Thorny issues

Although I'm all in favor of hugging trees, it's generally a good idea of steer clear of honey locusts --- in their original form (ornamental thornless varieties also are available). They're just not likely to return your affection.

This small locust grows along one of the Red Haw trails, where I was wandering around Monday afternoon, and with its companions elsewhere inside and outside the park is notable not just for thorns but also elaborate creamy spring-time blossoms and big flat seed pots in the fall (the sweet taste of the pulp inside the pods is responsible for the "honey" designation; native Americans reportedly used it for food and livestock continues to do so).

The trees grow fast, their wood is sturdy and slow to decay, and the thorns --- tough when mature --- even have been used as nails sometimes. So it's a multi-use plant that grew prickles, experts speculate, to protect itself against the browsing habits of long-vanished Pleistocene critters.

January, which departs today, has been kind of a thorny month --- so maybe the locust is a good symbol for it.

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Take the weather. The high yesterday was about 65, extraordinary for January in Iowa where the average high this month is in the 30s. It's been an unnaturally mild month with very little snow down here (there's more up north, so Iowa's not lacking entirely). Highs in the 50s are predicted through Thursday.

That's good walking weather, but it all seems wrong somehow --- no coat required. The woods were  silent other than the sound of the wind and, in the distance, a small chain saw park workers were using to bring down dangling branches. A few silent birds fluttered from branch to branch. The only commotion came when eight white-tails emerged from their own path through the woods and high-tailed it ahead of me down mine.

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Funeral services were held Sunday at the high school gymnasium in Centerville for U.S. Marine Master Sgt. Travis W. Riddick, 40, one of six Hawaii-based Marines who died Jan. 19 when a Vietnam-era CH-53D helicopter crashed in Afghanistan. That's awfully close to home, but the only sign here over the weekend was the giant GAR pole at the courthouse where flags flew at half-staff Friday-Sunday.

Most of us --- including politicians --- seem to have forgotten that the war in Afghanistan is ongoing; we're mildly surprised when death occurs that someone hasn't already declared victory and ordered retreat. That's not the case for military families, of course, or for small towns when one of their own dies, hundreds of flags come out to line the streets and plans are made for the procession home from the nearest airport large enough to handle a charter jet.

We're still using the word "hero" every time someone is killed --- and that's fine, although it seems a little hollow now.

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Two youngsters in the Des Moines metro-area Johnston school district, 15-year-olds Cameron Carico and Spenser Nelson, killed themselves over the weekend, one on Saturday, the other on Sunday. Authorities are saying there is no apparent link and aren't speculating about motivation.

Those who deal with such tragedies are pointing out anew, however, that suicide is the third-leading cause of death among people ages 15-24. What gets into kids?

I was reading a piece about bullying over the weekend (and there's no indication bullying was involved here) that made an interesting point. The author's criticism was focused on those who suggest, when bullying is discussed, that kids are naturally cruel --- a contention often cited by those who attribute bullying to the boys-will-be-boys (girls, too) factor.

The author's point was that kids are not naturally cruel, just very likely because they lack maturity and depth of experience to mirror the attitudes and behavior of those around them. What's observed at home, among fellow students or in the media is reflected in their own behavior. That's scarier than speculation about naturally-occuring mean streaks.

There doesn't seem to be much hopefulness going around these days --- and that's an adult issue. We probably need to work on that, give the kids a few positive things to mirror. If we seem to be tangled up in anger and despair all the time is it really any surprise that the kids are, too?

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The ongoing battle for the GOP presidential nominations continues to be a less than hopeful process as both Gingrich and Romney have demonstrated in the days leading up to today's Floriday primary.

Our old Cuban friend Fidel Castro, now 85 but still writing for the state media, characterized the GOP circus pretty accurately: "the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that ever has been."

Both Romney and Gingrich have been focused on the substantial number of Florida voters of Cuban descent, few of whom are fond of Castro, and demonstrating their Christian credentials in the process.

Romney declared during a debate last week that he'd "thank heaven" when Castro "returned to his maker."  Gingrich, taking it a step farther, declared his conviction that when the now-retired dictator goes to his final reward he'll be going "to the other place."

You've gotta wonder if an eternity in hell with Fidel wouldn't be preferable to a comparable amount of time with those assholes.

The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe

Looking at what today appears because of the original brick to be an an uppity Morton Building, it’s almost impossible to detect Chariton’s 1940s “moderne” Burlington Northern & Santa Fe depot inside that metal siding shell, its flat roof topped by pitches and gables. I wish I had a photo of the original version, but haven’t located one yet.

This was quite the building in its time, erected in 1943 on the footprint of the old (and larger) 1870s depot and hotel at a cost of $30,000. State of the art.

Go around to trackside, however, and the tell-tale bay of the ticket window still extends eastward.

The new depot reflected changing times. Its predecessor’s second story was a hotel offering weary travelers about 30 rooms, but those rooms had been unused since 1923 when the Hotel Charitone opened on the square.

The original contained two waiting rooms --- one for women and one for men. By the 1940s, it had been decided that men and women could wait together.

There also was a large and elaborate restaurant in the old depot, needed in the days before passenger trains incorporated dining cars. Now all that was needed was a lunch counter at most.

I arrived at this depot once as a child, during the three years (primary through second grade) spent at Dry Flat School. Parents had driven all the Dry Flat scholars into and around Des Moines on an annual excursion. I don’t remember anything about that.

Then we were put aboard a south-bound passenger train in the evening for the return trip to Chariton. I can’t remember whether we left from Des Moines, or were driven down to the depot in Indianola (the 33-mile branch line connecting Chariton and Indianola was closed during 1961). Our chauffeurs then drove back to the depot in Chariton to pick us up. I vaguely remember the trip.

I do remember getting sick in Linden Allard’s car on the drive from Chariton to Russell --- he smoked, didn’t roll the window down and my stomach wasn’t up to it.

I think some of the paving around the current depot, now used entirely for administrative and maintenance purposes --- passenger trains don’t stop in Chariton any more --- must date from the 1870s depot.

The BN&SF tracks through Chariton are heavy-duty and need to be. Hundreds of cars roll through every day, hauling Wyoming reduced to chunks of coal eastward, headed west empty later on. Standard freight trains roar by at other times.

Amtrak’s California Zephyr passes through twice a day, west-bound and east-bound, but the nearest stops are Osceola and Ottumwa.

I don’t recommend standing for any length of time between the BN&SF tracks, but if you do and look southeast, the effect for a variety of reasons related to perspective is mildly surreal.

The courthouse (right), which appears to be some distance to the west of the steeple of First United Methodist Church (left), actually is due south and a short distance east. Which proves, I guess, that you can’t always believe what you see.

A multitude of images

It is possible to raise wasting time to the level of art and I'm close. When you're good at something, you should share. So here's one of my favorite online time-wasting resources --- the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.

Type any word of combination of words into the search engine, sit back and spend as much time as you like browsing through the results from about 70 databases. If you're a hoarder, you can download these images in a variety of sizes and formats and add to the clutter on your hard drive.

Not much turns up when you do a "Chariton" search and much of what does is related to Chariton County, Missouri, but as it turns out a classic 1907 panoramic view of the Chariton, Iowa, square is the Library of Congress collection, included in the "Panoramic Photographs" database. I've clipped a portion of it out to use at the head of this post. Here is the entire image, but you'll have to right-click and hit "open in new window" to see the whole thing.

There still are several original versions of this image in and around Chariton, including two at the Lucas County Historical Society and one hanging on the wall at Piper's.

Cedar Rapids native Carl Van Vechten, author, photographer and patron of the Harlem Renaissance, has his own database of 1,395 photographs, many of them of celebrities, including the incomparable Josephine Baker (above).

There's a lot here, too, to keep those of us who obsess about old buildings amused. Here's a photograph of one of my favorite houses in the whole world, Shadows on the Teche (or the Weeks/Hall house) at New Iberia, Louisiana, from the "Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South" database. This incorporates photographs taken primarily during the 1930s by architectural photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston.

My favorite database, Historic American Buildings Survey, continues to grow since the collection consists of more than 500,000 images --- and that's a heck of a lot of digitalization. The survey (known has HABS) was a New Deal project, commenced during 1933, to employ architects, draftsmen and photographers left jobless by the Great Depression. The result is an amazing resource that, that had it not been for the Great Depression and New Deal, would not exist.

An "Iowa" search turns up nearly 5,000 images --- and, sadly, HABS workers worked less extensively in Iowa than they did elsewhere and apparently not at all in Lucas County. None-the-less this is an invaluable record, capturing in many instances buildings that have since vanished leaving little trace behind.

Here, for example, are two images from the HABS database of the octagonal Henry L. Russell house, near Bloomfield, that was collapsing when the photographs were taken and disappeared shortly thereafter.

So if you've got a little time to waste on a Sunday afternoon, dig into the database and have fun!

 

Good news for the Charitone

I think it’s safe to say, since preliminary announcements are being made, that title to the Hotel Charitone has returned to Lucas County --- and that’s very good news.

Owned for years by someone from another state who acquired it to redevelop and then lost control of the situation, it’s been deteriorating for years --- roof failing, small portions of its brick facing peeling away, windows boarded to prevent glass from falling into the street. The structure, designed by Chariton architect William Perkins and on the National Register of Historic Places, remains structurally sound, however.

To settle a nuisance suit filed by the city, the owner now has transferred title to an outfit called Hotel Charitone LLC. Although details concerning the new arrangement still are being worked out and won't be announced for some time, the limited liability company is not associated with the city, the county or the Chariton Chamber of Commerce.

Long-term goals, I would imagine, are to stabilize the structure and then redevelop it into affordable housing --- a strategy used successfully by other cities faced with similar situations. The most recent example in southern Iowa is Creston’s Hotel Iowana, larger than the Charitone and abandoned for years but as of late last year fully restored, redeveloped and operating.

A frustration during recent years has been to watch projects elsewhere take advantage of financial incentives available for redevelopment projects like the Iowana while the Charitone’s owner dithered or took no action at all.

Another frustration has been to hear “just tear it down” sometimes from folks who really haven’t considered (a) what a blow that would be to the Chariton square and Chariton in general or (b) just how much demolition would cost. Anyhow, I think this is a really hopeful development.

The Charitone actually is the second hotel to be located on its site at the northeast corner of the square. Here’s the text of an article about the site published in The Herald Patriot during 1923 as the brand new Charitone was preparing to open its doors:

AN OLD HOTEL SITE

Charitone Corner Occupied by Early Hostelry

The new Hotel Charitone occupies one of the best building locations in Chariton. The corner site is especially desirable for hotel purposes as it is midway between the railway stations, affords outlet on the main highways and gives easy access to all local places of interest. However, the builders of Hotel Charitone were not the first to select this corner for a public stopping place. In the sixties (1860s) a man known as Jimmie Gallagher operated a popular tavern on the same site.

Jimmie Gallagher, a thoroughbred son of Ireland, came to Chariton from Rome, Iowa, a small town west of Mt. Pleasant on the Burlington line. It is said he followed the railroad west and on his arrival at Chariton, considered this a desirable place for residence and business, and accordingly launched the hotel enterprise. This was, it is believed, in about the year 1865. The building in which he opened was about 45x60 feet, with main entrance on the south as at Hotel Charitone, but nearer the corner. Gallagher’s House, as the place was known, was a two-story frame structure and had the reputation as one of the best inns in this part of the state. The hotel office was in the corner room, as in the present new structure, and the dining room joined the office on the east. In the basement was the bar, well equipped and stocked to serve incoming thirsty travelers who had come perhaps ten to 30 miles on horseback or in wagons. It is noted that the travelers from afar were, however, not the only ones who patronized the bar.

Local citizens are said to have often frequented the basement room for a wee drap from the cup.

After Gallagher had been in business for ten or twelve years, the house passed into the hands of Mrs. Eliza Crall. G.W. Parlin of Chariton also ran the house for some time and a man named Fridley was one of the operators of the early hotel. Mrs. Margaret Maloney was in charge of the establishment from 1879 to 1882. A man by the name of Peppers is said to have been the last person to engage in the hotel business on this corner. The house was built in the early sixties, say local early residents.

S.H. Mallory later came into possession of the corner lot which he owned for several years. The building was replaced by a wooden one-story structure of some length. This faced the west and was used by C.H. Palmer as a store. Here was a stock of notions and for some years the corner site was a part of the merchantile section of the town. This building burned and the corner lot has since been unoccupied except for temporary structures used for tabernacle meetings, entertainments, etc.

The early inn on the Charitone Hotel corner is identified as “Chariton House” on a generally accurate bird’s eye sketch of the town that appears in the 1875 Andreas Atlas. The Chariton House, to the right, has an “11” on its roof, keyed to an explainer elsewhere on the main page.

The Rock don't stop here any more

It was possible, when my mother was growing up on a farm two miles northeast of Williamson, to drive into that coal mining boom town and catch a train to anywhere --- north to Des Moines, then Minneapolis-St. Paul. The first stop southbound was here, at Chariton's Rock Island Depot.

Continuing south on the Rock, the end of the line was Kansas City. At the C.B.&Q. Depot across town, four blocks or so northwest of the square, connections were offered to the east and west, southwest or northwest, on the Burlington's main line and its two lesser branches.

Miners who lived in Chariton could board special trains at the Rock Island depot and commute to and from the coal fields of northeast Lucas County.

Today, although the Rock has long since turned to dust, Union Pacific freights still rumble by every day, but none stop here any more. The fine vaguely Spanish revival depot, constructed of pressed brick, stone and terra cotta, sits largely unaltered along the tracks, windows boarded against vandals, gently crumbling, used as a maintenance shop.

Many newer Chariton residents may not even realize the depot is here. Although located just a little more than three blocks east of the square beyond Court Avenue's dead end, it's off the beaten path.

During the late 1990s, the Chariton Historic Preservation Commission and others attempted to work out a long-term lease agreement with the Union Pacific that would have returned the depot to public use, but they were unsuccessful and attention turned to the Freight House, now beautifully restored. The depot settled into obscurity again, its future uncertain.

The Rock Island was the final piece of the rail puzzle that turned Chariton for a time into a major railroading center. Construction commenced during the summer of 1911 on more than 60 miles of track to connect railheads at Carlisle to the north and Allerton to the south. The tracks were completed, behind schedule, during early summer 1913. The first regular train on the line rumbled through during early July of the latter year.

The main line of what now is the east-west Burlington Northern & Santa Fe had reached Chariton during 1867 and branch lines headed to Indianola with connections into Des Moines and to Leon with connections to St. Joe had been completed prior to 1900.

The Rock Island was built for two reasons. First, to provide a direct route from the Twin Cities to Kansas City, thus giving the Rock an advantage over the Great Western, then dominant. And second, to access the vast coal fields of northeast Lucas County and Marion County.

The legendary Central Iowa Fuel Co. mines beginning just northeast of Chariton and continuing to Tipperary and Olmitz were able to develop only after the Rock and its spur lines to the mines were completed. In Marion County, Melcher-Dallas also developed into a coal mining center after the Rock Island was completed.

Construction also changed Chariton's landscape substantially. More than 60 houses on or alongside what became railroad right-of-way in east Chariton were moved or demolished. About 1900, William B. and Kate Penick, who developed the Spring Lake residential addition in south Chariton, donated a tract of undeveloped land now south of Highway 34 to the city for a substantial park, also to be called Spring Lake. The new Rock Island line cut directly through it, ruining the area's park potential.

The depth of the cuts needed to take the rail line through Chariton also was a challenge, especially the cut need to take Rock Island trains under the east-west C.B.& Q. main line.

The depot was completed during June of 1913, just in time to serve the first trains arriving in July. Here's a portion of an article from the Chariton Herald Patriot of June 5, 1913, describing it:

ROCK ISLAND DEPOT ALMOST FINISHED

Work on the new Rock Island Depot

is Almost Finished and it is a

Very Handsome Structure

The Rock Island station is receiving its finishing touches and presents an appearance in which the people of Chariton can well take pride. Those who have visited the station and wondered how or why workmen can be so careless in the handling of material will note a vast difference now. Experts have been employed for several days in removing all traces of mortar and other disfiguring stuff and now the hard pressed brick of which the building is constructed is as clean as when first taken from the kiln.

Inside the building the rooms are finished with red brick of very handsome appearance, oiled and dressed to bring out the full beauty of the material. Tiled floors are finished in the waiting rooms, the ticket office is being prepared for business at an early date and indications are that the road will be ready for traffic by July 1st.

The station is more nearly fire proof than any structure in Chariton, the base board consists of stone, while window trimmings are constructed of stone also. All these materials go to make a handsome, sanitary and practically fire proof building, while a terra cotta roof adds greatly to the outside appearance.

The Rock Island has certainly treated Chariton to an excellent station and one which will impress people going through our city very favorably.

Chariton already was a prosperous town when the Rock Island came through. Commercial space on the square was so scarce that those in charge of developing a construction headquarters for the project could not find offices to rent and so leased a house instead. The new rail line was a cause for even more optimism.

As the mines northeast of Chariton developed, dozens of houses for miners were built in town --- the most accessible remaining examples are in a row along the east side of North 7th Street just north of Yocom Park. The area still known by some as White City in southeast Chariton was developed for miners.

And it is unlikely that the Hotel Charitone, which opened its doors with considerable fanfare during 1923, would have been built on the scale it was had the Rock Island not come to town. A major theme of its advertising, at a time when what became Highway 34 still was gravel at best, was the convenient location midway between the Burlington and Rock Island depots.

In the jailhouse now

The reassuring thing about Lucas County’s old jail/sheriff’s residence, placed last week by Preservation Iowa on its top-ten list of endangered historic Iowa buildings, is that it’s in such good shape. Figuring out how to creatively recycle in trying economic times an obsolete jail built like a bunker is the challenge.

Four of us, including an engineer, did a walk-through Wednesday. None of us had been in jail before --- at least not this one --- so it seemed like a good idea to take a look at a building we’ll be talking about quite a bit this year.

The fact that the old jail is in the shape it’s in is a tribute both to the guy who built it in 1916, contractor Andrew Jackson Stephens, and to the county, which has maintained and reinvented it during the last century.

As designed, the south part of the building was intended to house the sheriff and his family --- the sheriff’s wife, back in the day, would have cooked for prisoners and supervised laundry, cleaning other tasks.

This area, two full stories above a high, dry and well-lighted partially-finished basement, has served for many years as the county law enforcement center, housing both the Lucas County Sheriff’s Department and Chariton Police Department.

These offices were moved to the new Law Enforcement Center last fall and, if the heat, water and power were turned back on, it looks as if another agency could move right in. A little cleaning would be needed, since furniture and equipment not needed in the new LEC, as well as a good deal of rubbish, was left behind. A good stairway, oak-railed from first to second, connects all three floors.

The north half of the building was designed as a jail, and still is --- although extensively adapted over the years. Here, a cast-iron open stair, caged at the top, climbs from basement to the second floor. The thickness of the reinforced concrete basement walls is extraordinary.

Originally, cells and holding areas in the jail would have been configured differently and lighted by barred windows. With a couple of exceptions on the stair, these windows have been bricked up over the years and so there is no natural light now in the main cellblock or cells intended for women and juveniles. The main first-floor cellblock, individual cells around a common area, is new when compared to the rest of the building, created within the original shell with concrete block and steel doors. The second-floor area above the cellblock is a large open day room.

This would be the most challenging area to recycle, considering all that concrete, cast iron and steel, but certainly could be done. As is, the jail would make an excellent secure storage facility. If some of the windows were re-opened, innovative workplaces might be possible.

While we didn’t probe and poke extensively, there were no signs of structural deterioration inside the building. The condition of the roof has been a topic of conversation and there are a few stains on second-floor ceilings to that indicate leaks have occurred. But there were no signs of catastrophic failure.

Walk around the outside of the building and you notice places where repairs to the brick work have been necessary over the years. The only major cause for concern right now, however, is at the northeast corner of the building where a drain pipe from the trough that drains the roof has vanished, allowing water to trickle down the side of the building. That can be disastrous for a brick structure, but also could be easily corrected.

Currently, all utilities have been disconnected and the building is not heated. One season of this should be OK, but after that deterioration will start, then accelerate.

It’s always entertaining to think about what you might do with a building of this sort. Location --- right along Iowa’s busiest rail line --- is a challenge. Rail traffic has not affected the structural integrity of the building nor is the sound of passing trains that intrusive. The train whistles at the crossing adjacent to the jail property, however, are very loud.

It would make a good courthouse annex, if such were needed, offering plenty of storage space to officials who need it.

And I keep thinking of two extraordinary examples of business-related creative recycling already in place in Chariton --- McKinley, Inc., headquartered in the former Garfield School, and Johnson Machine Works, which more recently has converted two attached rail-side buildings into highly innovative headquarters for its drafting department.

The great advantages of turning jail cells into offices, of course, would be that supervisors could ensure workers remained at their desks --- and each office would have its on executive toilet.

That’s probably the sort of thinking that’s needed. Now if I just had a spare million or two gathering dust …

Horse-whipped: A Disgraceful Affair

Mallory's Castle

What with “Downton Abbey” and all, I’ve been thinking of producing a period soap entitled “Mallory’s Castle,” based upon the lives of the Mallorys, looked upon as Chariton’s first family from 1867 until 1909, and their legendary home, the Ilion (aka Mallory’s Castle).

The Mallorys generated enough enough sturm and drang during their tenure here to justify serialization, but the disappointing thing is that Chariton newspapers almost invariably enforced a code of silence around their routine scandals --- so details are lacking.

One partial exception to that is a report in The Chariton Herald of March 15, 1886, detailing an encounter between one of the lesser Mallorys --- Albert Douglas “Bert” Mallory, born 1861 and the youngest brother of family patriarch Smith H. Mallory; Bert’s wife, Susie (Kubitshek) Mallory; and a young Chariton attorney, Virgil G. Baker.

Although the encounter is described in great detail, the reporter chickened out and disappointingly did not provide comparable detail regarding what led up to it. So there’s plenty of room here for imagination.

A little background might be useful. Bert Mallory was not the brightest star in the Mallory constellation, taken in hand by his elder brother and placed in jobs over the years in Mallory banks in Chariton, Lucas, Creston and Kansas. It is possible that he was something of a brat. Bert had married in 1882 Chariton girl Susie Kubitshek. Although the marriage lasted about 10 years and produced two children, there are signs the balance of the Mallory family thought Bert had married beneath himself --- Susie’s father, Russian-born Henry Kubitshek, was a grocer and Jewish. The Kubitshek family, however, was widely respected in Lucas County. At the time this incident occurred, Bert and Susie were living in Lucas where he had been installed as manager of Farmers & Miners Bank, founded by his elder brother.

Bert and Susie left Lucas County soon after this incident and so did Virgil Baker, who moved to Santa Ana, California, where he died in 1894 at age 33. We’ll probably never know the juicy details, since nothing further was published and it is extremely challenging to penetrate court records of that era.

But this wonderful, gloriously self-righteous story made it into print, and we can be grateful for that.

DISGRACEFUL AFFAIR

Mrs. A.D. Mallory, Protected by Dave Ferris, Assaults V.G. Baker Esq.,

 While Her Husband, From His Hiding Place Across the Street

Watches the Performance.

It becomes our duty this week to record one of the most disgraceful affairs that has ever occurred in our city. It appears all the more disgraceful when the social standing of the principals is taken into account. It wears still darker hue on account of the innocent people who are compelled to endure the humiliation and mental suffering consequent upon the reckless conduct of those who should have known better. Did we consult our feelings only in reference to those who, through no fault of their own, are made to suffer through the act of another, this article would not be written. But the sentiment of the community is a unit that these innocent people, who were in no manner responsible for the disgraceful proceedings, are in no manner disgraced thereby. They may feel humiliated, and no doubt do; they certainly feel hurt and heart-sore, but they can rest assured that they have the heartfelt sympathy of every man and woman in the entire community. But it is due the readers of the Herald that the facts, so far as we have been able to obtain them, should be given.

On last Saturday morning, between eight and nine o’clock, a boy was sent up to the office of Mr. Virgil Baker, to inform him that a lady wished to see him at the foot of the stairs. On reaching the street he was met by Mrs. A.D. Mallory, who, after saying: “So you won’t speak to me won’t you,” attempted to strike him with a whip. He seized the whip, when he was caught from behind by a man named Ferris, who attempted to hold him while Mrs. Mallory applied the whip. Virgil jerked loose from the fellow and informed him that if he laid his hands on him again he would kill him, at the same time making a motion for his pistol picket. The fellow backed off, and Virgil, to escape the disgrace, turned and walked up the stairway. At this time A.D. Mallory, who had been conveniently under cover on the opposite side of the street, ran across to the stairway, armed with a brick, and following up into the hallway, attacked Mr. Baker, attempting to strike him with the brick. The attack was soon ended by Virgil taking the brick from him, and choking him up against the wall. When he was released, he and his wife proceeded down the stair and out on the street.

The news of the attack quickly flew over town, and all sorts of rumors were afloat, while comments were heard on every hand. Mr. Baker at once filed an information against Mrs. Mallory and Dave Ferris, and another against A.D. Mallory, charging them with assault and battery. Warrants were issued and the parties arrested Saturday evening at Lucas. They gave bonds for their appearance before Mayor Davis on Monday. At the appointed time Ferris appeared and entered a plea of not guilty, but a short time afterwards T.M. Stuart Esq. appeared and entered a plea of guilty for the three. Mayor Davis assessed the fines as follows: David Ferris, $25.00 and costs; A.D. Mallory and Mrs. Mallory each $50.00 and costs. The fines and costs were paid a few minutes after they were imposed by A.D. Mallory, and the first chapter in the affair was ended.

Since the parties who were arrested for the assult have seen fit to enter a plea of guilty, and have paid up the fines and costs without attempting anything in the shape of justification, and without even making any showing in extenuation, we leave the matter of provocation just as they have left it, and our readers will have to draw on their imagination for conclusions. But so far as the assault itself is concerned there seems to be but one opinion prevalent, and that is that it was a most ill-advised affair, and one that the parties will regret as long as they live. Still another opinion seems to have taken deep root in the minds of our citizens and that is, that it was not the voluntary act of Mrs. Mallory. She has grown up from childhood in Chariton and has ever been held in the highest esteem by all who know her. She is the daughter of eminently respectable parents, and has been surrounded with home influences that could not fail to develop her into a perfect lady. Possessed of a modest and unassuming disposition, her host of friends feel assured that the act of Saturday morning is so utterly foreign to her nature that she must have been either coaxed, threatened or driven to it. That she should have voluntarily selected the man Ferris as an escort and protector is an idea that is utterly abhorrent to all who know her.

And closely following this opinion naturally comes another, that her husband, A.D. Mallory, has been wholly responsible for the entire business. Everything connected with the affair seems to point directly to him as the responsible party. That he knew the assault was to be made, there is not the shadow of a doubt. That he was conveniently near the location, and where he could watch the whole transaction is also beyond question. What was he doing there? Waiting for his wife to do the work that he himself was too cowardly to undertake? Skulking behind a wall and leaving his wife to the protection of Dave Ferris. Knowing that his wife was waiting to commit an act which would be certain to compromise her in the minds of the public, and raising neither his voice nor his arm to prevent it! Waiting and watching, from his secure position behind a wall, for the moment to arrive when the curtain should rise on the first act. It is not at all surprising that those who know these facts are unanimous in condemnation of his course. There is not a single redeeming feature in the entire transaction for him. There is not a single Palliating or mitigating circumstance for him. No matter what the provocation may have been, it would not, and never could justify A.D. Mallory in either driving or permitting his wife to enter an arena where her own native modesty and usuages of polite society forbade her entrance. If his motive was to bring disgrace upon Virgil Baker, by having it said that he was horse-whipped by a lady, he has ignominiously failed, for the reason that Virgil’s temporary humiliation is entirely lost sight of in the feeling of utter contempt that is felt for A.D. Mallory himself. He it is who must stand alone and bear every whit of the disgrace that results from the affair. The community will not permit any of his innocent friends to bear one iota of the burden of ignominy which he has brought upon himself.

The affair is not ended yet. Soon after the fines above named were assessed, Mr. Baker filed an information before Mayor Davis, in which he charged A.D. Mallory, Dave Ferris and Mrs. Mallory with the crime of conspiracy, and warrants were issued for their arrest. On this charge they waived a preliminary examination and were bound over on bonds of $500.00 for their appearance at the next term of the District Court, which convenes on Monday. As an investigation of this matter is to be made by the grand jury, we deem it proper to refrain from expressing any opinion until after that tribunal has acted on the information that will be brought before it.

Blogs and bathrooms

Iowa's palatial toilet along eastbound I-80 near Iowa City.

The post counter attached to this blog clicked over the 1,000 mark the other day, something that may be worth noting --- only because I'm not very consistent and the fact this has been going on with varying degrees of regularity since May of 2005 is a source of personal amazement.

The count is a little misleading because I go back into the archives sometimes to combine posts written in installments or accompanied by multiple photographs. Back in 2005, multiple photographs could not be posted with text and had to be posted independently.

A surprising number of people are interested in earlier posts related to local history and genealogy, so I want related text and photos to come up together when someone does a Google or other search and the only way to insure that is to manually reconfigure the archives, incorporating photos into the posts where they belong and killing off the originals.

One of these days I'll go back in and do more of this, probably knocking the count under a thousand again. But for the time being, there it is.

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Just as I'm not very consistent, neither am I overly sentimental --- so it was a little disconcerting to be flooded with rest-stop recollections after reading in this morning's Register that the death sentences imposed by highway designers on four roadside toilets will not be rescinded. These are the north- and south-bound rest stops along Interstate 35 just north of Des Moines at Ankeny; and their east- and west-bound counterparts along Interstate 80 just west of Des Moines.

All four have been doomed by the need for new interchanges. There are vague plans to replace the I-35 stops, but apparently no one's considered the I-80 alternative. reinforcing the thought that engineers who design highways never travel on them.

All four are vintage rest stops (eligible for the National Register of Historic Toilets) dating from the earliest days of Iowa's Interstate system when the point was to offer travelers basic stools, urinals and sinks in simple buildings with picnic tables scattered on the grounds outside.

Iowa's newer rest stops are potty palaces, themed to convince travelers from out of state that a longer stay in Iowa has the potential to be as rewarding as use of  our toilets --- Prairie School architecture near the Iowa-Missouri line; Civil War nostalgia up north; literary accomplishments (the photo up top here) over near Iowa City, and so on.

The I-35 southbound facility at Ankeny always was the place for those of us from up north to gather our thoughts, comb our hair and the like before meetings or social engagements in Des Moines. Once, many years ago, a carload of us actually got dressed at south-bound Ankeny for an elaborate wedding downtown at St. Paul's when it became clear there wasn't going to be time to check into the hotel first, as had been the plan.

I became most itimately involved with the I-35 rest stops during those years when, driving a new vehicle, I passed no-smoking rules and therefore had to stop at each for a cigarette.

The most interesting enounter occurred at Ankeny one south-bound Sunday afternoon (I was headed for church, honest) after smoke stops at Dows and Story City when I was confronted by a gentleman with Story County plates whose hobby it turned out was to cruise truck drivers for sex of an afternoon, commencing at Dows and then, depending upon what sort of luck he was having, continuing down to Ankeny, then back to Story City. Having spotted me (I was driving a distinctive two-door black Blazer at the time) at both Dows and Story City he concluded I was either an undercover cop or in the market, neither of which was the case --- but it was an interesting conversation.

I'll save it for my memoirs, however.

Wrestling with the issues

It’s kind of hard for someone who is athletically inept and not especially competitive to make much sense out of wrestling-related hazing cases, some overtly sexual, that surfaced in Iowa high schools during January after incidents late last year.

So far as wrestling is concerned, I’m probably missing the point, but the concept of men young or old clad in skin-tight singlets rolling around on the floor with each other as crowds cheer seems a little warped. I’m told it builds character.

High school and college wrestling is a big deal in Iowa. State wrestling tournaments are a major cultural event. But ---

Two students at Nodaway Valley High School in Greenfield, over northwest of here, have been charged with second-degree sexual abuse for allegedly sodomizing as many as three younger teammates with the handle of a jump-rope as a punishment for infractions such as missing practice.

At Sioux City North High School, four members of the wrestling team have been charged with simple assault after three allegedly held a 15-year-old victim down while the fourth used “humiliation techniques on bare skin of sensitive body parts.”

At Lisbon, in northeast Iowa’s Linn County, simple assault charges are pending against three wrestlers after an incident during which a student was restrained while teammates placed their penises and testicles on his face. The victim also says he was placed in a shower and urinated upon.

At Gilbert, in Story County, wrestlers reportedly were disciplined by the school without police involvement after an incident involving “non-sexual horseplay.”

None of the coaches have been disciplined because investigators concluded they hadn’t known what was going on. The young men charged at Greenfield were jailed, but wrestlers involved in incidents elsewhere remained active in wrestling programs. And in many cases, especially at Greenfield, angry parents rather than school officials brought the incidents to light --- and to the media.

I’m sure there are many fine well-managed wrestling (and other athletic) programs in Iowa and it seems unfair to paint with too broad a brush, but three dramatic incidents and one less so in so short a time does bring up the question of how unexceptional this kind of behavior is.

A major point of sexual assault, or assault with a sexual element, is to shame. And those shamed I’d guess would be reluctant to speak out. So there’s probably much more of this going on than we’d care to think about.

When asked by the Register about proactive responses to hazing, an official of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, which governs boys’ athletics, told the Des Moines Register that conduct issues are in the hands of local school districts, although an anti-hazing seminar is available upon request. The overall impression was that the state organization wasn’t overly interested.

I’m surprised no coaches were held accountable. While a coach certainly can’t control everything a student in his charge does, he (or she) is ultimately responsible for the culture of his or her program --- and perhaps for supervising locker rooms, too.

The boys-will-be-boys approach isn’t really acceptable any more, and we seem to be getting over the idea that bullying, hazing and the like build character. The focus lately in schools has been quite rightly on ending the bullying and harassment of LGBT youngsters. But it looks like the target needs to be broader.

Newt Gingrich is the Antichrist!

Just kidding --- honestly. But that son of perdition (and thrice-married serial adulterer) did trouce the inevitable Mitt Romney in South Carolina yesterday --- with endorsements from quite a few on the Christian right --- including that picturesque example of Southern Baptist beefcake Rick Perry --- who anticipate salvation from a highly problematic source.

Poor Mitt, so blandly white, so rich, so incapable of identifying with those who aren't, so Mormon --- and worst of all, from a Republican standpoint, most likely sane.

My favorite headline (from Huffington Post): "Mitt Newt-ered."

Favorite fanciful disambiguation --- Fox News (the antichrist of news sources) commentator Keith Ablow's declaration that infidelity enhances Gingrich's qualifications for the presidency because three women lusted after him (demonstrating just how enticing he will be to voters) and that by asking one former wife for an "open marriage" he demonstrated the likelihood he'll always tell the American people the truth.

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Since it is Sunday morning, here's a little clip featuring one of my favorite renegade Episcopal bishops, John Shelby Spong, late of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. Spong is a noted iconoclast, who consistently aggravates the orthodox by going too far and free-thinkers by not going far enough.

The exerpt is from a lecture delivered during 2008, the year he published "Jesus for the Non-Religious." His most widely known book probably is 1999's "Why Christianity Must Change or Die." Since 2008, he has published "Eternal Life: A New Vision" and "Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World."

Bill Stringfellow, Jesus & the hookers

William Stringfellow

Two things juxtaposed in the night a while ago --- seeing again Louise Walker’s 2001 documentary “Inside Boystown” and happening upon this William Stringfellow quote from “My People is the Enemy” (1966: Anchor Books):

"To be concerned with the outcast is an echo, of course, of the Gospel itself. Characteristically, the Christian is to be found in his work and witness in the world among those for whom no one else cares --- the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the misfits, the homeless, the orphans and beggars. The presence of the Christian among the outcasts is the way in which the Christian represents, concretely, the ubiquity and universality of the intercession of Christ for all men."

Viewed from 40-plus years later, the word “characteristically” seems too optimistic, but that doesn’t detract from the general thrust of the thought.

Boystown, in the documentary, is a block-long area of Vancouver where, in 2001, young male prostitutes sold their bodies and their sexual services to a stream of eager buyers, driving by. There is nothing exploitive or sensational in the film --- just six young men telling their just stories with occasional commentary from others who work with them --- a counselor, a street nurse.

Most of the hustlers had ended up on the street as kids with no skills to exchange for food and shelter and so they began to sell themselves, became entangled with expensive drug habits and probably were doomed. Despite that, they were articulate, endearing and hopeful. But among the untouchables in the context of a contemporary culturally Christian society.

Stringfellow (1928-1985), activist for racial justice and peace and a lay theologian, was one of those guys talked about occasionally when I was at university, involved in a course or two about religion.

He was an Episcopalian, gay (“almost but not quite out” --- these were the 1960s and 1970s, remember) and, surprisingly, a Biblical literalist, although not in the sense we think of Biblical literalists now. His literalism, and he could thump the Bible with the best, would have turned the world upside down, chewed up conventional Christianity of that day and most likely of this day, too, and spat it out.

Although he wrote prolifically, he left behind no comprehensive guide to the Way as he viewed it and he was an activist rather than a scholar in the conventional sense. That, combined with his sexual orientation, has caused his thinking to be marginalized among those who think theologically.

Which doesn't diminish his relevance.

Those of us who still go to church, shielded from the world by stained glass or hunkered down Sundays in more contemporary megachurch bunkers, like to think in terms of Matthew 18:20: “For where two or three (hopefully more) are gathered together in my name ….”

But I wonder. Jesus, it seems possible and Stringfellow might argue, would be walking the streets of Boystown with the hustlers instead.

Faded photographs and newts

That program for the 1902 Chautauqua I've been scanning also contains several photographs of Chariton homes and businesses, including some views I've not seen before. Although the historical society has the originals of some, others are missing --- and I wish they'd turn up in someone's attic.

This is a 1902 view of Frank and Minnie Crocker's home, now at the core of Fielding Funeral Home, which illustrates a couple of points about how Lucas Countyans once lived (although most lived on a scale substantially less grand).

Built ca. 1888, the house originally had only modest first-floor porches sheltering entrances, but extensive balcony-like porches on the second floor.

 In fact, hardly any house built in Chariton prior to the 1890s had extensive porches. Front-porch sitting (and genteel partying) didn't come along until the 1890s, after which nearly every new house was built with extensive porches and porches were added to existing houses.

Our gradest home, the Mallorys' Illion, was wrapped in new porches for partying during the 1890s, and Frank and Minnie adorned the southeast angle of their home with porches featuring cut-stone bases, too. These porches remained in place until Keith Fielding's first major expansion of the funeral home, but the elements were saved, reused and may be seen now in the newer porches that sheild the entrance front of funeral home's chapel wing.

Also note the windmill to the west of the house. Chariton did not have a municipal water system when this photo was taken, so most likely the windmill pumped water from the Crocker well to a holding tank in the attic of the house from which it was distributed by gravity to bathroom and kitchen.

That absence of a water system was one of the reasons why such large sections of the town square burned so frequently. Firefighters armed with Old Betsy and a hook and ladder wagon relied on the water from four cisterns at the corners of the square when a building caught fire and when that water supply was exhausted, had to pump water up to the square from the small lake that filled what now is Yocom Park. It's a wonder as much survived as did.

This 1902 photo from the Chautauqua booklet of what then was the brand new Crocker-Ensley Block illustrates just how little that wonderful Richardson Romanesque facade has changed --- and how little would be required to return it to its original configuration. Because this facade, as well as that of the Stanton Building next door,  mirror in material and style the courthouse, I'm wondering if they were designed by the same architectural firm, Des Moines-based Foster & Liebbe.

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Snow is in the forecast here today, but only a little --- while the northern half of the state is blanketed with winter storm watches and warnings. The predicted overnight low in Chariton is zero, but up north in Mason City where I once lived, too --- minus-12. Brrr. I'm glad to be here rather than there.

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I guess I really wasn't surprised about how persecuted I felt Wednesday when Wikipedia suspended service for a few hours in protest. It was darned inconvenient to have to actually look elsewhere, even in a BOOK, when that universal source of miscellaneous information wasn't available.

But I was surprised yesterday to discover that I missed Facebook. About twice a year, my security program develops an intense distaste for Facebook, blocking access to it entirely and throwing up angry warnings every time another site with a Facebook link is called up --- and more than half the pages I look at regularly now contain Facebook links.

The patch was applied and everything returned to normal after a few hours, so I can tune in again every few hours to see what my Facebook friends have been up to.

I still don't understand, however, why Facebook insists on defaulting to the display of "highlighted" posts (who the heck highlights them?) first, rather than a sequential display.

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And I've been looking after Thursday's open-marriage allegations for parallels via faithful Wikipedia between that leading GOP contender and his namesake, the "aquatic amphibian of the family Salamandridae."

According to that source, newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental life stages --- aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile and adult. Adult newts, according to Wikipedia, have "lizard-like bodies and may be either fully aquatic, living permanently in the water, or semi-aquatic, living terrestrially but returning to the water each year to breed."

Those stages correspond with the number of Gingrich marriages, so the parallels between Newt the candidate and Newt the amphibian may have some relevance. In all likelihood, however, the amphibian has a better record of consistent morality, so the salamander is probably the better Christian.

Iowa's most endangered

Lucas County's former law enforcement center, built during 1916 as a combined sheriff's residence and county jail, was named this week to Preservation Iowa's list of 10 most endangered buildings for 2012. That annual list is intended to draw attention to buildings of architectural, cultural or historic importance under active threat, but the designation carries with it no promise of actual aid.

Of buildings on the list, the old jail is one of the most endangered. Although in use until last fall, when a new Law Enforcement Center opened, the building's roof is deteriorating and county supervisors haven't been able to come up with a practical use that would justify spending tax dollars to repair and refit it. Recycling a jail is problematic in the first place; finding a private use for a building alongside Iowa's businest railroad tracks is an additional complication.

The jail was nominated for the list by the Chariton Historic Preservation Commission. More photos and additional information about the jail may be found here, under "Jailhouse Blues."  And here's a look at the other nine buildings on the list:

Northwood (Worth County): The Stromstein Building. Located within Northwood's Central Avenue Historic District, the commercial structure is described as the most distinctive "bridge" linking the Shell Rock River, along which Northwood was built, and the city's commercial core. It is noted especially for its distinctive facade and roof and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2006. The building is structurally unsound, much window glass is missing and water infiltration has damaged the interior.

Independence (Buchanan County): Wapsipinicon Mill Museum. One of the largest historic mills in the Midwest, built 1867-70, the building was damaged in 2008 flooding, but repaired, and it is described in general as being in "very good" condition. The roof, however, has begin to deteriorate dramatically causing interior damage and the half million dollars in funding needed to repair it is not available, although fund-raising is under way.

Cedar Rapids (Linn County): People's Bank and Trust Co. One of architect Louis Sullivan's "jewel box" banks, the building was designed during 1909 and feature's Sullivan's signature elements --- sytlized prairie school lines, 15 shades of brick and terra cotta detailing. Four intact interior murals depict life in the Midwest. The building has not been used since severe flooding in 2008 although it is in an area designated for future protection against floods.

Decorah (Winneshiek County): County home superintendent's residence. An American Foursquare structure executed in brick during 1915, this house on remaining county farm property near Decorah contains most of its original detail. Although in excellent structural condition, freeze damage to the heating system in 2006/2007 has not been repaired and the rent it once generated for the county no longer is forthcoming casting doubt on its long-term survival.

Mason City (Cerro Gordo County).  Egloff House. Constructed during 1939 to an "International Style" or "Streamline Moderne" design by architect Earle R. Cone. Heavily damaged during 2008 flooding and partially restored, the home was purchased during 2010 by the city as part of a FEMA-funded acquisition and demolition program designed to clear the Winnebago River's flood plain. The building is available for $1, but must be moved from its current location.

Osage (Mitchell County). County Courthouse. Built in four phases commencing in 1858, the courthouse is a rare example (in Iowa) of Greek Revival courthouse design. The North Lee County courthouse in Fort Madison is comparable, but lacks the cupelo. The building has a variety of structural issues that need attention and its relatively small size is a complicating issue. Supervisors are considering demolition of the courthouse and building another space to house county government.

Orient (Adair County). Nelson Brothers Hardware Store. Built in 1902 and occupied variously by grocery stores and then by Nelson Brothers Hardware from 1940 until 1996, the brick building is described as one of only a handful of historic structures in Orient retaining original architectural features.

Manning (Carroll County): Deb's Corner Cafe. Built during the early 1890s as half of the Horse Shoe Bar, which reportedly was the longest bar west of the Mississippi at the time at 120 feet (solid mahogany) served when fully staffed by eight bartenders, the facade is intact but crumbling. The remainder of the building is structurally sound, but the facade is endangered. Water infiltration is a related problem, as is the lack of owner financing.

West Des Moines (Polk County). Log cabin. While there is no clear threat to this privately owned cabin, dating from the 1850s, preservationists are concerned that it may be neglected and underappreciated. According to preservationists, the owner is aware of its significance.