Posts Tagged ‘Hower’

15
Aug

Lightning Strikes St. Olaf’s Church

   Posted by: admin    in Church news, weather

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Aug. 15, 1906

Lightning Strikes St. Olaf’s Church

The Tower on the Corner of the Edifice Wrecked and Splintered

Damage Amounts to $200

Happened About 5:00 O’clock This Morning During Electrical Storm — Work of Repairing Damaged Parts Will Commence at Once

About 5:00 o’clock this morning, during the severe electrical storm, St. Olaf Lutheran Church, on the corner of south First Avenue and Fourth Street, was struck by lightning doing considerable damage. None of the residences in the neighborhood were struck or damaged in any way, though those living near heard the crashing of the timbers and the falling bricks, and were greatly frightened by it.

The lightning struck the topmost metal ornament on the steeple, and following the slanting roofs down, wrecked the tower greatly. Large holes were torn in the sides, shingles and bricks being thrown to the street below.

The extent of the damage is not exactly known. It has been placed at about two hundred dollars ($5,032 today), as the whole tower will have to be rebuilt and strengthened again. The damage to the interior is not very great, the frescoing being left in a fair condition.

Lightning also struck the disused Minneapolis and St. Louis station, wrecking a chimney and slightly damaging a portion of the roof. the building is the property of Andrew Hower and is used by the Hower & Hoffman flour store for a storehouse. The contents of the building were not damaged.

(Editor’s note: In the 1898 directory, the Minneapolis & St. Louis depot is listed at 1010 Sixth St. S.)

(Editor’s note: The 1908 Fort Dodge city directory lists the church location as First Avenue South, southwest corner Fourth. It was called St. Olaf’s Norwegian Lutheran Church then. That building is currently the Coppin Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.)

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9
Aug

Price of Flour Soars Upward

   Posted by: admin    in Food, Merchants

The Fort Dodge Messenger: Aug. 9, 1904

Price of Flour Soars Upward

Jumped Twenty Cents on the Sack Monday and Will Go Higher

It May Reach Two Dollars

Damage to Wheat Reported to be the Cause of the Raise — Rust in North Wheat District Said to be Serious — New Bug in Minnesota

Two dollars a sack (about $50 today), that is what flour may be within the next few days, according to the judgment of Andrew Hower, the Fort Dodge authority on flour. On Monday this commodity made two jumps of ten cents ($2.52) each and is now selling at $1.70 ($42.77) per sack, with no relief in sight for the immediate future and a continued upward tendency at the present.

Wheat Damaged in Northwest

“Wheat is reported to be badly damaged in the northwest by rust,” said Mr. Hower, to a Messenger representative this morning. “This is responsible for the present advance. the price at the mills has raised fifty cents ($12.58) on the barrel the past week, and the advance will undoubtedly continue. Flour that was welling yesterday morning at $1.50 ($37.74) per sack is now retailing at $1.70 and is likely in my judgment to go on up till it reaches a price right around two dollars. Wheat, I believe, will be forced up to at least $1.10 ($27.68) per bushel, before the new crop comes on and the uneasiness is over, and flour is bound to soar in sympathy.

New Bug Damages Wheat

T.H. Hoffman, the partner of Mr. Hower in the wholesale flour business, has just returned from a trip into the wheat growing districts of southern Minnesota, and he reports the crop in the territory covering a number of counties in the best of the wheat territory has been attacked by a new bug, and is threatened with very serious damage. The oldest residents of the country infested have never seen anything like the insect that is causing the trouble. The bug operates by getting into the stem of the grain and taking the substance out of it. The outlook in this district according to Mr. Hoffman, is said to be serious.

The Grocers Optomistic (sic)

The grocers of the city who have been seen seem to think the matter is not so serious as the (millers) would make believe, and they think the scare will blow over in a short time. R.A. Schroeder, of the Right Place, said this morning: “I really believe the reports as to the damage to the wheat crop of the northwest have been exagerated (sic) and that there is not so much occasion for worry with regard to the matter as has been made out. I think when the harvest comes, there will be plenty of good wheat. There is generally a little flurry in wheat about this time of year, and I believe that present excitement is caused to a great extent by the men who would dispose of the old wheat they are holding at a good margin and they are taking advantage of the exagerated (sic) stories of damage to the new crop to boost the price of the old wheat on hand.”

(Editor’s note: No where in this article does it explain what amount of flour is being sold to the consumer. I imagine it is a large amount, like a 25-pound or 50-pound bag, rather than the 5-pound or 10-pound bag that we are familiar with today.)

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20
Sep

Swindler Comes to Unexpected Grief

   Posted by: admin    in Scams

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.)

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22
Jun

First Official Trip is Made

   Posted by: admin    in Interurban

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:

Ed Haire
J.J. Ryan
E.G. Larson
B.J. Price
H.A. Cook
J.E. Downing
Andrew Hower
W.I. Selvy
Frank Collins
Marshall Young
Will Laufersweiler
Louis Fessler
Harry Harps
M.J. Haire
M.J. Rodney
Jack Ruge
Robert Healy
Maurice Welch
G.F. Rankin
Will Healy
John Wolfinger
John Vaughn
Ed Welch
Tom Joyce
C.B. Hepler
John Campbell
O.M. Oleson
C.A. Roberts
George Flannigan
P.J. Tierney
B.W. Slack
Earl Robinson

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16
Apr

Would End Life of Trouble

   Posted by: admin    in Medical matters, People

The Fort Dodge Messenger: April 16, 1904

Would End Life of Trouble

Clarence Anderson, a Young Man Twenty-One Years of Age, Tires of a Life Filled With Discouragements and Attempts to Die

Shoots Himself Below the Heart

Was Seated in the Great Western depot at the Time – Walks Out and Falls Upon the Sidewalk – Disappointed and says, “I Missed My Aim”

“My God, go away and let me die,” was the expression of dispair (sic) with which Clarence Anderson answered the kindly disposed strangers who gathered around him as he lay on the sidewalk in front of the Citizen’s Lumber company office on Twelfth street Friday evening. With a bullet in his body, fired from a revolver held in his own hand as he sat in the waiting room of the Great Western depot, refusing to answer the questions of those who sought to assist him, he lay on the cold pavement and patiently waited the end which he confidently believed to be near at hand.

“I missed my aim. You’ll find the gun in the depot,” were among the few words he was prevailed upon to speak after he had been lifted to his feet and given a stimulant which partly revived him. “Go away and let me die. I want to die,” he repeated time and again.

“I have committed no crime, but others have and they have driven me to this.” This somewhat tragic statement was made by the wounded man as he lay on a stretcher in the Corey drug store. After he refused to answer as to his home and friends he was asked if he had committed some crime for which he feared arrest and probably  unintentionally he allowed himself to make the above statement. To further questions as to the nature of the crime or the identity of those who committed it he was dumb.

Anderson’s Act a Mystery.

The attempted suicide of the young man is one of many unusual circumstances, particularly so because of his refusal to give any information that might lead to a discovery of his motive for committing the rash act, other than his statement that he was driven to it. Clarence Anderson is the name he gave, but no manner of questioning could lead him to tell his address, the motive which prompted the act, how long he had been in the city or from where he had come. Two stories are told of his attempt upon his own life.

One is told by a boy named Hauser, the son of Rev. Mr. Hauser, pastor of Zion’s Evangelical church. The boy claims that Anderson was standing on the depot platform just outside the door of the men’s waiting room. While there he opened his coat and pressing the revolver against his left side pulled the trigger. After that according to the boy’s version of the story he threw the revolver into the waiting room and staggered down the platform. The boy admits being frightened and leaving when Anderson walked down the platform and for that reason and several others the story that the shooting took place inside the depot is given more credence.

The second account in substance is that Anderson shot himself while sitting in a seat on the south side of the men’s waiting room. The revolver was found just where he said it was, on the floor near the southwest corner of the room where it would have been almost impossible to have thrown it from the doorway.

Falls in the Street.

After shooting himself, Anderson walked down the depot platform to the corner of Central avenue and Twelfth street. He stepped off the sidewalk into the street and then hesitated. He started as it about to go west on Central avenue, but turned south on Twelfth street. He walked in the street about twenty yards until he was opposite the building of the Citizen’s Lumber company, when he attempted to step upon the sidewalk. As he did so his left foot struck the curbing and he toppled over upon his face. he lay on the sidewalk several minutes before assistance arrived, after which he was assisted to the Corey drug store, where he was cared for until the arrival of the amublance (sic), when he was taken to the hospital, where he now is.

The bullet, a thirty-two calibre entered the left side of his body and passed little more than an inch below the heart. Anderson’s statement, “I missed my aim,” would indicate that his attempt at self-destruction was deliberate and the proximity of the bullet to the vital organ shows how near he came to accomplishing his purpose.

The bullet was taken out this morning from its position where he had lodged in his back. His condition this afternoon was reported to be about an even chance for his recovery. It is somewhat difficult to ascertain just how even this chance is, however, as his recovery depends on several things. Providing he does not suffer an attack of pneumonia, or that blood poison does not set in, he will probably recover.

Did Not Know He Was Shot.

Persons who were among the first to see Anderson fall upon the sidewalk were under the impression that he was intoxicated. Later it was thought that he had succumbed to heart failure or some like disease.

Andrew Hower and C.J. Hohn were the first to reach him. Mr. Hower said today that when he lifted Anderson head’s (sic) he asked him if he was sick. Anderson gave a negative answer. He was asked where he had come from and he said Chicago. In answer to the question of how long he had been in the city he replied that he had been here for seven days. When these same questions were asked him later he refused to answer.

Even after a crowd had gathered it was not thought that the young man was seriously hurt, even though he repeatedly said that he had shot himself. When lifted from the position in which he had been lying face downward, he said:

“Go away, go away. I only want to die.”

Stimulants were administered, and with the aid of two men he (word missing – went? walked?) to the Corey drug store across (words missing – the street?) where he was laid on a stretcher. It was only after being taken into the drug store that it was positively learned that he had shot himself and that his statements were true. He wore no vest, but in place had on a sweater. In the left side of this was a small hole and an investigation showed where the bullet had entered his body. Bot the sweater and his body were powder-burned. There was practically no blood on his clothing ten minutes after the shooting as evidence that he had shot himself and it is this fact that led those who assisted him to disbelieve his statement.

His one wish he expressed and that was that he wanted to die. This he repeated at intervals and seemed determined to receive no aid by which his life might be prolonged.

Sister to Come Here.

When taken into the drug store he said he was twenty-one years old last January. He admitted that his mother his mother (sic) was living, but refused to give her address, saying that she was sick and that he did not want to frighten her. He has a sister living in Menominee, Mich., and in his pocket at the time was a sealed letter addressed, miss Amelia Anderson, Menonimee (sic), Mich.” A telegram was sent to the address this morning and this noon an answer was received by Chief of Police Welch saying that Anderson’s sister left Menominee for Fort Dodge this noon.

Anderson Comes From Freeport.

It was learned this afternoon that Anderson came to Fort Dodge from Manson on an Illinois Central train late Friday afternoon and went up to the Great Western depot where he soon after shot himself. He arrived in Manson Thursday from Freeport, Ill., where he had been working. He said today that he has had trouble all his life and admitted that his rash act of Friday was partly due to trouble in which was also concerned a girl. Further information on the subject he refused, except saying that when his sister arrives she may tell more. His sister, according to his statement is employed in Menominee as a stenographer.

Tells of Shooting.

Anderson this afternoon corroberated (sic) the statement that he was in the waiting room of the depot when he shot himself. He was seated at the time and after shooting himself threw the revolver into a corner and started out of the room. In doing so he fell once, but arose and kept his feet until he again fell in front of the lumber company’s office.

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The Fort Dodge Messenger: April 18, 1904

Why Anderson Wanted to Die

Young Man who Shot Himself Said to be both Homesick and Lovesick

Prospects for Recovery are Bright – Sister Arrives From Michigan.

Homesickness and discouragement following his first venture in the battle of life and an unfortunate love affair are given as reasons for the act of Clarence Anderson, the young man who attempted suicide by shooting in the Great Western depot last Friday evening. Just what extent the last named reason influenced him in his desire to end his mortal existence is not to be ascertained, as on this subject neither the young man himself nor his sister, who arrived in the city Sunday are inclined to discuss details. It is said that his unfortunate love affair was the refusal of a young woman living in a Michigan town near Anderson’s home to receive his attentions.

Anderson, who is only twenty-one years of age, had seldom or never been away from home until recently. His home is in Michigan and only a short time ago he left his native town to earn his living in the outside world. Golden dreams of success, if he entertained any, evidently failed to realize. Homesick and disheartened he arrived in the city last Friday and still brooding over his unrequited love, life held forth no hope and seemed not worth the living. from the time of leaving home until his arrival in the city, Anderson spent practically all the money he had, but little being found on his person after the shooting.

His condition today is reported to be encouraging and hopes are now entertained that his recovery is only a matter of time. Sunday he rested well and his condition continued to show improvement today. Miss Amelia Anderson of Menominee, Mich., sister of the young man whose address was on a letter found in his pocket soon after the shooting, arrived in the city Sunday noon in response to a telegram sent her the day before. She is still here and will probably remain in the city until her brother is assured of recovery.

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