One saloon for every editor in old Hallettsville. (original) (raw)

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 _t_s � 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.