The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 29, 1903

Amateur Ball Players Busy

Several Fort Dodge Teams Played From Home on Sunday.

Fort Brands Have Hard Luck

Lose Two Extra Innings Games By One Score – East Fort Dodge Loses Close Game at Lehigh – R.M. Stevens Nine Beats Tara.

The Fraser miners defeated the Fort Dodge Fort Brands Sunday at Frazer by a score of 4 to 3 in a thirteen inning game. The game opened at 10:30 a.m. After the first two Fort Dodge men had struck out in the first inning, Dombrowska reached first on an error. Whitman and Barth on bunts and all three scored on Stuart’s drive to deep right. This ended Fort Dodge’s scoring as the Frazer pitcher struck out twenty men in the remaining twelve innings and held the Fort Dodge boys helpless. Frazer scored three runs in the second inning by bunching hits. Stuart’s work at third was the feature of the game. He accepted eleven chances, seven assists and four putouts without an error.

In the eleventh inning with two men on base, Whitman got and (sic) easy grounder and threw his man out at first. Ottosen threw to third to cut off the runner. The throw was  high, but the little third baseman speared the ball with his ungloved hand and completed the double by tagging his man three feet off the base.

With enthusiasm undiminished by their defeat, a forty mile ride and twelve miles cross country triy (sic), the Fort Brands tackled the Pilot Mound Pirates at 3:30 p.m. Pilot Mound won, 7 to 8, aided by a long-haired diamond and the umpire. If Captain Tyrell had called his team off the diamond Pilot Mound would have refused expense money. Nevertheless this game required eleven innings, the umpire finally forcing in the winning run by letting a man walk on balls that cut the plate in two.

The Fort Brands play the East End next Sunday at Riverside Park and a good game is expected.

Tags: 1903, Barth, Dombrowska, Ottosen, Stuart, Tyrell, Whitman

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 29, 1903

Serious Runaway Near Duncombe

Ole Hanson, Wife and Baby Thrown Out of Buggy By a Frightened Horse.

The Baby Will Probably Die.

Mrs. Hanson Was Unconscious for Several Hours From the Shock, But is Recovering Slowly At The Present Time.

Last Saturday morning about nine o’clock while on their way to Fort Dodge, Ole Hanson, wife and five months old baby of Duncombe met with a very serious accident. When about two and a half miles from home and close to the John Mallinger farm their horse became frightened at a hay loader and rake standing inside the fence. The horse which was traveling at a good rate stopped suddenly, shied to one side, throwing the occupants of the buggy violently to the ground. Mrs. Hanson was knocked senseless by the fall and did not recover consciousness for almost half an hour. When she became aware of what had happened she found herself surrounded by friends in the John Mallinger home. Her first thought was for her baby, and she found that its injuries were very dangerous, perhaps fatal as the blood was gushing from its mouth and ears.

Dr. Thompson of Duncombe was immediately summoned and did what he could for both the woman and baby. They were taken to the home of Thomas Ness, Mrs. Hanson’s father, where they are now resting. Mrs. Hanson has recovered from the shock to a considerable extent, being bouyed (sic) up by her anxiety for her baby. The baby is lying in a semi-unconscious state with few chances for life. Mr. Hanson escaped almost without an injury and the horse which is an ordinary looking, sedate plug, ran but a short distance with no injury to itself or to the buggy. Mr. Hanson is a farmer and lives a quarter of a mile east of Duncombe on his mother’s farm. His mother, Mrs. Anna Hanson lives in East Fort Dodge.

Tags: 1903, Hanson, Mallinger, Ness, Thompson

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 29, 1903

That Sewing Machine War

Situation in Webster City Assumes a New Phase

Seven Wheeler-Wilson Agents, Arrested for Selling Goods Without a License, Jump the Town.

The sewing machine war in Webster City has assumed a new phase. Seven agents of the Wheeler-Wilson company who were arrested Monday evening, charged with selling goods without a license, jumped the town Friday evening.

The Freeman-Tribune has the following:

The wholesale arresting of the agents came out of the merry sewing machine war which has been going on in this city for three weeks between the representatives of the Singer and the Wheeler & Wilson companies. The Wheeler & Wilson men were arrested as they had no established agency here and hence were liable for the license. They were brought before Mayor Edwards Monday evening for a hearing. At their rquest the case was postponed until Wednesday evening. The matter of placing them under bonds until that time came up, but as the mayor had no blank forms at hand he allowed them to go on their own recognizance.

When the hour for the trial came, the agents failed to put in an appearance. The officers waited on them but they did not show up. As they were in the city yesterday afternoon they cannot have gotten very far away. Warrants have been issued for them and the city officers will make an attempt to have them served. It is the intent of the mayor to have the agents brought back to the city for trial and punishment, both for the breaking of the city ordinances and for jumping the city when they had been given their liberty on their own cognizance.

Tags: 1903, Edwards, Singer, Wheeler & Wilson

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 25, 1903

Are Charged With Horse Stealing

John and Ed Wheaton Are Placed Under Arrest By Constable Flint On Wednesday.

Hearing Was This Afternoon.

Claimed that They Took an Animal Belonging to Mrs. Josephine Scott – Alleged Theft Was Committed last February

John and Ed Wheaton, charged with stealing a horse from Mrs. Josephine Scott, were arrested on Wednesday afternoon by Constable A.J. Flint, and were lodged in the county jail. They were brought up for hearing on Wednesday, but the hearing was deferred until 2 o’clock this afternoon, in order that the witnesses could be secured.

The Wheaton boys have been employed in grading gangs in the city for some time past. The told the officers that they had paid for the horse which they were charged with stealing.

Mrs. Scott claims that her horse was taken last February from the Davis livery barn, where it was being kept. The Wheaton boys were in Sioux City not long after, and it is claimed that they had driven the horse to that place and disposed of it there. The accused claim that they went to Sioux City by rail.

Considerable interest was taken in this afternoon’s hearing.

The case came up before Justice Martin this afternoon but at time of going to press the hearing was not complete.

Tags: 1903, Flint, Martin, Scott, Wheaton

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 23, 1903

Sewing Machine War is Spreading

Singer and Wheeler-Wilson Companies Now in Fierce Competition in Webster City.

Methods are Too Strenuous

Warrants for Arrest of Seven Over Officious Agents Have Been Sworn Out and Placed in Hands of Webster City Police.

The Singer-Wheeler-Wilson sewing machine war, which raged with violence in this city some time ago, has spread to Webster City, where arrest seems likely to follow the strenuous efforts of some of the sewing machine agents. Warrants for the arrest of seven of these ubiquitous gentlemen were issued on Monday.

The agents for whom warrants have been issued are all from Boone.

The Webster City Freeman Tribune gives the following particulars:

The sewing machine agents who have been flooding the city with the Singer and Wheeler & Wilson machines for the past ten days, will run up against some trouble this afternoon if the program of the city police force is carried out. Warrants have been issued for seven of them upon the charge of selling their goods about the city without a license.

Since the advent of these representatives of two rival companies in the city life among sewing machine agents seems to have become peculiarly strenuous. Their modus operandi has been to leave a machine at a home whether it was needed or not, provided only that the housewife would give it a trial. Things went along smoothly until competition began to grew fierce between the two companies when each started in on a crusade of making sales on almost any kind of a basis.

It was when this stage of the business was reached that the agents left a machine at the home of W.J. Biernatzki. They removed his old machine which they were to take as part payment on the new one should it prove satisfactory. The machine was not just what was wanted, so Mr. Biernatzki says, and he made a demand on the agents for a return of the old machine and a removing of the new.

Through some misunderstanding or other the agents refused to do this, in consequence of which Mr. Biernatzki informed on them and the warrants are now made out for their arrest and will probably be served this evening. The agents all hail from Boone, instead of Fort Dodge, as mentioned Saturday.

Tags: 1903, Biernatzki, Singer, Wheeler & Wilson

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 22, 1903

First Official Trip is Made

Car No. 20, of Fort Dodge and Interurban Line, Makes Run Over New Extension.

Was Enjoyable Excursion

Thirty-Two Fort Dodge People Were Guests of the Street Car Management – Run Was Made to Race Track, Terminal Line.

The first official trip over the Fort Dodge and Interurban street car line was made Saturday evening at 7:30. The excursion was made in one of the new cars, No. 20. Manager Healy had invited about thirty friends, including the stockholders of the company to ride as guests of honor upon the occasion of the first tour over the new line.

No. 20 is a large, easy running car, and as the road bed is in good condition the trip was a very enjoyable one. The party left at the city park and rode directly to the new park where the guests alighted and were shown about the grounds. After viewing the park, the car was run out to the driving park which is the terminal of the line, after which the party was conveyed back to the city.

The trip was made without a hitch and the management received many congratulations upon the successful and early completion of the line. Manager Healy had charge of the trip; Arthur Comstock, superintendent of the Light & Power company was the motor man, and Thomas Wilson acted s conductor on the first run.

There are now four miles of track laid which makes the ride a pleasure trip as well as convenient for those living on the line. For the present two cars will be kept running on the line. The cars will pass at the Great Western depot. The management are now arranging a schedule.

Those who went out on the first trip were:

Tags: 1903, Campbell, Collins, Comstock, Cook, Downing, Fessler, Flannigan, Haire, Harps, Healy, Hepler, Hower, Joyce, Larson, Laufersweiler, Oleson, Price, Rankin, Roberts, Robinson, Rodney, Ruge, Ryan, Selvy, Slack, Tierney, Vaughn, Welch, Wilson, Wolfinger, Young

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 22, 1903

Lehigh Home Blown Up By Dynamite

Residence of Henry Lewis is Wrecked By Explosion of a Dynamite Bomb.

Buiding (sic) is Badly Shattered.

Lewis, Wife and Two Children Escaped Injury as Explosion Was at Rear of House – Strike Troubles Supposed Responsible for Outrage.

Lehigh, June 22 – At 1:30 on Saturday morning, the home of Henry Lewis in this place, was partially wrecked by the explosion of a dynamite bomb under the kitchen door step. Lewis, with his wife and two children were asleep in the house at the time, but they escaped injury on account of the fact that the sleeping rooms are in the front part of the house, while the greatest force of the explosion was felt in the rear of the building.

The house, itself, was badly damaged. The back door was crushed in, the steps destroyed, plastering was knocked down all over the building and the roof was raised by the terrific force of the explosion.

Mr. Lewis has been working in the Lehigh Clay Works, being employed in place of the strikers, and it is supposed that this fact accounts for the outage. The general supposition is that the dynamite was exploded by some of the disaffected workmen at the Clay Works.

The occurrence has aroused much feeling here, as it is almost miraculous that none of the family were seriously injured.

It is supposed that a stick of dynamite with a fuse attached, was placed under the porch, the fuse was lighted, and the guilty parties had plenty of time to make their escape.

Tags: 1903, Lehigh Clay Works, Lewis, strike

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 19, 1903

New Company is Organized

De Loura Auto Manufacturing Company Adopts Articles of Incorporation Thursday Afternoon.

It is Capitalized at $30,000.

$25,000 of this Amount is Paid up – Officers and Directors Are Elected At Meeting On Thursday – Plans for Opening Plant.

The De Loura Auto Manufacturing company, the latest addition to the industries of Fort Dodge, was organized and its articles of incorporation drawn up at a meeting of stock holders in the rooms of the Commercial club on Thursday afternoon. The company is capitalized at $30,000, with $25,000 paid up.

Officers and directors were elected as follows:

President, J.H. Abel.
Vice President, L.E. Armstrong.
Secretary and treasurer, F.C. Minogue.
Manager, H.E. De Loura.
Directors –
F.V. Sherman
H.E. DeLoura
J.H. Abel
J.T. Gleason
F.C. Minogue
Samuel Emms, of Perry.

It is expected that by the first of next week answers will be received from the parties from whom references with regard to Mr. DeLoura’s character are expected. If these replies are of the favorable character which is expected, the company will pay Mr. DeLoura $3,000 and he will at once come to the city from Perry and let contracts for the new buildings and prepare to place his plant in operation, which he hopes to do within thirty days.

The stockholders of the new company, aside from those already mentions in the list of officers and directors are as follows:

W.S. Putman of Des Moines
F. T. Clark
William Fessel
Ferdinand Moeller
Dr. Alton
A.M. Feltz
M.J. Haire
T.F. Flaherty
M.F. Healy
C.W. Ackerman
J. Jensen
P.J. Tierney
C.W. Wakeman
J.F. Flaherty
L.L. Leighton
E.G. Larson.

(Editor’s note: The inflation calculator converts $3,000 to $71,848; $25,000 to $598,737; and $30,000 to $718,484.)

Tags: 1903, Abel, Ackerman, Alton, Armstrong, Clark, De Loura, DeLoura, Emms, Feltz, Fessel, Flaherty, Gleason, Haire, Healy, Jensen, Larson, Leighton, Minogue, Moeller, Putman, Sherman, Tierney, Wakeman

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 19, 1903

Moorland Bad Man in Jail

Jim Roy, Who Threw His Roomer’s Trunk Down Stairs is Lodged in County Jail.

Is Serving 30 Day Sentence

Roy Preferred to Serve Time in Jail Rather Than Let Town of Moorland Get Benefit of Monday From His Fine.

Jim Roy, a citizen of Moorland, is waiting out a thirty day sentence in the county jail. James inclined to be quarrelsome in his cupes, and this is the cause of his present predicament. The immediate cause of his incarceration, si that hte threw the turnk of one of the lodgers in the hostelry which he keeps at Moorland, down stairs, badly demolishing the trunk, and causing some detriment to the banisters.

The citizens of Moorland decided that something must be done with Roy, and haled him before Justice F.L. Horgeson, who fined him $25 and costs, or the equivalent time in jail. When Roy found that his fine, if he paid it, would go to the town of Moorland, he decided to spite the town, and is waiting it out in jail.

There is some talk of making an effort to send him to the inebriates’ home.

Roy has had the reputation of being a bad man when in his cups for some time. Some time ago, he kicked the whole front out of the Moorland saloon and later broke out of jail when he was locked up.

Sheriff Oleson went to Moorland on Thursday and returned with Roy.

Tags: 1903, Horgeson, Roy