The Fort Dodge Messenger: May 23, 1904

Arrested at Depot Here

Gambler Named McManus From Eagle Grove.

Alleged He Shot or Attempted to Shoot an Associate This Morning.

An individual giving his name as McManus arrived this morning from Eagle Grove where he is wanted by the police, via the Chicago Great Western. In accordance of the receipt of a telegram from the chief of police, Chief Welch and Captain Jordan met the train and took McManus into custody, placing him in the city jail where he will await the action of the Eagle Grove police.

McManus is a gambler by profession and yesterday had some hot words with his “pal” who accused him of dishonesty. He denied the charge, but was given until night to make good his mistakes. Somehow he managed to keep from the sight of his friend until this morning when they met and with a borrowed revolver McManus shot at him. Before he could be caught, McManus boarded a Great Western train and unnoticed hoped to escape the vigilance of the police, making good his escape on arriving here. A metal knuckle, a screw driver and several silver dollars was all that could be found on the prisoner besides a revolver one chamber of which was discharged.

Northwest Chronicle: May 14, 1890

May Be The Kingpin

H.A.Morgan Cobbled at Badger Friday Evening – Caught in the Act.

He Admitted the Theft and Returned the Money, but was Held – He is Thought to be at the Head of the Gang –  Interesting Developments.

The coils are tightening and the gang of burglars which has been operating in this vicinity is in a fair way to be broken up. Last Friday about five o’clock, during the temporary absence of Otto Otttoson, his office at Badger was entered by a strange man, who had been hanging around that little town all day. Tom Chantland passed by and saw him at the desk, and suspecting that something was up, stopped to watch  him. He came out at once, and accosting Mr. Chantland, asked him where he could get a team to take him out to a certain Hanson’s place. Mr. Chantland directed him but said he did not know any person of that name.

The man then started off in an opposite direction and Mr. Chantland seeing Ottoson across the street called him over and explained his suspicions. By a hasty examination of the money drawer they discovered the loss of $5 which it had contained and started in pursuit of the thief.

They followed him up the street and finally called to him but he hastily dodged behind a building. The pursuers ran forward but met him at the corner returning. He admitted his guilt but said he had hidden the money when asked to give it up. After a little persuasion he returned with them to the building behind which he had dodged, and produced from a corner five silver dollars.

When asked why he had taken the money he said “What would you do if you were out here without a cent in your pocket.” It was suggested that there were plenty of farmers who needed men and he might have got work. He replied angrily “Do you think I’m such a blank fool as to work on a farm.”

He was then turned over to Constable Myer, who brought him to this city and locked him up Saturday. At nine o’clock he appeared in Judge Hyatt’s court and acknowledging to the name of H.A. Morgan, after hearing the arraignment, decided to waive examination. He said he did not want a lawyer and could not furnish $1,000 bonds. He was accordingly remanded to jail where he will have to remain if the bond is not forthcoming, until the grand jury meets next September.

In the grip left in Furlong’s store on last Sunday morning was a time table on which it was written “Due $20.00 to H.A. Morgan” and as he answered to the discription (sic) of the man who sold Dalby the watch it is believed that he is the ring-leader of the gang. Nothing of interest was found on his person, except a small short punch or “jimmy,” but several people saw him carrying a small black satchel which could not be found when he was arrested.

Another suspicious character was seen in the vicinity, but had no communication with the prisoner after his arrest. It is believed that he was an accomplice, and after the satchel, and he will be apprehended if possible. A thorough search was instituted this morning and the satchel will be found if possible. From the self possessed way in which Morgan waved (sic) examination, it is argued that he has been there before.

Sheriff Adams has put in the whole week hard at work in this matter, and it looks n ow as though things were coming his way. The gang is evidently quite numerous and well organized, but the end is not yet.

Northwest Chronicle: May 14, 1890

Got a Pair

Sheriff Adams Nails the Check Forgers and Has Them Under Arrest at Atlantic City.

Sheriff Adams has just added another to the long list of notches that he has to his credit for the capture of thieves, criminals, etc. Two months ago a stranger came to this city and perpetrated a number of successful forgeries and attempted to secure the cash for a check on the First National, to which the name of P. Butler was forged, and shortly after this he perpetrated a series of small forgeries on several merchants about the city, using the name s of L.E. Chapin and Fred Frost on the checks.

At the time he was successful in making his escape, but from the day after the forgeries Sheriff Adams has been endeavoring to place the man under arrest, and had had him located at Marshalltown, Boone, Des Moines and Carroll, and then again at Atlantic, and here he lost track of the man, who was masquerading under the name of Burke, but he furnished the sheriff of Cass county with a description of the man, and the result was that Monday he received a telegram from Atlantic stating that the man had been arrested there, and although they had tried the forged check racket in Atlantic, Sheriff Adams had been successful in getting his warrant served first, and they would be held for him.

Sheriff Adams departed for Atlantic Monday evening and will return with the man Burke and a confederate who was arrested with him, for identity by their victims here. Sheriff Adams has no doubt but that the identity will be complete and satisfactory that that the check forgers who have robbed northwestern Iowa of hundreds of dollars, will be given a long sentence and an opportunity to repent.

Northwest Chronicle: May 14, 1890

Chicken Pot-Pie

Two Unknown Thieves Will Fare Well at Wm. Shaeffer’s Expense – They Snag the Contents of His Hen House.

Wm. Schaeffer who lives on Richard street counts thirty chickens less in his coop now than roosted there last week. About one o’clock Friday morning Mr. Schaeffer was awakened by the violent barking of his watch dog and hastily attiring himself he stepped into the yard.

His eyes rested upon two men who were making rapid tracks from his hennery. He and the dog at once pursued them, but the thieves shortly eluded them and Mr. Schaeffer returned home, picking up a half a dozen dead chickens on the way. Each was bleeding about the head and an investigation showed that the thieves had employed a cunning scheme to affect the robbery. They approached the roost and seizing a chicken by the neck would drive the blade of a penknife through the head. The dead chicken was then tossed into this bag.

Out of three dozen hens Mr. Schaeffer had six live ones and the half dozen dead ones left by the thieves. The success in this case will doubtless spur the perpetrators to further effort and the public is advised to look after its heneries (sic).

The Fort Dodge Messenger: May 13, 1905

The Dog Marshal’s Life is Strenuous

Is Assaulted and Battered by Dog Owner and Loses Snare, Star and Dignity

W.F. Newberry Up in Court

Alleges That Newberry Attacked Him While He was Engaged in His Official Duties, Struck Him Twice, Took His Star and Snare Away

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. So thinks the dog catcher, who this morning filed information against W.F. Newberry, charging him with assault and interference with an official in the discharge of his duties. The case came up in police court this morning, but on the petition of the attorney for the defense, it was continued till Monday morning at 9 o’clock.

According to the allegations of the plaintiff who came into the police station this morning bruised, badgeless and minus his snare, the case is this:

On Friday he succeeded in capturing seven or eight dogs, which he had placed in the dog pound to await their redemption. Two dogs belonging to W.F. Newberry were among the number. This morning when the dog marshal went to look after his charges he found a board kicked off the pound and all of the animals gone. He at once went down to the vicinity of the Newberry stables and got after after the two escaped animals belonging there. He had succeeded in capturing one of them and was in the act of taking him to the pound when according to his allegations, Newberry ran up behind him and swung around, hitting him twice in the face. Newberry then tore off the official star and threw it away, and taking the marshal’s snare away from him, kicked him in the fear, with the admonition to make himself scarce about that place, said admonition being coached in no very choice language. The official dignity of the officer was badly shattered and his feelings hurt as well as his physical man somewhat bruised in the encounter.

After the continuance of the case, the dog marshal was redecorated and is out again and after them. The business of dog catcher is strenuous in Fort Dodge, but the present incumbent of the position is a stayer and means to hang out until every live dog in the city wears a breast pin of the proper brand. He however has much sympathy with Emperor Nicholas.

(Editor’s note: The disposition of the trial is here: Newberry is Fined $25 and Costs.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: April 29, 1904

And Now They Are Both in the Toils

Harry Himmellman and Sam Beisell “Get Even” With Each Other.

Now Both Are Under Arrest

And Must Answer to the Federal Jury on Charge of “Bootlegging.”

As the result of a case of “getting even,” Harry Himmellman of Radcliffe, Iowa,  must answer to the federal grand jury on the charge of selling intoxicating liquor contrary to the revenue laws. Himmellman testified against Sam Beisell of LaPorte, when Beisell was taken before a United States commissioner for alleged “bootlegging,” and in a spirit of revenge Beisell turned around and swore out information against Himmellman, charging him with disposing of intoxicants without first paying Uncle Sam his due and at the same time endeavoring to employ the charge against the other to clear himself. As a result both are being held over to the grand jury on the same charge.

Last October Beisell it is alleged made a practice of selling beer while conducting a restaurant at Radcliffe. He later moved to LaPorte, a small town near Waterloo, and was arrested there some time after his arrival. At his hearing Himmellman, who had been in his employ in the restaurant at Radcliffe, testified against him. When it had been apparently proven that liquor had been sold in his place of business, Beisell in turn attempted to shoulder the blame upon Himmellman, claiming that if the latter sold beer in the restaurant it was without his knowledge. He was bound over to the grand jury.

When Beisell had been disposed of the authorities began to pick up evidence against Himmellman and a few days ago his arrest was decided on. Wednesday Deputy United States Marshal G.F. Gustafson was to go down to Radcliffe to place Himmellman under arrest, but the trip was made unnecessary. While walking along the street Tuesday afternoon thinking of his contemplated trip for the next day Marshall (sic) Gustafson felt a hand on his arm and turning gazed in the face of Himmellman, whose arrest he was to make the next day. The unexpected meeting was something of a surprise, but when Himmellman “braced” the marshal for a dollar the officer nearly lost his feet.

“You want a dollar do you?” he said as soon as he recovered his breath. “I guess you won’t need a dollar for a few days. You’d better come along with me.”

“Well I’ll be d——, I’m telling the truth when I say I’m sorry I met you,” was all Himmellman could say and then he and the marshal marched up to the city jail where the Radcliffe man spent his time until this afternoon when he was given a hearing before Captain W.H. Johnston. He was bound over to the grand jury and being unable to furnish bones was taken to Cedar Rapids where he will remain in jail until his case is disposed of.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: April 23, 1903

A Fancy Graft From Old Madrid

Historic City of Old Spain Produces Scheme to Get Other People’s Dollars

Dons After Sioux City Man

Make Bungling Attempt to Interest Victim in Alleged Secret Drawer of Money

Sioux City April 22 – The green goods, the gold brick and the fake mining stock games are not to be compared with the graft which has been sprung in old Madrid – not Madrid, Iowa, but Madrid, Spain.

William Merrill, of the office of Smiley, McCormick & Co., real estate and loan brokers in the Bolton block, has been picked out for a sucker, but the selection may cost the grafters dearly. Mr. Merrill will turn over the correspondence in the case to the postal authorities, and it is not unlikely that the matter may be taken up by the state department at Washington.

The head grafter represents himself as being Luis Bodriguer Merrill, formerly clerk to the Interoceanic Canal of Panama company. He says he has £ 98,600 of securities in a secret drawer in Paris, the contents of which he desires to divide with Mr. Merrill of Sioux City.

He also declares that he desires to send his beautiful daughter aged 14, to Sioux City, to live wiht Mr. Merrill until he may be released from prison.

Like the green goods and gold brick letters, the one to Mr. Merrill is printed, his name being written in at the top and at various places in the letter. The name “Merrill” also is attached in ink to the name “Luis Bodriguer” in the signature. The attempt to deceive is bungling.

“The dagoes must have thought we people over in America were all dummies,” Mr. Merrill said, with some heat. “Well I will just see if it won’t be possible to show them a thing or two.”

The letter is dated at Madrid, Spain, March 25, and the substance is as follows:

“Being placed into a very hard trouble without being by myself able to come out of it by the great conflict made by my situation and knowing your generosity and noble feelings, I write to you, hoping you will accept the proposals I am going to make to you, although we are foreigners to each other. Only by telling you that my mother was a near relative to your family and that by her name, Mrs. Anna Merrill (here the name Merrill is written in just as Johnson or Jones might have been used), you shall understand our blood relationship.

The principal reason of my addressing you after never having entertained any relations with you is that my dear and deceased mother, in spite of the difference that compelled her not to entertain any of her paternal relatives but always spoke to me very highly of your talents and honesty, and consequently, I am wholly sure that you shall keep a great discretion of the contents of this letter and accept of what I am going to tell you. I also write to you, because you are in a free country which you shall be able to accede to the plans I have thought of. Is it dear to me that my young daughter, only 14 years old may find at your side and under your protection the future that I has assured her out of the troubles she should find here.

The writer goes on at length to explain his relationship with the canal company and how he managed to get away with the money to Gibraltar. The money was placed safety in a secret drawer, but he was arrested. The letter at this point breaths (sic) blood. It says:

“I was surprised by two police coming brutally to arrest me. I wa provoked and my indignation and despair almost made me mad. I made so great a resistance against them that at last I was beaten and wounded so badly that at the first moments all believed me dead.

“I have been one month without feeling my situation, but I am not well at all and under the fear of a near death by the shock that I received. I am a prisoner of these authorities as having made strength against the officers.

The writer continues in this strain, and finally comes down to his proposition, which he puts in the following language:

“My desires are as follows: It is very easy to get the drawer because the precautions I have been compelled to keep are precisely what assures them until you may be able to come to an arrangement in the matter. you can perfectly see that the assistance that I beg of you can by no means bring any trouble on you when you follow my my (sic) instructions, which you shall know much better when you answer me. You can perfectly know that having not the surety of my letter reaching you, I can not tell you more than what I have told you. I only must pray you to tell me if under the proposition I now have I can trust you to be a second good father to my dear, beautiful daughter, and that I am ready to reward your services by one-fourth part of all the property and the yearly interst that the whole stock may earn when it may be placed by you during my daughter’s minority or until the day she may marry.”

Don Luis “Merrill” attaches his name and then that it must be understood in Sioux City that he is closely watched and that his mail must be sent in care of a priest, D. Manuel Beller, Colla de la Paloma, No. 3, Argamada del Bey, Province of Madrid.

The writer adds:

“The great rectitude of this good priest makes it necessary that he remain unknown at all of this existence of my property, because if he would be informed of it he could perhaps believe me guilty and retire his protection to me and my daughter.”

(Editor’s note: This is quite similar to what is commonly called the Nigerian scam, because many letters or emails like this come from Nigeria.” Also, I debated about using the term “dagoes” which was in the original quote. I am trying to keep this blog historically accurate, but also don’t want to offend people. So I’m hoping that readers will accept it in the spirit of historical accuracy and not be offended.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: April 21, 1905

Boy is Hurt by a Slingshot

Result of a Dispute Between Youngsters.

Reckless Younster (sic) Shoots Another in The Head Causing Painful Wound.

A telephone message from 1436 Fifth avenue north this afternoon announced that a boy named Burdick had shot a six-year-old youngster in the head with a sling shot. The message asked that the police take some action in the case.

The youngster, who was hit, while not seriously injured by the shot, was painfully hurt. The missile cut the scalp badly and the bleeding was profuse. The smaller boy was riding home from school in a wagon when an altercation arose and the other youngster shot at him with the sling shot, hitting him as described.

The police have not as yet taken any action in the matter, but it is sure that they will do something to suppress such outbreaks on the part of reckless urchins and it is probable that they will put a stop to the use of the slingshot inside the city limits altogether.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: April 18, 1903

Forced to Choose Between Rain Water and Work

Awful Predicament of Three Hoboes in This Morning’s Police Court – Chose the Water.

Police court was rather busy this morning. Mayor Northrup having seven cases up before him. Of these three were tramps and they were given the choice of getting out of town in half an hour or going to work. The three of them chose to get out of town and the last seen of them they were “hiking” down the Central tracks towards Tara in the rain. This was not very comfortable but they preferred it to work. They gave their names as Frank Williams, Frank Hoyt and John Silley, but very probably forgot them as soon as they got out of court.

The other four cases were just plain drunks and none of them had any excuse for their condition, but were all eager in their promises to do better if they were let go. Mayor Northup is getting tired of promises of this kind and assessed them all fines and costs. All of them were “broke” so they went to jail. Frank Lynch, John Nuugent (sic), John Griffin and John Fitz were the four drunks. From the list of names it would seem the criminality was predominant among Franks and Johns with the Johns slightly in the lead.