davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

looked very little when viewed from
the outermost stake. But the grain
and cattle business vas tremendous. if
through passenger was not. Chicago
took all the wheat and corn and live
stock the Red Water valley could spare
and eagerly bid for more. But bad
time had come for the Seattle and Big
Horn both. Long. long lines of grain
and cattle cars, especially cattle,
stretched westward on both main line
and sidings from Brentwood. The
mercury had dropped to within few
degrees of zero. 4 thousand horned
cattle and five times as many sheep
ana hogs We're clamoring for food and
water and couldn't get it. for thou
SAND anSered men in the various shops
and yards of the Seattle and as many
in the Big Horn had sworn no wheel
should turn and no hand should minis
tel. until the read" came to their
terms. 1t the trains had been passen-
ger coaches and the passengers hungry
and thirsty women and children, the
rule would have been the same. The
5trikers proved that in later and
fiercer grapple when the authority Of
even the United States was set at
nausht by the labor leader who estab-
lished his headquarters in Chicago and
checked the commerce of the world,
But this earlier insurrection against
law and order was serious enough in
all conscience. For "a hours only the
mail trains had been allowed to leave
the Chicago stations. For "a hours
east bound passenger trains had been
side tracked at PARKWAY towns in the
interior. Train crews were coaxed or
driven from their posts. The few de-
termined and devoted men who re-
manned steadfast were assaulted and
mobbed. and away out here at Brent
wood the division shops poured forth
an array of strikers who, aided by
gangs of tramps from all over the west
and toughs from the Missouri river
towns, were more than sufficient to bid
defiance to dozen sheriffs' posses and
to ditch trainload of Pinkertons three
days march away. The national guard
was on duty in Chicago. and the gov
NA''OA " -NSpAtS buu OIuGTGu OUT
such militia as was then organized.
The people of Dakota, just budding in
to twin star statehood. had appealed
for federal troops, but at Brentwood
the striker had full sway. Two COM
panies of militia arriving to REINFORCE
the local command found q few of the
latter wandering disconsolately about
In small squads and civilian dress. the
laughing stock of the town, the leaders
OF the strike having early and thought
fully possessed themselves of their
arms. armory and uniforms. Received
with ironical cheers, the newcomers
sought to communicate with the sher-
III, as their instructions required. Po-
lite and sympathetic citizens bade
them remain aboard the train and they
would be switched over into the yards
of the Seattle, where the sheriff was
reported holding out as best he could,
They remained, were switched as
promised not only to but beyond the
yards-4O miles beyond. in fact-at
breathless speed and hidden to camp
there until they were hauled back and
to live meantime on the country. For
over "a hours the strikers had things
all their own way, and were jubilant.
CTo Be Continually
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30
WHY THEY FAIL.

1t is to be regretted that so much of
the work and financial resources of the
several county agricultural societies are
almost compelled to be diverted into
schemes for the sensational entertain
ment of the very people who more than
any others specially need the instruc-
tive education on agricultural lines
which it is the mission of the fair to
supply. The high diving, parachute
dropping, snake eating, Punch and
Judy, merry go round, red lemonade
patronage is catered for while the real
mission of the fair is cbscured by Civ
ing $500 for 2:30 trotting race and SO
premium for the best COW or the best
horse in the county. AS result of this
unwise policy scores Of county4fair as
sociations have either thrown up the
sponge or else are on their last legs.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30
SIMPLICITY OF LIVING

When man and woman get married
and go to housekeeping nowadays, it
will mean much for their comfort and
happiness If they will shape their ways
of living along simple lines and if
possible be independent of hired help
in the home. TO this end the house
should not be too large, every modern
convenience and appliance for making
the Homework easy and light should
be utilized, the circle of friends which
one expects to entertain should be linn
tied and the food supply be studied
with reference to its simplicity, ease Of
preparation and nutritive value. The
things about modern living which
worry people the worst are artificial
wants, social dictums and false
pride. which is the worst tyrant on
earth.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30
CHAPTER v

Ninety miles west of the "Big Mis-
souri," and in the heart of the thriving
town of Brentwood the rival lines of
the Chicago and Seattle and the Chica-
go and Missouri Valley, popularity
known respectively as the Seattle"
and the big Horn" crossed each 9TH
er and the beautiful stream that drain
ed the valley. The Pawnees long ages
ago had called it after the prairie wolf,
but their deSpoilerS, the Sioux, rechris-
tened it Red Water, declaring it so
thick with the blood of their hereditary
foes that it had lost all semblance of
blue, and Red Water it remained in
name, at least, though it speedily lost
the sanguinary tint and outvied all the
stored streams of Indian land in that
1t never sulked and sank out of sight
In beds of Quicksand, never turned into
raging torrent and tore things ont by
the roots, rs did the mountain born
"Afinnes" and "Wakpas" that streaked
the lands of the Dakotas to the north
never failed to freeze over in clear. SOL
id ice ut the appropriate time in the
early winter and to bubble forth again.
sparkling and smiling, in the early
spring. Fed by innumerable springs
and brooks from pine crested heights
where the snow lay deep all winter
long and only slowly melted for the
northering sun, draining broad, beau
tiful and fertile valley through which
1t meandered in long, sweeping, grace
full bends and reaches" moving Sc
renely, steadily. placidly, through mile
after mile of fair and peaceful land
scape, rarely rullled by the gales that
swept the uplands long, long leagues
to the west or stirred by the savage
billiards. that tore through the Dakota
wastes, it drew "a it's willow shaded
shores by hundreds the hardy settlers
and pioneers-the farmer, rancher and
herdsman. Brentwood became the
market town and grew apace. Rail-
ways from st. Paul and st. Louis
crawled and from Chicago scrambled
thither, and before the Sioux were
fairly out Of the country and the set
tiers fairly in Brentwood the Red Wa
ter valley was the objective point of
half dozen corporations. Brentwood
grew from market town to country
seat, to railway terminus "a bad time
that, to division station, with round
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

house and machine and car shops.
Brentwood damned the Red Water
and began grinding its own wheat be-
fore Minneapolis reached for it. Brent
wood jumped from population of 10
to $4,000 in less than ten years. and
now the Seattle and the Big Horn had
handsome stone depot buildings. The
st. Louis and Northwestern had grad
ed to within ten miles of the town, and
the Minneapolis and Southwestern had
a spur that tapped mills, elevators and
factories and a switch engine that
screamed defiance at those of the big
transcontinentals. The Seattle was
not built through to "the sound" by
any manner of means, and the big
Horn" for which its rival was named.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30
A WHINING TRICK. ~
He Lost All His Eets and Mnde
Money by Doing So.

Money by Doing So.
The captain of one rather old and
slow steamer of years ago, finding that
he would have to be a long time in
China before he received full cargo
Of tea and would have probably to re-
turn in ballast, began, to every ones
establishment, to say that, owing to the
repairs that had been done to his en-
gines, he hoped to make a racing pas
sage back to England. Then, still more
to the astonishment of the captains Of
the fast steamers and the world at
large, he commenced to back himself to
make the fastest passage home.
In such very considerable sums Of
money did he wager that people began
to think there was something IN It, and
the merchants sent tleir tea almost en-
tirely to his ship, arguing that as the
captain stood to lose $500 the repairs to
his steamers engines had probably put
him in position to bet almost on
certainty
or course the steamer, whose great
est speed was eight knots an hour, ar
rived in England weeks after the 9TH
ers. and the captain lost ESQ, but in
stead of having to lie in China waiting
his chance of cargo coming in from the
interior, probable delay of weeks, he
had cleared in few days after hia
bets became known to the public with
q full ship, thus recouping to his own
ers, who of course paid his betting loss.
es, considerable number of thousands
OF pounds profit.-Blackwood's Nigga,
zine.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30
TEN YEARS TRIAL
The Story of Soldiers Struggle
BY Brigadier General Charles King
CHAPTER IV.-Continued.
Copyrights 1901 by Charles King

CHAPTER lN.-COntlnueQ.
Eat episode led to split number two
In t'se mess. Channing's words were
held by Nathan's few followers as 81
slur on the artillery" and he was asked
to withdraw them. He wouldn't. Tte
said they applied only to Nathan's i'm
mediate circle, which included, to the
best of his belief. only three or possibly
four officers of artillery. The mess di-
yided against itself, and this was the
condition of affairs when the Chicago
papers came telling of the tremendous
events at Sheridan. 1t so happened
that Mrs. Torrance was giving a recep-
ton that afternoon, that Mrs. Melville
had regretted" some days previous,
but that Miss Ethel Grahame, the very
attractive young woman referred to as
Hdevoted to riding" in an earlier chap
ter, had been induced, much against
her will, TO go in place Of her aunt.
There We're many points to this girl,
as the most blase man in the batteries.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

One of the meanest things which we
come across among farmers is the
jealousy manifested and criticism be-
slowed upon any one of their number
who. wishing to keep up with the agri-
cultural progress of the day, buys
good sire at high price to head his
herd, his stable or his focks. Instead
of regarding such man as a benefac-
tor to the community and according
him liberal patronagefh he is met with
just the reverse. and should his neigh
bors want to improve their stock they
will buy of strangers 500 miles from
home rather than patronize the home
man.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30
A THIN DIET

Some very foolish things occasional
ly creep into the SO called agricultural
papers. Speaking Of the nutritive value
of the banana, a paper Of the kind re-
ferred to says, "Do you know that a
dimes worth Of bananas will keep a
family two days if properly served
and insure the members against sick
nesses which result from summer
oyerfeedingT We should say SO.
About eight bananas can be got for a
dime. II family consisted of four
persons, that would be one banana
apiece per day. No overlooking here,
sure. If man undertook to work on
such nutritive ration as this, he
would have to be hauled from the field
on a stoneboat by 10 o'clock in the
forenoon.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

A friend had fifty acres of oats, a
good crop which will yield fifty bush
els an acre. He was little behind the
times, because he went right to stack
ing this grain just as soon as he was
through cutting. while nearly all his
neighbors left their oats in the shock,
waiting for machine to thrash out
the field. The result is that our friend
will be able to furnish all his neighbors
their seed oats next spring at a good
round price, while they will have a lot
of understandable and spoiled grain,
and they wish now that they had been
old fogies also.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

The sumac and elderberry possess
many claims upon the lover of natural
beauty as agencies for the decoration
of the home dooryard.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

A serviceable automobile now sold
at $500 will be on the market inside of
five years at $3.50 or less. The history
of the bicycle will be repeated in the
case Of the auto.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

A good many men have got the hay
fever this year because their second
crop of clover was ready to cut before
the weather would permit them to get
the small grain either thrashed or
stacked. a.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

A farmer can raise a good boy much
easier by taking half day off and
going fishing with him than he can
by lecturing and licking him.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

We have grown 200 chrysanthemums
this summer in the garden, giving them
thorough cultivation and plenty Of
moisture. They have been but very
little trouble SO far.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

Some towns we have lately visited
have good reason to be thankful for
the unusual floods of water which have
visited them, for the water has killed
out all the weed growths on the unoc-
cupied lots.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

Charitably inclined women of Sioux
CITY are endeayoring to raise money
during the Elks carnival this week to
establish rescue home.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

1t is said that more timber is used
each year in this country to make
matches than to furnish the railways
with ties. If so, it is striking fact.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

When fruit trees begin to bear heav-
lily, then they need fertilizing. The
cause of your small gnarly crop of
fruit may be found in your ignorance
of this fact or your neglect to heed it.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

Last year in Colorado on irrigated
land the producer got $40 per acre net
for his crop of sugar beets and $50 for
his potatoes, and the beets sapped his
land, while the potatoes benefited it
for the following crop.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

Carbon bisulphide introduced into
the burrows of gophers, skunks and
other ground burrowing vermin makes
short work of them. They die, as do
the men in coal mine after an explo-
sion, from firedamp and suffocation.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

When business pays, it then imme-
diately becomes dignified, and this fact
explains why SO many professional
men who have heretofore turned up
their noses at the farmer and his occu-
patton are investing in farms and sing
ing the praises of agriculture as a pro-
fession.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

Refinement and intellectual develop
ment are in no way divorced from ag-
riculture as profession. Daniel Web
ster found his truest friends among the
cattle on his farm, Cincinnatus was
called to an imperial service from his
plow, while Burns found an inspiration
for one Of the sweetest poems in the
language as he turned up the mouse's
nest with his plowshare.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

In way to the prospective buyer of
farm it is not altogether drawback
that the weeds on such farm grow big
and strong. The wise man knows that
where weeds make vigorous growth
there is plenty of meat in the soil.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

A friend was telling us lately about
shooting mallard ducks by the gunny
sack full up in North Dakota. The birds
are shot on the marshes where they
were Matched and are so tame when
the season opens that it is hardly sport
to kill them.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

We have had to NOW the lawn ten
times this season in order to keep it
looking decent 1t cost whole lot to
put on little style and be respecta-
BILE. as, a3S9S
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

In the pioneer days of the west we
have had cornfields visited by such
swarms of wild geese, ducks and sand
hill cranes that there would have been
nothing left had the birds not been
driven OFF, Why did we not shoot
them? There was no market for them,
and after one has had mallard duck,
Canada goose or prairie chicken as
steady diet for three weeks there is
nothing tastes 80 good as piece of
salt pork. Then in those days every
shot fired cost cents, and money
wherewith to buy the powder and shot
was very, very scarce.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

If farm will rent so as to bring in S
per cent on what it would sell for, it is
much better to keep the land than to
sell it and try to place the money at In
terest. The late custom of taxing mon
eys and credits and the difficulty of
finding desirable loans make the land
the better investment for money by
far.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

So many Americans are locating on
the fertile lands of the Canadian north
west that our government would do
well to dicker an island or two for this
territory. "God Save the King" is 60
ing to have mighty slim show up
there in ten years.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

Great Britain will want 2OOOOO,OOO
bushels Of wheat this coming year,
France 100000 bushels, Germany
100000 bushels, Belgium 34,O0O,OOO,
Holland 100000 and Italy 100000
bushels, and America can supply a
good share Of their needs.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

The possession Of good big pile of
dry wood for winter fuel enables one
to view the coal strike and consequent
shortage Of hard coal from a purely
sympathetic standpoint, while the man
without the wood pile, with bleared
eyes and smutty nose, will gaze into
the sulphurous depths of a soft coal
fire and cuss the coal barons.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

The effect of the working of the new
oleomargarine law is becoming more
visible each month. For the month Of
August 141,000 fifty pound tubs less of
the stuff were manufactured than for
the month of June. The manufacturers
are hunting every day for Sunday to
find out some method either mechanic
al or chemical which will enable them
to evade the provisions of the law. The
scheme of educating the people to the
uncolored article is a failure.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

Mixed crops Of wheat and oats,
termed succotash. withstood the eff.
fects Of the storms of the past season
much better than did crops of wheat
or oats alone. something which is in
favor of this way of growing these
cereals.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

The territory embraced in Siberia
which is capable of producing wheat is
almost illimitable, while there is an
undeveloped principally in the Cana
dian northwest where No. 1 hard, thir-
ty bushels to the acre, is as easily
grown as cockleburs in western corn
field
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30
a COOP CORN CROP.

A twenty acre field of corn growing
aear where the writer lives was ma
tured early in September and will pro-
duce at a conservative estimate seven
ty-tiye bushels per acre. This field was
planted May IL on clover sod turned
over last September and has received
clean and thorough cultivation. There
is nothing very remarkable about this,
only that right in the neighborhood
where this corn is grown there are
thousand acres of corn which are so
very much inferior-the crop behind
time, full of weeds, half cared for and
giving no promise, If frost comes at the
usual date, OF making anything save
twenty. or thirty bushels of soft corn
to the acre. The moral to this story is
that the one man with the twenty
acres knows something about raising
corn which his thirty neighbors with
the thousand acres ought to know, for
success is always worth looking into.
This twenty acre field of corn might
well form the topic for whole days
discussion at a farmers institute soil,
preparation, Kind of seed, cultivation
and all that pertained to the produc-
ton of the crop. Such field is prac-
teal object lesson, and the owners ex-
perience is worth more than an abb
struse lecture by some scientist on the
growing of corn crop.
SUGAR BETS AND THE CORN RELT.
We thought a few years ago that the
cultivation of the sugar beet might
be made valuable feature of agricul-
ture in the corn belt Of the country.
We have since changed our opinion.
The financial returns to the grower are
altogether unsatisfactory. The crop
needs prompt care and attention when
the farmer can least spare the time
The needed help is hard to obtain, and
the labor connected with the crop is
of the get down on all tours back
breaking type which the corn raiser
despises. The sugar beet will find
friends in oil the sunny, irrigated por-
ton Of the west and to some extent in
the more thickly settled portions Of the
east, where child help is cheap and
easily obtained, but not where sixty
bushels of corn to the acre can be
grown or where clover grows knee
high and blue grass thrives, where
creameries prosper and the Poland Chi
ma hog and Shorthorn steer grunt and
snort whenever the beet subject 10
mentioned.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

One dog recently killed in one night
sixty out of large flock of sheep near
where the writer lives. 1t seems al
most incredible that such a wholesale
destruction could be wrought by one
dog in SO short a time. The act was
the expression of hereditary instinct
derived from his wolfish ancestors,
whose habit was to run down and kill
every helpless victim on their nightly
raids.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

When wild prairie hay is selling for
81 per ton, well cured alfalfa hay is
worth SILL SO far as its feeding value
is concerned.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

We would like to ask of what earth
ly use it is to plant such apple trees
as Hibernal, Longfeld, Mcmahon,
Haas, Strawberry Red and whole
raft of other low grade fall apples
when one can raise the Wealthy, an
apple as much superior to the list
named as wheat is better than rye.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

A moderate and steady decline in
meat prices may now be looked for,
Pnd 1t will be welcomed by all salaried
MEN who have families to support.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-09-30

The thoughtless and careless hired
man on the farm is regular nuisance.
He ties horse near wire fence, and
$50 is taken or your best horse. He
leaves the gate open, and ths milk
cows get into the cornfleld, ana you
have to bury two Of your best cows.
He has a runaway which runs I'D a
bill of $40 for repairs, perhaps more.
He runs a machine with loose bolt,
and there is hot box. He thinks it
good fun to plague the young bull, and
you have to sell him at two years old
because he is unsafe. 1t costs big
money to have this fellow around the
premises.