Decorah public opinion., December 14, 1921, Image 1

About Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928

Image provided by: State Historical Society of Iowa

                
!e oil question
IN WINNESHIEK
itions Discussed With View.* ol
Geologists by Wm. J. Daly,
Of Creseo.
>RAH COMPANY
GETTING READY TO DRILL
us Places in the County Show
The Best Kind of Evidence
following article from the pen
m. J. Daly, of Creseo, regard
il in lowa, will be read with
st by our readers. The article
red in the Dubuque Telegraph
1 last week.
r issue of Nov. 30 ult. contains
\s dispatch from Ames, lowa,
•ting to be an interview with
J. E. Smith, geologist at lowa
college, “who says that the
ical formations of the sub
es (in Iowa) are not the kind
ver contain oil.
e Geologist George F. Kay, in
Idm ini strati ve Report,” lowa
ical Survey, Vol. 23, quotes
te Prof. S-.muel Calvin of the
state University as follows:
ee conditions, therefore, must
:onjointly—the source of sup
[ p*y m some form of organic matter,
the porous reservoir and impervious
cover, and the arched or folded con
4, of the beds. It is the last of
these conditions that is wanting in
lowa.”
It is therefore admitted by Prof.'
Calvin that the first two conditions I
named are present.
Regarding the last named con
dition, towjt: “the arched or folded” :
beds, Prof. Calvin speaks in “lowa
Geologist Survey, Vol. 16,” which is
the “Geology of Winneshiek county,”
as follows:
“During the progress of deposition
of the sedimentary or indurated
rocks of lovva, that are younger than
the Saint Croix sandstone, the north-,
cof«M. n "V of , the Btate » together j
adjacent area, was {
gradually elevated or tilted up,
hence the shore line of the sea in j
which the strata were successively
laid down, retreated step by step,
toward the southeast” That quota
tion is from the “Introduction.”
On page 63 Prof. Calvin says: “At
Quandahl, about a fourth of a mile j
east of the county line” the ' beds
. have a slight dip to the west” Far- j
ther down on the same page he says j
that in Pleasant township the “beds j
here dip strongly to the west.”
On page 77 Prof. Calvin tells us:
“The regular southwest dip of the
strata, which prevails generally
throughout eastern lowa, is inter
fered with by a low anticline passing
northwestardly through Sattre and
Locust in the northeastern part of
Pleasant township. North of this
axis the dip is toward the northeast;
on the other side the dip is regular
and throws the exposures of the
Saint Peter (standstone) toward the
southeast.”
These quotations evidently admit
the “wanting condition, namely
the “arched and folded condition of
the beds” in Winneshiek county. If
not, the lowa geologists should make
a clear explanation as to how much
“dip” is needed to constitute an
“arched and folded” bed for oil pur
poses. Then if the other surface
indications are present, such as oil
seepages and gas escapements, as
they undoubtedly are in Winneshiek
county, they should state what more
evidence any other oil field presents j
prior to drilling a well.
The first quotation above was
taken by Dr. Kay from Dr. Calvin’s
Administrative Report in Vol. I. All j
of the other quotations come from !
Vol. 16 which undoubtedly was later
investigation by Dr. Calvin—that is,
more recently discovered evidence.
That may explain the apparent con
flict in Dr. Calvin’s statements of,
facts.
A corporation has been organized:
and is about to drill in Winneshiek j
county. The well known surgeon,
Dr. Geo. Kessel of Creseo, lowa, is j
president of that company. All the j
propaganda of the corporation warns j
the prospective buyers of stock not |
to put in more than he can afford j
to lose, which is not sharp practice.
It might be good business instinctj
for those with interests in the field j
to put in what they can afford to
lose just to try out the country. The
land-owners in the locality may be,
even at the present time, million
aires in meek obscurity. Nothing
ventured, nothing won. Every bus
iness proposition has some fog to
dispel. Lifting the fog requires
some plunging in every venture.
There is nothing a dead sure thing
except making the world safe for
democracy; for that we always keep
the heart light and the future bright
notwithstanding the taxes.
Very truly youfs,
WM. J. DALY,
Creseo, lowa.
There are men with the stature
of a giant, the piercing eyes of the
eagle and t the square jaws of a
ruler of men who don’t have much
more than a penny’s worth of brains,
but if they have that kind of ap
pearance everybody will declare they
are all brains.
HOLIDAY EDITION.
prEEN- i,a<;es fcl-ffeoyiftlj,public o,pinion
voixxvn.
DECORAH,
MAX MATTESON
1 KILLED IN TEXAS
f j Former Decorah Boy Meets Acci
j dental Death at Brecken
ridge, Texas, Last
's. Saturday.
v>
\\
TCK IN HEAD
' BY SWING BLOCK
V
' Was B- <n Decorah 42 Years Ago.
It .ins Arrived Here
Today.
i The sad news of the accidental
death of Maxwell W. Matteson at
Breckenridge, Texas, last Saturday,
was received in Decorah Sunday by
his cousin City Clerk Frank Hughes.
Mr. Matteson was interested in the
oil fields of Texas, and the accident
occurred in a field near Brecken
ridge, while last minute preparations
were being made before striking oil.
A swinging block struck him on the
side of the head, fracturing his skull.
He was taken to a hospital in Breck
enridge, where he died a short time
later. / .
The deceased was born in Decorah
42 years ago last July, a son of Mr. I
and Mrs. S. W. Matteson. The fam-1
ily removed from Decorah some
years ago. He had been a resident
of St. Paul for some years, and about
a year ago went to Texas and de
| voted his time in developing oil
j fields.
I He is survived by his mother, sis- :
' ter, Miss Clara, who live in Los
Angeles, and also three brothers, '
Charles D. and Herbert Matteson, of 1
St Paul, and Roy G., of Milwaukee. 1
The remains arrived in Decorah 1
this morning on the 10:45 Milwaukee '
and the funeral services will be held
this afternoon from the Congrega- 1
tjopal church, iitiv- M._Wii[ett will (
officiate. Tbe mother and id Stiff 1 tCfer ■»
unable to get here, but the three c
brothers arrived last night, also
Charley Dickerman, of Duluth and 1
Mr. Beal, of St. Paul. c
————o f
t
SUICIDE NEAR
CONOVERSAT’RD’Y
Wm. Treska, Farmer, Kills Self
With Shotgun, Sometime Dur
ing Last Saturday.
BEEN MELANCHOLIA
FOR SOME TIME
8 t
Coroner L. ». Willis Called to the
Scene Saturday Evening About
Seven O’clock.
Wm. Treska, a young farmer, liv
ing west of Conover, committeed
suicide sometime during last Satur
day. He used a shot gun to commit
the act, putting the barrel up against
his breast. He was killed instantly.
Dr. Hennessey, of Oalmar, was
called to the scene, and after find
ing the man dead, he notified Cor
ner L. B. Willis, of Decorah, and he
went over Saturday evening about
seven o’clock and made an investiga
tion, and decided that it was a plain
case of suicide.
The unfortunate man was about 33
years old. and lived with a brother
and sister on a fine 200 acre farm,
and was well to do. We under
stand he had been in a melancholia
disposition for some time.
County Agent Advertised
Creston, Ipwa,—J. P. Stock, county
agent, is a great believer in public
ity. He held a school for farmers
recently who wanted to take the ex
amination to vaccinate ‘their own
hogs. At the time the school was
proposed he had seven applicants, the
number the law requires before the
work can be given in any county.
He advertised the dates of the school
and had thirty seven farmers at the
meeting when the day rolled around.
He believes in the power of the
press. Many diseases common to
hogs was discussed by the men who
attended.
An honest but bashful man may
have shifty eyes, and the biggest
rogues can glare you down with their
straightforward gaze; but all shifty
eyed men are not honest, and all
straight gazers are not crooks.
“Money makes the mare go,” but
it takes an automobile to make the
money go.
READ THE LIVE MERCHANTS’
WINNESHIEK COUNTY, IOWA, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14,1921
Atrocious Murder Near
Frankville Last Sunday
MR. AND MRS. CHARLES VAN BROCKLIN KILLED
IN WOOD CHOPPER S CABIN, BOTH SHOT
IN RIGHT BREAST WITH
SHOT GUN.
11 ■ 1 "i
BROTHER OF THE SLAIN MAN ARRESTED AS A
SUSPECT. PRELIMINARY HEARING ON
AT COURT HOUSE.
MANY WITNESSES TO BE CALLED AND HEARING
WILL LAST SEVERAL DAYS PERHAPS.
A foul double murder was com
mitted some time last Sunday after
noon on a farm in Bloomfield town
ship south of Frankville in the
Moneek neighborhood, when Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Van Brocklin were
found shot to death in a wood chop
| pers cabin on the Frank Kneeskert.
farm where they had been working
and living for some time.
During the afternoon about four
o’clock a neighbor, Wm. Cook, went
to the cabin on some business, and
found the murdered couple. The
shack they lived in had only two
rooms. The husband was found in
the first room as Cook entered and
the wife in the other room. They
were both shot through the right
breast with a shot gun. The man’s
heart was in a lacerated condition.
The mar. had a hat over his face and
his body was covered with an old
quilt. The woman’s body ,cor-
V’TT W ’ it rm* oW?*»r.' ote C
clothes.
Mr. Cook notified Sheriff O. O.
Ellingson and the sherilf left De
corah immediately, sometime between
four and five o’clock Sunday af
ternoon. After the sheriff arrived
he made an investigation, and about
eleven o’clock at night arrested El
mer Van Brocklin, on suspicion, a
brother of the murdered man. The,
corpse of the murdered couple were
taken to the Ole Russett farm a
short distance away. Elmer Van
Brocklin and Geo. Moore had been
in Decorah Sunday afternoon and
sold some wild animal furs to Holm
berg & Erickson. They afterwards
drove back home. They drove by
the Ru.>set home where a crowd
had congregated, going to the Moore
home, and later returned to the
Russet home. The boys say they left
for Decorah around 4:30.
Coroner L. B. Willis was called out
and a corner’s inquest was held. A
coroner’s jury composed o£ Fred
O’Boy, Sam Waters and R. Knees
kern rendered a verdict that the par
ties came to their death by violence
by parties unknown.
Elmer Van Brocklin was taken to
Decorah about 12 o’clock Sunday
night and placed in jail. He is about
28 years of age. His murdered
brother was 21 years old, and hi. 1
wife 18 or 19 years.
The Van Brockiins are sons of
“Gypsy Dan” Van Brocklin. The
murdered woman was a daughter o!
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Rice, of Beloit
Wis.
Elmer Van Brocklin, the young feb
low under arrest, had been working
on the Moore farm near Clermont
and Saturday came up to the neigh
borhood of the crime.
It is stated that he had admit
ted to officials that he visited hit
brother’s home Sunday morning, end
that they had a quarrel, but that
was all. He denies having any
thing to do with the killing of the
couple.
The murder mystery is now being
taken up by County Attorney J. A
Nelson. Yesterday a preliminary
examination was started at the court
house behind closed doors. Attor
neys C. N. Houck and Frank Sayre
appear for Van Brocklin. , We un
derstand there are a good many wit
nesses to be examined and the hear
ing will perhaps last several days.
The murdered woman’s step fa
ther, Fred Rice, arrived in Decorah
Tuesday and last night took the
remains of his daughter home to
Beloit for burial. The husband will
be buried this afternoon in Phelps
cemetery*. Rev. Woodall of the M.
E. church will officiate.
The couple had one child, a son,
t
. l ir IliVmßf
two years old, who had been living
with his grandmother in Beloit since
last fall.
JUDGE REED RETIRES
Fine Testimonial Given to Federal
Judge on His Retirement.
An eloquent but simple eulogy on
the retirement from the United
States district court bench of Fed
eral J dge Henry T. Reed was sub
scribe*. by a committee of the Du
buque ounty Bar Association Thurs
day and ordered spread on the re
cord.
It vas the occasion of the last
term of court presided over by
Judge lieed, who left fer Creseo, his
home, Thursday afternoon. The
testimonial was as follows:
In the district court of the United
Sta•.for the northern district of
. Matter u.
Hon. Henry T. Reed. At Law and
in Equity.
A Testimonial
Early in 1904, President Roosevelt
sent to the senate of the United
States the name of Hon. Henry T.
Reed of Creseo, lowa, as judge of
the district court of the United
States, for the Northern District of
lowa. The appointment was at once
confirmed and on the first Tuesday
of April, of that year, Judge Reed
opened his first term of court at
Cedar Rapids. During the period
between ’that date and the present
he has presided over this court with
an ability, courtesy ami geniality
that has met the universal approval
of the members of the bar who have
been brought in touch with his ju
dicial work. A large proportion of
the lawyers in the Northern lowa
district who practice in the Federal
court, have never known any United
States judge but him, and the an
nouncement of his retirement comes
to them as a distinict shock. The
eighteen years of harmonious rela
tions between him and them have
not prepared them for his retire
ment, but the reverse, rather.
Probably with the bar of no other
county in his district has Judge Reed
since his appointment, been brought
into closer official ami personal re
lations than with that of Dubuque,
ami its members cannot permit the
occasion of his retirement from the
bench io pqss without a formal ex
pression of their high regard for
him, as a man and a citizen, their
approval of his record and career
as a judge, and their regret at hi?
retirement from the bench, and, at
a recent meeting, they directed the
undersigned to prepare and present
this testimonial to the court, and
to move that it be spread on its re
cords.
L. C. HURD,
ROBT. BONSON,
P. J. NELSON,
FRANK R. LACY,
R. P. ROEDELL,
Committee
Asking Too Much
Mr. Pester—“ That infernal little
mut of yours never comes when I
call him.”
His Wife—“ Certainly not! He has
a very distinguished pedigree and
you can’t expect a dog with his
breeding to submit to being ordered
around by you.”
When you are ailing, write down
jparefully all the remedies your
friends suggeit for you and ; thert
burn them. Then you will feel much
better.
Bum.
t
ANNOUNCEMETS.
BRUTAL MURDER
IN ALLAMAKEE
Miss Inga Magnusscn, School
Teacher, Found Murdered in
Basement of School in
N. E. Corner of
Allamakee.
SHE WAS CLUBBED
TO HER DEATH
Murder Committed Monday. Suspect
Arrested at Postville Tuesday
Morning.
A brutal murder took place in Al
lamakee county Monday night, when
Miss Inga Magnussen, a school tea
cher was clubbed to death in the
basement of the school she taught,
about 20 miles from Waukon in the
Northeastern part of Allamakee
county, three miles from Dorchester.
Bloodhounds were brought from
Waterloo ami they picked up the
trail of a fellow who stole a horse in
the neighborhood and he was trail
ed to Postville and captured. The
fellow’s name is Karl Trost, about
24 years of age. He stopped at the
county farm in Allamakee yesterday
morning and had the stolen pony
with him, and steward of the
farm noticed his clothing was spat
tered with blood. He went on to
Postville where he was arrested, and
the sheriff of Allamakee county got
him yesterday afternoon and lodged
him in jail at Waukop
It is reported the n «ud school
teacher was terribly bketered up and
a gruesome sight. She was about
20 years of age. Her father is a
merchant at Bee, Minn., a little ham
let up on the Minnesota-lowa line.
We understand the young fellow ar
rested was a friend of the murdered
irirl, and that they recently quarrel-
* t # * >- » * ' i ,*, ♦ :
Waukon the prisoner con;?
murder.
DSSIAN MAN
BURNEDTODEATH
Frank J. Bushman Loses Life Satur
day While in Act Starting
Fire With Kerosene.
CAN EXPLODED
COVERING HIM WITH OIL
When His Clothing Was Removed
Flesh Fell Off pf
His Bones.
A terrible accident happened in
Ossian Saturday morning resulting
in the death of Frank J. Bushman,
a young man about 31 years of age.
He got up to start the morning fire
in his home, using a can of kerosene
which he poured on, when the can
caught fire, the bottom blew out,
and a terriffic explosion resulted,
and oil was thrown all over him. He
ran out of the house into the yard,
and his wife followed him,, trying
to subdue the flames, and in doing
so she was severely burned about
the hands. W’hen the unfortunate
man's clothes were removed the
flesh came off with them, and he
was in terrible agony, and lingered
through the day, passing away in
the evening.
Mr. Bushman was a member of
Bullard Bros. Co. implement dealers.
He was born on a farm near Os
sian. He was married about two
years ago and is survived by his
wife.
A Duty of the Rich
A foolish New York woman has
paid $60,000 for a fur coat. She is
foolish, in the first place, because
no coat in the world can possibly be
worth such a sum; in the second
place, because such things arouse
envy and discontent and so rock the
social boat. A state of society in
which those who never earned a dol
lar in their lives buy $60,000 #oats
and ride in $16,000 automobiles is
open to criticism; those who have
the best of the unnatural condition
should be the most careful about ex
citing dangerous criticism. Such oc
currences are the life of socialism,
communism and bolshevism, which
oppose the system that has resulted
in the $60,000 coats. —Knoxville Ex
press.
-■ ■ o
“Put not your faith in idols”—but
in ideals.
BURGLARY NEAR
DSSIAN SUNDAY
Farm Home Leo Barthelme Robbed
By Stranger. Arrested Near
Frankville Monday
Morning.
TOOK RIFLE AND
OTHER THINGS
Mayor Allen Bound Him Over to Dis
trict Court, and He is Lodged
In Decorah Jail.
Last Sunday morning the farm
home of Leo Barthelme three miles
north of Ossian was burglarized, a
rifle ami a safety box containing,
papers, bonds, jewelry, etc was
taken. Suspicion was directed
against n young fellow by the name
of Herbert Stenz, about 26 years
of age, a stranger from Texas, who
hail been hanging around Ossian a
short time. The Ossian marshal,
Ed Grimstad arrested him near
Frankville about three o’clock Mon
day morning.
The fellow hail called at the Bar
thelme home Saturday and hired out
to him. Sunday morning the Bar
thelme family went to church und
remained in town until after dinner.
When they arrived home they
found their home burglarized. Stenz
was gone and the Osrian marshal g»t
track of him near Frankville, the
fellow' having gone to the* Boy
! Kneeskem farm where he asked for
work. He was- given permission to
stay all night, and Mr. Kneeskern
told him he would consider the mat
ter in the morning. He was taken
back to Ossian . y the marshal and
his deputies and lodged in jail. It
is reported that the box he took
from the Barthel.ne house contained
fdih l ul th« box n hidden h
v - ’■. 'i jff j " ■* l ** *
■" ' ‘T,. , t W—» i ■•»il >*■ 111 ** —~
W. M. Allen, of on Mon
day, given a hearing and the mayor
bound him over to the next term of
the district court. Bonds were plac
ed at $2,000, which he was unable to
furnish and he was brought to De
corah Monday afternoon by the Os
sian marshal and placed in jail here,
to await the action of the court.
A New Holdup Scheme
Osceola, lowa—At 5 o’clock on a
recent morning, Clint Wilson his wife
and tw f o Gerald, 18, and Clar
ence, l(i, left Osceola for a motor trip
to Bed Oak, with the understanding
that they would pick up Mr. Wilson’*
brother, Nelse, at Creston, and re
turn him that evening. Though it
was not yet daylight, the beautiful
day was protended by the hours pro
ceeding dawn. Everything went well
until Mr. Wilson and family reached
the Heins bridge about a mile east
of Afton, where they had a surprise
they will not soon forget. On the
bridge by the light of the automo
bile Mr. Wilson saw a little heap of
what he assumed to be dirt. When
the car wheel struck this seemingly
harmless object there was an explo
sion that fairly lifted the car from
the ground. Recognizing that the
upheave! was not causer! by any part
of the car breaking, Clint stepped on
the gas, when as if shot by a cannon
an iron bar struck the side of the car
with terrific force, and a man ap
peared in the darkness behind the
rapidly moving car, rdiich hastened
on acioss the little valley and up the
next hill at a forty mile clip. \ut< s
are being stopped by hold-up nca in
all parts of the country by dummies,
and other obstructions put -in the
highway, but to us, an explosive to
make the driver believe that a tire
had been blown, is a new one. It is
to be regretted that Mr. Wilson con
tinued his journey without notifying
the officers at Afton or Creston, for
the would-be hold up man and his
pals, who were probably beneath the
bridge, might have been captured.
o
“Put it in your pipe brother, that
the only way this country is going
to re-establish normal conditions
will be for every man, woman and
chikl to work and save. Loafing
won’t do it, complaining won’t do it,
refusing to work for less than $7 a
day don’t do it, spending money for
pleasure and making the grocer and
butcher wait won’t do it. There is
only one cure, and it is spelled
T-H-R-I-F-T,” says the Manchester
Press.
■■■ o
Home brewing sometimes mean*
trouble brewing.
NO. 50
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