another memory was going to Riverside Park occasionally on the open or summer street cars.  The Bear Den or Cage was my main attraction.  Rides and eats were out – just to poor.

Father had a job of checking freight car numbers and the seals that locked the doors and had to do this also on Sunday afternoon.  I usually went along and on one occasion I got to ride the switch engine called The Possy from the freight yards to the Pennsylvania R.R. Round House on State street.  This was a thrill; sat by the engineer and rang the bell.  However most of the trips back home on Sunday afternoons were a bore to me, because Father liked his beer and would stop at the Home Brewing Co. on McCarty street where he had close friends and they always had a keg on tap.  Of course this was free and I would have to tug and pull to get Dad to go home. 

 Another incident that comes to mind happened at Emmaus School.  It would be unfair to mention names, but a boy who sat in front of me had lice; they would drop off his hair on my desk and I was caught playing with them with my pencil.  The teacher, Mr. Damascus, asked me what I was doing and not wanting to tell, I got my first whipping in school.  The school master had a raw hide whip about 2½ feet long and about the size of a finger; needless to say I had welts and red stripes all over my back.  Some how my mother noticed that I winced when my back touched a chair and finally it was discovered that I had been whipped, and of course I had to tell the reason.  When my father got home from work, he ate his supper and took me to the teacher.  For awhile I thought there would be a fight.  Of course the teacher was not entirely at fault; he could have used some restraint but the next day the boy was examined by the teacher and he and another brother and sister were sent home and I suppose de-loused."

The Indianapolis Indians were formed in 1903 and played in the stadium on Washington Street until 1929 when a new stadium was built. They are still playing ball today, but in the even newer Victory Field built in 1964 and tickets today cost $12.  

The Riverside Amusement Park that Alfred visited was opened in 1903 and was located on the White River.  It closed in 1970 although there is still a recreational area located at that site.  You can read about the history here.  This is the bear pit that Alfred said he enjoyed.

The Home Brewing Company was started in 1891, with the majority of the stockholders being of German descent.  There are pictures and a history of the building on the Historical Indianapolis website.

The story about the whipping at school demonstrates the contrasts with today's school.  But what also amazed me was that Alfred's father went to the teacher's after supper to discuss the situation. 

The next post will tell us how Alfred spent his summers.