davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

arbitrarily added anything to thu
price, as that is matter with which
| have nothing to do.
IL everyone secures the same trans
portation rate it is not possible for thu
packers entirely to control the sellin'
price. or late years the Chicag'
packers have sent meat to nearly e.
cry city and town in the Unlte
States, and the old method Of the
butchers dressing beef for the loctl
markets has disappeared. The packer
saves everything and uses every pat
of the cattle. Nothing is wasted.
If there should be an investigation
to determine whether there is cm-
bination of the packers for the in
creasing of prices, those conducting
it would have to inquire into all Of The
factors which influence the price. If
such a combination exists it probably
would be found in lower transpocta-
ton rates, but, of course, would not
presume to say the railroads discrim'
mate in favor of the packers, for
have not means of knowing.
One of the features of an investiga.
ton of this kind would be to get at
the rate allowed by the transportation
companies. From the field to the
slaughter houses the rates are regular
and uniform, so far as we have been
able to learn. But what they are
from the slaughter house to the con
sumer is question on which | have
no information whatever.
There is evidently large supply of
stock-steers, sheep and hogs but
not enough corn to fatten them. The
supply of cattle at Chicago shows that
fat cattle are scarce. In about two
months there should be some relief
as grass cattle will begin to reach the
market within that time. This de
ponds on the locality, however. Cat
tie have been on grass since April ]
Those which were in good condition
at that time will be ready for the mar
ket early in June.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
A WIFE TO ORDER.

A man of mediocrity-and that
means most husbands, or at least ev-
cry other woman's husband-has his
ideal of a wife. The kind he likes
dresses handsomely and becomingly on
very small allowance. She must
never go into debt for anything, but
must always pay ready money, wheth.
er she can manage to get it from him
or not. Her jewels must on no &C
count be eclipsed by those of any 9TH
er woman in her set, but when she
buys them and the bill comes in her
husband is furious about the outlay.
He sulks for a week, but then he
would have sulked quite as long if at
the last dinner party she had shone a
secondary star to any lady of their &C
quaintance.
A man loves his wife to be gener-
Gus and sympathetic to himself. If
she is too much so to her boys and
they take advantage of it and they get
into debt and go to her to help them
out, he says: Bother sympathy"
If she is too good to the poor, and
gives them of the household abund-
| ance, he is apt to be cynical and cen
serious; talks of encouraging a par
eel of idle rogues." of "indiscriminate
charity" and the harm it does, and of
the danger of pauperizing the needy.
None of these considerations, however,
prevents him from giving to charities
that print his name at the head of the
subscription lists, or forking out a
quarter for case that comes under
his immediate notice. 1t is only the
wife who is to subordinate her kindly
impulses to considerations of political
economy.
| A man likes his wife to be cheerful.
He does not always concern himself
very particularly about the means to
make and keep her SO, but he disap-
proves utterly of sad or pensive
face. He may have cut her to the
quick with some bitter word before he
left home in the morning, but he is
extremely annoyed If he perceives on
returning any signs of the wounds he
has inflicted. A man hits hard, but
he never expects to see bruise. He
has forgiven himself for administer
ing the blow; why should not the re
cipient be equally as quick about for
getting it?
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
INTERVIEWS AT LONG RANGE.

oSSlStdly VI Agriculture Jdil6S VIII
son-I predict fall in the price of
beef as soon as the grass cattle are
ready for market. There is nothing
to hinder the butchers in any city
from making an agreement among
themselves to put an agent in one of
the western markets for the purpose
of buying cattle, having them shipped
to their city, slaughtered, and sold at
a profit, providing they can get the
same transportation rate given to ev-
cry one else. Whoever gets a lower
rate becomes a monopolist, as he is at
once given a great advantage over all
those who are Disseminated against.
l do not know whether or not there
is a combination on the part of the
packers to put up the price of meats,
as | have no means of knowing. l do
know, however, that owing to the
shortness of last years corn crop the
farmers were not able to feed cheap
corn to their cattle SO as to afatten
them for market. @
There are plenty Of grass cattle in
the country. Corn is high and the
farmers have been giving it to their
cattle at double the ordinary price
namely: SO to go cents bushel. They
sent south for cotton seed oil so as to
help to tide over
The farmers have been getting sew
en- cents a pound for cattle on the
hoof. The average steer going into
Chicago dresses at fifty pounds to the
hundred 1t is easily estimated that
if calf costs seven cents pound or
the hoof it will cost IA cents when
dressed.
First-class beef dresses at about
sixty pounds to the hundred and the
worlds high-water mark along this
line is between sixty and seventy
pounds, but the average is about fifty
pounds. This will give some idea of
what meat costs the butcher. The
choice cuts are always run up ir
price and this is why we have to pay
so much for our meats.
While beef will be cheaper when
| the CRASHED cattle are in marketable
shape, this cause will not operate to
reduce the price of the products of the
hog, as that animal cannot fatten on
grass.
These are some Of the prime causes
for the high prices of meats. There
are other of equal importance. Wages
are good. In fact, they are higher
than ever before. This enables every
one to eat whatever he fancies. This
condition creates heavy demand fol
food products, and all of them are un
usually high.
/ Another cause for the increase in
the price of beef is the drain on the
corn supply to fatten horses ant
mules for our foreign markets. There
is large demand for mules ana
1 horses in South Africa. These ami
mails must be fattened the same a.
cattle in order to bring satisfactory
price. These are some of the natura
| causes which contribute to bringin,
!. about the existing condition, but i
y is impossible for me to say wherein
in addition to this, the packers have
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
THE BoNAPARTE FISH WAY.

The Meek Bros, at Bonaparte, will
resist condemnation proceedings for a
fish way over their dam at that point
on the alleged grounds that it would
weaken the dam and waste the water
that they propose to use for their
manufacturing purposes. There is no
disposition On the part of the people of
the Des Moines valley to injure the
Meek factory, but it would be a
strange situation if fish ways can be
made useful at other places and with
out injurySto local enterprises, that
one cannot be made in the Bonaparte
dam to permit the fish to go on their
way to thesupper part of the stream.
Fish ways are no longer experiments.
They are. of practical value and can
be made SO as to permit the easy
passage ofsfsh and yet the dam itself
will not be- injured in the least. In
deed a dam may be strengthened by
"a fish way, if properly placed.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
AN IMPORTANT PROBLEM FOR
OTTUMWA.

DR.. Palmer, editor of the Chicago
Clinic, has recently written an article
on How Pure Water Prevents and
Cures Disease" which will be the text
for very short lay sermon on the pure
water question in Ottumwa. This will
be without reference to the problem
of municipal control OF public water
works, but is directed solely to the
fact that pure water cannot be OBJ
tanned from the Des Moines by either
municipality or a private corporation,
SO long as the stream is being used
as gigantic sewer to carry off the
sewage of cities and the offal of a
wide extentsof country on each of its
shores. The water that the people
who inhabit the, cities on the Missis-
8sippi river useis not exposed to all the
dangers that are incident to towns
tuated on the smaller streams. The
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

great Mississippi contains volume of
wafer SO immense that there are not
only possibilities but probabilities in
favor of a5belief that the water puri-
fies itself as it rolls in vast floods
toward the gulf. The cities in other
localities obtain their water supply
for potable: purposes either from lakes
or from streams where the water shed
sion of the public and of animals in
Ible pollution. The Des Moines river
can never be protected in any such
manner 1t is a stream too large to be
volume of water to purify itself at all
seasons.
1t is therefore evident that the sup.
ply of pure water for Ottumwa must
come from some other source than
the open stream that flows at the
feet of the city. The Courier has
heretofore pointed out the possibilities
and not only these, but the proba-
bilities that exist for securing pure
water by system of large wells that
will reach the great filtering beds of
sand through which the water per
colates, not far from the present
intake" This system has been tried
in other places and has given salts
faction. The only difficulty is the adj
ditional expense of having double set
of supply pipes; one that will lead the
Epure water to the homes and business
houses for potable and domestic pur-
poses, and one that will supply the
city fire department and can also be
used for sprinkling purposes. The
cost however should not deter the city
from securing good and pure water
for the people who are anxious to pay
for it,
There is not much time to be lost
in considering this important matter.
The charter of the present water COM
pany will expire within a few months
and whether that company be granted
a new charter or whether the city it.
self shall erect and operate its own
plant, it should very soon be decided
that the city must have pure water
from some source.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

There is an impression among some
of the people of Iowa that the Bona.
parte dam appropriation for condemn
ing a fish way through this obstruction
to the free passage of fish, failed to
pass. This is incorrect. The bill pro.
viding for fish way was passed
sometime before adjournment and it
carried sufficient appropriation for
the purpose. Now if the right kind
of a fish way is provided, and one that
will be permanent, there will be no
further trouble and the Des Moines
can be we'll stocked with fish in the
way nature has provided. Give them
the way and the fish will do the rest.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
JIM BLuDsoE IN REAL LIFE.

the recent appalling disaster near
Cairo. on the Ohio river, where the
magnificent steamboat City of Pitts
burg, was destroyed by fire, gave an
opportunity for the heroic pilots to
demonstrate that there are jim Bud
soes In real life, who are willing to,
and do sacrifice their lives in the exer-
else of duty.
The steamer had reached Turner'S
Landing bound for Cincinnati to
Memphis with It's persons on board
Just at daYbreak on Sunday morning
the night Waterman had just reported
all well, when flames burst forth and
in twenty-five minutes the great YES
sci was a wreck and many of the pas
sengers and crew were burned to
death or persisted, in the cold waters.
The dispatch says. ''In five minutes
the whole bow of the steamer was
wrapped in flames" Then came this
significant and thrilling sentence:
"The pilots stuck to their posts and
turned the nose of the boat toward the
Illinois Shore"
THE dialect poem by John Hay, of
%Jim Bludsoe and the Prairie Belle"
tells the story of how the brave pilot
after the flames had spread over the
Prairie Belle" cutting off all hope Of
his escape said he would:
Hold her nozzle to the bank till the
last galoot's ashore"
Il He did it; and his soul went up from
the smoke of the disaster as one who
had died in the act of sacrifice and
the poem closes in dialect with the ex-
preston:
"Christ's not goin' to be too hard on
ft man that died for men,"
1.-The poem has been criticised as
bordering on lrreverence but there
seems to have been no better way of
commemorative the rough virtues of
q; hero typical of American character
as. developed in the strenuous condi-
tons that surround the pilot, the
scout, the. slllae and the pioneer. La.
The awful tragedy. of the City. OF
Pittsburg bruises many hearts ant
appallsalf with the details of suffering
but there is lesson taught thai
maidstone think better of the human
race. The spirit of selfsacrifice was
present amid the fire, smoke and all
The horrors that prevailed. One of the
pilots fell at his post and his name
although a common one. will hereaf
ter possess an interest that it never
had before. Tom Smith was as much
of hero as any soldier who evel
stormed the battlements of an armed
foe. AL. Pritchard, another pilot in
attempting to discharge his duty to
the passengers as well as to his babe,
could not rescue his own child. One
of the most pathetic incidents of the
catastrophe is that: pilot AL. Priteh-
ard tossed his little one from the
burning steamer into the arms waiting
to catch it in the yawl, but its head
struck against the side of the boat
and it fell into the river and was lost
The mother is nearly wild with grief
So it is, that life is made UP mainly
of tragedies, of grief, suffering and
tears, hut amid it all are the blessed
incidents of self-sacrifice that illuminc
human character and seem to give as
surance of the Immortality that il
Graves. ~
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
Ex-King Francis of Spain, husband

Ex-King Francis of Spain, husband
of ex-Queen Isabella, who is grand
mother to the present king of Spain,
has just died, leaving an immense for
tune secured through parsimony. He
was noted only as being the smallest
adult king on record in modern times
his height having been about 4 feet 9
inches. Isabella is a woman of ordi-
nary size and heartily disliked Fran
els. 1t is said of her that she eX-
pressed her contempt of the man that
she was forced to marry for STATE rea
sons: "They promised to marry inc
to atman, and they gave ne an in
fant.f
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

! The new commissioner of pensions,
Eugene Ware, will go into Office under
disadvantages that will make his posi-.
ton very difficult and his duties exact
ing: Mr.. Evans retires from Office I'M
der the displeasure of thousands of APP
plicants whose claims for original pen
sions or for increases, were rejected
under the law, as it was construed by
the commissioner, who has no doubt
acted honestly in all cases. The new
commissioner will be expected to grant
the desires of the applicants, thing
he surely cannot do in all cases.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

Congressman Lacey is pushing the
application for pardon in the case of
John Haddow, the Keb coal miner
who has been engaged in organizing
miners unions in West Virginia and
under Injunction proceedings was sen
fenced to serve. six months in Jail at
Lynchburg. Mr.. Lacey has taken
hold of the matter with his accustom-
ed yigor and determination, and the
case is now before the President who
will no doubt grant the pardon. Mr..
Lacey has demonstrated his friend
ship and sympathy with labor on
many occasions, and his interest in
the case of John Haddow is increased
by the fact that the condemned man
is in i'll health.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
WHAT THE "REEF TRUST" MEANS
Charges Made Against Packers and
Answers They Have Made.

Chicago, April 25.-For eight weeks
the hand of the alleged "beef trust"
has been felt throughout the country.
Not only have the prices of meats adj
vanced from 80 to 60 per cent within
that period, but cold storage produce
has gone up on the same scale, so far
as the consumer is concerned.
The entire provision field, it has
been charged, is controlled by the So
called combine of the big packing
companies. One hundred thousand
tons of produce and meats, all the
products of the last year, are said to
have been stored up in the big "freez-
ing plants" controlled by these com
panies, only to be unloaded at prices
dictated by the trust"
To all the charges the packers have
made the repeated answer that short
supply and an increased demand are
responsible for the high prices. They
also have said that prices will go still
higher.
1t has been charged that the meat
supply is wholly in the hands of the
combine-of the big packing firms of
Armour & Co., Swift & Co., Nelson,
Morris & Co., the Hammonds,
Schwarschild & Sulzberger, and few
minor companies.
Chicago has rot felt the increase as
heavily as 5 New York City. In the
country dis ;cts of the middle west
the grip of the oileged trust" is held
to have been ".'ally severe. Many
dealers hr--r 5cea driven out of bust
ness. and ta-ir inability to pay the
high prices demanded by the packers
and to exact an increased price in re-
turn from their customers is given as
the cause.
It also has been reported that agents
of all the companies are selling at the
some price. Until eight weeks age
this order of affairs was unknown. A
dealer making a large purchase usual
ly was able to "dicker" with one of the
agents for a lower price than that Of
fered by his competitors.
1t has been said that there is ton
mage agreement between the packers;
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
Lacey by Acclamation.

John F. Lacey has been nominated
for congress seven times by the sixth
district republicans, says the Oska-
loosa Herald, each time by acclama-
ton, and will this year receive an
eighth nomination in like manner.
1t has been this unanimity of feeling,
coupled with progressiveness and
worthiness of the candidates" the
Herald continues, that has redeemed
the sixth district from the throes of
demagogy, placed it safely in the re-
publican column and held it firmly
there for more than decade"
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

There seems to be demand, since
rural free delivery has been so we'll
established, that the country houses
shall have not only a number, but a
name. For instance: There is in this
county very beautiful farm, where
the dwelling is situated on promir
nent elevation. Such farm might
be appropriately named 'sHighview. -
There is another farm house that is
near the location where in early times
there was an Indian village. the chief
of which was named Blue Bird; y
there is another farm where there are
several Indian mounds, and this place
could be well named as Mound
Place." Each owner could give a
name to his own farm, in connection
with his number.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

1t is not generally known, but it
is nevertheless true, that the catalpa
is a very valuable tree. 1t is of rapid
growth, hardy and it's wood is of a
lasting quality. John P. Brown, sec
rotary of the National Society Of Arpor-
iculture. is now putting in 1000 ca
talpa trees for the Illinois Central
Railroad, near New Orleans. The
wood is used for railroad ties. The
catalpa does well in this latitude and
is very handsome as well as useful.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

The Spaniard or the Italian laborer
can in his own environments and
trained by necessity SO that it is a
quality of heredity, get along we'll on
a vegetable diet. The Spaniard is
reasonably happy with his soup, an
onion, and bread; the Italian is con.
tent with soup and macaroni; the Rus.
sian with his black bread, soup and
cabbage, but the American laborer
who has been accustomed to a more
generous diet, must have meat. 1t is
a necessity to him at least twice day
and he is entitled to it. He lives in a
| country that produces meat in abund
ance. Any system or combination
that deprives him of meat is an op
preston
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

: The Cedar Rapids Republican says
that "Des Moines has three murders,
with g-undiscpvered murderersA-the
cases of Mabel Schofield and Lena
and Thomas Peterson" This does
not represent all the mysterious. muir.
ders of7Des4 Moines and notably there
is that one which occurred many years
ago in the heart of the city. A young
woman was murdered in her room and
colored man was accused of the
crime but there seems to be good rea,
sons for believing that white man
was the principal actor in the tragedy.
Des Moines has also had a lynching
case or two to atone for. The man
Johnson, who was perhaps guilty, was
taken from jail, dragged through the
streets with a rope around his neck
and then put to death by hanging.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29
500 Reward. 500.

The readers of this paper will be pleased
to learn that there is at least one dread
ed disasse that science has been able to
cure in all its stages, and that Is -catarrh.
Halls Catarrh Cure is the only positive
cure now known to the medical fraternity.
Catarrh being 9 constitutional disease, re-
Quires constitutional treatment. Halls
Catarrh Cure Is taken internally, acting
directly; upon the blood and mucous sur.
faces of the system, thereby destroying
the fo,ttidations of the disease, and giving
the patient strength by building up tho
CONSTRUCTION. aud assisting nature in doing
Its WORD. The proprietors have so much
faith i'm its curative powers. that they Of
it fails to cnre. Send for list OF testmon.
Address, II. j. CHENEY s. CO., Toledo, O.
Sold f'y druggists. TIC.
Halls. Family Pills are the hest.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-04-29

Gen. Leonard Wood, who is acting
governor of Cuba, says the Cuban in
dependent government which is now to
be organized, will have the finest op.
portunity to show what can be done.
The Cubans will come into a govern
ment with $500, 1000 in it's treasury and
with the people loyal and law abiding,
who will do all they can to support Els
/ trada Palma and his cabinet