USA > Iowa > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Iowa, a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 26
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but to the people of the entire county and doubtless has been the means of sav- ing a number of lives as well as relieving much suffering.
Resuming the narrative of the year 1906, however, it is found that the next noteworthy public project was brought forward by the Federated Women's Clubs of the city, who directed attention to Oakland cemetery and asked that it be placed under public ownership. The question was fought out in the city coun- cil and developed much opposition among those who held that this was a sectarian cemetery and should not be paid for at the public expense. This idea prevailed but the work started by the ladies finally crystalized in the formation of the Denison Cemetery Association, which purchased the old cemetery together with additional ground and which has done very much towards beautifying the city of the dead. The principal officers of the association are W. J. Scriver, President, and O. M. Criswell, Secretary. Under the direction of this association a land- scape architect was employed who made plans for the future beautifying of the grounds, which plans are being carried out as means will permit. The women of the city have been largely instrumental in carrying on this work and have con- tributed generously both to it and to the hospital.
On July 5th the new court house was first occupied by the county officers and elsewhere in this volume we present a picture of the first trial held in the new court room.
On July 2Ist there occurred a meeting in Denison, laughable now, but in deadly earnest then. During the years following the advent of the first auto- mobile in 1904 a number of citizens had purchased these new and terrifying machines. The horses of the county were violently opposed to the innovation and were wont to dispute the right of way with every passing machine. The owners of horses objected also, farmers' wives were afraid to come to town and the evening pleasure drive of the townfolks was discontinued. In this dilemma a call was issued for a public meeting of remonstrance. A meeting was held at the city hall which was attended by a goodly number of farmers and citizens and the few who owned automobiles. The chairman stated the object of the meeting as follows: "It is thought best to organize and agree not to trade with anybody who owns an automobile, nor with anybody who drives one or who hires a man who uses one, and further not to vote for any man for judge or legislator who would not agree to use his influence to abolish the machines from the highway."
A number of speeches were made along this line and various experiences were related as to frightened teams and overturned buggies. Finally a commit- tee was appointed to embody the wishes of the meeting in a resolution. It was pointed out to the committee, however, that the proposed boycott was in viola- tion of the laws of the state and thereupon the following was introduced and adopted :
"We the undersigned request that the owners of autos keep them off the pub- lic highways as they are a detriment to both town and country and constantly endangering the lives of the public. It seems that the wish of the many should be respected by the few."
Commenting upon this meeting a Denison paper gravely suggests that the use of automobiles should be restricted to certain highways, concerning which the public should be notified and that a certain place should be designated where
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owners of machines should drive every day and where farmers and others might come with their horses to get them used to the machines. It was in this same year that autoists were fined for running over a goose in the public highway, with never a thought that the highway was not the proper place for geese of that variety.
These incidents are laughable now, but there was merit in the contention at that time, for the pleasure and the safety of the highway was in fact denied the people until the horses became accustomed to their new neighbors and competitors.
In September the Grand Army post of Denison celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary and this was also the first year of the county fair at Arion. In Oc- tober the Rural Free Delivery service of the county was reorganized and in March of 1907 Denison acquired its seventh rural route.
In December, 1906, the city of Denison arranged for a new fire alarm sys- tem. The city was divided into fire districts and a dial at the fire station was supposed to indicate the location of the fire. For some reason this system has never proven of value and it is not now in use.
1907.
The sensation of the new year 1907 was the murder of Fred Nawfl, a Syrian peddler. The capture, trial and conviction of the Hassan brothers for this crime was the center of intense interest for a long season. In events of public import- ance to Denison this year was the least fruitful of any of the past decade. The building of hotel and hospital was a great drain even upon such a public spirited community and the city rather rested on its oars and caught its breath after its strenuous efforts.
At the city election M. D. Wright, P. J. Eggers and E. F. Tucker were elected councilmen. About the only noteworthy improvement was the improvement to the Laub block on the corner of Main and Broadway. Great interest was taken in a semi-professional base ball team. Among the business changes was the sale by A. D. Randall to A. F. Boylan, of his interest in the jewelry stock they had purchased of J. L. Warbasse. It was in April of this year that Mr. J. B. Romans retired from the business life of the community, his interest being purchased by other members of the firm which continued, however, under the name of the J. B. Romans Co. It was in this month also that Mr. Wm. Savery became con- nected with the Denison Bottling Works, a concern which he and his partner, Mr. James Mitchell, have made the foremost institution of the kind in western Iowa. On May 14th occurred the disastrous fire at Ricketts which nearly wiped that little town from the map of Crawford. This was also the year of the well remembered celebration at Dow City when more than sixty of the celebrants were victims of ptomaine poisoning, supposedly from the ice cream sold at the stands. None of the victims died, but for some days it was feared that there would be fatal results. In Denison, the first of its series of Chautauquas was held. It was largely attended, immensely popular and has since become one of the insti- tutions of the town and county. It has been conducted each year as a part of
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the Redpath Chautauqua system and a sufficient guarantee has already been given to assure its continuance for the year 1912.
August 28th was the date of an unprecedented flood in Denison. There had been heavy rains but nothing in the way of an alarming flood was anticipated. In the early hours of the morning the operator at the Northwestern station noticed the angry waters rushing just south of the railroad embankment; on ac- count of the storm the telephone was out of commission so that he could not give the alarm. He called upon a tramp to notify the nightwatch, but that of- ficer feared it was a hoax in an attempt to get him off his beat so that a burglary might be committed. It was thus some time before the alarm was given. When at last the fire bell was rung the people found the entire south portion of the town surrounded and cut off by the swollen waters of the East Boyer. More than a hundred people were living in this part of the city and some of them were calmly sleeping while the waters raged. Ropes were manned and men swam and waded out into the dark waters in the effort to reach the endangered people. Finally boats were secured and many were thus brought to the station platform which was high and dry. Fortunately the waters receded by morning and no lives were lost although the property damage was considerable. It was felt by many that this flood was partially caused by the low railroad bridge which was said to hold back the waters. After a second, but less disastrous flood, the Northwestern Company built an expensive three track, steel bridge with suf- ficient clearance so that it is not believed the flood experience will ever be re- peated.
The financial panic of 1907 was as little felt in Denison and in Crawford county as any place in the United States. The banks found themselves well prepared and the people had full confidence in them. While all reasonable pre- cautions were taken to conserve the cash in the community there was no resort to clearing certificates or other artificial means of increasing the circulating medium and there never was a day when the banks of Denison did not meet all the demands of their customers. This panic had, however, its effect on all classes of business. Coming as it did at the opening of the autumn trading season it curtailed business in every line and it was a number of months before a normal condition was reached. Nevertheless there must have been money for amuse- ments for it was in November that Denison acquired its first moving picture show and it achieved an unqualified popularity. The poultry show, given in December was well attended and highly successful. The Commercial Club joined with the Boyer Valley Poultry Association holding a corn exhibition in connection.
1908.
The early months of 1908 were saddened by the death of a number of the old settlers of the county as well as by many deaths among the younger people. There was no epidemic but the death roll from various causes was large. The most enlivening feature of the winter months was the coming of the racers in the New York to Paris automobile race. They reached Denison with the roads in the worst condition possible. The whole town turned out to greet the American car which was the first to arrive and hearty welcome was accorded the French car
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and the Italian car, which was forced to remain here several days, and which made an ineffectual attempt to proceed to Council Bluffs driving over the railroad ties of the Illinois Central track. The coming of the "Protos," the German car, was made a gala day by the German American citizens. The plucky Germans were banqueted at the Nielsen Hotel and the Commercial Club rooms were thrown open for their reception.
The postal receipts of Denison for the year closing June 30, 1907, had ex- ceeded $10,000 and this entitled the city to free delivery. There were many preliminaries and, strange to say, some opposition, but the preliminaries were arranged, houses were numbered, the city was districted and city free delivery was finally established May 15th, 1908. As a result of a competitive examina- tion N. E. Lafferty, A. Aebischer and Malcolm Heiden were appointed as Denison's first letter carriers and up to date there has been no change in the personnel of the carrier force. As we have already seen, Judge Conner while a member of Congress secured for Denison an appropriation of $10,000 for a postoffice site. Later he represented the business men of Denison and prevailed upon the Committee on Public Buildings to make an authorization of $50,000 for a building. The actual appropriation has not been made available up to this time, but Denison feels sure that its time is coming.
July witnessed the opening of the Empire Clothing Co. with Kirkup and Ahren as proprietors and in December it was announced that the Nicholson Produce Company would incorporate, build an extensive plant and engage in the cold storage and artificial ice business. This was welcome news and work on the new buildings was commenced as soon as possible and was completed the following spring.
One of the chief social events was the banquet tendered by the citizens in honor of Hon. J. P. Conner before his departure for Washington to serve his last session in Congress. The gathering was helpful, not only as a recognition of Judge Conner's eminent services but as a means of bringing the business men into closer relationship and inspiring renewed effort for the good of the town.
1909.
January 1, 1909, brought the usual business changes. H. L. Allard sold the Racket Store to Heiden & Co. The firm of Bartcher Bros., furniture dealers, was dissolved and succeeded by Bartcher and Ewall, the Jungerman bakery was sold to P. Freihage. The winter was cold and stormy and there were but few events of importance to the community until the coming of spring. During February and March farmers' institutes were held at Charter Oak, West Side and Boyer with but partial success and none have been held since. In April a session of the Iowa Presbytery was held at Denison, bringing with it a large number of Presbyterian clergy and laymen. This month of April was further memorable for two events: on the 16th, the first artificial ice was made in Denison, and on the 7th, Mayor W. C. Rollins first attracted the attention of the people to the question of street paving. There had been desultory talk along this line previously, but in a speech before the city council Mayor Rollins urged the paving of the following streets: Main street, from City Hall to North-
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western depot; Broadway, from Hotel Denison to the Tamm implement house ; Court avenue from Broadway to Hotel Normandy; Tremont street from the Normandy to the Merchants Hotel, and Sweet street from Tremont to Chesnut. The paving question is too recent and too burning an issue to be discussed in a history, suffice it to say that no active steps were taken by the city until 1911. Resolutions of necessity were passed ordering all the paving recommended by Mayor Rollins and some additional streets. Advertisements were made for bids and an engineer was employed. When the time arrived for letting the contract, however, so much opposition was shown by the citizens for various reasons that the entire project was dropped for the time being.
To go back to the year 1909, other April events were a fire at Dow City, in which a considerable portion of the business district, including the postoffice, was destroyed; while at Denison there came the welcome news that Mr. Martin Saggau would build a handsome brick block on Broadway. This building was erected during the summer and is now occupied by H. W. Moeller, cigar manu- facturer ; John Fastje, furniture dealer; J. A. Rachwitz, with a meat market and by the Denison Bottling Works, while the entire second story is used by various lodges, making a very attractive hall.
In May it was found that the mulct petition under which the saloons of the county were running was defective except as regarded the saloons of Denison. Accordingly the other towns of the county suffered an unparalleled dry spell while new petitions were being circulated. These petitions received the required majority save in Kiron and in Manilla, and the saloons were reopened in June.
Denison took a long stride in advance in May when day service was perma- nently established by the electric light company. The growing business of the town demanded this service and it has been a paying venture for all concerned.
June was marked by another flood, which was at its worst at Vail, where the main business street was completely inundated. The rains continued through June and July, but the coming of the Glidden tour put the people on their mettle to provide a good road. A portion of the road between Denison and Arion was under water. A considerable fund was raised and, with the co-operation of the Illinois Central, the citizens had embankments dug through, tiles laid and the road well drained before the coming of the racers. A portion of the road was planked, however, for their convenience. The Glidden tour served again to call the attention of the county to the question of good roads.
July 2Ist was the date of a gala day at Schleswig and soon after some thirty people who had attended were stricken with typhoid fever. These people were scattered in all parts of the county and in this epidemic a number died and others were shattered in health for the remainder of their lives. This, like the epidemic at Dow City, was attributed to unsanitary food conditions.
Among the summer events at Denison was the great German Day celebra- tion when the Militarische Bruederschaft dedicated a new and expensive, hand embroidered, silk flag which had been made in Germany at their order. Another event, unique in its way, was Auto Day. Under the auspices of the Commercial Club the motorists were interested to donate the use of their cars and the farmers and their families were invited to come and have an automobile ride. The ma- chines were still comparative novelties and a large number availed themselves
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of the invitaton. A regular course was laid out which included a brief trip about the city and out into the country and upwards of twelve hundred people were driven about, many of them then enjoying their first automobile ride. The results of Auto Day were satisfactory. The effort served to help break down the prejudice against the machines and ultimately it is believed that it resulted in many sales among the farmers of the vicinity.
The second county fair was held at Arion in September. The attractions were good but the weather prevented an entire success from a financial stand- point. In October the German-Americans celebrated October 6th in commem- oration of the landing of the first Germans in America in 1623. On October Ioth a large portion of the business district of Arion was destroyed by fire. This included the large stock of the Arion Mercantile Company, a store which was not rebuilt.
At Denison the attention of the city was called to its inadequate water supply and four deep wells were finally contracted for. These wells are now in use but the city is still confronted by a water problem.
In November a special election was held on the question of authorizing the school board to purchase additional grounds adjacent to the high school. The proposition carried by fifty-four majority, of which the women voters furnished fifty-one.
In November the Commercial Club gave the first of a series of "booster" dinners at which the affairs of the community were discussed. In December two notable business men retired, Mr. T. J. Kelly, who sold the numerous shoe stores that had made him famous throughout the state, and Mr. R. A. Romans, who removed to Aberdeen, South Dakota. In December, Denison had its most spec- tacular fire when the lofty water tank owned by the Illinois Central was de- stroyed on the night of the ninth.
The year 1909 also saw the commencement of a great project for the county when petitions were presented to the board of supervisors asking that the chan- nel of the Boyer river be straightened from the Harrison county line to a point east of Arion. This petition was granted, plans were drawn and accepted, the contract let and the work is still progressing slowly, but satisfactorily. It is ex- pected that this drainage ditch will ultimately be extended along the Boyer and the West Boyer to the Sac county line. This work has received more extended mention under the chapters on "County Government."
1910.
With the first days of 1910 came the announcement from Vail that C. C. Vail, for many years editor of the "Observer," had sold his interests to Mr. M. J. Monaghan, and that the pioneer firm of Ryan and Ratchford was to go out of business. At Denison Mr. W. R. Kirkup sold his interest in the Empire Cloth- ing Company to his partner, M. J. McAhren, and a few months later he and his family left to make their home on the Pacific coast. R. A. Norris purchased the Kelly shoe store in Denison. A merger was effected between the Iowa and the Crawford County telephone companies, the former retaining the toll lines and the latter operating the consolidated exchanges.
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The business activity of the county was shown by the fact that during the first days of March the real estate transfers recorded for the county reached the enormous amount of $1,500,000.00.
At the city election W. H. Laub was elected mayor, and Chas. Christensen, J. T. Haugh, A. Green, P. J. Eggers and Chas. French were elected aldermen. This was the first election under the system of electing aldermen at large, to- gether with one from each ward.
In April an ineffectual attempt was made to interest the people in the estab- lishment of a gymnasium and to-day there hangs in the Bank of Denison a well started subscription list for that object, a list which should be completed. Other projects which interested the people but which failed to materialize were propo- sitions to employ a team for the use of the fire department and to build an interurban line to the northwest, with Sioux City as the objective point. While these projects failed, Denison may at least point with pride to the fact that it was the founder of what is known as the "Transcontinental Route" across Iowa from Council Bluffs to Clinton. The association which is back of this route had its birth in a resolution passed by the Denison Commercial Club in May, 1910. Under this resolution a committee was appointed to confer with the other cities and towns along the proposed route for the purpose of forming an organization for its improvement and maintenance and its advertisement as an automobile highway. The committee consisted of W. C. Rollins, Dr. R. F. Philbrook and F. W. Meyers. The committee met with cordial response and the work resulted in a meeting, first at Denison and then at Boone, at which place a permanent organization was effected with Henry Haag of Jefferson, president; W. C. Rol- lins, of Denison, secretary, and W. F. Coan of Clinton, treasurer. Upon the death of President Haag, F. W. Meyers of Denison was appointed as a member of the executive committee. A second meeting was held in Marshalltown in July, 19II, and the permanency of the organization seems assured. Mr. W. C. Rollins was re-elected secretary. Through the efforts of this association considerable sums have been spent on this highway and it is now recognized as the best tourist line across the state.
In June, Vail was again flooded just before the opening of its carnival season. In Denison the dullness of the summer season was brightened by a Fourth of July celebration, by the coming of the Hagenbeck circus which was encouraged to come by the business men, by the Chautauqua week, by the old settlers' picnic, and the annual celebration of German Day. In August, Theodore Roosevelt made his second visit to Denison, talking briefly to the thousands who gathered at the Northwestern station to greet him.
The sensation of the year was the arrest of C. E. Booth, former cashier of the Green bank, upon his return for a visit at his old home in Dow City. Upon learning of this arrest Mr. Green came and gave himself up to the authorities. Both were released under bond.
In our business world the Misses Sarachon sold their thriving millinery busi- ness to Mrs. A. V. Stepp, The Bulletin moved into its handsome new brick quarters. The Review installed a linotype.
In October the community was greatly grieved to learn that Mr. Chas. Tabor was about to sell his loan business and leave Denison to devote his future time
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to travel and recreation. Mr. Tabor sold his business to the Crawford County State Bank. The banquet tendered him by the business men of the city shortly before his departure for California was one of the memorable events of the year and a fitting tribute to his many years of helpful and generous citizenship.
Other important business changes at the close of 1910 were the retirement of Mr. W. J. Scriver from the management of the Stewart Lumber Company, with which he had been connected for many years, and the sale of the Demokrat, by its founder, Mr. Frank Faul, to the new firm of Finnern and Vosgerau, while the robbery of the Bank of Dow City furnished a great sensation.
I9II.
The events of the year 1911 are too much in the nature of current events to be discussed at any length and they are briefly mentioned simply in order to bring this year book of Denison and the county down to date.
January and February witnessed an unusual harvest of death. The most prominent pioneer lost to the county was Mr. Morris McHenry. After his death Mr. Herbert Fishel was appointed county surveyor and to him has fallen the work of supervising the completion of the drainage ditch.
Uncle John Dobson, now one of the oldest pioneers, met with a severe loss when his hotel at Deloit was burned on January 8th.
The Denison Commercial Club elected Mr. C. L. Voss president, and Mr. W. C. Rollins, secretary. During February and March, Denison suffered an epi- demic of scarlet fever during which a number of little lives were lost. The schools were closed and all public assemblies forbidden and by these strict meas- ures the disease was soon stamped out.
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