At the time I'm recalling, this hardware was a forerunner of the present Casey Clegg's Hardware. It was only about 1/4 as large as the present. The side toward the drug store was Tripp's Grocery Store, the leading one in town. Levi Root and Ray Newell were each prominent citizens of the town. Mr. and Mrs. Newell lived where Lida Peterson now does. Mr. and Mrs. Root lived where Attorney Black now does.
The store was typical for the time. Much of the south wall interior was a vast collection of wooden drawers containing the small merchandise. There was a 10-foot ladder that ran on a rail at the top of these cupboards.
Now my take is about an elderly clerk who worked in Root and Newell's Store, Theadore Innes. Everyone called him "Toreador". Now he, like many of us, had good days and not-so-good days. I was working in the mill and would need a certain size and type of bolt. On going to the store asking for the same, Mr. Innes assured me that they didn't carry said bolt anymore. A few days later on going to the store and asking for the same, Mr. Innes climbed up his ladder, spent 10 minutes searching various drawers and came down the ladder with exactly what I wanted. It was one of his better days.