Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-01-06

about $4,000. Holden afterward pub
lished weekly paper in Nebraska,
but I've forgotten the place. Both he
and Musselman are now dead. We
gave Norris $4,000 for the plant. 1t
was considered big price-and it
was. We improved the plant consider
| ably by installing Taylor drum CYL
inder, which we had an awful time in
engineering up the two flights of stairs
in the old John Pumroy corner (now
| the Ennis building.) We also added
an 9Th medium Gordon job press, and
Of this l cannot refrain giving an cpl
sode. We bought it in Chicago and it
| was shipped via B. & M. r. r.
It got as far as Burlington and was
caught in the gorge of freight on the
east side Of the Mississippi river
when that stream froze up and
stopped the ferry (for there wasn't a
bridge on that magnificent river
at that time.) We had Job copy hooks
loaded down, and no press excepting
the big Taylor and Washington hand
press to do them on. One day went
down to Burlington to see if I could
get our Gordon out of limbo, walked
on the ice across the river and found
that the press, Grated, was under
mountain of, freight. employed two
men to unearth it, which was accom-
plished in just two days, paying them
$3.50 each per day. Then came the
puzzle of how to get 1t over to the
west side, as the weather was warm
ing fast and the ice was treacherous.
found a man who was the owner OF
heavy dray and four horses and dick
cred with him over two hours-not as
to price, but as to the venture.
Finally he said. "Well if you'll stand
on the hind end of the wagon and will
Jump and cut loose the horses If the
wagon goes through I'll undertake 1t.
I agreed to give him $1,000 to
make the trip. He furnished me
with big, bright, sharp butcher
knife and keen ak. We loaded
up the press and with no less than
fifty or more men watching and proph-
esying, started upon the ice that
crumpled and broke at the edge. My
driver was plucky and twirling his
long whip ami giving a piercing
whistle his fdur horses went off
prancing. Nothing occurred until we
were twothirds of the way over, when
suddenly the hind wheels broke
through and I shut my eyes. The
driver gave a whoop and we were in
stantly on firm ice again, nor broke
any more until we reached the shore,
when. team and wagon went through,
but in water that did not go over the
hounds. He and I, as soon as we had
unloaded the press, shook hands and
I wished him safe Journey back and
stood at the edge of the ice
until I saw him pull up the
east bank all safe. That was
about nine o'clock In the morning. At
four o'clock that afternoon ice was
piled up high as your present office
in almost the very track we had been
over the ice breaking up and float
ing.
At about that same hour the follow
ing afternoon I was tramping that
press, throwing off thousand
cards an hour on job OF
5000 cards for Doc. Warden-the big
gest job ever undertaken in Ottumwa
up to that time. And on that same
PRESS I printed my wedding cards:
William H. Caldwell, Miss c. Adella
Cobleigh, September 10, 1868.
No. 6 is George Murray, a jour
printer. whose people lived on Marion
street, we'll up toward the old John
Grant place on top of the hill, in
brick house on the west side Of the
street. George P. Norris. brother Of
Uncle Jimmie( married Roxey Murray,
a sister of George Murray. In going
home eyerv morning about O'Clock
George would stop at my fathers
house and wake me up to go down to
the office to pull off on the Washing
ton hand press the daily edition Of the
Courier which was then about 500;