About a month ago Howard Ashcraft brought several small pamphlets to the Tribune.

The title on each was, &uot;A Tribute,’ and it was distributed about six or seven decades ago by Bob Wiegand, one of the owners of the Albert Lea Bottling Works.

On the cover was a photo of

Bob’s little dog with the short tail named &uot;Corky.&uot;

However, the tribute part was based on a speech given about a century ago by George Graham Vest, U.S. Senator from Missouri. Here’s the full text as printed on the inside pages of Weigand’s pamphlets.

&uot;In a speech made by the late Senator Vest of Missouri, in the course of a trial of a man who had wantonly shot a dog belonging to a neighbor, Vest represented the plaintiff who demanded $200 damages. When Vest finished speaking, the jury, after two minutes deliberation, awarded the plaintiff $500. The speech follows:

&uot;Gentlemen of the jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful.

&uot;Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith.

&uot;The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man’s reputation may he sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action.

&uot;The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our beads.

&uot;The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog.

&uot;Gentlemen of the Jury, a man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side.

&uot;He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains.

&uot;When riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

&uot;If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies, and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in it’s embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside ill the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even to death.&uot;

The back page of this small pamphlet explained it was being distributed with the compliments of the Albert Lea Bottling Works, then located at 514 W. Main St. (now the location of Arrow Printing Co.).

This local bottling works specialized in the mixing and manufacturing of carbonated beverages, or what some folks still call soda pop.

The brands listed on this page were McAllen Grapefruit, Minnesota Dry Ginger Ale, Colonel Albert Lea (a brand name for flavored beverages), strawberry, orange and grape cider drinks, Dr. Stearns Root Beer and Ace High.

As already stated, Bob Wiegand was a part owner of the soft drink firm. He owned several horses and was, as I remember him, a rather interesting man.

The Albert Lea Bottling Works was owned by Bob and his two brothers, Bill and Carlyle, from 1907 to 1957. Bill died in August 1957, Bob died in October 1968 and Carlyle died in November 1978.

To close off this column, I do have a somewhat pertinent question. If the ginger ale brand mentioned is labeled as dry, then how come it was sold as a liquid in a bottle?

(Feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears each Friday.)