Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-12-17
LOOKER-ON IN IOWA.
Observation-Disclosures

or the Times Republican.
Ringsted, Dec. 16.-In a previous let
ter the writer thought he was telling a
good story when he reported the sale by
a farmer of three loads of corn for $lO0,
but one day here recently one load OF
cats sold for 1857. This story came
from the buyer, who says he has bought
oats in Iowa as low as s cents per bush
81, and one winter bought corn for 81
per hundred pounds. That year the
farmers did not wear diamonds.
$50
The Exchange Hotel at Burt has let
ter-head line very much to the satisfac-
ton OF the travelling men. 1t reads:
Rates
Travelling men $3.50 per day.
Farmers $500 per day.
Theatrical troupes 81 per week.
What the other fellows think has not
been reported.
One of the standard apologies of the
hotel men is, THE dealers here keep so
little an assortment that we can not
furnish as good meals as we would like
to-" Now the writer is perfectly willing
to give all of the free advertising in
what follows: The town of Halfa, just
west Of here, contains two stores. a
grain elevator and the depot. That's all.
Sc when the freight crew announced
twenty minutes for dinner the LOCKER
On hesitated. THE dealers don't keep
much Of an assortment, so we can't fur
nish as good meals as we'd like to-
Where do we eat? Was the next ques.
tor. 1t occurred to the writer that said
Con. knew where he was going, SO we
followed. Here's what we tried to eat:
Boiled fresh ham, mashed potatoes, lima
beans. stewed tomatoes, sweet corn, to-
mato sweet pickles and preserved crab
apples. Also sliced onions IN vinegar,
hot biscuit, wheat and graham bread,
splendid coffee with real cream, milk,
tea or water, apple and pumpkin pie and
pudding. plum cake and real cream
cheese. The type-setter will also please
insert sauer-kraut along somewhere
with the vegetables. We all did. Then
let it be added that all of these things
were cooked as mother used to. There
is one bad feature to all this: That
freight train crew that eats there every
day are all confirmed dyspeptics. or
would be If they did not get twelve
hours Of gentle exercise every day.
$50
Stock food companies are multiplying
all over the west. The writer is told
that sixteen such companies failed dur
ing 1901. Still there are plenty left. One
firms general agent told the writer that
his company has 10000 regular patrons.
-,
with teams delivering the farmers all
kinds Of stock food. The business is 60
good that one man made" $500 during
the month Of November. The business
has grown to such an extent that each
state is mapped out and district mana
gers go over certain territory regularly
every few months. How was 1t the hui
man race got thru the world before we
knew Of these pesky microbes? How did
our fathers manage to raise stock be-
fore each animal had his daily dose Of
condition powders?
sss
Some OF us think we recognize the
fnger-marks of Professor Parker in the
squirrel story from Grinnell. He should
go down to Clarinda and sit down in the
court house park and see these pets in
|
abundance. There the young boys, and
old boys with young hearts like the pro-
fessor's. not only feed them, but put UP
boxes In the trees for their winter resi-
dcnces. And the man in Clarinda, to say
nothing of the boy, who Injuries one of
these pets is exactly in the same danger
as the horsethief in Montana. Every
man, woman and child that visits that
| fnI
ton. They do not draw the line on
strangers. The writer has had three big
bushy tailed chaps there investigating
his pockets and hands at the same time.
Why is 1t that the Yankee and his de-
scendants are such lovers Of animal
-