The Bad River news. [volume] (Philip, Stanley County, S.D.) 19??-1912, 1911-06-22
HOWE REPLIES TO REPUBLICAN
Answer to Butchershop Squab-
BILE in Cottonwood

| have been somewhat amused K
see how hard the editor of the
Cottonwood Republican has trieo
to misrepresent me in several is,
sues of his paper. l have PAID
very little attention to it and die
not intend to answer, thinking II
not worth while, but finally decid.
ed to wait until he was through
and then write one answer, and
that would be all as far as l am
concerned. If the editor should see
fit to start in again with his rant
ing, shall pay no attention to it;
provided, however, the matter is
! not carried SO far as to require the
proper answer. The reason why ]
decided to answer at all was, that
a friend said that if l did not an
swer, it would look as though l
Was afraid of discussing the mat
ter. Well, l cannot recall of ever
being afraid of discussing any
thing pertaining to my personal
conduct; but the editor of the Re-
publican says it is not a personal
matter, it is butchershop squab-
BILE. as he calls it and that am all
to blame. What are the facts9 The
people can Judge for themselves.
When the butcher-shop closed
here l posted notice calling meet
ing of the Improvement Associa-
tion. Every member was invited
to attend the meeting but the
whole Republican force was con.
spicuous by their absence. As
President of the Association 1
brought up the matter in regard
to the butcher-shop being closed
and that we needed one, and same
was discussed at some length.
Finally, one member spoke up and
said that he knew of q man that
would start a shop here just as
soon as he could make arrange
ments: and with that the matter
was dropped. A few days later the
manager of the Republican came to
our store and said that he had
heard that l was going to start a
butcher-shop. l just laughed and
told him that they were liable to
tell him almost anything, that 1
was not in that business and had
no such intention. He told me that
the merchants ought to quit hand
ling cured meat and lard, and if
they would, he had heard that
Chas. Fritz was ready to open a
shop. He further stated that he
had been informed that the other
merchants we're willing to do so
and that l was the only one that
had refused. l told him my per-
sonal view in the matter, viz: That
we had always kept cured meat
and lard in our store and that our
customers expected US to keep it.
l also told him that the board of
directors were responsible for the
policy of the Cottonwood Mercan-
tile Co., and that l did not have
ell to say in the matter. Well, he
informed me that he was going to
jump into it with his paper. l
told him to Jump in, The water
is fine," and l suppose that is what
he refers to when he says l dared
him to 60 for me. / can say that l
am not very much afraid of him
or anybody else to 60 for nae, be-
cause l have no shady deals nor
crookedness to explain. Ny deal
ings both here and where l came
from have been on the square, and
neither the editor of the Republi-
can nor anybody else will dare
to say anything to the contrary if
they have any respect for the
truth.
Now, this action of the Repub-
lican editor looks to me like per-
sonal spite. No committees eyer
called on us nor has Chas. Fritz,
tho hsakS.hne nunv nA:l X>s.~ .-x>,,I *