NEWS FROM THE 1880 ODEBOLT OBSERVER
The Observer. Published every Wednesday, By
BENNET & MARTIN
Odebolt, Sac County, Iowa.
Subscription, $1.50 per year in advance
JULY 1880
The Odebolt Observer, Vol. 1, No. 5, July 28, 1880
A Ride into the Country.
Saturday morning, under the chaperonage of Bro. Pitsor, and by invitation of Mr. Frank Ross, we took a seat behind his lively bays, for a trip into the country. Our route lay eastward over a beautiful stretch of country, by far the larger portion of which is covered with growing or partially harvested crops--and such crops! To one familiar only with the wheat raising of the Eastern part of Iowa, where 15 bushels of spring wheat to the acre is considered a good crop, and where most farers have to be content with 10 bushels to the acre or less, it was like being transported to a farmers' paradise in dream-land. Mile after mile of wheat fields were to be seen where the grain stood breast high, bright and golden and ready for the harvest, while other crops promise equally well. Everywhere the reapers were busy, with a mountain of work before them; but the sure promise of an abundant reward lightens their labor.
Arrived at the town of Wall Lake--which struck us as rather a misnomer, it having neither wall nor lake,--we naturally drifted to the office of the Journal for a "feast of reason and a flow of soul" with our esteemed neighbor. Bur Dennis was absent and this happiness was denied us. He was away--not after frogs they assured us--but west on a tour of observation. And here (parenthetically) we must express astonishment that he finds time to gad about so much--but then, we suppose he has little to do at home, and free passes and free lunches have their attractions for him. The town of Wall Lake seemed very quiet; no teams in town, and no excitement to disturb the repose of the business men, some of whom were preparing for the rush of trade that is expected "after harvest." It being harvest time and the country people busy at home, it was not perhaps a good time to judge of the business of the place, or perhaps we had formed too exalted an opinion of both the town and its business from reading the Journal--but we must confess to some disappointment in both. Perhaps a future visit at a more auspicious time will create more favorable impressions of our sister town.
After a view of the town, the sight-seer naturally drifts to the lake itself, where a still greater disappointment awaits him. Instead of the handsome body of water he expected to see, with its wonderful natural wall, he finds a serpentine slough, grown full of grass and weeds. A boat was procured of a squatter on the bank, and the party embarked, determined, if possible, to extract a little fun and a few fish from the aquatic monstrosity called "the lake." But not all of Bro. Pitsor's enthusiasm or Mr. Ross' patient industry could procure so much as a well defined nibble. They commenced to fish for 10-lb pickerel, then for bass, then for bull-heads, and finally, for frogs; and we believe Bro. Pitsor did succeed in turning up one of the latter and nearly turning the boat over in his excitement, but he lost him, not possessing Dennis' knack of securing hits when hooked. Neither Mr. R. nor ourself think less of Brother P.'s veracity because he swore (no, he affirmed) that the frog at the end of his line was a 10-pound fish. He had been looking so long and intently into the mass of weedy slime in which his line draggled that his vision became impaired.
Our route home was over a somewhat rolling country, well tilled and teeming on either hand with bountiful harvests. Whatever may be said of the scenery at the lake, or of the possibility so confidently relied on by the Wall Lakers, of its becoming a place of resort, there can be but one opinion concerning the agricultural resources of that part of Sac county that lies out of the water. It is the best portion of the best State in the Union. [The lake then known as "Wall Lake" is now named Black Hawk Lake, and the town of Lake View is adjacent to it. The town of Wall Lake is about 2 miles from the lake.]
Local Matters
_The Reporter boys slept in the street in front of the OBSERVER
office last Thursday night – on wheels. [The Reporter and the
OBSERVER were rival weekly newspapers in Odebolt. Early newspapers
frequently made these little jabs at their competitors.]
_The assessed value of the lands of Sac county for 1880 is $1,638,629.
Value of town lots, $61,466. Value of personal property, $276,007 – Sac
Sun.
_The building formerly occupied by Wilson & Caswell on Second street, and
still occupied by them, has moved next door neighbor to the OBSERVER
office. We now have music in front and to the left of us.
_R. N. Gould, was by some oversight not mentioned in the list of
carpenters. Mr. Gould was one of the first carpenters here and has put up
quite a number of buildings in Odebolt in the last 36 months. Mr. Gould
was the first town marshal.
_Only one vacant lot on Main street between Second and Third.
_Remember that it will be determined next Saturday who gets the school house
bonds.
_Mr. Horan has taken into partnership with him Mr. Robertson. The new firm
has some good rigs.
_The young man from this place that left an unpaid hotel bill at Sac City, ought
to settle it for the sake of the young lady who was with him, before his name is
made public.
_The Hook and Ladder Company are requested to meet at the engine house this
(Wed.) evening at 7:30 o’clock, in full uniform.
J. MATTES, Foreman
_The M. E. Fourth Quarterly Meeting of Odebolt charge will be held at the Fox
school house, next Saturday and Sunday, July 31st and August 1st.
Quarterly conference will convene Saturday at 5 o’clock P.M. A full
board of the quarterly conference is desired. Saturday evening,
preaching. Love feast Sabbath morning at 9½ o’clock; preaching at
10½. Preaching at Odebolt Sabbath evening. The Elder will preach
his farewell sermon on that occasion. D.M.
BEAM
[a sampling of the many advertisements:]
| John Williams, Second St., West of Odebolt Bank Deals in Groceries, Boots and Shoes. Call and examine my stock. _________________ I will not be undersold by any living man. G. H. Parker, Wagon and Carriage Maker, First Street. |
MILLINERY AND FANCY GOODS, Opposite Bank of Odebolt. I Keep on hand all the Latest Styles and Fashions. My goods are selected with care and I GUARANTEE PRICES TO SUIT. Mrs. W. W. Shanks _________________________ McKibbin Bros., Agricultural Dealers Corner of First and Main Streets |
The Pioneer Hardware Store of J. H. Ketterer & Co., Corner of Main and Second Streets In Post Office Building _________________________________ J. E. Einspahr Wagon and Carriage Maker, Who does all work cheap And in a workman-like manner. Shop on First street, Odebolt. |
Dentistry.
Dr. Sterneman will be at Dr. Groman’s office on the 9th of August (Monday), and remain one week. His charges will be in conformity with those of any respectable operator for like operation.
Wednesday, July 28, 1880, Volume 1, No. 5
Flax Mill
The flax mill of J. P. Winslow & Son is located about one hundred rods northwest of the depot. The main building is 24x110, with 16 ft. posts. The boiler room is 10x40. The entire building is covered with iron roofing. After the flax straw has been rotted, as described in Mr. Winslow’s advertisement, found in another column, it is then ready for the mill. The straw is unloaded from the wagon by a fork similar to the “horse hay fork,” and is operated by steam. The driver has nothing to do but watch the straw as it leaves the wagon and drops in the storeroom, or is carried 40 feet further where, a man receives it and throws it into the retting machine, consisting of five set of grooved rollers, a scutching cylinder, and shaker.
After passing through his machinery it loses about one-third its weight. The business of this first machine is to break the woody part of the stock into small pieces, and separate it from the lint. The woody substance (shives) drops down into the engine room and are used for making steam, no other fuel being used, although they have a 35 horse power engine. It then passes to a second machine consisting of 8 rollers, scutch cylinder and shaker, very much like the first, only that it breaks the remaining shives into smaller pieces. It then passes to a third machine called the picker or finisher, where it passes through a cylinder that picks it, or loosens it up so that all the remaining shives are separated and the lint or tow then passes down to the first floor where it is put into the baling machine and made into nice solid bales measuring 14x18 inches in thickness and 36 inches in length weighing 125 lbs. each.
It has now lost three-fourths of itself by being crushed,
picked, pulled, and shook up in such a lively way, or in other words four tons
of good straw will make one ton of tow. The mill employs from 6 to 10
hands and has a capacity for working up from 8 to 10 tons of straw per
day. The tow is used for upholstering, bagging, and manufacturing
paper. It is allowed to get too rotten for bagging it is used for paper
stock. The tow is shipped to St. Louis and Chicago where it finds a ready
market. This manufacture will be of incalculable value to the farming
community. It will enable them to utilize what, to them in the past has
been worthless. It was through the influence of Mr. Wheeler that the mill
was located here, he having furnished several hundred tons of straw. Mr.
Wheeler is probably the largest flax grower in the state of Iowa. We
suggest that our farmer readers carefully read Mr. Winslow’s instructions for
cutting and preparing for the mill. There is probably from fifteen to
twenty-five thousand dollars worth of flax straw grown this season, within reach
of the mill.
Into the Country
Last Thursday morning, in company with Mr. Frank A. Ross, we started for the official hub of this county. The farmers along our route were busy in their harvest fields, and we saw a variety of machines at work--the old-fashioned McCormick, with a man raking off the grain, the self-rake, the harvester, the wire binder and the twine binder and they all appeared to be doing good service; but the one that took our eye was a self-binder, with a shade over the driver, a cushioned seat with lazy back attachment.
Arriving at Early, we found Mr. Cory, the merchant, busy dealing out groceries for harvest. Haradon Bros., blacksmiths, were busy pounding iron. C. W. Hess has just finished a building 10x44 and is putting in a general stock of merchandise. The Early merchants are going to have a good trace because they sell goods cheap and advertise in the OBSERVER.
When Early gets a railroad and a depot, it will be a good trading point, and the farmers of that vicinity deserve something better in this direction than they now have. The sun never shone upon a better country than that portion of Sac county.
We arrived at Sac City in time for dinner. There did not appear to be much stir, farmers being busy with their crops, yet we found the business men in good spirits, courteous and happy. We have often heard Frank Kelly speak of “the Sac ring,” and we thought at one time we had struck it, when W. H. Hobbs made the statement (not a sworn statement,) to Judge Criss, G. M. Parker, Charley Lane, and others, that he and ourself were delegates three years ago to the Republican State convention; but after reflecting a moment he said it was “two years ago.” Just as we had begun to feel that we were a part of the aforesaid “ring,” Parker threw himself into a threatening attitude, bristled up and declared he could “whip somebody in less than no time.” Hobbs looked confused, and kicked us out of the “Sac ring” by admitting that he was mistaken--it was Zane. We are looking forward to a time when we can catch Hobbs away from home!
Messrs. Schaller & Flack were very busy working out a problem given them by Chess B. Oard.
Sheriff Woodell says if the farmers get their crops well secured it will “bust” the sheriff sale business in Sac county. The sheriff took pity on us and gave us one sale notice to publish before the business closes. Judge Criss was very busy moving his grain elevator, but took time to give us an advertisement. We called on Bro. Dickey, at the Sun office, and found him in good humor and affable. He will please accept thanks for favors shown us.
After leaving Mr. Baily’s we drove south through Cook township. We noticed that most all the land in Cook township is in cultivation. Among other improvements we noticed Mr. Houseman is building a barn. Wheat stacking had commenced on one of Mr. Cook’s farms and on the farm of A. H. Jones.
The farmers were all busy with the “golden grain.” It is delightful sight to drive through the country at this season of the year and see the wealth of the county, as it waves in golden grain and shoots forth its silken ears in fields of green. While nature affords some enchanting scenery, in its mountains, rivers and lakes, yet there is no scenery in the world that will inspire the heart of man like the waving fields of grain and corn, representing the mines of wealth produced by the blessing of God and the honest toil of the hardy yeomanry.
(Researched and submitted by B. Ekse)