Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-12-29

the street that Washburn's famil.
1 lived on. Strange that / cannot recall
the names of but very few streets :
anyhow that was the street that raj
up the hill upon which the Fishers
lived and fronted, and over In the hol
low, you remember, Chiffon and Fo1
llived--they were stone quarrymen
Fox became bridge superintendent o
railway. His family lived on the stree
just west of the present Office in which
l am employed. saw him most every
day up to the time he died recently
| Let me see! When I was in Ottum
wa last, 1t was the firm of Egan, Har
per G Co., think. Tim Egan, Bill and
Sam Harper. can't remember did
they buy out Daggett or Edgerlyi
Speaking of Daggett-he was nominal
ed for councilman. I tackled him at
once and got his pledge to support me
for city clerk, and then got busy with
, enough other members to insure my
election. 1t was not snap-judgment, but
q more surprised man you never saw
than was DR.. Thrall. the then clerk
had understood that he would not be
Ia candidate, and so told Daggett.
Hardly had Daggett promised than
Thrall asked him to support him. Dag.
gett came to me and in a gentlemanly
way asked me II I had so understood,
or was I taking advantage Of politics.
I:had him and Thrall 60 and meet
Dick Warden, who said: .'Mr. Daggett,
Billy has not lied to you; you know,
Doc, that you told me that you would
not again be candidate to which
Thrall demurred a little, saying, didn't
say that4iI wouldn't run after 1t?''
upon which Daggett turned to me and
said: I'll keep my promise to you,
and he did. / was elected and served,
I think, three years, and while thus
serving, was elected auditor Of Wapel-
10 county, serving two terms, and de-
clined third nomination. although
DR.. Olney of Chillicothe, insisted in the
convention that should take 1t. Say
just injected this personality here
to recall one Of the most tempestuous
meetings of the city council that can
remember. l am cropping in the dark
now as to the occasion; but as l read
the minutes, giving the vote OF each
separate member. one of them. don't
remember who, denied that he had
voted as I had him recorded, upon
which Bill Lttleton, who was mayor.
said: II know that the clerk has you
recorded correctly" Thereupon there
was talkfest more or less acrimo-
NOUS. which was no more than quieted,
when l read Durfee voting the same
way He yelled, You're liar, never
voted thatHway!" He had not polished
of the last word. because he couldn't
| grabbed the inkstand and hurled it at
bis head. luckily missing him, except
ing to fill his mouth with ink, and ink
was strewn around there promiscuous
like--a streak of it being left on Little
TONS front.fI thought Brad tDurfee)
was over soon, and things quoted
down. Littletcn had me re-read the
minutes, when it was found that both
my antagonists had misunderstood my
and the original minutes were
approved. My successor as city clerk
was John B. Ennis, brother of Bill
Ennis, who ran drug store in the
building built by John Punlroy, in the
third story OF which was located both
the Courier, run by uncle Jim Norris,
and the Democrat. run by J. H. d.
Street. a simple inch pine board par
tition separating them. That was OH
the corner Of Main and Market streets.
l believe. worked for Street one
week. helping get UP the tax list. The
office was short ON cuads so we had
(who. by TIE. way, is living in Topeka
and has been fer many years--a very
much crinpled mar. having fallen from
a scaffolding. breaking one leg and
otherwise rsins. him up. This reglet
was made from white pine. Oh. ho,
can now plainly see Street sittin: at
. table and with iack-knf'e cutting
the e+rinr into two ard three EN-
Grads. When it came to moking NJ
the forms I'VE had not yet learned-in
fact didn't know anything about coal
oil and gasoline. the only
method Of cleaning was with
strong wood I've. and we had
taken proofs on galleys on the old hand
press and washed the type with I've and
rinsed with water). I say when we
came to make up the forms. denied if
that tax-list wasn't as much curiosity
as an outspread octopus-it was wonl-
per-jawed, knock-kneed. tw 6 ted,
gnarled. had assumed the cussedest,
contcrtion that those swollen quads
could get into. I think that's the only
time ever heard old Nick Musselman
(my afterwards partner in ownership
of the Courier) swear. Why, we,
do thing with it, and that
was the last day Of grace-it had to
come out in the morning. AS last re-
sort, Nick melted the glue in the glue
pot, and poured 1t all over the two
pages of that tax-list. and thus we
to get it on the press by slid
ing the forms onto the paper boards,
thence on the press. Say, If you want
to see the finest specimen Of speckled.
black, splotched conglomera-
ton Of plain and fancy printing (for
that's what our sign ready you ought
to dig up the files containing that tax
list! The treasurer had to read from
his books at the sale. The printed"
list was posted in due form but, oh,
my, what was that due form! You
couldn't tell it from a photograph of \
piece of livid sky when cyclone was
at work. ]