|
Boethel pointed
out that if Ripley had checked a little closer, he would have discovered
that the town also had 13 letters in its name; if it was spelled
with two ts – however, it wasn’t always spelled that way.
It seems that the local newspaper continue to spell the name with
only one t until about 1912.
Many
people found it hard to believe that a town of 1300 could support
13 newspapers. However Boethel determined that Ripley was correct
and he wrote the following: “The five printing shops in the town
published one daily, The Daily Booster; three semiweeklies,
Novy Domov, Herald and New Era; five weeklies,
Nachtrichten, Rebel, Habt Acht, Decentralizer,
and Pazor; three semimonthlies, Vestnik, Obzor,
and Buditel; and one monthly, Treue Zeuge.
As for the 13 saloons, Boethel said it was hard to verify if that
number was correct. He claimed, however, that it was highly probable
because there were five on the square and if you counted the ones
near town, such as the “Last Chance Saloon,” it was certainly possible.
Many of the town folk claimed there was one saloon for each newspaper
editor.
Boethel said that the number of churches could be confirmed as he
wrote the following, “The thirteen churches can be verified, considering
all the sects and denominations, black and white, the Christian
Science chapel and the Jewish synagogue housed in the Odd Fellows’
Hall.”
According to the local historian, Ripley should have left out the
part about an empty jail. “The jail was counted among the town’s
churches, for here confessions were made, reformations accomplished
and tithes paid,” wrote Boethel.
|
HOME
