On this day in 1884 a man rode into Centerville from the north. A man nobody knew. There was no way he could go unnoticed. He leaned forward, drooped over his horse. His clothing soiled, and his face covered with suet and blood trickled from his nose. The townspeople that saw him quickly alerted Constable Howington.

The constable was quick to his aid, and soon joined by Marshal Marshall the town Marshal, who with one look said, “This man is in dire straits. We have to get him to Ms. Donna.”

(In Centerville in 1884, Ms. Donna was synonymous with hospital.)

A passing farmer, concerned about the happenings, volunteered the use of his buckboard wagon to cart the ailing man to the hospital, and Marshal Marshall took him up on his offer.

After leaving the man in Ms. Donna’s care Marshal Marshall took to the street to see if any of the townspeople knew the man or knew anything about what happened. That’s when telegraph operator D. Burns ran up to the marshal and delivered to him the disturbing telegram.

* * * * *

Magnate Lawson, pleased with the commercial success of the Daily Iowegian, both in newsboy and ad sales, gave Ms. Winona the approval to hire an editorial staff. She put an ad in her own newspaper telling the public that the Daily Iowegian was looking for, “…two ladies with strong acumen in the letters and grammar, with a sharp eye for detail and proper use of the English language. Apply in person.”

Several ladies applied, but two were quickly at the top of Ms. Winona’s list and hired the same day. Ms. Mary Jo and Ms. Lisa had a fondness for literature, Shakespeare and Greek Mythology, and when given a sentence poorly written, they corrected it with perfection.

Ms. Lisa had a deeply rooted part of the Centerville social life, stating, “When I listen to the hens cackle, I know the difference between words that are true and what are mere gossip.” She’d informed Ms. Winona of a socialite, a bachelor, Mr. Miller, who had the plans to open a theater in Centerville with nightly stage plays. “It looks to be very exciting.”

Ms. Mary Jo also had a sharp eye for news worthy happenings, and duly informed Ms. Winona of the strange man riding into town. “The moment of his arrival turned every head in the street. Something terrible happened to that man and the town is going to want to know what happened.”

Ms. Winona got her new staff situated and donned her hat and shawl to find Marshal Marshall and get the scoop on the story of the day.

* * * * *

Upon the news of Mr. Miller’s plans to open a stage theater, Mayor Moritz could not wait to meet Mr. Miller and christen his new establishment with whatever anointment he thought he had. But in reality, before legal services, before politics and civic service, Mayor Moritz had a passionate love for stage acting.

Rather than summoning Mr. Miller to city hall, the Mayor went down to a corner of the city square where workers were hanging a large sign that read, “COZY.” He walked inside, admiring the numerous theater seats, the smell of new upholstery, and Mr. Miller standing on the stage with Ms. Dawn, his assistant, looking at a parchment.

Mayor Moritz and Mr. Miller’s meeting quickly went from congratulations to “wow!” and the mayor showing Mr. Miller a few of his own dance steps. Mr. Miller said, with a finger on his chin, “Yes, I can see what you’re doing there.” And with one close observation, the two men were doing the dance steps together.

* * * * *

Marshal Marshall didn’t want to waste time going to the Mayor’s office, but he knew he had to follow the protocol and figure a way out of it later. After seeing the mayor, then going right to the men he really wanted to see, it was a night and day response. The Mayor said, “Yes, that is quite disturbing.” And that was it. The Tycoon said, “We gotta do something. We can’t let this happen in our county.”

“We have to alert the county sheriff,” the Baron said. “And one more very important thing.”

“What’s that?” The Tycoon asked.

The Baron read the telegram again. “Form a posse.”

* * * * *

In the next episode of CENTERVILLE 1884: Ms. Winona gets the scoop on both the telegram and the new theater. The Cozy Theater has its opening night. A new farming machine makes its way to Centerville and Mr. Guffey rides out to the countryside to investigate. And the county sheriff meets with Baron Anderson to read the telegram and form a posse to track down a heinous criminal.