The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 13, 1904

Wonderful Vitality of a Cow

Dragged by Locomotive and Rolled Down Embankment.

Found Standing in Creek by Owner Next Morning and is Driven Home – Rib Through Lungs.

A cow belonging to A.J. Hilton of this city, passed through an experience on Sunday night that would seem incredible when the fact is taken into consideration that she still lives and will probably recover. The bovine in question was pastured in a small enclosure bordering on the M. & St.L. tracks on Soldier Creek, a little way from the cemetery. On Sunday night she evidently got through the fence into the railroad right of way, where she was caught by the midnight passenger train going north. It is supposed that in some manner the animal got caught in the pilot of the locomotive and was dragged alonside (sic) for some distance.

Rolled Down Embankment.

She was finally wrenched loose by the motion of the train and went rolling down a steep embankment through a barbed wire fence into old Soldier Creek. In the morning when found by her owner, she was standing up in the creek and although badly scratched up was able to walk home. A veterinary was sent for and u pon examination it was found that a rib had been broken and had penetrated one lung of the animal. The veterinary did what he could for her and she seemed to be getting along all right with some chance of recovery. The side of the grade, where the cow had pounded along over the ties, was badly torn up, showing how far she had been dragged, and the wonder is great that any animal could have stood that amount of grief and have lived and been able to walk after it.

Tags: 1904, Hilton

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 12, 1904

A Boys Orchestra Attracts Attention

Four Boys, Youngest Nine Years, Eldest Fourteen Years of Age Play Here.

Are Youthful Professionals

Youngest Lad With Long Flaxen Curls is Center of all Eyes – The Boys Support Their Father And Themselves by their Musical Ability.

Four young boys whose ages range from nine to fourteen yars (sic) attracted much mention on the streets last week. They made up an orchestra composed of two violins, a cello and a clarinet. The youngest had long flaxen curls and looked several years younger than he is. The lads have been playing in the large cities of the United States for three  years. Their father accompanies them, but does not appear upon the streets with them. It was because of their youth and their exceptional musical abilities that the boys attracted attention.

All wore knee pants and each appears younger than his years. They are an independent set of boys and pay little, if any atention (sic), to their father, except to consult him upon matters of business. Asked as to where his father was, the flaxen haired youngster replied, “At the hotel, I s’pose.”

The boys reside in Nebraska. Their father’s name is Hullenberg. From both their parents the boys inherit musical ability. The elder of them has had advantages in a musical academy but all four of them are excellent players. Of course the youngest lad attracts the most attention. He plays the cello and as he stands up beside it lacks half a foot of coming up to the top of it. With his beautiful hair tumbling about his shoulders he is the center of all eyes while playing on the sreets (sic). He is a pretty boy and plays easily and with no seeming effort. While in Des Moines recently this orchestra received favorable mention for their street playing. Seldom do the boys play for dances. It keeps them out too late, said the elder of them. Last night, however, they broke the rule by playing for an informal dance at the Maccabee hall. The boys have played in most of the larger towns in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and the middle states. They are on the road practically all the year and support their father who goes with them and takes life easy.

Tags: 1904, Hullenberg

The Fort Dodge Daily Chronicle: Sept. 11, 1908

Memories of The Past Are Awakened by Visit to Leipzig

Mrs. John F. Duncombe Writes an Interesting Letter of Her Revisit to the German City She Resided in For Three Years With Her Daughters – Other Matters of Interest.

We are now in good old Leipzig with lovely weather and both of us well, and  having a good time. We have visited the place the girls and I called home for three years and as John and I entered the hall door and walked up the familiar stairs, memories of the past came over me and I could not but feel sad. The friends of long ago, where were they all? Gone, move of them, to that bourne from whence no traveller returns. I remember how pleased your father was with our beautiful little German home, and of his saying, “Well, I heartily approve of this, it if fine,” but that is all in the past.

John and I went all through the great conservatory. All the students have gone for their vacations and the whole place is being renovated and made ready for the fall term. I took John through the Auerbachshof, the wine cellar in which Goethe wrote Faust – made famous by Keller. We enjoyed the collection of renowned Faust pictures, dating back to the year 1525. We also visited the Furinjerhof and the celebrated Thomas Kirche – (church) where we used to go to hear the boys sing on Saturday morning. I called on some of my old German friends and they all knew me at once. We went to find Mrs. Nicholson and Nana, but they are up on the Hartz and will not be back until next week, so we were disappointed and I feel sure they will regret not seeing some one from home. John and I went to view the battle ground of Leipzig, and we saw the fine monument Germany is erecting to the memory of this great victory. They already have a small stone placed where Napoleon stood when commanding his army. It is all very interesting and as the morning was a bright, beautiful one our drive was very enjoyable. We will leave here for Dresden tomorrow, and remain there until we have seen all we care to see;  then on to Berlin and be ready for a plunge into Switzerland.

I hope my cabled greetings tot he old settlers, through Professor Findlay, president of the Historical Society, reached there in time and that the day was fine and all the old settlers living could be present and enjoy it themselves. They certainly deserve it after their long years of privations and hard work.

We h ad a long sea trip of seven  hours crossing over form Queensborough to Flushin, Holland. The sea was very rough and many were very sick. John enjoyed the canals and dykes and and windmills of picturesque Holland. We have been very fortunate as to weather, bright and cool, not one entire disagreeable day since we landed. John often says at eventide, “My, but this has been a grand day to me.” We are book to sail in the Hamburgh (sic) American steamer, The Kaiserine Augusta Victoria, a sister boat to the Amerika, and which sails on Oct. 2nd. When we went up to the steamer offices, we were obliged to answer a number of questions as to occupation, sex, color, etc., etc. When John heard me say white, he remarked: “Put me down green.”

I was very sorry to read of Senator Allison’s death. It seemed very pathetic and too bad that his last days should be embittered by strife in his own state, after so long a service to the public. He died on Tuesday and Thursday morning I was reading about his death in Edinburgh, Scotland. The wireless makes the world seem small.

Mary A. Duncombe

Tags: 1908, Allison, Duncombe, Findlay

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 10, 1903

May Be The Stolen Horse

Possible Clue to Incendiary of the Ricke Fire

Horse Answering Description of One Stolen Being Held by Authorities in Omaha.

A horse answering exactly to the description of the one stolen from the Ricke livery barn on Saturday, the night when the stable burned, has been located in Omaha, where a man was seen driving the animal on Saturday morning, only a few hours after the fire.

Immediately upon the discovery of the theft, cards were sent thruout the county giving a description of the missing animal. Russell McGuire today received a letter from his brother, D.O. McGuire, stating that a horse in every particular answering the description of the one stolen from the Ricke barn, was seen on the streets of Omaha on Saturday morning.

The animal has been held and the matter will be investigated. Of course, the horse may be another, but horses which are just alike are very rare. If it is the same animal, the authorities are at a loss to know how it could have been tranoprted (sic) to Omaha so soon. It could not have been driven there in that short time, and it does not seem likely that it would have been shipped within so few hours, Ricke being positive that the horse was not taken out of the barn before the early morning when the fire occurred. For this reason the officers are not putting much faith in the hope that the animal and the man guilty of putting to death eleven dumb brutes by an awful torture, simply to steal a horse, will be secured by this clue.

However the horse has been held, and the particulars will be inquired into.

Tags: 1903, McGuire, Ricke

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 10, 1903

Comply With Fire Escape Ordinance

Nearly Every Building in the City is Now Protected Against Fire.

Four Buildings Without Them

Owners of Two Buildings are Fined for not Obeying the Law.

Inhabitants of Fort Dodge “sky scrapers,” need no longer have any fear of waking up in the middle of the night disturbed by the alarm of fire and finding that there is no other means of escape besides the burning stairway, or windows high above the street.

The city fire escape ordinance passed last April in accordance with the state law is now practically enforced in Fort Dodge. There are only four buildings in the city, which on account of their size come under the law, unprovided with fire escapes of sufficient size and number to allow the inmates in event of a fire a mode of escape.

Two of the delinquents, the Great Western Cereal Company and the Green-Wheeler Shoe company have been fined the amount provided by law, $1 and costs, $10 per week afterward until fire escapes are put up. The other delinqent (sic), the Midland life Insurance Co., which has been ordered to appear on charge of disobeying the law and the fourth owner, Harry Sanderson, who is prevented from putting  up the escape on his building until the permission of the government is secured, the escapes being placed on the west side of the Sanderson black which borders on the postoffice grounds. It is necessary to secure the consent of the government before the work can be done.

All of the Central avenue business blocks of three or more stories, with the exception of the above named, have complied with the ordinance and the contracts for the escapes on the shoe factory have been let and work will commence as soon as the material arrives. The Great Western Cereal Company had provided the mill with one fire escape but this has been considered insufficient, so that more will have to be put in. The work of doing this will begin Thursday.  The Midland Insurance company has ordered the material and will have the apparatus u p within a few weeks. As soon as government permission is secured the fire escapes will be placed on the Sanderson block.

The most expensive escapes not put in are those on the court house. These are of the nature of a steel stairway and cost $450. One escape is placed on the east and one on the soth (sic) side of the building.

The Des Moines Bridge and Iron Works has held contracts for the majority of the work. The contracts signed by this company here would run into the thousands. the cost of the fire escapes for a building varies from $80 to $500 depending on the number and kind used and whether or not a stand pipe is put in.

The ordinance was passed by the council in the early spring. Notices were served on property owners on April first that the escapes must be in by June 1, but delay in the carrying out of the contracts by the construction companies has caused a postponement in the enforcement of the ordinance.

Tags: 1903

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 10, 1903

Schnurr – Jankans Nuptials

An Interesting But Quiet Ceremony Takes Place.

Dr. W.G. Jankans and Miss Belle Schnurr United in Marriage on Wednesday Evening.

On Wednesday evening at 8 o’clock, attended by only a few intimate friends of the bride and groom, occurred the marriage of Dr. Wilber G. Jankans and Miss Belle Schnurr of Otho. The ceremony was performed by Rev. C.H. Remington, in the apartments of Mr. and Mrs. S.C. Johnson, in the Oleson block.

After the wedding a supper was served, following which Mr. and Mrs. Jankans left for the Central depot, where they took the midnight train for the east. They will visit various points of interest before returning to the city in about four weeks, among the places to be visited being the doctor’s old home in Virginia.

Both bride and groom are well known in the city.  The bride’s home is in Otho, but for several years she had made her home with her sister, Mrs. S.C. Johnson in this city. Dr. Jankans has been one of the most prominent professional men of the city, having been located here for over twelve years.

Tags: 1903, Jankans, Johnson, Remington, Schnurr

The Fort Dodge Daily Chronicle: Sept. 9, 1910

Webster County Corn is Excellent

Crop Along the Interurban Line Best Between This City and the State Capital.

According to the reports which have been brought back to the city by members of the local tribe of Red Men who were in attendance at the initiation ceremonies at Des Moines on Thursday, Webster county has the best prospects of a bumper corn crop of any of the territory traversed by the Fort Dodge, Des Monies & Southern.

The crop in this county is in every way better than in the territory south of hear, while that in Boone county is better than in the country farther south, evidencing the fact that this section was more favored with rains at the proper season. In many places the husks are noticed to be turning color and the corn is rapidly maturing, and even should a frost come there is little danger that serious damage would result.

Tags: 1910

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 8, 1906

Peculiar Tangle in Mayor’s Court

Ed Rank Arrested for Sounding Weird Siren Horn on His Auto.

Fined; But Appeals the Case

Mayor Says Horn Sounds Like Dying Wail And Scares Women and Children – Rank Says it is Necessary to Make People Get Out of Way.

Fort Dodge is noted for its peculiar legal tangles, but what seems to be the strangest yet arose this morning in the mayor’s court when Ed Rank appeared charged with disturbing the peace by sounding a weird siren horn on his auto about the streets.

Mr. Rank bought the horn which has caused all the trouble in Omaha during a trip there a few weeks ago. It was invented about a year ago and has become very popular in the east on account of the effective warning it gives.

It has a strangely weird sound, starting with a wail and ending in a wild shriek, and if given full force, can be heard for blocks. To one who does not know what it is or is of a nervous temperament, it undoubtedly has a terrifying sound.

When Mr. Rank first appeared here with it on his auto, Mr. Bennett, through his police, warned him not to use it. He continued, however, feeling that if care was used not to sound it with full force all would go well. Continual complaints to the mayor caused him to notify Mr. Rank last night to appear before him this morning to stand trial.

At the trial Mr. Rank and H.B. Groves, proprietor of one of the local garages, testified for the defendant, stating that such a horn was a great benefit to the autoist and to pedestrians, because it gave such a good warning of the auto’s approach. They stated that the ordinary horns were paid but little attention and something to carry far was almost necessary.

Mayor Bennett held that the horn was a nuisance. He stated that its sound caused people to run to the windows in dismay, wondering what had happened, or to hide themselves in terror; that it carried a sound which was like the shhriek of a dying man or the wail of a lost soul and that numbers of prominent people of the city (naming them) had earnestly requested that, as chief executive of the ctiy, he should take steps to abate it. In the end the fine named was levied. Maurice O’Connor appeared for Mr. Rank and the case was conducted for the city by City Solicitor M.J. Mitchell. Immediately after the close of the trial an appeal to the district court was taken by the attorney for the defendant. the appeal bond was fixed at $100. It was immediately given.

A peculiar feature of the case is that the city’s right to hold Mr. Rank is based on an ordinance that specifically defines what shall constitute disturbing the peace. Among other things it says that the blowing of horns of an unusual kind shall be disturbing the peace. This ordinance was passed back in 1869, before an automobile was built in the world. What was in view at the time that it was passed seems hard to get at, yet taking the strict construction of the provision, it fits the present case to a nicety.

It was reported that Mr. Rank had sent word to Judge Richard at Webster City asking for an injunction restraining the city from interfering with him in blowing his horn. This is untrue.

Tags: 1906, Bennett, Groves, Mitchell, O'Connor, Rank, Richard

The Fort Dodge Daily Chronicle: Sept. 7, 1910

Public Schools Show Increase

Enrollment For This Year Shows a Gain of One Hundred and Twenty-Two Over Last Year.

The enrollment in the public schools of the city for this year is one hundred and twenty-two m ore than that of last year. In the High School there are eight more than last year which does not seem a small number when one considers the fact that the Freshman class this year is not a large one as compared with that of previous years and that the increase is due to new arrivals from other schools.

The enrollment at the High School is two hundred and fifty-one at the present date, four pupils entering since the opening of school.  The Lincoln, which has four hundred and fourteen, has much the largest enrollment being more centrally located. The Wahkonsa has three hundred and twenty-five and the Arey three hundred. There are two hundred and eighty-eight enrolled at the Riverside and one hundred and thirty-three at the Butler school. The First Ward school has eighty-one and the Pottery but thirty-one. The total for this year is 1832 while that for last year was 1710, giving the gain of one hundred and twenty-two for this year.

Tags: 1910