The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1886-05-13
KARL'S STORY.

''Yes; am an American ct heart, :
and well-dcvelopcd hand was laid
emphatically on the seat of that organ,
land an American citizen, though
have remained here some years, but
soen 60 back. !"
And what detained you heree'
my wife: her health was bad, and
the doctors. they ordered her native
air; 30 came for her health
"And hope she has improved
''oh, yes; she is very well. and
soon go back. love America"
The speaker, . handsome German il
later middle life, his bones well covered
with healthy adipose matter. his fact
clean shaven, rudy, and radiant, and
his whole air that Of an independent
contsnted gentleman, not being very
busy-having, in fact, only to hang
arouud Wiesbaden. Frankfort, anc
Hamburg till his wife had bad enough
Of her native air-gave some particu
lars Of his life, which. supplemented
iron other sources, make up the fol
Lowing life-story.
Bern in Hesse- Darmstadt. in little
tile-sovered house, to which few acre.
Of xround-divided from other similal
estates by the primitive stone land
marks-were attached, Karl krekmanr
helped to raise potatoes. buckW heat
bset-root, and such other crops q.
could be made profitable for the main
tsnance Of good-sized German family
The rate Of living was moderate, bu
the work was hard and gave Karl little
promise Of advancement. Nor coule
Ne be sure Of continuing rs help K
father and mother and the little GROUP
Of younger children. His good schoo
education gave him fair idea of othel
countries. and when once the notion o.
trying his fortune elsewhere entered
his mind, he lost no chance OF learning
more about them.
Tho United States seemed to hin
the most hopeful field; but, alas! al
the ready money that came into thu
family in year would have beer
needed to pay his passage, even t
New York; and he had made up hi
mind that it was best to 90 into tn,
middle of the country, so rs to get tn,
advantages of both the East and West
When, however. Hermann Bertran
came over from London to visit hi
mother, and turned out On Sunday il
. broadcloth dress-coat and whit,
necktie-his official costume in ,
Wsst-End hotel-a new idea strucl
Karl. Could he not go to London and
earn money enough to CARRY him Il
the land Of his hopes? The matter wa
clear enough when Bertram told hin
10 could DO his assistant. and carr
eighteen shillings week, not includ
ing perquisites. So he worked il
London, living at the modest German
rate. and in q ytar he knew English
fairly, and over and above the none,
he sent home when his mother wa
sick, he had cared enough to enabl,
him to visit the old home, take leav,
Of kindred and neighbors. and pay hi
passage to America and his fare I,
Cincinnati; all which he had calcu
lated to pfenning.
In his adopted city Karl found plent.
Of his countrymen, and soon made vi
his mind to stay only till he fount
something better than walters work
He could write MS well as speak Eng
lisil. and he had learned in his fire.
hours, to keep books. So when Col
Greenough wanted clerk who c0ul'
write and speak English and German
and keep the books at his works" il
Nebraska, then first coming into no
tice, Karl got the place. Installed a
"Nr. Krekmann" in the Office, KaI
felt that he had reached the safe mid
de region, where one got all the GOO
Of East and West.
And Karl's father and mother wer
II the same opinion. a. letters brough
them sums of money not large in Ne
0raska, but surprising in Darmstadt
Directions came also about the educs
6On of his brothers. and the one siste
that remained-for Karl's on
grief was that the two next t
linn had died OF scarletina. The olde
Of these had been able to write him le,
ters, which somehow, made larg
part Of that real life lived by him nc
n the .'oflice." but in the room of th
hotel in which he boarded one st0r
wooden house. with more romano
about its history and its inmates tina
in the Mildred House or the Windsor
its ambitious successors. On many
summer evening Karl wandered owe
the rising ground. then rich unbroke
prairie, looking over the river to tn
growing Council Bluff. reading agai
and again, the letters of Katerina. FO
they told all about home-about th
new tables and carpet, the handsom
clock, the boys advance and her ow
longing to see the land where her Kal
could do SO well. something more to
they told over which Karl used to mus
and hope: but alas! Katerina's lie
tiers he could look for no more.
Col. Greenough wanted an agent j
Hamburg. able to buy and send o,
some tools not yet in use in Americ,
Could Karl try it Jor yearp Ye'
Hamburg was not far from the ol
home. He could see his parents an
Katerina's grave, ard perhaps AIDE
held. whom he we'll remembered as
girl. and about whom Katerina kel
him informed. It was, in fact, ovt
Adclheid that Karl used to muse an
hope rs he lay on the prairie-grass an
wondered at the richness of the color
as the setting sun lit up the bits .
wood along the slopes Of the rive
bank, and turned the autumn foliaa
under which the Omaha Indians eli
camped into gold.
| We cannot linger over Mr.. Krel
mann's journey to New York. his pa
sage to Bremerhaven, his prompt after
ton to his business. which he-to b
credit-settled before the visit TO oil
Darmstadt. Nor can we detail tn
welcome home" he had. nor the il
he felt over the growing brothers, M
the tears he shed over Katerins's grav'
at the head of which he put prett
stone. Nor can We give particulars ,
those many calls he made upon AIDE