Iowa Old Press

Iowa Recorder,
Greene, Butler co. Iowa
December 3, 1913

Accident Kills Waukon Man
Waterloo -- Carl Wurtzel died as the result of an unusual accident. He was shingling a building on the Dundee farm in Jefferson township. When he cut a shingle the knife penetrated his leg above the knee, severing an artery.

Wed at Council Bluffs.
Council Bluffs -- A Thanksgiving wedding was indicated by the issuance here of a marriage license to J.G. Bernholz, aged 37, and Lillian Hansen, aged 22, both of Sioux City, Ia.

Three Die Within Ten Months.
Iowa City -- An entire little family wiped out within ten months, that is the fate of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fitzpatrick and their babe. The wife and mother recently died at Las Cruces, N.M., and her body was brought here for interment in the family burying ground near Cedar Valley; the husband and father died June 22 of the current year; and the child died on February 14. The young mother was but 26. She was a former Iowa teacher and Drake student.

Mystery in Suicide.
Orient -- Guy C. Black, aged 20, only son of Mr. and Mrs. James D. Black, wealthy residents of Adair county, commited suicide at his home by swallowing strychnine. He died before medical aid could be summoned. With every reason for desiring to live, the dead youth did not indicate a motive for his act, and it is shrouded in mystery. He was unusually robust and was regarded as wonderfully stong in mind and body.

"Dead Man" in College.
Mason City -- W.S. Colby, formerly of Clear Lake, Ia., who was believed to have been murdered in Idaho seven months ago when his cabin was dynamited, has been located. He is a student in a college at Spokane and has been taken in custody by an insanity commission. He was formerly county surveyor. Efforts to collect a large insurance policy on his life started investigation by the company.

Bank is the Loser.
Mason City -- Theft of a pass book and forgery secured for Joseph Haven, alias Joseph Horn, $450 from the Peoples State bank here. Horn purchased a steamer ticket for his Balkan home. Detectives are on the lookout for him.

Four Students Qualify.
Iowa City -- President Bowman received the result of the Rhodes scholarship examination papers marked in England. Four students qualified: J.H. Seevers of Des Moines, Drake university; J.H. St John, Muscatine, Grinnell college, qualifying completely; A.S. Kirk, Des Moines, Drake; H.W. Van Pelt, Mt. Vernon, Cornell college, qualifying except for Greek. A choice will be made next June.

C.E. Harvey Under Arrest.
Council Bluffs -- With the arrest of C.E. Harvey, formerly employed as a cashier in the Great Western freight office here, in Gadsden, Ala., details of the alleged embezzlement of about $900 from the Great Western last March have just been made public.

Two Seriously Hurt.
Ida Grove -- An automobile running without lights crashed into the rear of a buggy occupied by Mr. and Mrs. John Fell a few blocks from the business center of Holstein. Both were seriously injured. Mrs. Fell was hurt internally, but she is still alive. The driver of the auto did not stop.

Boy Strangles Self.
Mason City -- Lloyd Bowen, aged 16, son of W.N. Bowen, strangled himself with a skate strap. He was playing with the strap about his neck, and it is believed it was drawn tight and he was unable to loosen it.

Will Fight New High Power Line.
McGregor -- At the preliminary hearing held here before the state railroad commission to decide the matter of granting a right of way to the McGregor Light and Power company to transmit electricity over the Girard highway to Monona, the Bell Telephone company, the Standard Telephone company and the Western Union were represented. They all protested the company's petition. The McGregor concern was represented by D.D. Murphy, Elkader; the farmers by C.J. Neill, Girard and Monona by L.N. Wellman and J.B. Ageton. The final hearing will be held at Des Moines at a date to be set by the commission.

Lone Highwayman in Job.
Swan -- Michael Viers was held up by a lone highwayman near here. Mr. Viers came to Percy by train and was walking to Swan, where relatives live. When near the Bennington bridge across the Des Moines river he met a man who shoved a revolver in his face and told him to hold up his hands. The robber too all of Mr. Viers' money and his watch.

Laborer Leaps to Death
Sioux City -- Charles Cassavant ended his life in a peculiar manner here. Cassavant went to the sixth floor of the Iowa Building, climbed a railing and jumped to the stone floor of the court. Cassavant's act is believed to have been due to a love affair.

IOWA NEWS NOTES
-John Mattson, of Perry, committed suicide by hanging himself to a rafter in the cabin where he lived alone.
-In attempting to stop a runaway team at Marshalltown, Edward Nason was thrown to the pavement and suffered a doslocated hip and other bruises.
-James H. Trewin of Cedar Rapids, for the past four and one-half years president of the state board of education of Iowa, tendered his resignation and D.D. Murphy of Elkader was chosen as his successor. Murphy also is a member of the faculty committee.
-Mrs. J.B. Edmunds, widow of a former prominent Iowa City lawyer, who was for many years a commissioner in the government offices, died suddenly at her home in Washington, D.C. while preparing to leave on a European trip.
-S.C. Pearson, of Ainsworth, Ia., a farmer, probably was fatally injured when he was pinned under his car, which turned turtle when it struck a rut in the road near Iowa City. Four ribs were crushed. His son escaped, but a companion, a Mr. Porter, of Ainsworth, was badly bruised.

[transcribed by S.F., April 2005]

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