The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 27, 1903

Sues Mineral City Association

$10,000 Damage Suit of Mrs. Hannah Williams in Court.

The Trial Was Begun Today.

Mrs. William is Brought Into Court in Invalid Chair – Much Interest in the Case.

Considerable interest is being taken in the case of Mrs. Nellie Williams vs. the Mineral City Park association, which came up for trial before district court today. Mrs. Williams is the Manson lady who was struck on the head by a bottle while watching the races held at the park last summer, and who claims to have been seriously injured on that account. The bottle which struck Mrs. Williams is supposed to have accidentally fallen from the band stand. Mrs. Williams sues for $10,000 damages.

The case consumed all today and will probably be of several days duration. The jury was impannelled (sic) this morning and the testimony of witnesses was taken this afternoon. Mrs. Williams was called to the stand to tell her story, and her testimony occupied a good part of the afternoon. She was brought into court in an invalid’s wheeled chair.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 23, 1903

Daring Safe Crackers Appear in Vincent

Two of Three Doors of Safe in Vincent Bank Were Blown Off With Dynamite Early This Morning

Bank robbers very nearly succeeded in cracking the safe of the Vincent bank, T.M. Anderson president, early this morning. One of the three doors of the safe was blown off with dynamite, with such violence that it was blown up to the ceiling, knocking off a big piece of plaster. The second door had almost yielded to the assaults made upon it.

Had it not been for the opportune arrival of three Vincent boys, who were returning home after an evening spent in the country the robbers would have been successful in their attempt. The safe contained a considerable sum of money.

The robbers secured entrance to the bank by prying open a window on the west side of the building. When they left, they went out thru the front door, which was left open. They were keeping a guard outside the bank. It is supposed that others were inside. The robbers are supposed to have driven away in a wagon, to which was hitched a team, one horse of which was gray, the other a bay.

Wilfred Harding, Oliver Lear, and Charlie Wells were returning from a farewell party at the Shriver home, in the country, one mile south of Vincent, at about three o’clock this morning. They walked in from the Shriver place, and as they entered the town, were surprised to seen (sic) a team and wagon hitched by the Catholic church of Vincent. going a little farther, they saw two men standing by the corner of the Vincent bank. As soon as the men saw the boys, there was a hurried movement, and almost immediately two shots rang out u pon the still night air, and brought slumbering Vincent out of bed with a jump. It is supposed that the shots were fired, both to warn the robbers inside the bank and to frighten the boys. The latter motive succeeded admirably. The boys ran to the Vincent hotel and aroused Landlord Sillabee, who grabbed his trusty rifle and fired an alarm of three more shots.

By this time Vincent was thoroughly awake to the fact that something was wrong. Mr. Woolsey, a leading Vincent merchant, was one of the first to hurry into his clothes and rush down town. By the time he appeared on the scene, however the birds had flown, leaving the bank door swinging wide behind them. A glance at the bank’s interior showed that the safe crackers had been interrupted just in the nick of time. A few more moments and the contents of the safe would have been in the hands of the robbers.

The work was apparently done by men who were not very familiar with their work, as was shown by the force of the charge, which blew one of the massive safe doors almost thru the roof of the bank building. The explosion of the dynamite was heard by several Vincent people, but none at first associated the reports with an attempt on the bank. The appearance of the bank, showed how hurried had been the departure of the robbers, when once their presence was discovered. Their candles and all their tools were left scattered over the floor, making it evident that they had stood not upon the order of their going. Two crow bars had been taken by the safe crackers form the Vincent Power house, and Proffenburger’s blacksmith shop had also been entered and his tools pressed into service. All these had been abandoned by the robbers in their hasty flight.

Sheriff Olson was notified of the robbery this morning but has not much to work on. The three boys who first discovered the robbery were so badly scared that they are able to give no description of the two men whom they saw standing by the bank. All the sheriff knows is that the robbers are supposed to be connected with a team, of which one horse is a bay and the other a gray. Telephone messages have been sent all over the country, and every effort will be made to apprehend the robbers. The attempt was one of the most daring, nad also one of hte most nearly successful ever made in Webster county.

T.M. Anderson, president of the Vincent bank, stated over the telephone this morning that the bank safe contained $2,400 ($57,479 today) at the time when the safe crackers were tinkering about the outside. The robbers, he said, did not get quite thru the second door, but the outer or fire door was entirely demolished.

In the bank, beside the tools were found a can of dynamite, a bottle of nitroglycerine, and the soap and cotten (sic) used by the robbers in preparing their charges.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 21, 1907

Police Court Grind

Nine Offenders Cower Before Mayor. Cripple Lucky – Vags Will Labor on Streets.

Nine men picked up by the officers Saturday night and Sunday filled the jail to overflowing and made a big line up for police court this morning. Drunks and vags proved to be the roles of the offenders.

Martin Anderson and Nels Johnson, two graders on the new electric line, were charged five eighty five for their jags.

Frank Miles, Frank Davis and J. Boland were given sentences of ten days at hard labor on the city streets, the first two for vagrancy and the last for drunkenness and disorderly conduct.

“Let’s see there, you. You’re a cripple, I believe,” said the mayor, pointing out a man in the crowd who was charged with vagrancy and who gave his name as John Giles. The man significantly held up a stump of arm from which hung an empty sleeve. “Your misfortune saves you,” said the mayor. “I’ll let you go.”

Two man named Knudson and Earley were fined the regulation dollar and costs. Another, named Moran, was let go.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 19, 1907

The Child Will Live

Marvellous (sic) Recovery of Infant Found in Vault Yesterday

The infant child found yesterday in a privy vault back of a residents on north 1st astreet (sic), where it had been cast by its mother a short time after birth, according to her own admissions, will recover says Dr. McCreight, the physician in charge. The case is an almost miraculous one. The child was apparently chilled almost to death when found. Ice was frozen on parts of its body. Good care accomplished wonders and today the little one is red and rosy with good changes for complete recovery. The child and its mother, who says her name is Sarah Shaw, are still at the city hospital. The mother makes no statement or explanation. She does not deny the atempt (sic) to make away with her child. Little is known regarding her. She had been at the Clark home where the child was given birth only a few weeks.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 15, 1903

Evidence of Attempted Crime

Kit of Burglar’s Tools Found in Clare Stock Yards

Additional Proof of Plot.

Seems Likely That an Attempt to Rob Clare Bank Was Planned.

The fact has already been recorded in The Messenger that on Tuesday morning several sticks of dynamite were found on the steps outside the Bank of Clare, and the supposition seemed plausible that an attempt to rob the bank had been planned and perhaps would have been successfully executed but for some unknown happening that frightened the would-be burglars and caused them to abandon their conspiracy in a panic of fear.

This morning Mr. Con Griffin found a package in the Clare stockyards w hich on being opened disclosed a kit of tools such as safe blowers would probably carry. There was also a bottle of liquid substance supposed to be nitroglycerine and a piece of soap.

The stockholders of the bank have reason to feel glad over the outcome and no doubt would not object to giving a substantial sum to the person who caused the band of safe blowers to flee so hastily, even though the fact that such an attempt was being planned was not dreamed of. There is absolutely no clue other than the circumstantial evidence easily conjectured from the few facts as stated.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 14, 1907

Cocaine Sellers Look Out

Mayor Bennett Says He Will Prosecute if Parties are Discovered.

“Some druggist or other is selling cocaine to a bunch of drug fiends about town,” said Mayor Bennett this morning. “I don’t know who it is but if we find out they will be prosecuted to the limit. They will do almost anything to get the drug but that is no excuse for a merchant and if the thing keeps up somebody will have to sweat for it good and plenty.”

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 14, 1903

Town of Clare is Agitated

Three Sticks of Dynamite and Matches Found on Steps of State Bank.

Bank Robbers  Suspected

Supposed They were Ftightened (sic) Away Before Securing Entrance to Bank Building

Three sticks of dynamite and several matches, found on the steps of the State Bank at Clare, are mute witnesses of what might have been a daring attempt of safe breakers on Tuesday night. Where they came from no one knows. Who placed them there is equally a mystery, but there they reposed this morning, to greet the gaze of the Clare citizens as they started for their place of business.

The whole town is in a ferment over the matter and dynamite and safe blowers formed the sole topics of conversation in Clare today.

There is absolutely no clue to indicate how the dynamite came to be where it was found. The only natural supposition is that safe blowers had started to do their work on the bank, and had fled in haste, leaving their explosives behind them. It is reported that there was considerable money in the bank at the time. The people of Clare are keeping a sharp look out for suspicious strangers.

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 9, 1906

The Jail Door Needs No Lock

Two Prisoners There are Old “Standbys” – Like Jail and Won’t Run Away.

For the first time, perhaps in the history of Fort Dodge two persons have been found who like the jail so well that they are allowed to come and go at will. “Nutty Willie” and Martin Hohn, who are confined there now, say that it looks just like home to them, is the best place they ever struck, and that they won’t leave it as long as the police will let them stay.

Officer Ditmer brought the prisoners their breakfast this morning at nine o’clock and kindly invited a Messenger reporter to watch him give out the food. “Nutty Willie” with his usual grin greeted the officer and reporter and taking the breakfast began to divide it with his fellow prisoner. “Willie” is a sort of trusty about the jail and turning to Ditmer with a mouth full of bacon and potatoes, he said, “Say! You know, you want me to clean out that front end today and take out that trash. Well, you’ve got to leave the door open. Just leave it open when you go out, and I’ll carry the stuff out in the street. Oh, he won’t run away,” in answer to an inquiring look from the officer in the direction of Hohn, the other prisoner. “He’s just like me. Says he likes it here and it is just like home.” The officer walked out after this, throwing the jail door wide open behind him, and “Willie” cheerfully began to carry out the rubbish, as he had promised.

(Editor’s note: “Nutty Willie” is most likely Ernest Willey, as he has been identified in other articles.)

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Jan. 8, 1903

Family Trouble Up in Court

Herman Schmidt Blames His Father-in-Law

Mayor Sides With Herman

Curtain Falls upon a Watery scene. Human Baracade (sic) at Wolf’s Barber Shop.

Herman Schmidt, with tears in his eyes, declared to Mayor Bennett this this (sic) morning, that he is a barber by trade and that he had never been in jail before. He laid the blame for his being in jail at all upon his father-in-law, who, he said, had stirred up discord between himself and wife. Schmidt was arrested on Wednesday night for being drunk and disorderly, the more specific charge being that he was abusing his family. His Honor was impressed with the apparent honesty of his story and discharged him, at the same time warning his father-in-law to let Schmidt and his wife alone.

A little tailor whose name did not appear on the police docket, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon, while forming a human barriacde (sic) at the front door of Fred Wolf’s barber shop. He had fallen across the door in such a manner that those inside could not open it, and he himself was quite beyond moving. Marshal Larson picked him up and cared for him till he was able to navigate, and then set him at liberty, retaining, however, a large fat bottle of good old forty-rod whisky (sic), which he found on his person.