Jackson County IL Archives News.....SQUARE DEAL CLOTHING AN 'OLD TIMER' October 16, 1923 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Mary Riseling riseling@insightbb.com July 13, 2006, 5:15 pm Murphysboro Daily Independent October 16, 1923 Without question the old reliable Square Deal Clothing House holds the record in Murphysboro for continuous ownership and the fact that it today occupies the same location that it did on that day in May 1885, when Dave BAER came to Murphysboro to open its doors. Mr. Baer, always one of Murphysboro's foremost citizens, passed away last May within a few days of the thirty-eighth anniversary of the opening of his store in Murphysboro, but his eldest son, Joe BAER is continuing the business along the same correct and conservative lines laid out by his father. With him in the conduct of the business is Joseph FREIDMAN, who came from DeSoto, Mo., only a few months after Mr. Baer started the store, and a corps of efficient clerks. Mr. Baer related to the Independent at the time of the thirty-fifth anniversary of his store some interesting details concerning those early days. He said at that time: "The Knights of Labor Strike was on in 1885. We had a lot of goods in East St. Louis, but we couldn't get them across the river. They were rioting and burning things over in the East St. Louis yards and we had no insurance on our goods in the cars there. We decided to get them out of there. The Mobile & Ohio was a dinky little narrow gauge then and we had our stuff put on that road and shipped them to Murphysboro intending to stock up a building here, stay four or five months and then leave. But during that four or five months I got acquainted with a lot of good fellows and liked them. I liked the town by that time and stayed. You never saw such a bunch. The stores closed at 9 in the evening and after closing time the boys went forth and enjoyed life. They did no rough or bad things but they had a good time. John STOELZE's hardware store was over on the south of the square and Bob McELVAIN and Willard WALL had a suite of rooms over there. Stoelze had sixty grind stones and one day he invoiced and found he had only eighteen. He went to all the clerks about the missing grind stones and finally some one told him to go look in Bob and Willard's room. He did and found forty two grind stones in the two rooms. The boys had a habit of carrying a grind stone or two up stairs now and then and putting them in the beds for the owners to find when they turned in." The founder of the Square Deal did not tell it but those who knew Dave BAER in the past quarter of a century know just how he enjoyed jokes himself and how Joe GILL, Harry STEVENS and John FINN were in with Dave on many of the pranks of those balmy days. Mr. Baer had been clerking for A. LEDERER in DeSoto, Mo., when the goods were shipped to Murphysboro they needed a manager and Dave was sent over to open the store. He worked on a percentage basis for many years until he bought out his partners many years ago, and made it a go from the start. Since the death of Joe has held as sacred the reputation of fair dealing for which the Square Deal had become famous and the Square Deal will one of these days be celebrating its own half century of usefulness in this community. Additional Comments: Transcribed by Mary Riseling from grandfather C. E. RISELING's collection of old newspapers. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/jackson/newspapers/squarede80nnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 3.8 Kb