Pottawattamie County, IAGenWeb Project Newspaper Home HOME
 Miscellaneous Clippings
from the Weekly Council Bluffs Bugle
and the Council Bluffs Nonpareil



JULY 13, 1859
A SCREW LOOSE! - WHERE IS THE CHERRY CREEK MAIL?

Mr. Byers informs us that he helped to make up the Mail at Denver City, the week before he left, and that the packages then put up, have not been received at Omaha.

Now, there must be a screw loose somewhere. By direction of the Department, sometime in February or March, the Post-Master at Forl Kearny, was directed to send all Mail matter for Omaha and Council Bluffs, and for places East by the route rnnning direct to Omaha and Council Bluff, down the North side of the Platte River.

Mr. Byers arrrived at Omaha on the 4th inst., and was much longer coming in, than the time allowed for transporting the Mail from Denver City to Omaha; yet strange to say, the Mail put up before he left has not yet arrived.

There mast be a screw loose, for Mr. Byers iuforms us that the Mail was properIy made up, and the packages were directed to Omaha, Council Bluffs and other Eastern points. We expeet, in about a week, to receive the packages mentioned, via the Southern route, from Leavenworth and St. Joseph cities.

How long, through the negligence, or dishonesty of those having charge of the Mails, are the citizens of Omaba, Council Bluffs and otber Eastem cities, to be held tributary to Leavenworth and St. Joseph?  We call upon the Department at Washington, to tighten this loose screw.


OCTOBER 11, 1900
PUSEY ADJUDGED INSANE
FORTY-SIX YEARS'
BUSINESS CAREER TERMINATES IN A PITIFUL TRAGEDY

A career of forty-six years in business and public life terminated in a pitiful and heart-breaking tragedy, when W. H. M. Pusey, the surviving member of the banking firm of Officer & Pusey was adjudged insane and was taken by two deputy sheriffs to the insame hospital in Clarinda for treatment. He made no resistance, and it was doubted by those whose duty it was to be present whether he realized fully the meaning of what was being done. Yet he evidently had some conception of what it meant, for he spoke of Clarinda as his destination, and at the train it was necessary for the officers to almost carry him from the carriage to the train.

It has been apparent for some days past that Mr. Pusey's condition was becoming worse. Tuesday and Tuesday night he became quite violent.  The information yesterday charging his insanity was filed by ihs physician, Dr. Donald Macrae, and the hearing was at Mr. Pusey's home, corner of Pearl Street and Willow Avenue.

Shortly after the death of Thomas Officer, his partner, and about the time of the closing of the bank, Mr. Pusey showed signs of mental break-down, and it soon became apparent that he would not be able to undertake the liquidation of the banking business. Largely on this ground, receivers were applied for and appointed.

Mr. Pusey, in company with his son, Frank Pusey, took a trip to Chicago in the hope that the change of scene might help him.  He did not improve, however, and after his return continued to show signs of mental unbalance. Recently the trouble became rnore pronounced, and Tuesday and Tuesday night Mr. Pusey became so violent that he was control1ed with difficulty. His symptoms wcre so threatenlng that it was considered necessary that he be taken to a hospital, but efforts to secure his consent to such action were fruitless.


MAY 4, 1927
FIVE MEET DEATH BY ASPHYXIATION IN ALBERTI HOME


Defective Burner in Kitchen Gas Range Plus Closed House Causes Catastrophe

The bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Lco E. Alberti were found in the kitchen and bath room of the gas-filled Alberti bungalow this morning. In an adjoining bed room were discovered the bodies of the two Alberti children, Leo Jr., 4 and George Eldon, 3, and the maid, Genevieve Endicott, 15. Electrlc lights burning in four rooms indicated that father and mother were overcome when they attempted to locate the source of escaping gas.

Clothed in a bath robe and wearing house slippers Mrs. Alberti was found asphyxiatcd on the kitchen floor. In the bath room, sprawled behind the tub, in night attire, was the body of Mr. Alberti. The children and maid were in beds.

Detected Odor of Gas

Of all the theories advanced by police the one given most credence is that the couple detected the odor of gas escaping from a partly opened automatically-controlled burner in the kitchen, and rose to investigate. All windows in the house were closed and it is thought the accumulation of gas overcame them before the burner could be closed.

The discovery was made by a brother, Harold Alberti, and Charles Hough, both conneected with the state savings bank, where Leo was assistant cashier. The men investigatcd when he did not arrive for work after telephone calls had been unanswered.

Learns of Deaths

Alberti's father, O. Alberti, a dairy farmer, first heard of the tragedy while delivering milk near his son's home.

"Do you know the Albertis?" asked a small boy.

"Yes, kind of," Alberti replied, smiling.


"Well, they're all dead," the youth answered.

The Endicott girl returned to the Alberti home from a party ahortly before one o'clock this morning, her escort told police. Her parents, Mrs. and Mrs. E. E. Endicott, live on a farm near here.

No inquest will be held the coroner said today.


MARCH 28, 1944
WITNESSES TO WILL ALL PRISONERS OF WAR

A petition for probating a will without proof of the signatures of three soldier witnesses, because all are prisoners of war, was filed here Monday.

The will is that of Francis A. Sullivan, who died last Dec. 22. One of the witnesses listed in the petition was R[obert] O. Sparks of Oakland, Ia.

The will, executed April 23, 1943, at a Lincoln, Neb., air base, leaves all of the $1,000 estate to Sullivan's mother, Jane F. Sullivan.

JUNE 21, 1945
SURVIVES EXPLOSION OF PLANE, NAZI PRISONS - IS BACK HOME - 16 MONTHS A PRISONER

S. Sgt. Robert O. Sparks, 21-year-old tail gunner on a Liberator bomber shot down over Germany in Dec. of 1943, is back home and visiting his grandmother Mrs. J[ames] I. Diemer of Oakland. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. O. Sparks live in Lincoln, Neb.

Sgt. Sparks' plane was shot down over Osnabruk, Germany, Dec. 23, 1943. The bomber exploded in midair after an attack by enemy fighters.

Three members of the crew were killed instantly, but Sparks and five others were blown clear of the plane. He fell some distance before he became conscious enough to pull the ripcord of his parachute.

A hip wound caused by shell fragment in the attack kept Sgt. Sparks in a prison hospital for several months. The "fatal" mission was Sparks' nineteenth over Nazi territory. He had previously been a crew member on the Liberator "Boomerang" in an historic raid over Ploesti air field in Romania.

Among his decorations are the air medal with two oak leaf clusters, distinguished flying cross, purple heart, unit presidential citation and ETO campaign ribbon.

Following a 60-day furlough with relatives, Sgt. Sparks will report to Miami, Fla., for reassignment.