The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1920-07-28

Il
i ing hand. A fellow autoist would not
think of accepting anything but
/ thanks. He appreciates the situation,
4 for he has met with similar troubles.
j We have frequently had to call upon
1 farmers with horses and until last
/ SUNDAY we had never found ourselves
at the mercy of the mud hole profiteer,
| for on many occasions these farmers
have lent their assistance gratis, re-
/ fusing pay when rendered, and in all
other instances we have been charged
tho more than we thought was commen-
surate with the service and were glad
to pay the price But last Sunday
morning we met up with one of those
men who believed in charging "all the
traffic would bear"
1 The Minnesota river was out of its
banks at Morton and a stretch of
roadway about 300 feet in length was
under water about eighteen inches at
the lowest point. The water had been
higher the day before and many cars
! had to be pulled across but on Sum
day morning the water had gone down
to such degree that some were able
to cross under their own power. We
came to the edge of the water and
hesitated. A Ford made the attempt
and got by. A Maxwell followed and
| "died" in the attempt. An opportunist
/ living on the outskirts of town near
| the waters edge was called to the
rescue. Riding astride his horse, he
permitted the car owner to get out in
| to the water and fasten the chain.
| Then his steed pulled the car to the
i bridge, a distance of less than 200
| feet. The rider spent five minutes
or less at the task.
Noting that the water was only
about knee deep on the horse, we de-
| cided that we, could emulate the Ford,
but instead we followed the example
of the Maxwell and negotiated only the
first half. The man on horseback
came to the rescue, permitted us to
fasten the chain to the car and Mr..
Horse had us on dry ground in less
| than five minutes. The rider never
even dismounted but remained high
and dry. The price he put on his ser
/ vices was So, or one dollar per min
ute. The Maxwell owner, SO we later
| learned, had stood for the pinch. We
protested. We were Informed that we
should have been In church instead of
driving car on the Sabbath. : We
agreed that the chances of being held
| up in church would not have been
nearly so great. He informed us that
those who engaged him to pilot them
! the whole distance were charged only
| So. He piloted US only half the dis
tanee and wanted So There certainly
was some system to his madness. We
settled with the gentleman, if we may
! use that term, after we had given him
a piece of our mind Jon the subject of
profiteering. There were other VIC
| Tins waiting on the other side so he
had little time to argue the matter.
| The water was receding and the har-
vest was ready for the reaper, and at
| the rate people were paying the man
| for his Services he must have made
| little fortune at the expense of the un-
| fortunate travellers who did not know
that only few miles further up the
river at North Redwood was a passa-
BILE bridge which the wise ones were
using and thereby saving money and
time.
Thus the little town of Morton gave
US our first introduction to the class
of profiteers who prey on stranded
autoists, but we venture to assert that
the man at the foot of the hill in that
thriving little village on the banks of
the Minnesota would not cherish the
idea of being looked down upon by his
fellow villagers as profiteer who
takes advantage of the nnisfortunes of
unoffending strangers to nulct them
of their money at rate which is moth
ing short of unconscionable
This brings us to the point which
we wish to emphasize. Roads are
made to travel over The authorities
are charged with the duty of keep
ling them passable. At this time of the
year auto traffic is heavy. Tourists
from all over the country are coming
to Minnesota. Why should the auth
critics sit idly by and permit one man
to conopolize the business of helping
travellers over bad places at hold-up
prices Why could not the village of
Morton or the county of Renville em-
ploy person with a horse or team of
horses to assist people across the river
approaches when flooded, fixing the
price at reasonable figure? Such
person could make from $50 to 500
per day charging only fifty cents per
car. It would even be satisfactory to
the travelling public If the county or
village would pay man a fixed sum
and then make charge of ST. per car,
the proceeds above expenses to be used
in filling up the approach. In this
way these bad spots in the roads could
be liked. It is q mistake to permit