Bryce Haugen
brycevincenthaugen@gmail.com

The following local stories were published in April 1919.
World tour of Moorhead boys ends at Frazee, April 2
Three Moorhead boys, who started on a tour of the world on Tuesday, ended the first stage of their journey at Frazee early this morning, when the conductor of the Northern Pacific train, on which they were riding without tickets, turned them over to the village marshal.
Chief of Police C.H. Knapp was notified by phone this morning and interviewed the parents of the boys. He learned that the parents of James Prentice, 15, and Archie Burley, 15, the two younger boys, are anxious to have them brought back home. Mrs. St. John, step mother of Joseph St. John, 16, the oldest boy, said there was no use bringing him back as she can do nothing with him. His father, Marshall St. John, is working in Minneapolis, and it is possible that the boy may go to him.
Sheriff Dan W. McDonald made arrangements this afternoon for bringing the two younger boys home, returning them to their parents.
28,000 frogs in one shipment from Minnesota town, April 2
Pelican Rapids, Minn. — It’s frogs, frogs and more frogs. A shipment of 1,900 pounds was sent out of here last Saturday on its way to Chicago markets and which marked the third shipment of the week.
Pelican Rapids boys are paid 18 to 20 cents a pound for live frogs. There are about 15 frogs to a pound, which means that there were about 28,000 frogs in the Saturday shipment.
The frogs are coming out in great numbers in this part of the state and are scooped up with nets. Three boys working as a combination made $64 one afternoon last week.
Ends life by burning self, April 9
Fergus Falls, Minn. — Wrapping some old rags around a stick and saturating them with oil so as to form a torch, David McCarthy, a resident of the Foxhome district, repaired to a spot a safe distance from his home, ignited the torch and then set his clothing on fire. He was found dead by one of his sons.
McCarthy had made an attempt to end his life a few years ago by sitting on the track in front of a Northern Pacific train. He was struck in such a manner as to be thrown from the track without being killed.
McCarthy’s body was terribly burned. He probably smothered from inhaling the smoke.
Chief Knapp is seeking the man with “big thirst,” April 9
Chief of Police C.H. Knapp says he wants to meet the man who has the “big thirst” so he took into custody a shipment of booze consigned to a party who is unknown in Moorhead. The shipment includes: one barrel, 50 gallons of whiskey; one box, 11 quarts of liquor; one box 16 quarts of liquor; one box, 6 quarts of liquor.
This is the prize exhibit of liquor held at the station and the party will have quite a task to convince Chief Knapp that all of the booze is intended for his personal use.
Endowment fund memorial for soldiers, April 10
A $200,000 endowment fund will be raised by Concordia College, Moorhead, as a memorial to the men of Scandinavian lineage of this section who served in the army and navy during the world war. There were over 10,000 of the Lutheran faith alone from the college territory and, of these, 500 are now resting in graves over there.
At a meeting of the college officers held on Tuesday, it was decided to raise this fund, that will provide enlarged opportunities for the young men and women of the northwest for all time to come, instead of erecting monuments of stone or tablets of bronze.
Girl annoyer stopped with revolver shots, April 11
Moorhead school girls will no longer be annoyed when on their way to and from school, for the individual was captured this afternoon and is now a prisoner in the Clay County jail.
The fellow, who gave the name Isaac Netlund, was captured shortly after noon today after Police Magistrate E. W. Wade and Chief of Police Cleve Knapp had each fired a few shots at him. County Attorney G.H. Rustad joined in the chase and the only reason he did not shoot was because he was not “heeled.”
A phone call came to the police station shortly after 12 o’clock today while the three officials were awaiting the arraignment of another suspect, and a quick trip was made down Fourth street in the chief’s car. The fellow had stopped a party of girls but left them when the car approached. The girls told the officers that the man was the one wanted and, in the meantime, he had started to run down Crockett hill on Fourth avenue. As he did not stop when ordered to do so Judge Wade and Chief Knapp cut loose at him, firing several shots before he surrendered.
He was taken to the police station and identified by several girls as the fellow who had annoyed them. He was found guilty and Judge Wade gave him 90 days in the county jail, the limit allowed by law.
Two lutheran congregations to merge Sunday, April 12
The First English Lutheran Church of Moorhead was officially received into the membership of Trinity Lutheran Church at the quarterly meeting of the congregation Friday night, when 156 new members were added to the church roll. By the union of these two congregations Trinity Church becomes officially an English church, with preaching in the English language every Sunday morning at 11 o’clock and in the evening at 7:30 o’clock. Services in Norwegian for those who cannot understand English will be held regularly at 9:45 o’clock in the morning.
Bank robbery at Glyndon Saturday night, April 14
The vault of the Farmers’ State Bank of Glyndon, Clay County, Minnesota, was cracked on Saturday night and about $200 in cash was stolen. No attempt was made to open the strongbox in the vault, and, while the safety deposit boxes of customer were rifled, it is believed little of value was taken from them.
Some time during Saturday night the robbers helped themselves to tools of the Northern Pacific signal foreman, Maynard Ochsner, and these were used to dig a hole in the bank vault.. Entrance was effected through a window in the rear room of the banking house; and a hole large enough for a man to crawl through was dug through the side wall of the brick vault. The combination of the vault doors was then cut to afford more working room for the robbers.
The silver and other change not in the safe was taken and a thorough search of the depositors’ boxes and other contents of the vault was made, but the strongbox containing the money, bonds and securities was untouched. This indicates the absence of expert cracksmen from the gang.
Saturday will be dead fly day. April 16
The Moorhead fly market quotation for Saturday is 1 cent for each dead one.
Market hours will be from 2 to 4 o’clock Saturday afternoon at the Farm Bureau office.
This is the first stage of the “fight the fly” campaign in Moorhead.
Later there will be a prize for the best essays on flies by the school children.
A clean-up week will follow, to destroy the breeding places of the pests.
There will be an all-summer “swat the fly” contest with fewer flies to swat.
Feared the axe, April 16
Carl Breene, who was suffering from the effects of too much blind pig booze, ran into the Moorhead police station about 2:30 o’clock this morning to escape the man who was “trying to cut his head off.” He was in terror of everyone he saw and is still at the station recovering from the attack of the tremens.
Jury disagreed, April 21
After an hour’s deliberation, the jury in the assault case against L.O. Kilen, principal of the Dilworth school, was unable to reach an agreement and Judge Wade discharged them. Mr. Kilen is charged with inflicting injuries upon Fred Lewis, a pupil, while chastising him for disobedience. County Attorney G.H. Rustad said this morning he had not yet decided whether or not there will be another trial.
Will stop fast train at Glyndon, April 24
The Great Northern railway will stop passenger train No. 8 at Glyndon in the future …
The stopping of this train at Glyndon will be a great convenience to passengers from the north who will now be able to reach Moorhead and Fargo without loss of time. No. 8 is the fast passenger train from the north that passes through Glyndon about midnight.
(Fargo Forum articles from newspaper archives, courtesy of the Fargo Public Library.)