davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05

the promoters had figured the cost
and the resulting benefits. They found
that in round numbers about $4,000
acres Of land would be kept from the
dreaded annual overflow, and that the
cost per acre would be $10.99, which
could be paid off in installments.
The county court of Bates county
let the contract for digging the big
ditch to Foohey & Sons of Fort Wayne,
Ind. who in turn employed A. v.
Willis e. Sons of Pittsield, ILL.,, r, H.
McWiiliams of Nation, ILL.,, and Small
Bros. of Iowa, to help on different sec
tons. Foohey & Sons are doing the
biggest portion of the work, about IL
miles. A. V. Willis & Sons are doing
the deepest portion, at the southern
end of the ditch.
Though the main ditch is ESh miles
long, two dredge boats of a small type
are busy cutting laterals that will
total II miles in length, Small ditch
ing will drain lower places into them.
Already the county court has pur-
chased the bridges for crossing the
ditch-one bridge every two miles.
Each of these bridges costs $4,000,
and these must be paid for by the
drainage district.
we have tried to complete this big
job in the right fashion" said John p.
SCORE, vice-president of The Farmers
and Manufacturers bank Of Rich Hill.
THE property owners have already
made money, simply through the fact
that the ditch is being built. | know
of one man who protested against the
ditch and who has since sold his land
for a profit Of $1,000. Another has
cleared $4,000, while the biggest oper-
ator is supposed to have put away
about $4,000 through the handling Of
this fine land,
When the ditch is completed. which
will be within two years, this land Will
be worth as much as similar land in
Illinois and Indiana. Its character is
the same. 1t is close to the markets,
The health Of the community is al
ready good, even with the overfows.
so thaC there certainly will be nc dan
ger from this source. Rich Hill al
ready has felt the imrctus Of the i'm
migration. The drainage ditch is 2
success, and will be more 20 as the
years pass"
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
Lava Put to Good Use.

Residents of the district round We
suvius have put to practical use TIE
lava which has flowed from the vol.
cano in the past and recent eruptions.
Naples and its vicinity appear to be-
a world of lava. The streets are paved
with it. There are lava staircases and
statues, drinking troughs, bric-a-brac
and ever iewelry. The guides make
a profit out Of it by pressing coins or
other objects on partially cooled frag'
ments and selling these to visitors.
On the ashy stles of the mountain
there is enough lava to build a large
city. In appearance it resembles a
shoreless frozen sea of dull black that
shimmers strangely purple in some
lights.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
CHAPTER discontinued.

4 agree with you, Ike, If l had the
gtecring of this killing, l don't think
I would take any chance of tempting
them to dump and grab the profits by
carrying 1t much over 200. But you
can't tell what Cam and those four
eyed dentists at rs Broadway will
do"
Yes, put der iss anudder ting,
Che, dat makes me sit up unit pink
about her goin' Offer two hundred. To
morrow's Friday der thirteenth"
"Of course, Ike, that is something
to be reckoned with, and every man
on the floor and in the street as well
has his eye on 1t. Friday, the 18th,
would break the best bull market ever
under way. You and l know that, Ike,
and the dope shows 1t, too, but you
have got to stack this up against it
on this trip: No man on the floor
knows what Friday, the 18th, means
better than Barry Conant. He has
worked it to the queens taste many a
time. Why, Barry would not eat to-
day for, fear the food would get stuck
in his windpipe. He's never left the
pole for a minute; but suppose, Ike,
Barry had tipped off Cam that all
the boys will let go their fiers, and
most Of them will take one on the
short side over tonight for a supersti-
tious drop at the opening; and sup
pose Cam has told him to take
them all into camp and give her a
rafter-scraper at the opening, where
would old Friday, 18th, land on to-
morrow's dope-sheets? Bring up the
average, wouldn't it, for five years to
some? | tell you, Ike, she's too deep
for me this run, and I'm goin' to let
her alone and pay for the turkey out
of loan commissions or stick to plain
work-day food"
ZANE here, Che. Say, Che, hat you
noticed Pop Prownlee to-tay? He has
frozen to deb fringe off dat Sugar
crowd ess tough some Won hat nipped
is scarf-pin unit he vos layin' for him
as he game out. He hasn't made a
trade to-tay unit yet he sticks like a
stamp-tax. | ben keeping my eyes on
him for I fought he hat someding up
his sleeve dat might raise tust ven he
tropt i'd. l dink Parry has hat deb
same itear. He never loses sight of
him, yet Pop hasn't made a trade to-
tay, unit here i'd ISIS 20 minutes of der
CLOSE unit dere is Parry in deb center
again whooping her up ofer two hun
dred unit four"
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
TRICK THE FOOLISH
SCHEMES OF PREMIUM MAIL
ORDER HOUSES.
STUFF is OF LITTLE VALUE
Cheapest Kind Of Goods Handled by
These Concerns, and They Are
Sold at the Highest Mar
ket Prices.

There are dozens of premium-giving
mail order houses operating in differ
ent cities of the country. These
houses reach out for trade in all parts
of the country, and do not overlook
the largest cities. They gain for their
aides and their agents men, women
and children, wives of lawyers, mer-
chants, church workers and any class
that they can. Some of them make
a business catering to the Epworth
leagues, the Sunday schools, the
churches, and have plans by which
the people are humbugged and loaded
down with inferior goods, and the
league, the Sunday school or the
church gets a little cheap furniture,
some ~dinky-dinky thing almost worth
less for all the trouble gone to.
These premium concerns that put
ont baking powder, cheap c%offees, gro
cerias of every kind and description,
generally put out the cheapest kinds
of stuff. Recently samples of the
goods that have been received from
them have been sent to the chemists
of The pure food departments in a
number of cites, and universally the
goods were found to be of the rankest
kind. The coffee the cheapest Santos,
AMI doctored up with roasted cereals
and %chickory; the baking powders
we're an abomination of cheap acids
and other materials; the extracts
were wholly synthetic, produced from
coal-tar products, and so adulteration
was carried to the extreme. These
goods were sold at the highest prices
and were of such class that no re-
spectacle grocer in any city or ham,
let would have them in his stock
These are the classes that the good
women, perhaps well-meaning, but
not up to snuff, palm off upon their
neighbors when they become the sec
rotary of "the club" and the kind of
dope they ~innocently give to their
husbands and children, and when the
little ones become sickened by par
taking of the stuff, the dear little
m gladly pays some doctor four
times the amount the abominable
goods cost.
There will be something dropping
pretty quick among a certain class OF
these big companies" Their bust
ness is of the fraudulent kind and
there is a likelihood that at no distant
period the government officers will Sc
cure such evidence as will put many
of the concerns out of business.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
MISSOURI DRAINAGE DITCH
TO RECLAIM MANY ACRES

the engineers the 73 crooked miles
that the Marie des Cygnes took in go
ing from one line of Bates county to
the other could be shortened by max
ing a straight channel 23h miles in
length. Losing 49h miles Of the
crooks in this river was almost too
good to be hoped for. Now the reali-
cation is only a few months in the
future.
The steps in securing relief show
what persistence may do. Under the
old drainage law, a district for defray-
ing the expenses of a ditch could only
be secured by of an election.
The man with a small farm had as
large a vote as a man with thousands
of acres. Trivial objections often were
magniied. Luckily, Southeast Mis-
~souri-Scott, Dunkin, Ste. Genevieve,
Cape Girardeau, Madison, Stoddard
and a few others-Were also asking
relief, so after a convention at Cape
Girardeau, in which Bates county par
ticipated, the present law was passed.
1t permits the formation of drainage
district much in the same manner that
sidewalks are secured in the cities.
A majority of the property wners to
be affected sign a petition and the
county court takes action. A majority
of the acreage can force the building
of a drainage ditch. The cost is as
sessed in proportion to the benefits
derived.
]. F. Kern of Butler and John D.
Moore of Rich Hill took the initiative
and secured the necessary number OF
signatures. Mr.. Kern as the largest
land owner-he held 1000 acres-per-
suaded the owners of the land to join
in the movement. 1t did not take long
for they worked intelligently and
though court proceedings were brought
testing the legality of the petition and
other incidental features, defeat in the
circuit court insured the standing of
the bonds that were ordered.
Their total amount was $780, 900, but
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05

an echo, 1t sounded through the hall:
Sold" It was Bob. He had worked
his way to the center of the crowd
and stood in front of Barry Conant.
He vas not the Bob who had taken
Barry Conant's gait that afternoon a
few weeks before. l never saw him
cooler, calmer, more self-possessed.
He was the incarnation of confident
power. A cold, cynical smile played
around the corners of his mouth as
he looked down upon his opponent.
The effect upon Barry CoRant was
different from that of Bob's last bid
on the day when Beulah Sands hopes
went skyward in dust. lit did not
rouse in him the wild, furious desire
for the onslaught that he showed
then, but seemed to quicken his alert,
prolific mind to exercise all it's cum
ming. | think that in that one mo-
ment Barry Conant recalled his suspi-
cions Of the day before, when he had
wondered what Bob's presence in the
crowd meant, and that he saw again
the picture of Bob on the day when
he himself had ditched Bob's treasure
train. He hesitated for just the frac-
ton of a second, while he waved with
li~ghtling-like rapidity a set of finger
signals to his ~lieutenants. Then he
squared himself for the encounter.
"25 for 5000" Cold, cold as the voice
Of a condemning judge rang Bob's
Sold" "25 for 5000" sold" "25
for 5000" Sold" Their eyes were
fixed upon each other, in Barry's a de.
faint glare, in Bob's mingled pity and
contempt. The rest of the brokers
hushed their own bids and offers un.
til it could have truthfully been said
that the floor of the stock exchange
was quiet, an almost unheard-of thing
in like circumstances. Again Barry
Commits voice, "25 for 5000" Sold
"25 for $1,000" sold" Barry Conant
had met his master
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
Nuisance in Pittsbure.

Pittsburg is troubled with the iron
ore dust nuisance as well as with
smoke, and the former is proving the
harder to eradicate. Members of GER
tain residential districts brought &C
ton against one company owning
furnaces valued at $4,000 900 in 1904.
Since that time the company has
spent $500, 900 in the effort to prevent
the emission of the dust and has been
unsuccessful. The Pennsylvania SUI
preme court has decided that the own
ers of the mills must to operate
il they cannot abate the nuisance.
Capital amounting to nearly $lG0,O00,-
900 is affected by the decree.-Spting.
field Republican.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
BIG BATES COUNTY ENTERPRISE,
COSTING $4,000, WILL GIVE
IMMENSE VALUE TO LAND
THAT Is NOW ALMOST
WORTHLESS.

Rich Hill, Mo.-They're digging it
deep, wide and long in Bates county.
They are inviting comparison with the
Panama canal and are not ashamed of
the home product. They do this with
out using the high sounding title of in
land waterway, navigable channel or
river route. They are content to have
their pet scheme known as the drain
age ditch-with the accent on the
but they do insist that they have the
biggest drainage ditch in Missouri,
length, depth, width and cost consid-
cred.
The pride of Bates county in this
immense engineering undertaking
seems to be justified. The ditch when
completed will be 23R miles long,
more than half as long as the Panama
canal which is As miles long. The nav
igable depth of the Panama affair is
35 feet. The deepest cut in the Bates
county ditch is 26 feet. At its widest
point, the Bates county channel is 80
feet at the bottom and 1875 feet at the
top. For miles, the width of the bot
tom is so feet with the slope, in en-
gineer's ~parlance, one-to-one, meaning
that for every foot in depth, the side
must widen a foot. This makes the
e%mbankment have an angle Of As de-
grees. The cost is 100000, raised by
selling six per cent. bonds at a pre-
MUM of $4,000 October 20, 1906.
A wonderful feat to be paid for vol
unfairly by farmers. More wonderful,
indeed, is the accomplishment when it
is remembered that the deficiencies of
the old drainage law discouraged such
progress. Yet a few wide awake men
saw the opportunity, helped to amend
the old statute and then set to work
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
soheme for Health Restorlna.

In the large German towns, and also
those of German Switzerland, visitors
will be struck with the frequent re-
currence of the words "Licht-Luftbad
Anstalt," advertised on buildings. IN
yestigation will show that the build
ing on which this sign is placed IS
surrounded BY a high fence, inside OF
which numbers of mon and women
will be found dlsporting themselves in
the open air. These people are clothed
sufficiently, but the clothing they
wear is light to a degree, and it ed,
mits all of the air and sun possible.
These air baths are a new scheme to
restore health by returning to nature,
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05

one arranged in advance between w
brokers to establish the basis for the
trades that are to follcw-one Of
those minor frauds of safeguarding
by which the public is deceived and
the traders and plungers are handicap
ped with loaded dice. In principle, 1t
is a device older than stock exchanges
themselves, and is put to use else
where than On the floor. For instance,
four genuine buyers want a particular
animal worth 5000 at a horse auction.
It's owners pal starts the bidding at
$500, and the four. not being up In
horse values, are thereby induced to
reach for it at between $500 and $500.
But human nature, whether at horse
sales or at Safeguarding, loves to be
'hinkey-dinked" as much as the moth
to play tag with the candle flame. In
five minutes Sugar was selling at
221, and the frantic shorts were grab
bling for it as though there never wa
to be another share put on sale, while
Barry Conant and his l~ieutenants
were uIObL luuuStIluuo1y puphAAo
just beyond their reaching 1nger-tips.
either by buying it as fast as it was
offered by genuine sellers, or by TAX
Ing what their own pals threw in the
air.
l was not surprised to see Bob's
tall form wedged in the crowd about
two-thirds of the way from the cen
ter. Every other active floor member
was there, too. Even Ike Bloomen.
stein and Joe Barnes, who seldom
went into the big crowds, were on
hand, perhaps to catch a flier for their
Thanksgiving turkey money, perhaps
to get as near the killing a possible,
Bob was not trading, although on the
day before, he never took his eye OF
Barry Conant. / said to myself: HE
Is trying to fathom Barry Commits
movements" but for what purpose
puzzled me. The hands of the big
clock on the wall showed that trading
had been 80 minutes under way, and
still Barry Conant was pushing up the
price. His voice had just rung out
"25 for any part of 5000" when, like
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05

to the Sugar-pole, yet doing nothing,
the day before. But it is one of
the best established traditions of
stock-gambledom that when an OPP
orator has been bitten by a rabid
stock he is invariably attracted to it
every time afterward that it shows
signs of frothing. More than all,
had one of those strong nowhere-born-
nowhere-cradled intuitions common to
those living in the Safeguarding
world, which made me feel the creepy
shadow Of coming events.
AS on that day a few weeks before,
the crowd was at the Sugar pole, but
it's alignment was different. There in
the center were Barry Conant and his
trusted ~lieutenants, but no opposing
rival. None Of those hundreds of
brokers showed that desperate resolve
to 40 or die that is born of a neces-
sity. They were there to by or sell,
but not to put up a life or death, on
me-depends-the-result fight. Those
WHO W6I0 lUu6 VI SlUCh COulu easily
be distinguished by their expressions
Of Joy from the shorts, who had seen
the handwriting on the wall and were
filled with uncertainty, fear, terror.
The demeanor of Barry Conant and
his ~lieutenants expressed confidence;
they were going to do what they were
there to do. They showed by their tight
buttoned coats, and squared shoulders
that they expected lots of rush, push
and haul work, but apparently they
anticipated no last-ditch fighting. The
gong pealed and the crowd of brokers
sprang at one another. but only for
blood. not flesh, bone, heart and soul;
just blood. The first price on Sugar
was I'll for 5000 shares. Some one
sold it in a block. Barry Conant
bought it. 1t did rot require three
eyes to see that the seller was one
Of his li%eutenants. This meant what
is known as a wash sale, a fictitious
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
Broke Statue Ii snite.

Mr. Kitamura Naojira, sculptor Of
che marble statue Of a female, priced
Mt $4,000 yen, which is exhibited in
the Fine Arts building of the Toxic
exposition, proceeded To the exposi-
lion on June II, at I i. M, and de-
iiberately knocked down the statue
shd destroyed the head and arms
With an iron hammer, which he had
originally used in carving the figure.
The reason for this violent proceed,
Inn was that he considered that the
prse commissioners Of the Toxic ex-
position had shown bias in their
Awards, and were prone to confine
hieI, testimonials to artists Of their
owl cliqle.--Japan Advertiser.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
Calls for Eneruetic Action.

There is but n way for the coun-
try merchant to combat mail order
evil and that is to organize and syste-
matically fight and the battle must be
carried on energetically If it is to win.
This has been done in some sections
of the country and can be done in 9th
ers. Where a f&w years since the
larger portion of the people have
spent the major portion of their earn
ings with the mail order houses, to-
day they do their purchasing at home,
but this has only been accomplished
by hard work by a thoroughly organ
lied body.-New Iberia Enterprise.
Leader.
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05

him to a fairly good place. Bang,
bang, bang, went his gun every few
seconds, but not a bird fell before II,
He was much embarrassed. 1t seemed,
too, that at each of his misses the
under keepers smiled at n another
oddly. Finally his cartridges gave out,
He hurried to the nearest keeper and
demanded more. There amt no more,
sir, the man answered. No moreF
Nonsense. Why, you've got at leas'
1000 in that box The keeper flushed
and stammered: All, but them aim
for you, sir. They re for another gent
They We got shot in EN-. sir.'Y-
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
TAKING NO MORE Chances.
Keepers Had Special Cartridges For
Poor Marksman.

DR.. Seward Webb at d dinner at
Shelburne Farms, his great Vermont
estate, said OF a certain poor marks
man: Visiting his English brother.
inlaw, he shot the head keeper in the
leg the first morning he tried pheasant
shooting. The man limped away ours
ing horribly. Next day he had wretch.
ed luck, though the wounded head
keeper without malice had assigned
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05
CHAPTER v.

Thursday, November IL, was a
memorable day in Wall street. AS the
gong peeled it's the-game's-closed-till-
another-day, the myriad of tortured
souls that are supposed to haunt the
treacherous boys and quicksands of
the great exchange, where lie their
earthly hopes, must have prayed with
renewed earnestness for its d~estruc,
ton before the morrow. Never had
the stock exchange folded it's tents
with surer confidence of continuing
its victorious march. Sugar advanced
with record-breaking total sales to
207k and the final half.hour carried
the whole list of stocks up with II. In
that time some of the railroads Jump
ed ten points. Sugar closed at the
very top amid great excitement, with
Barry Conant taking all offered. Dur
ing the last 80 minutes it had become
evident to all that the board-room
traders and plungers, together with
many Of the semi-professional gam.
blers, who operated through commits.
sion houses, were selling out their
stock and going short over the pen
ing of the Wall street hoodoo-day, Fri.
day, the 18th of the month. But it
was also evident, with the heavy
selling at the close and stiffness
of the price, which had never
wavered as block after block was
thrown ON the market, that some pow
erful interest as well had taken cog
nizance of the fact that the morrow
was hoodoo-day. At the close, most
of the sellers, had they been granted
another five minutes, would have re-
purchased, even at a loss, what they
had sold, for it looked as though they
had sold themselves into a trap.
Their anxiety was intensified by the
publication, a few minutes later, of
this item:
Barry Conant in coming from the
Sugar crowd after the close remarked
to a fellow broker: by three o'clock to-
morrow, the 18Th, will have a new mean
ing to Wall street. This was interpreted
as pointing to a terrific jump in, Sugar
tomorrow"
'"The street" knew that the news
bureau that sent out this item was
friendly to Barry Conant and the "sys-
tenn" and that it would print nothing
~displeasing to them. Therefore, this
must be a foreword of the coming
harvest of the bulls and the slaughter
of the bears.
Others than Ike Bloomenstein re.
marked upon the fact that Bob Brown
ley had hung close to the Sugar-pole
all day, but when the close had come
and gone without his having anything
to do with the Sugar ~skyrockets, he
dropped out of his fellow-brokers'
minds. Wall street has no use for
any but the "doer." The poet and
the mooner would be no more secure
from interruption in the center Of
the Sahara than in Wall street be-
tween ten and three O'clock. Some
sage has said that the human mind,
like the well-bucket, can carry only
Its fill. The Wall street mind always
has its fill Of budding dollars. In con.
sequence, there is never for
those other interests that enter the
normal mind.
Friday, the 18th Of November, drift.
ed over Manhattan island in a drear
drizzle of marrow-chilling haze, which
just missed being rain-one of those
New York days that give a hesitating
s. EIn ~. ~" .4ENtN AH
Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-12-05

In Paris dogs are treated as we'll as
human beings are. They wear auto
mobile toys when they 60 motoring,
they have a hospital, and they even
have a good-sized cemetery, with mon
uments and headstones and inscr'p
lions and mortuary wrcaths.