davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19

Iowa is in the north central part of
the Mississippi valley.
Iowa is bounded on the north nv
Minnesota, on the east by Wisconsin
and Illinois, on the south by Missouri,
and on the west by Nebraska and
South Dakota.
Iowa forms part of the great CEN
trail plain Of the Mississippi valley.
The surface is more or less broken.
Iowa has warm summers and cold
winters. Iowa gets sufficient rain for
the growing Of all crops.
The rivers of Iowa belong to two
distinct drainage systems - the Mis-.
sissippi and the Missouri. Two-thirds
of the state is drained by the former
and one-third by the latter. The Des
Moines is the largest and longest
river in the state.
Because of good soil and climatic
conditions, the most important re-
source to the state Is farming.
The leading phases of agriculture
are live stock raising. cultivation of
hay and grain. dairying, and fruit
raising.
Although prairie state, Iowa has
sufficient timber. About seven thou.
sand acres are covered with forests
Of oak, hickory, walnut and pine
Because Of rich mineral deposits
and excellent transportation facilities
the state has various manufacturing
industries.
The first railroad built in the state
was commenced In 1910. Now the
state has 1907 miles of railroad
Des Moines. the capital, Is very
important railway center. II Is in a
rich agricultural country. 1t is the
leading educational center of the state.
Gladys Miller, aged IL.
1910 Sherman ST., Ottumwa, Iowa.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
Alice in Fairyland = By
Helen Peebler
Dear Junior:

Dear junior.
One day Alice lay on the floor be-
fore the fireplace reading story
book. Suddenly she saw something
! moving near her book. She looked
more closely and discovered that it
was a little gray mouse.
But what a strange mouse! He did
not seem at all to be afraid but sat
upon his launches and began to
squeak Squeak" did I say? I should
have said speak, for Alice understood
every word he said.
Dear Alice" he began. 81 have
come to talk to you. If you will
destroy all the traps and the cat you
can go to fairyland. 81 myself will not
get into the traps. ] am not afraid
of the cat, but my children might get
into the traps or the cat might eat
them up"
So Alice went out to the pantry and
tripped all the traps and killed the
cat. Then she went to the little
mouse hole. There was little bottle
Of LIQUID. On 1t it said, Drink me-
and she drank the liquid. She felt her
body growing smaller at time.
After while she was small enough
to enter the hole. When she got in.
side the mice greeted her kindly.
They even had feast because she was
there. They had two children one
very small and the other larger.
After a while the little girl walked
out and ate a cake which had the
words "Eat me" on it. She ate it and
she swelled up till she was large as
she ever was.
Slowly Alice opened her eyes. Dear
me. what a dream it was she said.
Helen Peebler, aged 9.
r>rpv Crhon1
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
Aunt Lou S Babies

Little Esther's Aunt Lou has better
luck taking care Of flocks of baby
chickens than do some old mother
hens. She seems to know exactly wha,
to feed them, and how to tuck them
in bed at night SO they stop peeping
and go to sleep like good children
Aunt Lou has an incubator but she
never has had brooder to put the
little chickens In after they are
Matched. One spring her first forty
little chickens came stepping out OF
their shells rather early: or perhaps
1t only seemed early because summer
came so late that year
] AS soon as the baby chicks were
! dry, Aunt Lou put them in box be-
hind the kitchen stove and covered
them with pieces of wool blankets.
Little Esther loved to hear the little
chicks say, "Peep - peep - peep!'
and she loved to put her hand down
| in the box, because, when she did so,
the fluffy babies cuddled close around
her hand, and those that touched her
stopped saying peep, peep, peep!"
AS the baby chickens grew older,
Aunt Lou put them out Of doors in
the sunshine with glass window over
them; she laid a stick Under one end
of the window so the chicks would
have plenty Of air. But the days were
so cold and the wind blew so hard
that it was not safe to take the babies
out very often; so they grew and
thrived in the box behind the stove
until there were more wee chicks to
be kept warm.
Then Aunt Lou was obliged to put
the first family Of babies in the wood
shed, and, until she thought about it,
she didn't know how to keep them
warm even in the daytime. Finally
Aunt Lou said to little Esther:
II know what will do. I will put
an electric bulb in their box and see
how it will work.
Aunt Lou straightway put the bulb
in the box and then turned on the
light For second the chicks looked
surprised, and then queer little fel.
low with black head walked over to
see the new sun so suddenly shining
In his box. He found that it was
warm, and then what did the queer
baby do but back up to it without so
much as saying Peep, peep!"
After that all the little chicks took
turns backing up to the electric light
to get warm! Little Esther thought
she never saw funnier sight in her
life than those fluffy chicks cuddled
together with their backs against an
electric bulb!
Every night after that, until the
chickens were big enough to keep
themselves warm, they went to sleep
comforted by an electric light.
When the weather was warm enough
at last so Aunt Louis chickens could
go out to walk around the yard, Esther
believes that maybe they told the
neighbors chickens about that electric
light. Anyway. they stepped high and
held their heads in the air, as If they
could if they chose, tell an unusual
story.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
Lawrence Wise on His 1916
Summer Fishing
Dear Juni0rS:

Dear Juniors.
thought ! would write letter as
have never written before. ! viii tell
story about my fishing last summer.
one dnv 7 Went fishing down by the
brick yard | had n throw line with me
aud some bait. | haited my line and
thrnH il in the water. | tied one end on
a stick and stuck IT in the ground. !
had not waited very long before ! saw
nv line jerk waited until the fish
started To run sideways with the line
took hold of my line and started to
pull i: in. Tho fish was on the last hook
Of the line. It was carp weighing two
pounds and a half ! took him of the
hook and put il on string. | baitcd my.
lire again and threw it in the water.
Another fish got on my line and pulled
it in. 1t weighed one pound When ]
went home had ten carp and one bass
and two catfish.
Lawrence b. Wise, age II,
Eldon, Iowa, Box 1S6.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
Dorothy Nugent on Iowa

Dear Juniors:
thought I would write composition
about Iowa.
Iowa is smooth rolling prairie. Iowa
has no mountains nor swamps. Some
of the rivers of Iowa are the Des
Moines, Cedar, Skunk and the Sioux.
Iowa is moderately warm. Iowa has
warm summers and cold winters, and
sometimes we have few real cold
days and a few real hot days and other
times it is Just right.
The rainfall of Iowa is just right. It
is not too much. but is just enough.
Some of the natural resources of
Iowa are soft coal, lead, zinc, gypsum,
limestone clay holders and gravel.
Dorothy Nugent,
Ottumwa, Iowa.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
The Hawkeye State - By
Effie Miller
Dear Editor:


l saw that the contest was abou
Iowa and thought l would write.
Iowa, the best state in the union, il
often called the Hawkeye state
| Some ella - the word Iowa" tc
mean THE ..slutiful Land or 1.-The
, Drowsy Ones" but most of us love
to think it as meaning This Is the
Place.
Our motto is "Our liberties we prize
and our rights we will maintain"
| Iowa was discovered by the French
in 1878 and bought by the United
States in 1903. It has been part OF
Indiana, Missouri, Michigan. Wisconsin
It was admitted to the union as state
December %, 1916. The first viii I
settler was Julien Dubuque, who set
tied where the city of Dubuque now is
Other early settlers were Giard at Nc
! Gregor, Honori at Montrose, MINI a,
Keokuk, and Chouteau where OF
tumWa now stands.
! The first government of Iowa was
called the Northwest Ordinance. made
in 1887. Then came the organic act
which made Iowa a territory, and
Robert Lucas was made its first gov.
ernor The territorial capitol was at
Burlington. using the old Zion church
to hold it's sessions in. Later it was
changed TO Iowa city where it re,
NAMED until after Iowa was made a
state But in November, 1857 the
records, furniture and equipments OF
the offices of state were drawn across
the country on sleds and placed in a
building at Des Moines. until the
new capitol was built in 1873 Iowa S
first governor was Ansel Briggs. The
state has had twenty-five governors,
the last one being w. L. Harding.
Iowa ranks first in the production
of hogs and horses and among the
first in the production of oats. hay,
corn, barley. cattle and dairy products.
1T also has many minerals. such as
gypsum. limestone. coal, and stone.
Among the important manufactured
products are lumber, machinery, car
riages. wagons, brick and tile.
Meat packing is also a great in
dustry, being carried on in Sioux City.
Dubuque. Ottumwa Cedar Rapids and
MarshalltOwn.
Iowa's soil is of a deep, dark drift
and loan. Just very small portion
of the land being unprOductive, there
being no mountains, marshes or sandy
wastes, making it nearly all adapted
to agriculture. Iowa has cool tenn
perate climate, the thermometer some
times reaching 100 degrees in sum-
mer and thirty degrees below zero in
Writer. The rainfall is very abund-
ant This climate makes Iowa very
healthful state to live in.
Iowa has many rivers, the Des
Moines being the largest. Ii flows
through the state for distance of
three hundred miles. Other large
rivers are Iowa. Cedar. Wapsipinicon.
Little Sioux. Turkey. Skunk. Nodaway
and MeGuoketa. Many of these
streams furnish good water power for
milling and manufacturing purposes,
but none are navigable. There are
many lakes also in the state being
noted for summer resorts and for fish
ing purposes.
Effie Miller, aged II.
r. r. No. /. Ottumwa, Iowa.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19

system which is supported by the inter
est on large amount of money called
the public school fund, amounting to
more than $13.00O.000 and also by local
taxation in each school district. In addi-
ton to public schools the state has
established six normal schools In DIFF
ferent parts Of the state for the purpose
of training teachers. Five Of the normal
schools train white teachers and the
other one trains colored teachers. Mis-
souri, has the largest horse buyer In the
world. w. p Hall
The capital of Missouri is Jefferson
City.
Nina Camden. age l3,
Glenwood, Mo-, r. /, Box 2.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
CONTEST SUBJECTS.

we all want the juniors to SEND ID
school compositions and other stories
besides the ones on the subjects we
snerest Sometimes children can
write better compositions when choos-
ing their own subjects. We especially
want letters and ancestor stories,
TO encourage originality and variety
In the juniors work the following list
ls given:
School compositions.
Ancestor stories.
Interesting letters. it,
Book reviews. -.
Unusual stories.
Current events.
Soldier stories related by veterans
and retold by Juniors.
Select prizes from among the follow
ing. Rluebird min. friendship link
book. box Of letter paper doll box OF
school supplies. box Of candy or
knife.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
NV Ancestors - BY Nina
ROusch

Dear Junior:
will write about my ancestors
William Mckinley was my grand
mothers cousin He was the presi
dent of the United States.
Eta Rule was the first person 10
put flag on the Iowa state capitol
She was my mothers cousin.
Well as this is my first letter | will
close, hoping to see my letter in print
Nina Roush, aged 10.
Hooking, Iowa.
p. S.-Wil write again soon
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19

babies and eggs and will fight for
them. They build in stumps or in old
woodpeckers' holes, if they can get
them. Their eggs are white, speckled
with reddish brown. The chickadee
lays eight or nine eggs and has
two hatchings. That is the way the
flee are formed.
r. = do not have any song but the
chickadee's call is phoebe or a
"chickadeedee" and the nuthatch, a
nasal "yank yank," followed by
'yaya." The tufted titmouse gives
low clear whistle s1'a =. =
Virginia Moore,
EIldon iowa
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19

the latest picture taken, shows him
to have grown considerably in height
since the last authentic photo at the
beginning of the war. This is the
boy who has some mysterious disease
or impeachment about which the royal
family has been very reticent. 1t is
known that his health is delicate.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
ALL ABOUT PRIZES.

We do wish the Juniors would &C.
knowledoe their prizes.
II any Junior has ever failed to re.
ceive prize after his or her name ap-
neared in this paper. It Is because the
wrong address has been given us.
when we say wrong address we es.
pecially refer to incomplete addresses.
All city Juniors should nut their
street number and all Juniors living
in the country should put their eox
number or failing to have box send
IN their parents names.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
arveN RULES FOR THE JUNIORS

1. Use one side of the paper only.
3. Write neatly and legibly, using
lnk or sharp lead pencil.
s. Always sign your name in full
and state your age.
/. Do not copy stories or poetry
and send us as your own work.
s.. Number your pages.
&. Always state choice of a prize on
: separate piece Of paper, with name
and address in full.
q Address envelope to The Courier
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
ANOTHER CONTEST.

we also want the Juniors who
mink the other subjects are too hard
10 write on one of the following sub
jerts.
The story Of Nickel.
NV Beet Friend.
A Pet Dou.
cern s~d APPLES.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
ESFH ~ HGpTcS'
e, 8; Rc+s.sks end Cotton.

select nrizes from among the fol-
lowing: Rox Of candy football, roller
skates. doll, knife or book.
Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-19
Gladys Miller on Iowa

Eldon, Iowa.
The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1917-09-21
BONE Or" Law.
!. TO GET TRYQU1

Williston, N. D., Sept. BOWL
liston has finally produced a real
case for the new "bone dry" sta
tute to practice on and regardless
of the fact that Justice Robinson
says there's nothing to it, Richard
Mccoy, arrested Monday will have
to answer to a charge of having IL
quor in his possession in the state
of North~Dakota.
McCay's room at a local hotel
was entered by the officers Sunday
evening and a suit case containing
several bottles Of whiskey were
found by Chief Nolan. The booze
was grabbed and Mccoy was ar
rested the next day and arraigned
in Justice H. " Smiths court. He
waived examination and was bound
over to the next term Of district
court, furnishing $500 bond.
Mccoy is not charged with sell.
ing liquor but simply with having
it in this state. This makes the
case purely one under the new bone
dry act and is the first to be insti-
tuted here. Several fellows have
been arrested here after return trips
from Montana but all these have
been turned over to- the federal
court. Williams county and VIII
liston city officials found that the
federal wheels grind slowly and
decided that If Williston is to be
kept "bone dry" the new law will
have to do it. There are now
several cases Of the same sort over
the state but owing to the fact that
the courts are all in vacation no
decisions come down. It is prob
able that the first case decided
will be taken up to get high court
decision on the worth Of the new
measure.
The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1917-09-21
Sunday Hunting
Allowed In State

The hunting season opened last
Sunday morning and every person
who was able to get ahold Of q gun
went out to try his luck on the
feathered tribe. The chickens
were found to be rather scarce and
very few were able to get the linn,
it on these birds, but there was
plenty of ducks for everyone, and
no one had anv trouble in getting
the limit allowed by law. Fhe Sun
day hunting law was not decided by
the supreme court until late Friday
afternoon, and it handed %down q
decision to the effect that any per-
son in the state had perfect right
to shoot his head off on Sunday II
he did so as private sport, but
news Of this decision had not reach
ed Bowbells until Sunday morning
after most of the people had gone
out hunting. Most of the people
here were willing to take sport
ing chance on William LANCER be-
ing wrong in defining the law on
Sunday sports, as he has been in
many other cases, and went out.
The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1917-09-21
Swallows Poison in 3.
Presence Of Captors

Scobey, Mont, Sept. 20.-Two
arrests in one day proved too much
for the equilibrium of Guy Norris.
well known local character, who, en-
route to Glasgow, in company with
deputy sheriff, 1Avited his captor
into a saloon to have a drink and
there drained the contents of a
vial of carbolic acid. which he had
extracted from his pocket, and died
in 80 minutes. Norris was first
taken in custody on a charge Of
selling mortgaged property and was
taken to Opheim. and released on
5000 bail. Another warrant was
Immediately issued, charging grand
LARCENY, and he was being taken to
Glasgow for a hearing on. this
charge when he took change of
venue to the supreme tribunal.
The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1917-09-21
WHAT TO EXPECT
WHEN SHOPPING

There are more hardships result
ing from the world war, Horatio.
than this world dreams Of. For
evidence, hook your arm into
basket and 60 foraging for food
among the green grocers and food
purveyOrs.
This is what you will hear:
''The price Of honey has gone
up" says the man who deals in bee
products. '"The heavy guns in
Europe, you understand, causes
vibration in the air, which shake
the pollen from the feet of the bees
as they carry it from the flowers to
the hives"
"Yes,. eggs are h1gh," says the
poultry dealer. due to the short
age of door knobs as nest eggs.
They are using all the old door
knobs for shrapnel."
1--WE have to charge high prices
for mutton" says the butcher, "be-
cause sheep are being frightened
by so many soldiers. The sheep
run and hide and we can't find
them.
"Twenty-five cents a quart for
raspberries is pretty high, I'll ad-
mit," says the truck gardener.
But you see the British drive in
Flanders has caused so many clouds
and clouds cause rain anG rain
knocks the berries from the vines"
Ham is high priced" says the
restaurant keeper, because so
many pigs are committing suicide.
When a respectable American pig
sees one of these unti-German car
toons, he gets ashamed of himself
and browns in puddle of mud"
Butter is way up" explains the
produce merchant, because they
are using it to grease the harnesses
of the army mules"
1T will cost you ten cents to have
your tires blown up" says the gar
age proprietor 'The war balloons
are taking all of che surplus air
these days. so we can't give it away
any more"
Headache tablets" says the
druggist. "They'l cost you double
price this year. It's on account Of
the extra long session of congress
and the manufacturers are ship
ping all they can to Washington"
Eyes, know I am giving you a
smaller piece of ice," apologies the
ice man, "but it is because of the
submarines. They've made it un-
safe to bring icebergs from Green
land to the United States"
Egg shampoos are expensive"
says the barber. "because they are
training the hens to become carrier
pigeons for the war;"
The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1917-09-21
SECOND QUOTA OF SOLDIER BOYS LEAVE
FOR THEIR TRAINING CAMP AT DES MONIES

More winter rye ls being seeded
this fall in the vicinity Of Bowbells
than there has been for many
years, and it is believed that there
will be very little If any, good rye
seed shipped out from this city
this season.. Owing to the lack #
moisture during the past summer
the ground is very mellow and in
just the right condition for a seed
bed. The large amount of mois-
ture received during the past two
weeks will give the seed put in the
ground a good start and under. ia
vorable conditions next winter and
spring big crop should be har-
vested. Those who had some seed
to sell tell Us that the demand for
same was greater than they could
supply, and that many farmers who
would like to put in few acres of
this grain will not be able to do so
on account of not being able to OBJ
tain seed. 1t Is understood tnat
at Kenmare seed is being shipped
in from other localities.
The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1917-09-21
TELL THE TRUTH; It
MAY SAVE TROUBLE

It is understood that some of the
cases in Burke county where claims
for exemption on agricultural
grounds were filed with the district
board and were allowed and dis
charge granted will be fully inves-
tigated by the authorities, and that
if any statements made in the affi-
davits are found to be untrue the
person seeking exemption as we'll AS
the person who filed an affidavit in
support of the claim will be prose-
cuted under the federal law for
perjury. It is, understood that
there are at least two cases Of this
kind in Burke county where a
number of complaints were filed
with Judge Carter, and the matter
was reported to- -.the~dtstrict board.
It is not known how soon the in7
vestigations will be made, but they
will be made, and it is very likely
that arrests and prosecutions will
follow. Those filing affidavits in
support of their claims for exemp-
'tion should be very careful to stick
to the truth in order to save trou-
BILE later on.
The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1917-09-21

After the last issue of The Trib-
une was printed the Local Board
for Burke county found it necessary
to call another so men for physical
examination in addition to the rs
whose names were printed in our
issue of last week. Notices to
these men were mailed out last
Saturday, and ordered them to re-
.ort for examination yesterday.
All the men were examined during
the day. Following is the list:
Stanley. w. Coons, Bowbells.
Ole Bjertness, Bowbells.
George F. Wood, Confrey. MINI.
Earl D. Rohn, Powers Lake.
Carl Heglund, Coteau.
Friedrich Peterson, Jr.. Columbus
Sophus Schmelling, Kenmare.
Arthur R. Axels6n, Powers Lake.
Spiros Nozatis, Hlgnite. IT
Harold Swanson, rBowbells.
Hans M. Jessen, Powers Lake.
Frank R. Gronses, Auburndah.
Wis.
Z Sivert A. Kleppen, Stampede.
Henry Peterson, Bowbells.
BernissW. Hollister, Norma.
Curtis G. Willyard, Bowbells.
Denves La Flash, Portal.
Irfing j.. Donovan, Portal. &
Melvin o. Glorvick. Forman.
The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1917-09-21
NO AGREEMENT AS.
YET. IN COAL STRIKE

Minot, N. D., Sept. 20.--The
strike which has been on at the 1ig-
mite mines at Burlington for the
last two weeks, ana which was be-
lieved to have been adjusted last
Friday night, is still on, the opera
tors and miners railing to get to-
gether when it came to signing the
agreement tentatively agreed upon
at the conference.
The mines are idle today and the
operators are making an effort to
procure miners from the east to
resume operations. The men are
now insisting upon the dollar scale,
as it is designated, which is the
proposed increase Of twenty cents a
ton as a basis.
It is likely the miners will leave
this field and procure employment
in other places. Operators from
elsewhere have been. among the
men asking them to accept employ
ment in other fields and It is likely
many of them will go.