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Jackson
County Historical Society 1859 Jail, Marshal's Home & Museum Online Bookshop, Memberships, Jackson County |
The JournalAn oral history conducted in
October 2001 between William B. Bundschu and Chris Christman, who worked at
Independence Bottling Company from 1947-1963. William Bundschu: Mr. Christman, would you please state your name
and how long you worked for the Independence Bottling Company? Chris Christman: Richard Christman. I worked for Polly’s Pop for fifteen years. WB: And for what years did that employment start and
end? CC: I
worked from 1947 to 1963. WB: Were you familiar with the spring that was
located on the Independence Bottling Company? CC: Yes. WB: Would you describe the spring, it’s location and
anything else that you can remember about it. CC: It
was just a regular wellspring and it had a concrete block over it that you
could lift off. WB: Where
was it located? CC: Behind
where you come out the big doors from the warehouse, it was about two to
three feet behind the big doors. WB: That
was behind the main plant building? CC: The
main plant building. WB: And
was it a spring in a well and how would you describe the well? CC: It
had water in it all the time. WB: Was
it a concrete cased well? CC: No.
It was rock. WB: It
was a rock-lined well. CC: Yeah. A rock-lined well. WB: Approximately
how deep was the well? CC: Oh, I don’t know that. WB: Could
you see down into the well and see the water? CC: Yeah you could. Because during the ’51 flood they had four or five, six
trucks in there pumping it dry, then the next morning it would be right up
there full. WB: What
was the diameter—how wide across was the well? CC: It
was only two or two-and-a-half feet wide. WB: Could
you see the water running into the well? CC: Yeah.
You bet your life you could!
They had that pipe down there for when they bottled. For the cleaning machine, they used
that for the water in cleaning the bottles. WB: And
did they have a motor down in the well in which they pumped the water out of
the well into the plant? CC: Yeah.
There was an electric motor down there. WB: Did
you ever go into the well? CC: No. WB: Do
you have an estimate as to the number of gallons that the well might have
flowed in the matter of an hour? CC: They clean all them bottles and everything, so it
pumped approximately 7,500 gallons for cleaning the bottles. WB: That
would be during a shift? CC: Yeah.
During a shift of work. WB: So
that was a pretty good flow of water through that well then? CC: Yes.
It was a real good flow. WB: Was
the well water clear? CC: Yes.
It was real clear. WB: Did
it have any taste at all, or did you ever taste it? CC: Yeah. It was just like plain old spring
water. WB: When
you terminated your employment at the plant, was the well still running? CC: Yes,
it was still running. WB: Do
you know anything about how the well was closed, or what happened to the
well? CC: No
I don’t. WB: Is
there anything else about the spring or the well that you remember that you
think would be of interest? CC: Just
that during the ’51 flood they’d come in there they’d pump it dry during the
day and come back the next day and pump it dry again. They did that for a week. Down at Grain Valley, Oak Grove, and
where they didn’t have no water at all.
WB: And
they were using that water for drinking water? CC: Yeah. They used it for drinking water down
there in Grain Valley and Oak Grove. |