PATHOS AND HUMOR IN
STORY OF OSCAR FORSS
Hardships Of His Early Life In Sweden—Army   Life—Amusing Experiences In Philadelphia.

(By Merze Marvin) The true measure of a life is not years, But experience—what the individual does, and by this measure the life of Oscar W. Forss of this city, has been an eventful one, full of hardships, romance, pathos and humor— and through it all the development of sterling manhood and christian character. His is an example for emulation by every boy whose lot is cast amid poverty and upon whom the burden of self support falls early in life. As a shepherd boy in the hills of far-off Scandinavia, as a soldier, as an emigrant among strangers whose language he, could not understands, and for many years as the trusted foreman of the Shenandoah nursery, the story of Oscar Forss discloses many incidents of genuine heart interest. He is a typical example of the best class of foreign born but now thoroughly Americanized citizens.
Linkoping, in south central Sweden, is the birth place of Oscar Forss. He arrived there the 18th of December. 1857. He was christened Frans Wilhan Oscar Forss, but in later life dropped the first two sections of his name. The original family name was Forssman, but this was reduced to Forss when the elder Forssman entered the Swedish army. If a Swedish soldier's name be long or unwieldy, the army officers invent a new one for him. The father, grand­father and uncle of Oscar Forss had each been musicians, with good educations obtained at musical college. They were pianists, and led the singing the village church.

The elder Forss died when Oscar was but two years old, and the family resources were very meager, so that it was necessary to work hard to make ends meet. The elder brother and sister worked out. When Oscar was a lad of five years he began to contribute his share towards the repletion of the family pocket book and the support of himself, his mother and little sister, two years younger than himself. He traveled through the country and sold straw hats, handkerchiefs and dress patterns. There were copper mines seven long Swedish miles from the Forss home. Many well paid and well fed people lived there who were glad to purchase his wares. Hundreds of times he used to trudge the seven long weary miles to the mines to sell his stock of goods, and was usually rewarded with a good meal at the home of some of the kind people who lived near the mines.
When he was ten he began to work out. He worked on a farm and as he was very young and small the first two years he received only his board and clothing as compensation for his labor.   At first there was not much that he could do.   One summer he spent most of his time fishing. That was a part of the day's work. The fish were cleaned and sent to market. At the second place he worked he received $35 a year as wages, besides his clothing and board.   This farmer was a dealer in oxen.   In those days oxen instead of horses were used for the farm work and hauling.   One of Forss' duties was to drive the oxen from town to town for sale at the fairs.   Oftentimes he grew very tired and very sleepy, and on one occasion fell asleep at the table at the inn while trying to eat supper.  He knew nothing more until he awoke next morning in bed, to which the kind landlady had evidently carried him. The farmer  made  him  work very hard, but boarded and cared for him well.   Mr. Forss considers the lessons learned from this employer of utmost value to him.  He said "That man taught me how to work and made a man of me."  When the hands were in the meadow mowing hay the farmer went to the blacksmith and had a small scythe made for Forss to use.   He compelled the little fellow to keep up with his grown hands in the day's work.    He worked tor that man two and a half years.
For a time he worked as shepherd and grew very fond of his sheep. Once when he was sick the sheep were forgotten, for every one was used to depending on his watchful care for the sheep. The foxes and wolves were very bold, and made frequent raids upon the sheep folds, so that it was dangerous to leave the sheep out at night. When they were remembered, the other members of the family sought to bring the sheep back to the barn,  but all  in vain.

After dark they were frghtened and huddled together in a far corner of the field. Finally, the mother and sister carried the little, sick boy out into the barn yard so that he might call his sheep home to safety. They recognized, his voice and came pattering straight to the barn.
When he was fourteen years of age he secured work in a saw mill, He was paid one dollar a day at first and then as he increased in knowledge and skill his wages raised. When he left the saw mill at eighteen years of age he was receiving a daily wage of $2.50.
When Forss was eighteen years old he enlisted in the standing army of Sweden. He was away from home, and hence the members of his troop were strangers to him but he was treated very well. He enjoyed the military service very much, but considered it a hard place for a young man on account of the tendency to evil associations. There were some older and steadier men in the troop, however, whose influences were very helpful. One was Rev. John Quist, now pastor of the Swedish Mission church in Shenandoah. He was chaplain and with a few elder men held services every night. Forss was induced to attend these meetings   and was wonderfully helped.
After one year's apprenticeship in the army Forss was sent to a garrison at Karskrama in southern Sweden. This was a sort of a school of naval instruction. Prince Gustav, present king of Sweden, was a member of this garrison, and Forss knew him well. The garrison contained about 370 young men. They received much valuable instruction, and young Forss seized the opportunity to secure the education which had been denied him in his boyhood days. The Swedish government allowed the soldiers one free mail each month, that is, the mail was carried, free once each month. Forss always used his free mail privilege to send a nice fat letter to his sweetheart, Miss Anna Mariah Orberg. He left the garrison in July 1877, and was sent to another section of the country, and late that fall they were married.
Soldiers in the infantry were given the use of a farm during their military service. These government farms were numbered and Forss' was No.97. Forss and his young bride lived on this farm for two years, and were then obliged to give it up because of the husband's retirement from the army. He accomplished his retirement by hiring a substitute for the munificent sum of $150. No. 97 was turned over to the substitute. During the two years they had held the farm they cleared about a thousand dollars. Forss said that this was mostly due to the efforts of his good wife, for he was away most of the time on government service.

Mr. Forss and his family sailed for America the 5th day of August, 1880, and landed at Philadelphia September 5th. His elder sister had come to America eight years before the younger sisters three. She had married an American, and lived in Philadelphia. Oscar Forss and his family remained in Philadelphia until the following June. He secured work in a large iron works, and they lived in the suburb near by. They were the only Swedish people in the suburb and as they could not speak or understand a word of English, they had some amusing experiences.
They traded at a general store near their home and Forss was obliged to adopt many ingenious methods to make his wants known. The clerk would accompany him on a tour of the store, opening kegs and boxes and cans and barrels until Forss designated that the desired article was at hand. The amount he indicated by holding up the sum of money he wished to spend. When he was beginning to learn the language he went to the store one time to buy a dime's worth of writing paper. The clerk gave him a dime's worth of ground pepper. Not wishing to expose his mistake, he took the pepper and stopped at another store on his way home. He asked for a dime's worth of writing paper and again the clerk gave him pepper. Then he took his two packages of pepper and went home, minus the writing paper.
Their neighbors and Mr. Forss' business associates were all very kind to them and though they could not speak the language showed many courtesies and performed many thoughtful acts which have never been forgotten. Coming into a new country, where customs and people are strange, presents, a vastly different aspect when one settles in a community of fellow countrymen who can speak the native tongue and make the strangers feel at home. Mr. and Mrs. Forss had not those privileges. But they have never ceased to feel grateful to their kind friends in Philadelphia and are loyal supporters of the American government and the American people.

During the time he was employed in the iron works Mr. Forss had his foot badly crushed beneath some of the heavy railway machinery. He was unable to walk for seven weeks and during all that time the foreman looked after all his needs and evinced a sympathetic interest which was warmly appreciated. His fellow workers raised a purse of forty dollars for him. When Mr. Forss was taken home after the accident a brusque little German doctor was called. Here again the language difficulties presented themselves. The little doctor could not make himself understood and finally was obliged to search himself for "what he wanted. He attended the injured man for seven weeks and asked only five dollars for his services for the entire period.
When he was able to hobble about on crutches, Mr. Forss went to the store to purchase a twenty-five pound sack of flour and some other groceries. In his Swedish home the stores never delivered their wares, hence he supposed it would be necessary to himself carry the flour and groceries home. When he had shouldered the bundles, the grocer took them from him. Forss again seized his bundles and the grocer tried to explain that they would be delivered but his customer could not understand it. After much pantomine, Forss reluctantly took his leave, shaking his head dubiously. His wife, standing at the front gate, saw him coming a long way off and hastened to meet him. She wanted to know why he had not brought the groceries. He told her that the grocer had insisted that they would be brought to him. They could not understand it and went, in the house to discuss the matter. They decided that the grocer had cheated them out of the money and were mourning the loss when the delivery-man arrived with the groceries. Then there was great rejoicing in the Forss household.
The Forss family came to Iowa in June, 1881, and stopped at Stanton. They staid there two months and came to Shenandoah in August. They have lived here ever since. Mr. Forss worked for the Wabash railroad at first. He began work for T. B.. Mason in the nursery business March 14, 1882. The first of December, 1885, he commenced work for D. S. Lake in the nurseries and remained in his employ until March first of this year. For nine years he was foreman of Mr. Lake's ware house and five years was field foreman. Mr. Forss was raised in the Lutheran .faith, which was the official church of Sweden. After coming to this country he parted from the Lutheran church and joined the Swedish Mission church, in which he has been a deacon and a steward, and for nineteen years was Sunday school superintendent. A few weeks ago he transferred his membership to the Methodist church of this city.
Oscar Forss is held in high esteem by his fellow citizens and all acquaintances. Evidence of this high regard was his election as councilman from the third ward a year ago. He is a republican in politics. Mr. and Mrs. Forss have only one child living. Miss Edith Forss, who is the bookkeeper and head office girl at the Rateltin seed house, a responsible position which Miss Forss fills with great competence. They have lost several sons.