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Newspaper
Pella Chronicle
Location
Pella, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Aug 16, 1956
Page
4
A short reflection notes that good ideas are scarce and editors welcome constructive input but will not bear responsibility for misstatements. It warns that editors will detect bad ideas and authors must not expect the editor to carry any burden or assume fault.
A long read on how plant life endures. Button weed seeds sprout after 50 years underground. Lotus seeds revived from a Gobi desert find are dated many centuries old. A Tokyo museum lotus bloomed four days in July. three seeds found near Tokyo span 2,000 years. Nature shows persistence and wisdom.
The Highway Commission extended a trucking firm’s deadline to shorten 45 foot trucks on Iowa highways from June 30 to August 31 amid engineering issues and questions about why the trucks were accepted under explicit length rules. The piece argues for strict enforcement for public safety as Iowa widens roads and questions potential exceptions.
An August Des Moines Tribune report from an Oskaloosa dateline details a Chamber of Commerce campaign to attract industry after a local setback. The piece cites resident complaints about jobs housing and town attitudes, arguing such public airing can spur civic pride and improvement rather than hollow cynicism.
The editors argue that taxes cut workers’ time, noting a year from one in ten to one in four in 1929 to today. They warn of rising costs, and discuss Egypt Iran and the Suez Canal as cautionary examples. The piece cites Iowa Falls population gains and Hardin County losses, urging industrial growth to retain younger workers and support rural economies.
A glance at notable items from The Chronicle dating ten, twenty, thirty, forty, and fifty years ago. Highlights events, people, and places that shaped the era, preserving a local history snapshot for readers.
The First Christian Reformed Church picnic unfolds in Ver Meer grove as church plans its 50th anniversary for September 19. A Baraca baseball game against a visiting Japanese university team is scheduled while John De Reus injures himself at Buerkens Wagon Factory. Street work on Main Street proceeds with cement crossings. R. R. Beard travels to Omaha for the Midwest Tennis Tournament. Town hosts 34 chautauquas this year, rivaling county fairs. Cement block machines ordered by Jaco Plender and Abe Den Adel. Iowa State University appoints Henry Cox as musical director. Texas land prospecting party departs Des Moines August 21 for Hereford. High school bans football due to roughness.
A Knox ville Express item notes the Yankee-Robinson circus arriving the next day with 550 horses and ponies and many wild animals. The Third Reformed Church seeks bids for a new building with architect James Verhey. Rumors spread of infantile paralysis cases in Ames linked to mail order packaging. A tent showing Ten Nights in a Barroom stood near the depot, while popcorn vendors drew ire. Editor Will Casey opines on street carnivals and vendor quality.
The city council plans to buy the People’s Trust Co. building on South Main for 7250 to serve as a city office. A mass meeting in Garden Square will discuss a Pella to Howell Station railway proposal. Burns, flood, and local business moves pepper the page, including the new Reavers & Hollebrands photo shop on East Franklin after a prior fire.
Twenty years ago Margie Veenman was crowned Miss Pella in a Marion County Fair beauty contest held in Knoxville. She would later represent Pella at the Iowa State Fair contest.
Thirty years ago a convoy of twenty five auto loads visited Newton to view the Woodrow Washer plant soon to relocate to Pella. The Rosscreen Company equipment is being moved by truck from Des Moines to Pella and a new building next to completion will house the plant. Ed LeCoca, Des Moines Tribune cartoonist, loses a prized German police dog cared for by his brother in Pella. the dog imported from Germany was valued at $600 and died from tapeworm. Herman Crum opens a car repair shop in the Anne Wieland building on East First Street as eleven men travel to Newton to join the Woodrow Washer factory workforce.
Fire damaged mine equipment prompting questions about safety. Pat Patterson of Western Union planned to address Pella Chamber members on telegram value in sales, with George Lankelma as Chamber president. A IGA store heist yielded only one dollar. De Wit cash register hit. Andrew and Henry Klyn bought North Main Street property from Dr. W. C. Ver Ploegh for a hatchery. Cass Kinney died at his daughter’s Harvey home after forty years near Des Moines River, a music lover who owned six violins. W Steenhoek sold First Street property to Lambert Ver Meer, with John Pos family in residence. Maxine Rebertus photographed with a large watermelon at John Robertus farm. melons described as plentiful.
Ten years ago Forty plowmen from six states prepared for the WHO Corn Belt plow match and conservation field day at Clyde Milner farm near Pleasantville on September 20 and 21. The event marked the first US field day where a whole farm would be converted to conservation practices in one day. The Marion County plowing contest would precede the WH0 match at Richard Steenhoek farm near Pella. The 26th annual National Union of Christian Schools convention was set for Pella August 21 and 22. The M De Been family of Massiluis Netherlands appeared on the front page wearing clothes sent by Meulpolder families of Pella, reflecting Holland era clothing collected by Pella residents. A farm story described conservation practices on Dick Kuiper farm near Otley, with three pictures.
Editor and experts debate TV’s role in juvenile delinquency. Sir Basil Heerlen cites American juvenile courts reporting worse cases, while Time magazine quotes TV as a poison causing shootings, stabbings and brutal crimes. He appeals to close the door to murder in the home.
The article notes all agricultural ties represented by officials and praises Kui per’s farm as a conservation model. N G Thomas of Fayetteville and his wife visited the Ransom Antry home, with Thomas recalling Central College from forty years prior. Navy hospital apprentice Theodore Vander Ark, home on leave, walks with a cane after leg surgery in Corona California. Ver Du and Van Houweling earned second places in pony and pleasure horse classes at Marion County Fair.
Frank Nereen once ran a grocery store in Des Moines moved away for work and has now returned to resume business in the city. He previously left to pursue other ventures and plans to reopen the store with familiar offerings for local customers.
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