Posts Tagged ‘Harding’

23
Jan

Daring Safe Crackers Appear in Vincent

   Posted by: admin    in Crime, Vincent

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.

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4
Apr

Enlist at Once in IA. Nat’l Guard

   Posted by: admin    in People

The Fort Dodge Messenger: April 1, 1917

Enlist at Once in IA. Nat’l Guard

Two Fort Dodge Companies Must Get Men

Enlist to 100 Men Each

“Proof of Patriotism” Declares Philpot

ENLIST NOW
Uncle Sam needs you! Join the Iowa National Guard!
Governor W.L. Harding of Iowa asks every able bodied man of military age to communicate with the nearest National Guard mustering officer and enroll in defense of his country and his flag.
4,000 MEN NEEDED
Not next month, But Now
Can you afford to be a slacker?
Save your self respect and your country’s honor at the same time.
ENLIST NOW!

Plans for a big mass meeting in the armory Thursday evening were begun by national guard officers to spur many Fort Dodge young men to enlist in Companies F and G. Both companies probably will parade behind the Fort Dodge Municipal band. After the parade, the meeting will be held in the armory at which Mayor John F. Ford, Robert Healy and Major S.B. Philpot will speak.

Every effort is being made to recruit the Second Iowa up to full strength so it can be called out at once. One report has it that as soon as the regiment is on a war footing, it is to be divided into four skeleton regiments, each of which will then be recruited up to war strength.

Big posters printed in red have been put up in business places today telling the urgent need the Iowa National Guard has for recruits.

In the meantime, the officers of the two national guard companies at the armory are also making every effort to recruit the two companies up to 100 men each.

A total of only ten recruits was gained by Tuesday’s work. Personal canvass will be made in an effort to secure the required number. Co. F. now has about seventy eight while Company G has about ten more.

Major Philpot Here

Major S.B. Philpot of this city has been put on recruiting work, declared this morning that the two local companies have the least number of recruits of any of the companies in the Second Iowa Infantry. He urged the local men to get busy.

“We offer recruits,” said Major Philpot, “the best regiment on the border, officered by men of experience. Connection with a crack organization means a great deal more than connection with a loosely organized regiments. The Second Iowa will be used as an organization regiment. It saw the longest service on the border of any of the Iowa troops and will be used to train the raw men. Recruits should avail themselves of the opportunity to enlist without being drafted.

“At LeMars they got fourteen recruits after I left. Other companies in the regiment have been doing much better than Fort Dodge has. it’s up to Fort Dodge to get busy and do something.”

Put in Recruiting Window

The national guardsmen today decorated a display window in the front of The Messenger Building with some of their equipment and with posters appealing to the young men of the city to enlist before they will be made to suffer the stigma of a draft.

Fort Dodge guardsmen who came back from the border and were given so hearty a welcome feel that the city can pass the real test of patriotism by getting the young men of Fort Dodge to enlist. High school boys, particularly, whose parents are patriotic, will find a welcome in either of the local companies.

Suggest Earlier Graduation

Local guard officers have suggested that the eligible young men in the senior class of the high school be given their diplomas earlier than in June upon their enlistment with the national guard.

This would provide for many recruits among the best class of young fellows.

Governor Suggests Meeting

A citizens patriotic mass meeting in fort Dodge was suggested in a communication received today by Mayor John F. Ford from W.L. Harding, governor of Iowa.

Recruiting of the Iowa National Guard has been going along so slowly in the state that an effort has been launched to have the mayors in the cities in Iowa take hold of the work in order to hasten the recruiting of the guards up to the required strength.

The letter which Major Ford received today was a request for him to assemble the citizens of Fort Dodge at a mass meeting and urge those of military age to enlist in the national guard. The plan, it is hoped, will extend far enough to provide men who might be enlisted into the volunteers when the call comes for their enlistment.

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