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Bag« 1.) : iwhich Itebwnstoday «s • '245t acre faria 15 naifes wuthwesi of lemtr’Cttfr; .' Kreth fsrhted the place . tintll. about two years .'ago-,'wfe.te.he AM ; Mrs, Kreth 'moved to 'their home -at the edge of Cprtefile;'.. Xh«M yteyhhv* fivd acres of ground.There' August. Ceeur Intt' plod* .i*fs::i*-lir'Bsti.a*w1y 'tarse#'' . ' m4-th is hlrhar* i^%:vm}wmj1 : \ 'tbit' the row* ofoon* which •; have beek planted ire 'mm* -ae ■ ' ■ preoilt ■■ u the Ur-. ■ «mi tni he ■' i draw* with his writing pea*.*. .■• ■ *■1 * ■' :« ~. ■ , V;. ■ There feu im * let ef mtfim-ture in Kreth’s life.,■He’s been * 'cowboy, salesman,. ; canvasser, farmer. '- ■ ;t ;.But’ none 'of fhe experiences was more exciting than the time Frank- James, passing himself off as Charley ;Ward,’’ spent 12 Weeks with the Kreth family—in ‘-the wake of the notorious Northfieid, ■ . Minn., ■ bank robbery- •. -crime committed with his more-famous outiaw-brother, Jesse James.Frank Jam« under flu - «Uaa, showed up in the Wellman .community'in .1381, proposing to buy both the JErgth place snd the farm 1 owned by a neighbor, according to : the Coralvllle resident.:For alj. Arose weeks . he lived with;'tils Kreth family., Before he left, they were pretty 1 sure their guest was the. outlaw, and .this brothkr of an ■ outlaw. |But the dam» boys—Jesie , tow' aroum there, too—■put up * mighty good front'for-.the farmer folk in the area.•Frank'joined ■die'.'Kreth family in its nightly prayers, says A C, • , Kreth, And dm’ alternate Sundays , ! he' took the .preacher’s place, at j •Idle church meetings.' Both Frank and Jesse James .took part. in. .the July 4 ceiebrs ; tion at Wellman in 1881, according to the retired Coralville farm-I air. ‘, Now.that be lias retired fram-[ farming, Kreth has been giving s more attention to his penmanship., A recent story about him in the Iowa City Fress-Citizen , served to focus not 'only Kreth's attention,. but the public's, on his . abilities along that lineThe request to inscribe, those: diplomas came in the wake .of:• the Press-Citizen yam, together: with another “please! from an;■ Iowa City store to write in on . certificates the names of men who. got monthly salesmanship awards, The Coralville man firmly be- : , lieves that, although the man of ■ , today, as well as the man. of the , future in America, may be well' educated, J$e may not be able to . write his own name, ,Kreth deplores the inability of » today’s ^people to write,'even legibly, remembers his own experience in learning the flourish — and the legibility he still has.It was when he was' 13 or 14 . years old and attending Woodland . school, nine miles from' Wellman,. that Kreth first aspired-,to write’ as he docs today.His instructor was an Ohioan , named’Herringj teacher of the; UttXe school,.- When .Kreth ■ said ) ‘Teacher, if only I could write as ' wel! as you do, then I would be ; satisfied. ?The teacher told him that would be . . osslble with mush ] practice, sold him ud others i • book on how to write. ■,The book, together with endless ' practice, left Kreth the ability to 1 write—just as well as the teacher.» • * ' Although Coralville’* August,■ Caesar JCreih never took the jobs ' : be could'have had, by reason ofhis able penmanship, he fads.that• his abilities along those lines haveI■ paved the way for him many times in business—and in pleasure. IYou can tell it's a pleasure for . Kreth to ‘ pen the swirling lines■ to “build a bird'1 (see accompanying photo) and to write as-he is able to write today.
Newspaper Details
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, US
Sun, May 25, 1952
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Kim K.
NA, 28 Aug 2024
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