The Fort Dodge Messenger: Nov. 7, 1906

Seen and Heard

A group of men were lounging in one of the drug stores of the city. The proprietor of the establishment was sitting at one of the little round tables used by soda water fiends during the summer months. After writing vigorously unaware of the discussions around him, he suddenly looked up, gathered a sheaf of neatly folded papers in his hand and said, “There’s sixty-seven statements of small accounts for one month which I am sending out. The items total from twenty cents ($4.79 today) to ten dollars ($239.40). Probably the whole amount involved is thirty-five dollars ($838.23).”

Cigars were relit and the loungers settled back in their seats. “Yes,” said the proprietor,  “I have seen men come in here, buy a cigar and have their five cent ($1.20) purchase charged. If the man is a fairly good customer I have my clerks do it. This shows how the charging habit affects people. I should think that a business man would have at least five cents in his pocket. Possibly that man will not charge anything else for that month. At the end of thirty days a statement must be mailed to him. This takes up a large amount of the profits accruing from the sale.

“There is another side of the charging question that I have noticed nad that is that most of the young men who are addicted to it spend far more than they have any idea of and far too heavily in proportion to their wages. Of course this benefits me but still I don’t think it is right. I think that the best way a father can teach a boy frugality and thrift is to warn him against the habit of charging promiscously (sic) every purchase he makes. It is so easy to charge a thing with no thought for the day of reckoning.”

Tags: 1906

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Nov. 7, 1906

Iowa as Frontier State

Pennsylvania Boys Think it a Stamping Ground for Cowboys

Bearing a two cent stamp in one corner, the following enclosure of a letter directed to the Fort Dodge Post Master was received at the post office this morning:

Aspinwall, Pennsylvania
October 23, 1906

Post Master, Fort Dodge, Iowa:

Dear Sir – I would like to ask you to send me the names of some of the ranchers and ranchmen of Iowa that employ cowboys. A friend of mine and I have decided to go west to Iowa providing we can get work as cowboys.

Hoping you will oblige me by sending me a few names, I remain,

Very truly yours,

J.E. Snyder
Aspinwall, Pennsylvania.

Tags: 1906, Snyder

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Nov. 5, 1906

Ladies Got Dumped Out

Tongue of Carriage Buried in ground by Force of Runaway – Occurs on 15th Street Viaduct.

The tongue of the buggy was driven several feet into the ground, the fair occupants were dumped unceremoniously into the street and the team trotted home, uninjured, with the tugs and ends of the harness trailing behind them. Such was the result of a peculiar accident on the hill near the 15th street viaduct Saturday evening as the Misses Oleson, daghters (sic) of Mrs. Gunder Oleson, of Badger, were driving home after a visit in Fort Dodge. The team was not harnessed very securely so that when they were making the descent the tugs became unfastened, and the tongue fell and frightened them.

The team ran across the viaduct, finally stopping when the tongue was driven into the ground and the young ladies were thrown from the buggy. No serious injuries were reported, although the Misses Oleson sustained a bad fall.

Tags: 1906, Oleson

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 28, 1906

All Students Eligible

High Schools Students Will Not be Barred From Athletics.

According to a section of the Principal’s Rules under which the Fort Dodge High School plays, all those, who are not up in three studies in the currliculum (sic) of the school, shall be barred from participating in athletic events. Principal Thomas said yesterday that this will not effect any of the students this quarter but that unless  those who wish to enter athletics have passed in at least three studies, they will not be allowed to represent the school next quarter. There are many of the members of the school who are thinking of entering for the basket ball team which is talked of as a possibility. There are many good players in this game and Fort Dodge could have a strong team.

Tags: 1906

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 28, 1906

New Auto on the Market

International Harvest Co. Making and Selling Autos

The International Harvest Company has entered the automobile field and is now making a very low priced automobile. The design of the machine is very unusual for an automobile but it is said to be good looking. It has the appearance of an ordinary one seated buggy with wooden wheels and hard rubber tires with the motor under the seat and the radiator in front of the dashboard. The engine is rated at eight horse power and has been found to go thru mud which others autos could not go thru. The price has been fixed at between two and three hundred and dollars and a strong sale is already being felt. One has been ordered by a local party while a Sac City businessman has ordered one. It is expected that later the company will start to manufacture surreys. This vehicle will be very popular with the farmers, many of whom are now using gasoline engines on their farms.

Tags: 1906

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 28, 1906

A Lost Pair of Pajamas

Fort Dodge Man Loses Pajamas in Sleeper; Notifies Compnay (sic).

Not a very long time ago, one of the railroad offices of this city received a letter from a prominent official in a certain establishment of this city asking for the return of a pair of pajamas which he lost in a sleeper while on his way to Chicago.He asked that they be sent to him. The railroad company sent on the letter to the Pullman company who sent back a reply which has caused a good joke. Their letter regretted to say that the pair of pajamas which were left in the berth had not been located but replied by saying that a pair of ladies hose was found in the same berth and requested the Fort Dodge gentleman to put in a claim for them if they belonged to him. This letter the railroad company sent to him. While lying on a desk in the office of the establishment of which the man is a local head, the letter was placed in the mail sent to the headquarters of the establishment in Grand Rapids. At first the young lady who opened the missent letter was shocked but soon she recovered her equilibruim (sic) and showed it to the other twelve stenographers who are employed in the office. It was then returned to the man here. All of his friends who are in on the joke are giving him the horse laugh, notwithstanding his strenuous efforts to keep the affair a secret. It is too good to keep.

Tags: 1906

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 22, 1906

The Siren Auto Horn

Description of the “Horn  That Startled the Mayor” – is in Favor With Autoists.

The suit of the city of Fort Dodge against Ed Rank in the effort to make him lay aside the siren horn on his auto, which holds the record for strange suits in this state for some years past is for trial at the next term of the district court. In view of this face a description of the horn that caused the trouble and in the words of big headlines in leading dailies all over the country, “startled the mayor” will no doubt be interesting to many.

The horn was invented by a Frenchman about two years ago and at once took a popular place. It is operated automatically by the pressing of a lever. The sound is produced by a revolving mechanism in the front of the horn and stars (sic) with a slight whir-louder (sic). The principle is the same as in the small “Devil Whistles” much in favor with small boys. The lever presses a bulb against the fly wheel which turns the “buzz mechanism” in the front part of the horn and starts the sound. A special copy right cable from Paris to the New York World on the siron (sic) horn has some interesting points on the matter. It is as follows:

Paris, Sept. 21. – Sirens instead of ordinary horns are growing in use among automobilists. This warning apparatus, which makes a noise like the wail of a lost soul, is much more effective as a frightener than any common tooter. A cart driver asleep in the bottom of his vehicle is not easily roused by the sound of an ordinary auto horn because he long since has become accustomed to it, but the siren’s song awakens him to the danger and the necessity of giving a portion of the route.

Tags: 1906, Rank

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 20, 1906

Swindler Comes to Unexpected Grief

Man Who Attempted to Rob Andrew Hower is Caught by Police in Wisconsin

After attempting to swindle Henry Hower, a member of the upper Central Avenue business firm, Hoffman & Hower, John Mueller a clever crook, came to grief at Hudson, Wisconsin, in attempting to work the same dodge upon D. Hoffman, the proprietor of a small grocery store.

Mueller reached Hudson on the same day with a carnival company billed in there for the week. He was rather seedy looking, and passed himself off for a retired farmer residing near Albert Lea, Minnesota. On the day of his arrival he approached Hoffman for the sale of his store, saying that he had just disposed of his farm near Albert Lea, and was looking for a business location. Hoffman arranged for the transfer of his business to Mueller for the consideration of $4,000 ($95,798 today), Mueller giving Hoffman a worthless check, drawn on the State Bank at Albert Lea for $500.00 ($11,975), asking for a receipt for the same.

When Hoffman made the receipt out Mueller seemed rather careless and indifferent to it, which aroused the suspicions of the grocer. He at once sent his daughter to the telephone office to talk with Albert Lea, and learn the amount of the deposit and standing of Mueller in the Minnesota city. She learned that there was no such a depositor on the books of the bank, and more over that he was wanted in Albert Lea to answer to the charge of swindling.

She hastened back to her father, in the mean time warning the city police who arrested Mueller when he attempted to make a swift “getaway.”

Mueller was in the city the early part of the week, and attempted to purchase, with bogus checks, a portion of some city property owned by Mr. Hower. While he was at the bank depositing the five dollar check ($120) given him to bind the bargain by Mueller, the swindler attempted to secure a loan of ten dollars ($239) from Mrs. Hower, who was too shrewd to give it to him. He left before the return of Mr. Hower.

(Editor’s note: There seems to be some confusion about names. Mr. Hower is referred to as Andrew in the drophead and Henry in the article. I’m not sure if there is confusion about Hoffman, since the article refers to Hoffman & Hower, and to D. Hoffman, a grocery store proprietor in Hudson, Wisconsin.)

Tags: 1906, Hoffman, Hower, Mueller

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Sept. 17, 1906

What They Say

“I wouldn’t give an acre of my land for any section of Canadian land.” – A Webster county farmer.

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F.J. Blake has gone to Illinois on a land business trip.

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James Barton and Robert Heath left this morning for Iowa City where they will attend school.

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“Rains keep the corn green and growing as it should now.” – C.E. Griffith.

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“Now that the cold weather has come on we get more to eat than we did during the hot weather. The family has been subsisting on cold meals for the most part during the hot summer months. The gas range was on duty creating bills for the end of hte month and was used as sparingly as possible. Now that the cook stove is on duty good warm meals are prepared.” – A Thankful Husband.

Tags: 1906, Barton, Blake, Griffith, Heath