The weekly tribune and the Cape County herald. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1914-1918, 1918-06-28
DAVENPORT WANTS
TO SWAT RUPPEL
Says Pro.Germans Look Just
Like The Germans in Ger.
many to Him.

c. o. Davenport, VINO was accused
by George Ruppel of being response
BILE for the Ruppel hazing, replied to
the Ruppel charges in this weeks is
sue of the Jackson Cash-Book. Dav-
export, who is soon to join the army,
issues challenge to Ruppei to fight
the argument out before he leaves for
a military camp. Davenport relates
the statements made by Ruppel in an
interesting letter, which follows:
1t was not my intention to publish
anything concerning my controversy
with George Ruppel relative to his
contributing 20 the Red Cross, but as
he has expressed himself first
through the papers think it my duty
to straighten up few statements
that he has got little mixed.
TO begin with, / refused to go to
Ruppel to collect for the Red Cross
because he lived in another part of
the district from where | had been
soliciting. But since the two young
women went to him and he refused to
give them anything l thought per-
haps Mr.. Ruppel would not give to
them even if he wanted to give ever
SO literally, because | had heard of
some i'll feeling between the two par
ties before. So after we talked over
the matter, | consented to GO to Mr..
Ruppel for a contribution.
1t was on Friday morning of Red
Cross Week when l went to him. He
was in his barn Harvesting up his
horses to go to work. We spoke and
talked about corn planting, his pigs,
and other things. Then | brought up
the subject of Red Cross. l could
tell Immediately that he did not in
tend to give anything, because his
plea was that he had given through
his church. So | tried to reason with
him and tell him that each school dis
trict was supposed to raise its quota,
or go over the top if it could, and that
what he paid through his church
would not be counted on our quota I'M
less we could get it back so it could
be paid through our district l told
him what our quota was, and that we
did not have it quite all made up yet,
and that he was not the only fellow
we had gone to the second time for a
contribution and not single one of
them failed to give something each
time. He still refused to pay any
thing, and said that che would not
give any more and that l might as
well go on" Then l asked him if he
wouldn't feel ashamed Of himself not
to help our district reach its quota or
60 over the top when all the. other
districts around US were going over
the top. l suppose he calls this abus-
ing MIN, my talking to him in this
manner, as was his statement in the
paper last week. And as far as de-
manding S. of him is concerned, it is
absolutely not true. But l did say
that I thought he was able to pay So
and that about the best thing he could
do would be to pay me Sc or sub
scribe that much. | found that
there was no reasoning with him, so
l asked him how much he contributed
through. his church to the Red Cross,
and he said he "didn't know that it
was any of my damned business"
told him I thought it was my bust
ness to find out how much had been
paid out of our district to The Red
Cross, because it might be possible to
get the amount counted on our quota.
also asked him if his church had
contributed as much as $25, and he
said, "Well, how much do you expect
me to give-everything ?-as though
$25 was an enormous amount for a
large church.
As our argument became more in
te~esting, Mrs. Ruppel came to the
barn where we were and said that she
had heard that | was coming down
there to raise a racket. | told her
that it was not my business to raise
rackets with people, but that l was
trying to raise money for the Red
Cross. So she told Mr.. Ruppel to
give him dollar and get rid of him.
He hated to give the dollar, and he
shook his head that he would not. He
said that l was "tfle dirtiest low
down rascal that had even been
around his place." | told him that he
was about the dirtiest low-down Ger
man sympathizer L had ever met up
with. He managed at last to give me
the dollar which his wife told MIN to
give, and as he did so he told me to