Mornin' Mail

The Mornin' Mail is published every weekday except major holidays
Thursday, May 11, 2000 Volume VIII, Number 232

did ya know?

Did Ya Know?. . .The National Association of Letter Carriers, in conjunction with the US Postal Service, the AFL-CIO, and Carthage Area United Way, will be collecting nonperishable food items on Saturday, May 13 for distribution to Carthage Crosslines Ministries. Please place a food donation by your mailbox on Saturday, May 13. Your letter carrier will pick it up and deliver it to the Carthage Crosslines, a Carthage Area United Way agency. Help us help our community.

Did Ya Know?. . .Gardening help is available from the Master Gardener Helpline. A Master Gardener will be available to answer questions on from 9 a.m.-1 p.m Mon.-Thurs. The helpline will run through Aug. 10. To contact a Master Gardener call 417-358-2158.

today's laugh

Two eagles see a jet zoom by. One eagle says, "That bird is certainly in a hurry."

The other eagle says, "So would you be if your tail was on fire."

There was a scare at an atomic-bomb factory the other day. Because of a money crunch, they were told to drop everything.

I knew I was in trouble with taxes when my accountant called me up and asked if I knew anything about plea bargaining.

1900
INTERESTING MELANGE.
A Chronological Record of Events as they have Transpired in the City and County since our last Issue.

WAS EVIDENTLY A TRAMP.

More Particulars of the Dead Man Found in the River Near Waco.

The Waco correspondent of the paper sends the following in regard to the dead man found in the river near that place, mention of which was made previously:

"The dress of the man indicated that he was a tramp. He had on three pairs of pants—the outside pair were corduroy; two light undercoats and a cheap double wove overcoat, scotch plaid on a the inside and a narrow diagonal stripe on the outside. No papers or anything else were found pointing to his identity, and a verdict of accidental drowning was given by the coroner. From appearances the body had been in the water for a long time and had been deposited on the bank about three feet above low water during the rise in the river about three weeks ago. Undertaker Verbryck of Carl Junction was notified and took charge of the remains and buried them in the Carl Junction cemetery. A story is now afloat to the effect that about two months or more ago Lee Swartz, who lives northeast of the mill about a mile, found a cap, a glove, some newspapers and a paper containing a lunch close beside a hole in the ice about three-fourths of a mile above the mill, or near the Frisco railroad bridge, and although he spoke of the matter among his neighbors; little attention was paid to it. In fact, now it appears that few knew of the circumstances until the finding of the body revived it and gave rise to the conclusion that the dead man was probably the man who left the cap, on the ice two months or more ago."

Today's Feature

Contracts for July 4th Celebration.

The City Council approved contracts for various activities relating to the upcoming July 4th celebrations during the regular Council meeting last Tuesday evening. The City has committed its typical $15,000 allocation for the event and over $20,000 has been pledged by local contributors.

The day long program, using the promotional tag of "Red, White, and BOOM" will begin at 7 a.m. with a 5K run and continue with a 3 person golf scramble, a Remember Our Veterans Ceremony, arts and crafts vendors and entertainment beginning at noon and continuing until the fireworks display scheduled for 9:35 p.m.

This years display will be in conjunction with a simultaneous broadcast of music by KMXL and live broadcast by television station KSN from Municipal Park. Promotion for the event will begin around the first of June.

Contracts before the Council included $2,500 for sound equipment and a performance of the local group SasaFras, $2,472.50 for various equipment provided by the Fun Company, and one with Victorian Carthage for managing vendors at the celebration.

Just Jake Talkin'

Mornin',

Council member Larry Ross noted durin’ member comments at the Council meetin’ that he received a complaint or two ‘bout roosters crowin’ at dawn within the City. No doubt an annoyance to those not on a chicken schedule.

The fact is any number of farm animals are allowed in the City, as long as they or their habitat doesn’t become "offensive, noisome, disagreeable, or obnoxious."

Now I suppose a rooster could be considered "noisome, or disagreeable" but I doubt many in this part of the country would think that is what the restriction was referrin’ to. I’ve personally never known a rooster that wasn’t disagreeable, and I figure they’re not obnoxious as long as they have somethin’ worthwhile to crow about.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

Sponsored

Metcalf Auto Supply

Weekly Column

Click and Clack
TALK CARS

by Tom & Ray Magliozzi

I’m planning to buy a Chevy truck. I got a price from one dealer and am now going to other dealers to see if they will beat it. The first dealer showed me the invoice price with all the options I wanted and added $700 to that, saying, "That is what they have to add when they order a truck."

The second dealer cut that to $300. My question is, what IS this invoice price? Is this the actual price they pat for a vehicle, or just a bunch of bull? -John

TOM: It’s a bunch of bull, John. Years ago, the world had absolutely no idea what cars really cost dealers. And now, thanks to services like Consumer Reports and other who publish the "dealer invoice" price..we STILL have no idea what cars really cost dealers.

RAY: The "dealer invoice" number, which is widely available now, is supposed to represent what the dealer actually pays for the car and the options. Armed with this information, lots of consumers think they’ve got some sort of inside information. But they really don’t.

TOM: The actual price that dealers pay for a car (or "dealer net") is known only by Wayne Huizenga, the Amazing Kreskin and perhaps, God. We do know it’s less than the publicized "dealer invoice" price. There’s something called a dealer holdback. That’s a chunk of money the manufacturer gives to the dealer after the car is sold. How much is the holdback? We don’t know; that information is held back! They say it’s another 2 to 4 percent of the price of the car. But who knows? There’s also financing assistance, marketing money and other money paid to the dealer and that brings the real cost down even lower.