Books by
Michael Barr
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On
May 20, 1921, William Dietel, managing editor of the Fredericksburg
Standard, sat at his desk on a lazy Friday afternoon. Not much
was going on. The world outside his window was moving but not very
fast. The editor had 8 pages to fill for tomorrow's newspaper and
was probably wondering how in the world he was going to do it.
He had already written about the Kaffee Kraenzehen at Mrs. Felix Meier's
House last Thursday and the rain that fell on Willow
City earlier in the week. The Methodist Church South announced
that there would be "preaching using the English language at the 10:30am
service on Sunday." Doss school had an end-of-the-year picnic in Ernst
Schmidt's pasture. And that was the exciting stuff.
The wasn't much else to write about until Udo Henke's delivery horse
ran wild and turned a part of Fredericksburg's
Main Street into a disaster area. |
Henkes Meat
Market
Photo
courtesy Gillespie County Historical Society. |
Udo Henke worked
for his father Richard at Henke's Meat Market on the corner of Main
and Lincoln Streets (today the Luckenbach Outpost on Main). Udo delivered
fresh meat to customers in a horse-drawn wagon. There was a saddle
on the horse for Udo to ride between deliveries.
The Henke house was next door to the meat market. The house was the
birthplace of Admiral Chester Nimitz. The admiral's mother was a Henke.
The family stabled its horses in an enclosure behind the house (today
the beer garden at El Milagro). |
Henkes Meat
Market
Photo
courtesy Gillespie County Historical Society. |
At
5pm that Friday afternoon Udo stopped his wagon at Klaerner's Corner
(today the Chase Bank Building at the corner of Main and Llano). After
making his delivery Udo stepped into the stirrup, but the girth had
worked loose. The saddle slipped, throwing Udo to the ground. Udo
was not hurt, but the horse spooked and took off in a wild panic,
headed west on Main, the wagon behind it bouncing off buildings on
both sides of the street.
Halfway down the block the runaway horse and wagon crashed into the
plate glass window at the Citizens Garage, owned by the Joseph Brothers,
at 132 West Main Street (today eWay Furniture) showering the men inside
with glass. Had it not been for the iron railing out front the damage
would have been a lot worse.
Crossing the street the vehicle smashed into a delivery cart parked
in front of Juenke and Schoenewolf's General Merchandise Store (now
a part of the Dooley's building). Then for good measure the horse
struck the iron post in front of the store a glancing blow, making
the entire building shake.
The town, lulled by the tedious routine of another ordinary afternoon,
suddenly came alive. People spilled out onto Main Street to see what
all the excitement was about. Editor Dietel seized the moment, grabbed
his pen and began to write.
Down
the street Mrs. Eddie Herbort and her 2 children had been grocery
shopping that morning and had just alighted from a buggy in front
of Stucke's Bakery. Mother and children were about to enter the bakery
when Udo Henke's runaway horse and wagon flew by at close range, scaring
the daylights out of Mrs. Herbort's horse and sending her vehicle
on a wild ride of its own.
Meanwhile Udo Henke's horse reached the courthouse with no signs of
slowing down. Then in front of the post office the horse caught its
foot in one of the stirrups. He stumbled and fell. As he got back
on his feet a gentleman walking down the sidewalk ran out on the street,
grabbed the reins and steadied the animal.
A farmer finally stopped Mrs. Herbort's horse and buggy 3 miles out
the mail road. The top of buggy was torn away but a container of flour
and the rest of her groceries were intact.
In a couple of minutes it was all over. The street was quiet again.
When the dust settled there was some property damage, but no great
harm was done. At the very least Udo Henke's runaway horse brought
a little excitement to a lazy Friday afternoon, and the next day's
newspaper had a page one story. |
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