Iowa
Old Press
Postville Herald
Postville, Allamakee co. Iowa
July 5, 1918
From Our Soldier Boys - Letter from Merle Cole
The following letter was received by A.J. Phillips of this city:
Somewhere in France
May 31, 1918
Dear Spec: I received your peach of a letter today and am
answering in the wee small hours. These watches are lonesome but
not half as bad as guarding a picket in the rain. Am operating a
switchboard, but it is some different than J.M. Thoma's.
We buried a pal of mine yesterday and it sure was an impressive
funeral. As we passed down the street every French soldier
snapped up to a salute and young kids and old grey-haired men
bared their heads until we passed by. Everyone was mounted but
the firing squad and pall bearers. I was a pall bearer and it was
a hard thing for me to do. When you bury a friend 6,000 miles
from home it is no picnic.
I took my nag out to the creek today and gave him a bath and he
looks fine. He didn't exactly appreciate it at the time, but he
sure does now.
Postville sure did go "over the top" in the LIberty
Loan, didn't she? If you fellows didn't "go over" back
there we would be out of luck over here, so go to it. We will
give old man Kaiser that pill you were talking about in record
time if you keep that up.
"Fatty's" letter reminds me of our times at Camp Mills,
when they were taking us out to dancing parties. At the time
Brooklyn and New York kept us pretty busy tho' and we didn't
appreciate it. I sure would like to dance with an American girl
at the present writing tho'.
Coming from the funeral yesterday we met a Red Cross nurse and
she said "Hello Boys!" Whoops! but it does send a
thrill up a guy's back and makes him proud of being a Yank. The
French girls never can compare with our "Distinctly
Individual" Americans.
Gee! I didn't think Harold was in the graduating class. It makes
me feel as if I should retire and settle down to a ripe old age.
I hope we never have to retire. (Joke)
So you and Heck are teaching the rookie squads east? We sure got
our fill of that at Camp Mills. Can't you and Heck write a
partnership letter? I haven't heard from him since I packed my
tooth brush and towel and left Postville and would like to hear
from him. So Al and Fat are both Lieutenants? Send me the address
of some of those kids that are over here and I will try and look
them up.
Your friend,
M.W. Cole
Hdq. Co. 151 F.A., A.F.F.
[transcribed by S.F., February 2006]
-----
Postville Herald
Postville, Allamakee co. Iowa
July 19, 1918
Mrs. Louis Hill left Wednesday on the return trip to her home in
Columbus, Ohio, going by way of Madison, Wis., for a short visit.
Some thoroughly modern dwellings and choice residence lots in
Postville, aood location, are offered for sale at a reasonable
price. Chas. Krumm.
Rudolph Hein and Miss Charlotte Bencher went to Cedar Rapids
yesterday to commit matrimony, and with friends innumerable we
congratulate.
For Sale -- S.C. Rhode Island Red cockerels, won at Winona,
Independence and Oelwein and other sows. Enquire of M.
Christopher, Postville, Iowa.
Mrs. John Snyder and Miss Catherine Schade of Lawrenceburg,
Tenn., and Mrs. Tom Andre of Bridgeport, Wis., are guests at the
A. Wersinger home.
Miss Minnie Schutte came Monday from Chicago to spend her two
weeks vacation with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Helmuth Schuette,
relatives and many friends.
Mrs. John Buchsteiner and children of Reedsburg, Wis., who have
been visiting relatives and friends here the past two weeks,
returned to their home today.
Louie Groth and Fred Kohler of Elgin, Fred Humphrey of Clermont
and Delbert Kohrs of Postville were operated at Postville
Hospital Tuesday for tonsils and adenoids.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Sonnkalb, Mr. and Mrs. Chris Salzgeber, Rev.
J.J. Clune and Mrs. Elizabeth Sonnkalb made an auto trip to West
Union, Elkader and McGregor Sunday.
The Herman and Wencil Lansing families came down from Ossian on
Sunday night to see Fred Tuttle off to Mooseheart, Ill, to join
the cement workers in Uncle Sam's service.
Mrs. Amy Bike of Marcus, Wash., and Miss Helen Haines of
Independence, who have been visiting relatives here for some time
past departed for their respective homes on Wednesday.
Among McGregor visitors Sunday were Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Meier, Mr.
and Mrs. Fred Luhman, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Luhman and Mrs. A.E.
Cornell, J.H. Dannenbrink and family and Miss Hattie Mott.
The annual convention of the Winneshiek and Allamakee W.C.T.U.,
will be held in the Congregational church, Postville, Aug. 8 and
9. Mrs. Ida B. Wise Smith, state president, expects to be in
attendance and help thruout the convention, giving an address the
first evening.
At a meeting held early this week to consider putting Postville
business places on a stricly cash basis in every line, it was
unamimously agreed to adopt that plan. Fred Luhman, F.C.
Comstock, Bart Fleming and Harvey Roberts were appointed to draft
plans suitable to all lines and present them at an adjourned
meeting next Monday night.
Mrs. W.J. Woodworth returned to her home in Chicago Sunday noon
after a visit to her husband, who is here promoting the Dubuque
packing concern. In a letter to her husband, received yesterday,
she speaks highly of the pleasant time shown her by the people of
this city and says she enjoyed her first trip west of Chicago
immensely.
Postville has two cases of smallpox at this writing. The Mrs. Eva
Jones home was quarrantined on Saturday evening and the home of
Agent Miller of the Milwaukee was duly labelled on Sunday
evening. Both of the cases are very mild nature and there is
little fear of a further spread of the disease. A report has just
come in that the Wm. Brandt home in west Postville was
quarrantined this forenoon, making a total of three cases.
Dr. and Mrs. A.A. Schmidt and Joyce Gertrude and Mr. and Mrs.
J.E. Perry autoed over to Dover, Minn., Sunday where the Jones
chautauqua system was holding forth and visited their daughters,
Lella Schmidt and Maude Perry, who comprise the Perry-Schmidt
Co., and found them well, happy and enjoying their first season's
chautauqua work immensely, and the hearty encores after each
number on their program is the best avidence in the world they
are making good.
"Over There" they Go.
The following from this locality will go in the July calls to
help in copping off the Kaiser:
POSTVILLE:
Frank McWilliams
Frederick J. Miller
Otto G. Foels
Wm. V. Phillips
George Leo Hanks
David P. Phillips
John Matts
Ralph E. Green
Andy E. Clark
Fred G. Lange
Charley Webster
Wilmer Webster
Rudolph Hein
Edmond White
Lester E.S. Harnack
Herbert H. Gass
Oscar Raker
Erin W. Schultz
Richard F. Williams
Verni H. Engel
Elmer Trudo
John B. Wersinger
Milton Gordon
Theodore H. Baker
LUANA
Henry W. Schroeder
Edgar F. Krueger
Emer. J. Schuette
Leo M. Mielke
MONONA
Harvey F. Sass
Matthew Wiedemann
George Lieht
George Wilson
Glen A. DeGraw
Henry J. Appel
Herbert F. Hupfer
Emanuel Kozelka
--
YOU LOSE MONEY if you don't feed LINSEED MEAL to the HOGS. For
Sale by HALL ROBERTS SON, Postville, Iowa
[transcribed by S.F., April 2006]
-----
Postville Herald
Postville, Allamakee co. Iowa
Friday, July 26, 1918
Kids Burn Kaiser.
A bunch of school kids -- boys and girls -- assembled at the
school house grounds Saturday evening with banners, tin cans,
etc., and stuffed a dummy which thye labelled "kaiser
bill." They then marched down the street to the Farmers'
Store corner, where, after stoning and clubbing the dummy they
poured on oil and burned the beast. Postville school kids are
loyal to the limit, for they had patriotism instilled into them
by their superintendent, G.W. Hunt, who by works as well as words
proved the faith that is in him -- giving up his position,
leaving wife and baby, to enlist, and he is now in France in the
uniform of a common soldier, ready to die if need be that his
country may not be ravished by the hated Hun.
Neiborhood News - Items of interest From Allamakee and
Adjoining Counties
-A barn dance at the Quillan place on Makee Ridge netted the Red
Cross $88.31.
-Sidney Bowen of Waukon, now in France, has been promoted to
Lieutenant Colonel.
-The town of Clayton dedicated a service flag containing 18 stars
last Friday, M.X. Geske of McGregor was the speaker.
-Mrs. Mary Cook of Cedar Rapids put $20 in the ice box to kill
germs. The next day when she looked for the money it was gone,
germs and all.
-A prize of $100 has been offered for the biggest pig raised in
the 12 northern townships of Fayette county. It must be donated
to the Red Cross.
-The Capoli button works at Lansing has shut down owing to a
scarcity of help. In normal times this concern employed from 75
to 100 men
-One hundred and fifty women have been employed by the
Chamberlain machine works of Waterloo to take the place of men
who have entered the army.
-While the automobile belonging to Hans Keiser of Elgin was
standing on the streets of Clermont in front of the Chris Miller
residence last Friday evening, some party or parties smeared
yellow paint over the hood.
-Forty-seven of Waukon's young men have been called to the colors
-- on the farms, under the "work or fight" order which
went into effect July 1st, and are being located as rapidly as
possible with farmers who are in need of assistance.
-Miss Lizzie Mitchell of over in Ludlow recently sold 47 head of
2 year old cattle for $6,440. She purchased these cattle two
months ago and placed them on her farm over in the Waukon
locality. It is said she cleared $2,000 on the deal.
-There's a team of horses waiting for the Clayton county soldier
who gets to Berlin first, John Kauffman, near Guttenberg, says he
will give the best team of horses and harness on his farm to the
Clayton county soldier who puts up the American flag in the
streets of Berlin. -- Volga City News
[transcribed by S.F., May 2006]