NEWS FROM THE 1881 ODEBOLT OBSERVER
[Since the
1881 portion of this newspaper has not been microfilmed, Bonnie Ekse has made it
her mission to
transcribe important items about the people and happenings of
1881 in Odebolt. ]
THE OBSERVER, Published every Wednesday, By
F. R. Bennett
Odebolt, Sac County, Iowa.
Subscription, $1.50 per year in advance
FEBRUARY 1881
Volume 1, No. 32, February 2, 1881
A livery man uptown says he would like to buy a few good horses that can be driven without hands. He wants them for sleighing parties. He already has horses that can be driven with only one hand, but there is a demand for horses that will go all right without any driving at all, and not run away and smash things when the driver’s attention is otherwise directed. The liveryman is willing to pay a good round price for just the stock he wants.
Volume 1, No. 34, February 16, 1881, EXTRA
__A farmer of Cook township tells us that many stock men of his section are
herding their cattle in their corn fields, it being impossible to gather the
corn and feed them in the ordinary way, owing to the depth of snow on the
ground. In this manner much of the corn is no doubt wasted. Our
informant thinks that with the amount of corn burnt for fuel and wasted, the
quantity that will be offered for sale will be comparatively small and the price
correspondingly high.
__The Sac City cornet band are getting up a grand concert—said to be the
hugest thing of the season—and will give Odebolt a blast before long.
Volume 1, No. 35, February 23, 1881
Snowed in Again
No sooner does our railroad get plowed out than it is snowed in again. The road was opened again last Friday with a snow plow and three engines, the mail and express train following, delivering mails and express goods two weeks overdue. These trains returned to the main line sometime during Friday night. The next morning found the track again snowed in and no trains made their appearance Saturday. Monday afternoon the snow plow, impelled by two engines, succeeded in reaching this point and proceeding west, being closely followed by the passenger and express train, but no freight. This train succeeded in getting back the same day to the Junction and came in Tuesday morning nearly on time, for a wonder. A freight train also made the riffle, bringing long delayed freight and merchandise. Both trains proceeded west, but neither had returned up to noon to-day. No train to-day from the East.
Legion of Honor
The entertainment given by the Legion of Honor last Monday evening was one of the pleasantest social gatherings of the season. Brethren with their ladies assembled in Masonic Hall where they were entertained with speeches, singing and other exercises until 9 o’clock when they adjourned to the Delmonico where an excellent supper had been prepared, after partaking of which the party assembled in the Hall and “tripped the light fantastic” to the insidious strains of the Ross & Pitsor combination. The dancers kept seasonable hours, retiring before the arrival of the “wee sma’ hours ayont the twal’.” [Scots for “wee small hours beyond the twelve.”]
__We are glad to learn that B. F. Stearns, of the late firm of Reynolds &
Stearns, does not intend to leave us, but will remain and go into business
here. Odebolt cannot spare so good a man and mechanic as B. F. [The
dissolution of the partnership of Reynolds & Stearns was announced in the
February 16, 1881 OBSERVER.]
__The business of the postoffice [sic] is so large that more room was found to
be absolutely necessary. More elbow-room is to be given to the postoffice
force and more boxes to the patrons.
__There will be a wrestle in Odebolt between Will Harmon and John Kelley, both
of Wheeler township, on Saturday of next week for $10 a side.
__The blockade has caused a great scarcity of coal here and it has been almost
impossible to get enough for fuel. Corn is freely used but is found to be
much more expensive than coal.
(Researched and submitted by B. Ekse)