The Fort Dodge Messenger: July 17, 1905

Record Breaking Weather Today

Sunday Was The Hottest Day in Two Years and is Equalled (sic) Today

97 Government Thermometer

The Finest Thing For Iowa Corn That Could Happen – Heat is Terriffic (sic) In The City – Asphalt Pavings Become Very Soft, Being Cooked by Sun.

To suffering humanity in Fort Dodge the news that the weather record for two years has been broken in the last two days will not be surprising. How many more years’ records are broken are not known as the local observatory was only established two years ago. The temperature Sunday afternoon reached 97 degrees Fahrenheit on this government thermometer which is located in about as cool a place as there is in this city.

The thremometer (sic) is located in a hollow back of Tobin college and is then protected by a small building. Thus it is “in the shade” and further more it is official. The day was the hottest that has been recorded since the local weather station was established and as today is very hot again this record may be broken before nightfall.

At one o’clock Sunday the government thermometer registered a little below 96 degrees. Before the day was over the temperature crept up to 97. A few minutes before 1 o’clock today the thermometer registered 96 degrees Fahrenheit and from indications will go higher.

A cooling breeze seems to have sprung up at 3 o’clock and maybe there will be relief for the city inhabitants. Fort Dodge was not the only place that received the high marks in temperature for in the entire Des Moines district the rise in temperature was very noticeable.

It is the finest weather for the Iowa corn crop that could occur and the present weather is worth many thousands of dollars each day to Webster county farmers alone.

The asphalt paving and in particular that laid the last year has become very soft because of the heat. A person can dent the paving with the heel of the shoe, while the horseshoes leave marks every day.

(Editor’s note: I will include an additional article from other parts of the country. This was next to the Fort Dodge article, on the same day.)

EXTRA

Twelve Die From Heat in Chicago

The Mercury is 93 in Shade and Twelve Deaths Are Reported.

Chicago, July 17 – Noon, mercury 93 in the shade; twelve deaths from heat.

New York, July 17 – The hot wave which caused many deaths in New York last week and which only ended yesterday returned again today bringing higher temperature than ever before and a renewal of intense suffering.

Tags: 1905

The Fort Dodge Messenger: July 10, 1905

Red Lanterns Are Being Taken

Lanterns Put Out as Danger Signals Are Being Stolen.

It Almost Causes Runaway

Farmers Run Into Projection on the Street and is Thrown Out of Buggy – Practice is Dangerous One and Should Be Stopped.

A dangerous practice that has lately become a frequent occurrence within the city is that of removing red lanterns form posts where they act as danger signals to pedestrians and teams.

As is usual at this time of the year there is a great deal of sidewalk and similar buliding [sic] going on in the town. At places where walks are being put in or where the street is torn up for the purpose of laying sewers and gas mains it is customary to hang a red light out at night to warn drivers and perons wlaking by such places of the danger.

The purpose of these lights have always been observed in the city and they have been left unmolested  until a short time ago, when reports began to come in at regular intervals tot he effect that nearly every morning a lantern or two from over the town would be found missing.One night last week this practice came near resulting in serious injury to a farmer living near Carbon, whose name is given as E.C. Wigman. Mr. Wigman ran into a projection on the street in the eastern part of the city from which the danger signal had been removed. His buggy was tipped over and he was thrown out onto the ground. Fortunately his team remained still and all was soon righted. Whether the acts are those of mischievous boys, drunken persons or whether the lanterns are taken by thieves, it is hard to say, but in any event it is a practice that should be stopped before a serious accident results.

Tags: 1905, Wigman

The Fort Dodge Messenger: July 7, 1905

Storage Charges Cause Trouble

Patrons of the Railroads Do Not Like to Pay Storage Charges

Hurts Mail Order Houses

The Rule Adopted by the Illinois Central and Iowa Car Service Association Went Into Effect July 1 – Much Complaining From Patrons.

The rule recetnly [sic] adopted by the Illinois and Iowa Car Service Association, of which association all the western railroads are members, has caused considerable trouble here. The rule was to the effect that all shipments in less than car load lots, not taken from the freight warehouse within twenty-four hours of the time the freight was received should be charged storage rates.

The storage rates, while comparatively small would yet amount to a large sum within a short time, should the freight not be taken from the house. A charge of five cents a day for each hundred pounds is paid, so that should the shipment weigh four or five hundred pounds and remain in the warehouse a few days the owner would soon have a bill to pay that he would not like.

A fraction of one hundred pounds and a fraction of a day are charged at the same rate. Thus all people who are expecting a shipment of freight from any point would do well to look the matter up occasionally and see that it is not laying around the warehouse. The railroads send a postal card to all owners of freight immediately upon its arrival, but this card might not be delivered in time to allow the owner a chance to get it out before the storage rates went into effect, so the method of calling up the freight office daily is a good plan to keep from paying freight storage charges.

Although the business men do not like the idea of paying storage charges very well, in the end it will help their business as it will hurt the business of the mail order houses. As the customers of the mail order houses reside mostly in the country, the freight will in all probability lay around the warehouse for several days before the farmers are able to get in and get the shipment. This will cost the farmers so much that in the end it will be cheaper to buy of home merchants.

The railroads have for some time been charging storage on all car load shipments, but the first day storage was charged on smaller shipments was Wednesday as Sunday and the Fourth both being holidays, the rule did not go into effect until the fifth.

Tags: 1905

The Fort Dodge Messenger: July 7, 1905

Iowa Butter for Use in the Navy

Creameries of the State Will Be Called Upon For Large Amount

The Local Product May Go

Fort Dodge Company Not Yet Called upon But May Contribute Before Contract is Filled – All Must Be of the Best Quality.

Fort Dodge people may be interested in the news that Iowa will furnish nearly all the butter for the consumption of the sailors in the United States navy next year, and that possibly some of the product of this city may go to make more palatable the hard tack of the boys who uphold the nation’s honor on the blue expanse. Four hundred thousand pounds or over is needed and all the big creameries of the state will be called upon to aid in furnishing the supply. Last year much of the butter consumed on naval vessels was bought from this state, the Sioux City creamery putting most of it on the market.

This season a much larger amount will be used and creameries all over the state will aid in putting forth the required amount.

The local manufactury as yet has had no call to put forth their product for the purpose but when the time comes those in the contract may be so rushed in filling the orders that resort will be made to the butter that is made in this city.

At Clarinda the big creamery is busily engaged in making 200,000 pounds of this butter, while the Monticello creamery has a similar contract.

Butter for the navy must all be put in three-pound cans, which are hermetically sealed, placed in sawdust packed boxes and then kept in cold storage at zero temperature, until ordered shipped to some ocean port to stock an American man of war. Swift & Company, the big packers of Chicago, secured the butter contract from the navy department and then sublet the immense contract to Iowa and Kansas creameries. As soon as the butter is packed it is sent to Chicago to be kept in the big cold storage buildings of the company until it is needed by the navy.

The government requires a somewhat different butter for its navy thatn is placed on the table for a landsman. It has been found that butter to stand the long trips of the war vessels to all climates must contain a low per cent of water and a high per cent of salt, and all the navy butter is made according to this requirement. The contracting companies are required to guarantee that this butter will keep for at least three years. In order to have the best possible dairy butter, the government also requires that its navy butter be packed only in the month of June and July. It is placed in three pound hermetically sealed tin cans.

At Clarinda a new process for sealing the cans has been successfully adopted. A cement composition is placed on the edge of the can top and then the can top is crimped firmly by a machine into this cement, thus making it air tight. Other creameries have had to solder each can and at Sioux City last year, when the navy butter was put up there, a force of nearly fifty solderers alone were kept busy. The new sealing process at Clarinda requires the services of only two or three men for the same amount of work.

For this butter in cans the government pays 29 cents a pound, which with the present butter market hovering about 20 cents a pound, is expected to give a good profit to the creameries, though the packing is more expensive than that required for the ordinary marketing of butter in the United States.

Tags: 1905

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 28, 1905

Slot Machines Taken Down

Orders Given to Have Them Removed Thru the City.

Complaints Have Been Made Against Them – Order Stopping Practice Not Permanent.

Fathers and mothers who fear the effect of the temptations of the slot machine upon their boys will be given for a time at least, a respite from their fears. Yesterday afternoon the propritors (sic) of the places in the city where slot machines are run were notified to take them down.

The action is the result of a number of complaints that have recently been filed before the officials of the city. The doers (?) realizing that though the running of slot machines is an entirely legitimate practice as long as they are not too heavily patronized by youths and young men decided that the complaints that had come in to them were prima facie evidence that the machines were fast becoming a nuisance in the city and decided that some steps should be taken to curtail them, consequently their action in notifying the owners to take them down.

No permanent order had been issued against the contrivances, however, and should it be deemed advisable to allow them to run later on in the year the merchants will no doubt be given permission to put them up.

Tags: 1905

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 28, 1905

Company “G” Prepare for Camp

Band and Company Will Go Into Camp at Des Moines Next Week.

Will Be Gone Eight Days

Full Membership in Each Organization Will Go – Two I.N.G. Boys Will Float Down The River in a Boat to Join Company.

Arrangements are being made this week by members of Company G and the band for their eight days’ camp which will be held at Des Moines, beginning on Thursday of next week.

The Fort Dodge company will be under the direct supervision and control fo Captain B.J. Price, who will accompany them on the trip. Nearly all of the members of the company are planning on attending camp and many are occupied this week in preparing their arms, uniforms and equipment. The showing of the local company last year was an excellent one and with the additional men and equipment that has been acquired since then an even better record will probably be made at this year’s camp.

Will Rohrback and Stafford Carpenter, both members of the company, will leave for Des Moines Sunday, their intention being to float down the Des Moines river in a boat. Their preparations for the trip are now under way and all is expected to be in readiness for them to start early Sunday morning. The young men expect the voyage to take them about four days and if they accomplish the distance in that time they will be in Des Moines one day before the arrival of the company and band. If possible a special train will be secured for the transportation of the men and baggage of both organizations. Nothing definite is known regarding this as yet, however.

Tags: 1905, Carpenter, Company G, Price, Rorhback

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 28, 1905

Vaudelille (sic) Has Good Week’s Bill

The Program at the Midland Theater is Good One For The Money.

The Vaudeville that is running in the Midland is making a big success and they are giving the people a good show. The bill this week is headed with “Zenoz” the one-legged wire-walker and he shows himself to be an accomplished artist.

The next on the program is the illustrated song which is liberally encored and the song and pictures are good. The Dayton sisters should not be forgotton (sic) as they are without a doubt the best dancers that has ever been in Fort dodge, and have a pleasing manner that wins the crowd.

Lucas & Heston who are the last on the specialty list are great fun-makers and they keep the crowd in a roar of laughter from start to finish. The moving pictures by Fred Steltzer are by far the best that has been in our city for some time the feature, this week in the pictures is “The Great Train Robbery,” although they have been shown here before they receive their share of the applause.

The show as a whole is equal to a great many high price attractions that has been booked here before.

(Editor’s note: “The Great Train Robbery” is online for your viewing pleasure. The note that accompanies the video states:

Widely credited as the first movie to tell a story. If the final shot seems out of place – that’s because it was designed to be a promotion for the main feature. The instructions supplied said it could be shown before or after the movie.)

Tags: 1905, Dayton, Steltzer, vaudeville, Zenoz

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 28, 1905

Want Young Boys Kept Off Streets

Prominent Citizens Advocate Plan to Cure Growing Evil.

Curfew Has Been Proposed

Claimed That Hundreds of Growing Boys and Girls are Going to Ruin in City – Citizens of the City Say That Practice is a Menace to City.

Recent consideration of the conditions that exist within the city of Fort Dodge on summer evenings, by a number of prominent men and women of the city has caused them to express a desire that some remedy be proposed to curtail the appearance of young boys and girls upon the streets and avenues of the city at all times of the night.

It is a well known fact that in Fort Dodge more than in any other city in the state young boys and girls are to be seen walking the streets or loafing in undesireable localities at most unseemly hours.

At anywhere from six in the evening until ten, crowds of boys aged from ten to fifteen or sixteen may be seen loafing in doorways or alleyways, congregated in pool and billiard halls, gathered before a slot machine dropping in their scanty earnings or in some most lamentable cases hanging about the entrances of saloons waiting for unscrupulous persons to carry out liquor to them.

Later on in the night and extending even into the small hours of the morning many of these same lads are to be found still inhabiting the down town places that still remain open. All night cafes and places of the kind are to be seen with their chairs, counters, etc., occupied with loafing youths who should be at home securing the hours of repose so necessary to the proper development of mind and body of the growing boy. Girls who should be at home under a mother’s care are to be seen walking the streets in crowds of three and four, openly giggling, laughing and otherwise acting in a manner which though decidedly improper is but the natural inclination of those of their age.

The fault of course rests with the parents, but it is a recognized, though deplorable fact, that the average parent cannot, or at any rate does not, control the action of the growing boy and girl in this respect. Left to themselves it is but natural that the fascination that the streets at night hold for them should be indulged in o (sic) the fullest extent. As the result, the sober minded thoughtful citizen does not need to be told that hundreds of boys and girls are growing up right within the city of Fort Dodge who will become grafters, deadbeats, ne-er-do-wells and disreputable women.

Several people well acquainted with the situation and realizing the need of action have stated that some action should in their opinion be taken by the officials of the city and that some means should be devised for protecting the growing men and women of the city from the demoralizing influence that evil habits and improper associations gathered from frequenting the city’s streets at night will surely have upon them.

Some have suggested an ordinance making it a misdemeanor for any boy or girl to be found on the street at night without being able to show an excellent excuse. Others advocate the ringing of a curfew at nine o’clock in the evening, whose sound would call every boy and girl of sixteen or younger to their homes.

The proper installation and enforcement of such a system would in their opinion do much to curtail the growing evil which at the present time menaces the future of the city. The system of course has its disadvantages. An extra policeman or two whose sole duties would be to gather in and send to their homes all violators of the rule would have to be appointed by the city. A bell with a sufficient volume of sound and carying (sic) power to make it heard all over the city would have to be purchased and set up  in a central location and many other arrangements necessary to the proper operation of the plan made. The need is imminent, however, and some plan should it seems be proposed and place (sic) in operation as soon as possible.

Tags: 1905, curfew

The Fort Dodge Messenger: June 27, 1905

Library Receives Many New Books

Books of History, Reference, Fiction and Travel Among Them.

They Are Much in Demand

Library Continually Increases in Patronage and is Constantly Visited by Streams of Booklovers – Popular Novel Appeals to All.

Just as unceasingly as books go out of the public library to be read in the homes of the city, are they coming in from the publishers to satisfy the constant craving for reading matter and especially for new books.

There is such an abundance of new books, that while not classics, are not of the lower class of books, so that they seem especially to fit in for moments of pastime when perhaps the brain is too tired to cope with one of the heavier books in English literature. The modern novel is in a way educating the people, because it is several steps higher than the paper covered book of a few years ago, and is yet within the understanding of all, and even for those who cannot grasp the finer and meritable points, the story appeals to them and becoming accustomed to the better grade of story, they find it harder to return to the old unscrupulous love tales of doubtful authors.

Every day the numbers of people who take books from the library is increasing and if one sits inside for even a short time he will hear many applicants asking how they are to get cards of membership.

If anything, there are more children who delve among the books there than there are grown people, and it is surprising to see the children whom you scarcely believe can read, asking for all sorts of books, and going off in high delight with them, much as they would treasure a new doll or slingshot.

Every time a new list of books is published, the librarian states that it takes scarcely two days for them all to go out and every often several of them are asked for many times, when they have already been given out. A new consignment has just been catalogued and reads as follows:

Tags: 1905