The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1871-06-29
THE EXCURSION.

In all candor, we must say to our |
Iowa friends that their mercantile
excursion project was badly man.
aged and botched affair. The pro-
portions Of merchants to the clerks,
farmers and boys GU. for lark, who
made mp the party, was in about the
proportion Of Falstafrs bread to his
sack. Whoever felt inclined to pay
Ave dollars for the ride became q
member Of the party, and, in the
eyes Of trusting and Quixotically
courteous st. Louis, was as good q
merchant for the nonce as any moth
er's son of them. We Toasted Thorn
royalty, bathed them in wine, drove
them over every inch of our broad
territory, and literally crammed
them with statistics. Alas we fear
that much Of this seed has been sown
in unfrutful places.
The State Of Iowa, if it had any
thing to say about it at all, would
protest, we are sure, against having
one-half of the excursion party of
Wednesday accepted az representa-
tive merchants and tradesmen, and
it is really out of respect to her fair
fame, and in no spirit of unkindness
to our visitors, that we desire to
thoroughly undeceive the st. Louis
public mind.
That there were merchants in the
party, and q number of them, men
whom our citizens would be pleased
to shower attentions upon, we do not
doubt, that it was in any sense q
party Of merchants, we are obliged to
deny. s., fN
The fact is that the Rev. Mr.. Shaw,
Of Bloomfield, who is gentleman of
q business turn of mind, conceived
the happy idea of organizing an OF.
cursion to st. Louis ct 90 much per
head, devoting the proceeds, over and
above the cost of the train, to the
discharge Of the debt resting on his
church edifice. @
Making public the information
that st. Louis would throw her doors
wide open to the party, the Rev. Mr..
Shaw found no difficulty in getting
up . larger crowd than he could &C
commodate, and nettcd the hand
some sum of 81, 500 for his smartness
and enterprise. The next time the
reverend gentleman wants to raise
money, no will oblige his admirers
in st. Louis, by stating the amount,
so that we can send it without un-
necessary delay, and save ourselves
from the operations of his vivacious
intellect.
| AZ it was, however, we are not at
all sorry, for the sake of those who
really deserved our courtesies, that
| we treated them well.
| Whenever, In after life, the chill
| dren Of the dazzled farm boys, who
took advantage of the good Mr..
Shaw's enterprise, ask their fathers
TO tell them about st. LOUIS, we can
family imagine the wonderful tale
which the gray haired tiller of the
| soil viii pour into their greedy ears
winding up with the assurance that
in those days the people of that
princely city never tasted water,
but, from the highest to the lowest
drank nothing but Cooks Imperial
chawpagne.-St. Louis Times.
3. REMARKS BY THE COURIER.
Rev. Mr.. Shaw, Of Bloomfield, got
the excursion up, be paying the
North Missouri Railroad Company
II 80
all OF st. Louis, the sum of one hun
dred dollars per car, with the under
standing that he was to charge the
axcnraioniats At tho rate of FIVE dol
lars Zach, for the round trip. Ht
went to st. Louis and was fully il
accord with the leading citizens o.
that place in regard to the whole
affair. He came here with thu
member Of the committee of arrange
, meats from St. Louis, and in public
meeting it was announced by bin
that the excursion was for the bene
lit of the Methodist Church, Of
Bloomfield, primarily, and of the
] North Missouri Railroad Company
: secondly, which venture realized
over one thousand dollars for the
latter. Mr.. Shaw, who claimed to
represent the people of st. Louis in
the affair, was clamorous to sell tick.
cts, and wanted all, without respect
to calling, and doubtless many per.
sons were of the party and paid the
regular excursion rates, who wore
not particularly prominent as Iowa
merchants. Nevertheless q great
number OF the leading business men
of this city, and elsewhere from Iowa,
awaited themselves OF the invitation
so generally extended, and partook
of the inequalities of st. Louis, by
paying four dollars and fifty cents
each, per day, for miserable grub at
second class hotels, and paying ex-
cursion rates for ride to st. Louis
on railroad which they had them-
selves contributed thousands of dol.
lars to build.
The case may be summed up as
follows:
Firstly, leading citizens of st.
Louis and Bloomfield got up an ex-
cursion to st. Louis, on very, much
the same principle of the Irishman's
treat, to-wit: every man paid for
his own whiskey and every man was
invited.
Secondly, 1t was given out by the
committee that the excursionists
were to DO entertained while in st.
Louis; but saving cold lunch. and a
dreary wilderness OF native wine, at
the Agricultural Hall, the excursion
lists paid frst-class fare at second
class hotels for their entertainment
Thirdly, The partnership arrange
ment entered into between Brother
Shaw, of Bloomfield, and the people |
of ST. IOujs who ara now weanin0