From Elsie Burton’s Diary
My Grandmother Aldrich went to a chiropractor in Riverbank, which is a few miles from Hughson. She had regular weekly and sometimes twice weekly appointments with him. One summer I was included. This was an effort to cure my bed-wetting. In the process of examination, an irregular curvature of the spine was discovered. It was hoped that in correcting that, it would have some beneficial effect on my problem.
I remember the little hospital gowns we wore and how we were laid out on the peculiar table on which there was an accommodation for one’s nose when one lay face down on it. Most of all I remember the torture of a sweatbox. It was a small enclosure with a seat. The entire body was covered except for the head. Heat was turned on and the torture began. One perspired and perspired. I sometimes expected to die. We were made to endure that for about half an hour. That and the ride home in the San Joaquin heat in a touring car at a speed of 25 miles per hour; who needs purgatory? Aunt Lucy sometimes participated in these good times.
One year my brother Darrell was included. He spent the summer with Aunt Belle, who also lived in Hughson while I was with Grandmother Aldrich. He had had diphtheria the winter before and had retained some respiratory difficulties. How this treatment could possibly help him I don’t know but Grandma sure wanted to try. Darrell and I made the trip to Hughson by train. It was my one and only experience in a train. Except for going through tunnels, the only part I remember was waiting at a transfer point, Niles, and the anxiety of wondering if I was in the right place or if I had somehow missed my connection. I also felt very responsible for this little brother. He was 4 and I was 9.
Swagerty-Aldrich Family Web Site 