Looking in at Iowa

From Press & Dakotan:

Gartner’s third story involved the a performing act in Iowa called the Cherry Sisters. These five sisters couldn’t act, dance or sing. They managed, instead, Gartner said, “to exert a ghastly fascination over their audiences. And that was exactly what the great Oscar Hammerstein was looking for.”

Gartner explained that back in 1896, Hammerstein was in debt, and going broke, and the acts he brought to Broadway weren’t doing well.

According to Gartner, Hammerstein said, “I tried the best, now I’ll try the worst. So he sent for the Cherry Sisters from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.” …

“As you go through life, as you build relationships, as you take risks, you’re liable to have a few cabbages thrown at you along the way,” Gartner said. “There are always folks who are against things, and those folks will be shooting arrows, if not throwing melons, at you and your plans.” …

For additional information about the Cherry Sisters see Dave Rasdal’s interesting column in yesterday paper (or related blog post) about 90-year-old Don Hanson, who talked with the Cherry Sisters.

Here’s a Gazette account of an ugly scene at a Cherry Sisters performance in 1895:

The Cherry Sisters
La Porte, Aug. 26 — Last Saturday evening occurred one of the must disgraceful riots ever witnessed in La Porte City’s opera house. The Cherry Sisters occupied the boards for the evening and quite a large audience was drawn out by the La Porte City cornet band. The crowd began hissing and howling the moment the show commenced and kept it up throughout. Toward the Iast it became worse and worse and when Miss Jessie Cherry came out with her song and roast on Editor Faulkes of the Cedar Rapids Gazette the climax was reached. Onions, cabbage and rotten watermelon rinds were showered upon the stage and then a pail of dirty black water was thrown at her from the back window of the stage. During all the show a terrible din was kept up with tin pans, horns, etc. Miss Jessie Cherry became exceedingly wrathy at this stage of the performance and came down in front and struck Frank Fritz over the head with a stove poker. Fritz “made a joyful noise” and the crowd all made a rush for the front of the hall. The rest of the performance was a blank as nothing could be heard except the loud talking and hissing of the audience.
After the performance was over Fritz swore out a warrant for Miss Jessie Cherry before Mayor Holph and she was arrested and fined $5 and costs amounting to $7.30.
The mob all stood around the opera house which was locked until after 12 o’clock waiting for the sisters to return to the hotel but they did not up to that time so the crowd dispersed. It is thought that several arrests may follow this morning.

From HelenaIR.com, by Joan Uda:

I was a lucky child, with a great mom. The only time she held a paying job was while my father fought overseas during WWII. In those days we lived with Mom’s parents in Iowa City. She worked as a librarian at Horace Mann School, where I attended and also received the deep cut on my forehead that left a still visible scar. …

Image via Wikipedia

From Shenandoah Valley News Today:

March 27, 1944 played an extraordinarily vital role in the lives of Clark Underwood of Shenandoah and Joe Koenig of Cedar Rapids.

It was the day their B-17 was shot down by a German fighter, crashing into the Bay of Biscay.

It was also the last time the two men saw each other.

When Underwood’s story of survival was published in the Valley News Today on April 2, it reached Koenig. …

See also Media-rich content about World War II from Encyclopædia Britannica.

Image via Wikipedia

Abstract from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office:

A crossbow having an increased powerstroke and reduced noise. The powerstroke is increased by inverting the limb orientation from the standard crossbow arrangement and locating string guides at least partially forward and rearward of the ends of the limbs. The bowstring is drawn from the tops of the string guides to maximize the powerstroke, reducing noise and increasing the retained and delivered energy over existing crossbows.

[more...]

See also: Historical information on crossbows from Encyclopedia Britannica or Wikipedia.

Image of Denmark Straits
via Wikipedia

From January 14, 1962 Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Push Plane Search; C.R. Man in Crew

The search continued over the Greenland icecap Saturday night for a U.S. navy Neptune plane carrying a crew of 12, among them a Cedar Rapids man. Grover E. Wells.

Operations were hampered by 75-mile-an-hour winds and low visibility, according to a telegram received late Saturday by the man’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Wells of 1435 N St. SW.

The missing plane took off Friday morning from Keflavik airport on the northwest tip of Iceland. It was spotted on radar at 10:45 a.m. Friday 270 miles northwest of Keflavik.

Operations are being concentrated in the Denmark Straits, the war department telegram said.

While the search continued, Wells’ wife, Nancy, prepared to enter a Jacksonville, Florida, hospital for the birth of the couple’s third child. Two daughters, Wanda Lee, 3, and Marjorie, 2, were to stay with their mother’s sister.

Wells, 24, attended McKinley School and enlisted in the Navy in 1955. He is an aviation ordnanceman.

In addition to the missing son, the Wellses have 4 children: Bob, Donna, Carol and Roger, all living in Cedar Rapids.

From September 17, 1966 Cedar Rapids Gazette:

Find Body of Missing C.R. Airman Wells

The body of a Cedar Rapids man, Grover E. Wells, has been discovered on Kronborg Glacier in Greenland, where he died nearly five years ago in a plane crash.

Wells, 24, an aviation ordnanceman, was one of 12 men aboard a U.S. navy Neptune plane which disappeared over the Greenland icecap Jan. 12, 1962, on a flight out of Keflavik, Iceland.

A British research expedition reported Friday that it had discovered the bodies of 12 airmen. The defense department Saturday listed them as those of the missing Neptune crew.

Wells, 24, attended McKinley school and enlisted in the navy in 1955.

His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Wells, lived at 1435 N St. SW at the time of the tragedy. They have since moved to Portland, Oregon.

The airman’s two daughters, Wanda Lee and Marjorie, were 3 and 2 at the time of the crash and his wife, Nancy, was preparing to enter a Jacksonville, Fla., hospital for the birth of their third child.

He was also survived by four brothers and sisters, Bob, Donna, Carol and Roger.

Today’s Gazette article quotes brother Bobby Wells saying “He was an excellent guitar player.” Here’s an October 5, 1954 Cedar Rapids Gazette article about a Grover Wells providing music for a birthday party:

BIRTHDAY PARTY GIVEN
FOR PATRICIA GOODALL.

Patricia Goodall was honored on her thirteenth birthday at a party given by her mother, Mrs Robert Goodall, Monday evening at their home, 1216 Tenth Street SE. The 15 guests spent the evening playing cards and dancing. Jimmy Burgess and Grover Wells furnished the music.

Guests included Nancy Bammert, Nancy Goodall, Rosalie Vavra, Carol Hathaway, Carolyn Perry, Jackie Brubaker, Waneva Benda, Alice Clark, Jim Zacek Billy Clark, Darrell Goodall, George Hawley, Dale and David Goodall, and Larry Goodall.

From “Charge Youth in Waterloo Girl’s Murder” in June 2, 1964 Gazette:

WATERLOO (AP) — Police arrested the young son of a banker Monday 90 minutes after the stabbed, seminude body of the daughter of a real estate operator was found in her home.

Spectacled, muscular John Thomas Kyle, 16, son of Mr. and Mrs. John Kyle, was arraigned on an open charge of murder in the slaying of pretty, brunette Diane Kay Gable, 19, while her parents were away on a fishing excursion.

Bond was set at $20,000.

A Struggle

Her body, nude from the waist down, was found in the living room of her home in an upper middle class neighborhood. There were signs of a struggle.

Authorities said she was clad only in a sweatshirt, a bra and bobby sox. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mack Gable.

Dr. Eugene Smith, deputy Black Hawk county medical examiner, said Miss Gable, who worked in her father’s real estate and insurance office, had been stabbed once under the arm, arid once in the heart, apparently with a kitchen knife.

Face Scratched

He said there were sqratches on her nose and face, and marks on her throat, indicating she had been strangled.

Teeth marks were found on the girl’s face, Dr. Smith said. An autopsy showed she died of a stab wound in the heart, he added.

The Kyles and the Gables live about two blocks apart.

Found Body

Larry D. McGreevy found the body after going to the Gable house when Miss Gable failed to show for work at her father’s office.

McGreevy called the parents after he found the house locked. Gable told McGreevy to break down the door and find out what was the matter.

Dr. Smith said no weapon had been found. He said she apparently had been dead since Sunday night.

Read Mike Hlas’ Sunday column here: Gable tries to offer support to survivors.

This record from the Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator shows a JOHN THOMAS KYLE released nearly 24 years ago.

To view a PDF of the page, click the following: The Gazette’s front page for April 5, 1968.

Also, something related from Grinnell College:

King delivered his final Iowa speech, “Remaining Awake During a Revolution,” on October 29, 1967 in Darby Gymnasium on Grinnell’s campus. We are unable to publish the speech online due to copyright rules, but King gave a very similar speech, Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, in 1968 at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

The Stanford site they link to also offers 2 audio clips from that speech:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/multimedia/680331A.htm
http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/publications/sermons/multimedia/680331B.htm

From release, Prescribed Fire Planned at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, Spring 2008:

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site will burn 40 acres of the 81-acre tallgrass prairie located on the site. The staff plans to conduct the prescribed fire sometime between early April and mid May of 2008. According to Neil Korsmo, Chief Ranger at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, “Weather conditions and safety considerations will determine the exact date and time of the fire.” …

The free Sports Illustrated Vault was made available online Thursday evening. Here is a direct link to the ‘iowa’ search that resulted in those hits.

You can narrow a search by decade. Here are results for the 1950s only, including the September 27, 1954 cover [IMAGE] featuring football guard Calvin Jones of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Also, there’s a high flying bird’s-eye view of the 1959 Rose Bowl [PHOTO], where Iowa won against California, 38-12.

From USA Today columnist Mike Lopresti:

This is the legend of an upstart men’s basketball team from Drake. But not the present one.

This is about one of the most stunning upsets in Final Four history … that almost happened. …

March 1969. UCLA rules the land with a wizard named John Wooden and a 7-foot giant named Lew Alcindor, soon to become Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. …

And from Wall Street Journal today: After Years Down, Drake Wakes Up.

3/23/2008 UPDATE: Read more about the 1969 game from recently opened Sports Illustrated Vault.