I guess we ran into hard times.  We traded some lots for a used Buick.  I think there were 7 lots to this place and we traded the 3 or 4 north ones for the car.  The boom went bust in Enid.  Everything went to pot.  I guess we owed the carpenter money for the house.  He had hard times too and he moved in with us.  He had a daughter that died while we lived there.  I believe that was from diphtheria or typhoid.  I don't know anything about the financial end of it but December 1, 1911, we sold the place and moved to a rent house at 425 East Walnut.  At this time I transferred to Central School, which I attended until high school.  

 

While in 3rd grade we had spelling contests and I spelled down 7th or 8th grade.  At 425 East Walnut we had what they called coin meters.  You put a quarter in the gas meter and when a quarter's worth of gas was gone, the gas was shut off.  It was necessary to put in another quarter.  We still had coal oil lamps.  Across the street on the north side of Walnut there was a grocery store where we traded.  Two French Canadian brothers named Jonrowe ran it.  store where we traded.  They were characters who pretended to perform magic.   

 

I met Kenneth Robinson, Virgie's brother, while going to Central School.  Sometime later, the depression was still on strong and we moved to 706 N. 6th St.  It was a nice brick house with 4 rooms and a unfinished bathroom and a cellar and a nice concrete walk in front.  We paid $4/Month rent.  By the way, the bathroom was my room.  While we lived there we started electric service, with electric lights!  That was all.  Just lights, no appliances.  At that time in history, the electric company furnished the bulbs.  When a bulb burned out, it was traded in for a new one.  Of course the carbon filaments were long lived.  During this period of the repression, there were some good homes that could be occupied for the care-taking.   My youngest sister Esther was born at this home on July 1913.  

 

I first saw Virgie walking with her younger sister, Orma, walking to Highschool in front of this house.  

 

I delivered part of a paper route for a school mate named Linn Keller.  His father was a mail clerk.  I delivered papers 6 nights a week for him for a nickel a night.  My first job.  I earned 5 cents a night or 30 cents a week.  Later I bought his paper route.  That was the custom at that time.  The route covered East Maple and Elm.  I saved enough on it to make some purchases, including a violin and a bicycle.  The bicycle was a Ranger bicycle which was the best bicycle you could buy in those days.  I saved enough money from that paper route to buy the best paper route in town which was on west Broadway, Randolph and James.  I made enough money on that to buy a motorcycle.  I traded in the bicycle for the motorcycle.  That must have been about 1917.