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Newspaper
Titonka Topic
Location
Titonka, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Feb 13, 1936
Page
3
In front of the Topic office on Main Street snow piles four feet high with no end in sight. Two storms have struck Iowa, halting transportation except for a few farmers with sleds. Many drifts stop teams from moving.
Northern Iowa awoke to a fierce forty mile gale with blizzard conditions delaying church services and closing roads. In thirty five years the winter hasn’t brought such winds and snow. Bird life scarce, autos scarce, doctors marooned, and sick needed care by winter means of buggy and horse.
Geo Nelson reports eight feet of snow blocking lanes in his farm area making towns accessible only by crossing fences. He notes foxes prowling his barnyard and near pheasants, preying on birds and driving them from resting places amid widespread marooning of farmers.
Harold Johnson spent a day and a half last week distributing feed to pheasants and partridges in Titonka area where most needed. Funds from other towns paid for the feed as farmers continue feeding during cold weather, fearing thousands have perished and more may if cold persists another week or two.
Lloyd Bartlett arrived in town Monday noon in a bob sled pulled by his team. Neighbors traveled via farm lanes to town, retrieving two dead pheasants and two alive, sheltering and feeding them. Bartlett said snow on the barnyard was ten feet deep, with even deeper drifts near Arch Burger’s wagon. Stories of older farming days filter into the office.
Snow blockade on a rural road near Wesley township was breached Tuesday as 10 to 30 men shoveled through four to eleven feet of crusted snow. Coal and mail shipments resumed from Britt, Titonka, and Wesley with trucks aiding the effort and easing fuel shortages.
In last week's Monitor the pancake tally was corrected to include nine eaten by Dr. Lichter, a young veterinarian here, bringing the total to 3,009. The note confirms the updated count and attributes the extra nine to the doctor.
The paper reduces from eight to four pages this week due to no train service between Titania and Garner since last Friday and delays in Topic ready prints. Officials say normalcy will return when weather permits and no one is at fault.
A radio report noted Town has spent 4,000,000 dollars clearing roads after severe winter storms. The list of lakes across counties includes Hastkobo, Swan Lake, Dickinson, Lost Island, Clay, Palo Alto, Cornelia, Wright, Mud, Emmet, High Lake, Tuttle, Big Lake and Allamakee in Dickinson, Emmet, and nearby areas.
Frank Meyer of the Mis gal farm southeast of Titonka will hold a closing-out sale on Wednesday February 19 1986 at which seventy head of livestock and all farm machinery will be sold plus numerous other articles. The Meyer family plans to move to Bode Iowa and operate a pool hall after the sale.
Ellis Jain sale on the Ward farm northwest of Deanchurch is postponed to Thursday February 20, 1936. He will auction 98 head of livestock: 14 horses 53 cattle 22 sheep and 4 pigs plus farm machinery and other items. Arch Burger also to sell machinery at the same time and place. Snow blocked roads caused the postponement. Stewart & Plaig handle the sale and the Savings Bank will clerk. Lunch on the grounds.
Krumm, who feeds game birds on his farm southwest of Swan City, counted 54 pheasants feeding on four recent mornings in a grove. Over two weeks he spread four bushels of corn and three of oats. He also saw a hen pheasant under snow with partridges nearby to keep warm as birds scratched away snow and rested on the ground.
After a severe cold snap and heavy snow, no trains or buses operated in or out of Algona through the weekend. City snow plows and workers cleared main streets while county plows struggled against the weight of the snow. Schools closed, coal shortages emerged in Laverne Whittemore and Fenton, and only a stalled Milwaukee line briefly moved through Mason City to Des Moines, with relief delayed.
A seven pound baby girl was born to Mr and Mrs Jesse Harms Saturday night after heavy snow and zero wind blocked a doctor from reaching the home. Reinder Kromminga with a snow plow and neighbor Mrs Henry Brandt aided the emergency by phone and in person. The doctor arrived once conditions eased and both mother and child were reported fine Sunday morning. Neighbors praised the assistance as a testament to good neighbors in a severe storm.
Thirty years ago Heiko Adams of German township married Etta Jones at the bride’s parents home. A man named Heiko Adams suffered a wrist and arm injury while helping haul hay. Three candidates race for state representative in Kossuth County. Abbe Winter moves from Buffalo Center area to a farm northeast of town. Lou Owens of Burt bought the Cooper farm in Portland township. A land sale near Woden at $40 per acre. Rural carrier Breen takes a 30 day vacation after two years on duty. A masked ball planned at Barlow hall for Washington’s birthday. Two men, Drs. Walters, Peters and Morse, vie for Iowa legislature seats from Kossuth. A baby girl born to C. J. Rippentrop’s family. Bruns rents the local butcher shop to open next week. Otto Callies visits from Sioux City. Miscreants steal sugar and sauerkraut from August Meier in German town. Dave Johnson to move to Parnell, Missouri. J. Van Ness runs for county attorney at Republican convention in June. Will Koestler and family expected from Wisconsin, renting Miller farm. Two weddings: Otto Pommerening and Hattie Truman. John Trunkhill and Emma Jain. M. J. Ash sells his residence. Kreger buys it. Baby girl born to C. C. Rippentrop in Lincoln township. Himer Dweelhardt plans to move to Alta, Canada for gov’t claims. Farmers south of town form a cooperative telephone venture. Dee Pickus visits editor. A baby girl born to H. Boekelman in German Valley. Louus Warburton trades a 120 acre Germania farm for an implement business plus $95 per acre value.
A 1905 item notes an isolated Ntonka town with temperatures at 40 below zero. J B Keil helped clear a 1000 foot Klondyke drift near the Mark Bacon farm. A Buffalo Center to Crystal Lake rail crash forced engineers to crawl out, and mail routes shifted between Wesley Burt Britt and other towns over time.
The church plans Sunday services if the emergency ends. Theme: A Tale of Two Cities. Doan service at 1 30 at Ross Buffington home. Ladies Aid at Doan on Thursday the 20th at Mrs Hott s. No Aid at Titonka this week. Washington s Birthday supper on Saturday the 22nd. Laymen Rally at the church Feb 25 with picnic supper, motion pictures, and music. The pastor read John 15 to four members near the parsonage and asked them to spread the word to two more.
All foreign subscribers of the Topic who had not paid in advance were dropped from the list last week except those who wrote they would pay later and still wanted the paper.
Titonka Telephone Company stockholders will meet at the I O O F hall on Saturday February 15 1986 at 2 PM. The 1936 business statement will be read and other matters will be transacted by order of the Board of Directors Tillie Falk secretary. Also noted are market reports including George C. Smith selling 8000 bushels of corn to a Minneapolis company for 8000 dollars at one dollar per bushel as seed corn prospects rise next spring.
Iowa seed law provisions will curb low quality seed sold as good seed says county agent A L Brown. With seed corn scarce farmers and dealers must check labeling and read labels before buying. The law requires variety, purity, weed seed content, noxious weeds, germination, date tested or grown, and county state of origin for seed corn alfalfa and clover. Auctions and Farm Bureau sales fall under seed law.
District court sessions last week ended Monday with no jury service or criminal trials. Judge Heald missed Monday due to blocked roads. Decrees and judgments issued in several cases include divorce for Keda and Henry Steussy, and sums for Goodyear Tire, First National Bank of Elmore, and others. New filings include foreclosure by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. vs Hua Kennedy and writ of attachment for Harms Oil Co. plus guardianship and probate actions for multiple Johnsons and estates.
The weather and roads slowed but did not stop marriage plans as two licenses were issued: Carl Harms and Harmka Ricks of Titonka, and Arthur B. Alexander and Evelyn B. Nickerson of Algona.
The Iowa Emergency Relief Service conducted a state survey last week on transient relief. The survey aimed to inform a Washington DC meeting considering the issue from a national perspective.
Jack Gaffney appeared before Justice H B White last week Wednesday on a drunkenness charge and received a sentence of 15 days plus costs of 4 50 dollars.
County Agent Brown reports the Farm Bureau Achievement Day planned for Bancroft Tuesday is postponed indefinitely due to bad weather and poor road conditions.
The county farmers planning board will meet next Saturday afternoon at two P. M. at the Galbraith building within the county farm bureau offices to discuss local agricultural plans.
Clarence Janvrin, chief clerk at the Corn-Hog office, said no new information came in during the week. The bill to pay 1935 contracts and related expenses had passed both House and Senate and was with the President awaiting a telegram indicating the next action.
The county board met in February approving final estimates by HL Brummond for grading on projects 4 5 6 8 and 11 and by J W Hilbert for projects 10 and 26. Chairman W H McDonald authorized to sign all oce contracts. War ducts on drainage district 69 directed to consult drainage attorney G D Shumway before noon Feb 14 1936. Drainage district 69 hearing adjourned to Feb 14 at 1 PM.
Will Brect awarded a $7,000 contract to Cowan & Son for a warehouse and office on his ground diagonally across northeast from the new P Q site. The building will have a full basement and construction to start when frost ends.
J. Hu Wegman received a 164 day jail term from Mayor C. F. Spechtlas after being found guilty on a charge of drunkenness in Tennessee. The case details reference the municipal court action and sentencing by the mayor.
The former Kossuth County Bank building and fixtures were slated for sale in open court last Monday but blocked roads prevented Judge Heald from arriving. The sale is postponed to next Saturday forenoon at 11 o'clock.
W. H. Horan once worked as an electrician in Algona and was a widely known county figure. He died at his Hollywood home last Monday. The body will be vaulting until spring when it will be brought to Algona for burial.
Mrs. Gardner Cowles of Des Moines gave a $2,000 check to the Algona Library last week. Her husband sent a $5,000 library gift less than a year ago.
D L Leffert has been appointed to the Algona board of education to fill the vacancy left by Michel who resigned due to work commitments in Des Moines. The appointment increases the board membership as the district adjusts to ongoing duties and personnel changes.
The Ullman family mourns infant Henry Meindert Ullman who died of pneumonia at 1 year 2 months and 28 days. Born Oct 30, 1934, he was baptized Dec 9, 1934, and died Monday at 10:18 A.M. His parents Meindert and Flora Ullman, sister Phyllis, and brother Frank grieve. Rev. A Kilian contributes the notice. The death is framed by faith in eternal life through baptism and Christ’s promise.
The Ricklefs family thanks neighbors and friends who aided during illness and death of their 16 month old daughter Dorothy May and for snow shoveling that enabled the funeral. Grateful for kindness and music during the services. Mr and Mrs Harry Ricklefs and family.
A fragmented list of names and dates including Jan 20 1937 entries for Moore Higgins and Tonka tied references to Tionka Iowa and Tonka. Other items mention Jan 21 1987 Rev H W Schoonlein and Mrs Bart BR Hunter plus Robbinsdale Minnesota. The text appears as a scattershot memorial or roll call with uncertain context.
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