A visit to friends
One Saturday, we made a visit to see some friends near the Weed Community. It was late in the evening when we started back to Sparksville. About two miles from Sparksville a tire went flat. Cousin and I got out of the car and were looking the situation over when we heard another tire going down, one on the front and another on the back. When we removed the spare it was flat too.

We decided to fix the flats
At this time 768 was a gravelled road and homes were some distances apart. Most did not have phones to call for help. We decided to fix the flat tires. Getting the jack, air pump, tire tools and repair kit out, we began repairing the first one. The repair kit had a number of different size patches, a rasp-type scraper and cement. The cement was the kind that needed to be heated to make a good seal. This was done by cleaning the place where the small hole was in the inner tube and applying the cement, then lighting it with a match. After it burned until almost going out, the flame was blown out and the patch applied to the inner tube. And then replaced back into the tire and refit on the rim, to be mounted on the car.

A Neighbour lends a hand
By the time we got the first tire fixed and on the front, it was getting dark. However a car stopped and a nice man got out and help us fix the second one using his light. These tires were aired up using a hand pump to inflate the tires. We checked the other tires and were on our way home. I suppose it was good that we had stopped by Wheelers Service Station for some gas before making the trip. Cousin Gordons Station was one that had the old gas pump with the round glass reservoir on the top, with the measurements printed on the side in a vertical scale. One would need to hand pump the amount of the purchase into the glass reservoir before filling the tank.

Gasoline by the dollar amount
In those days gas was bought by the dollar amount. We would usually but $1.50 worth, which was five gallon on the measuring scale. I remember cousin Gordon Wheeler having one of the first pop machines in the Sparksville/Antioch community. Pop was a nickel as well as a large candy bar. Later in years they added a convenient store and it was operated by his wife Gladys.If you care to see a photo of the old Wheeler station and convenient store, go to this web page.