Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-04-29
Battleship Girl
At Middeltown
City, Won by Her Smile,
Gives $1,000 Check for
America Fund


William Piatt, Elmer Piatt, Verna
Piatt, Earle Derby, kleta Derby,
Dorothy Mae MacManus, Eleanor
Patricia MacManus, Erma Kellogg,
Miss Emma Fielder, principal of the
Adams school, and two donors who
do not want their names published
right now, are the only 1owans or
M;ssourians to enroll in Marjorie Ster-
rott's battleship fund. Thanks to
Airline Patton who brought in another
dime this week, the local Marjorie
Sterrett's battleship fund totals $40.
You all want to remember that Airline
started the fund in Iowa, and is still
boosting it. The New York Tribune,
custodian of Marjorie Sterrett's bat
tleship fund, sends out the following
in recent dispatch:
Middletown, N. Y.-Marjorie Sterrett
ruled in Middletown last night. The
mayor, the chief Of police. a state sem
ator and the oldest veteran of the
Grand Army post smilingly took sec
ond place in the festivities. They be-
gan when the first bright-eyed boy
scout spied Marjorie on the train and
gave the signal which started the
crowd about the station to such cheers
and waving of flags and jumping on
trucks and holding of babies up on
fathers shoulders to get a glimpse of
the heroine as no one but the circus
ever inspired here before. They end
ed at 10 o'clock at the armory, when
little Agnes Roop, the battleship girl
of Middletown, presented Marjorie
with check for 81 900 to help the bat
tleship America.
put Marjorie up on chair SO we
can all see her!" cried some one.
Mayor Thompson and Senator J. D.
Stivers, editor of The Times-Press,
helped the little girl up. When Mid
dletown saw her, flushed and smiling
with her familiar curls and MILDLY
blouse, just as they have been seeing
her picture in the papers, they let
loose a cheer that would carry the
America to victory tomorrow If noise
and enthusiasm were the stun battle
ships are made Of.
Fourteen little girls in MILDLY
blouses and red ribbons were maids of
honor for the battleship girl. They
rode with her in decorated automO-
biles to the hotel. sat with her at the
banquet at the Mitchell Inn which was
attended by all the important person
nages of the neighborhood, and stuck
to her even through the crowd which
blocked their entrance to the armOry.
Many hundreds of people were turn
ed away from the battleship mass
meeting, but they made up for it by
waiting att the doors until the meet
ing was over in the hope of catching
a glimpse of the little girl whose first
letter to The Tribune started the
movement which has swept Middle
town off it's feet.
No other city of its size in the coun
try has anything like the number of
dimes Middletown has collected, and
only one-Boston-has equalled 1t lin
actual dollars. 1t, was March l when
Agnes Roop walked into The Times
Press offices and handed dime to
the managing editor, w. ]. lyon, say
ing she thought it would be nice If
Middletown children would help Mar
jorie build a battleship. One month
from that day Agnes had the pleasure
of telling Marjorie herself that there
was $1,145.95 for her fund in Middle
town. ..@"
The check made at the celebration
was for only $1,000 and the rest Will
be used as a start on the second thou
sand The girls on the reception
committee are all school children. who
have worked hard to help collect the
ten thousand dimes. They are Agnes
C. Roop, Gertrude Cooney, Eleanor
McCoach, Pearl Wallace, Marion Hal
colt, Hazel Malloy. Marie Gordon,
Anna Cahill, Madeleine Passineau,
Marion German, Mary Stivers. Flor
ence Marie Powers: Marion Ballman
and Barbara Radzinsky.
Speakers at the mass meeting were ,
Senator John D. Stivers, Mayor G. N.
Thompson. the Rev. R, O. Kirkwood
and Prof James F. Tuthill. Members
of Company 1, list infantry, n G. N.
Y. acted as ushers, and the Oath regi-
ment band furnished the music for the
singing cf America, Love YOU by
chorus of three hundred school child
rem.
Mary Kinney Likes School
and Goes Whenever She