After a number of years of prosperous business, one of those periodical depressions hit our community and in fact the whole country. Prices receded, business failures were numerous and prices on real estate were badly depleted. Foreclosures, the lack of tax payments, etc., added to the calamity, and the newspaper business suffered with the rest. In Sioux City, the condition was more serious. Several other newspapers had been started in South Sioux City, and there was little business for even one or two papers. So this editor made up his mind to retire from such a struggle. Being fortunate in securing a buyer for the newspaper and a part of its equipment with not too great a loss, the next proposition was - where shall we go?

After consultation with an old friend, John C. Kelly, editor and publisher of the Sioux City Tribune, we set out to find a possible location. There were many country newspapers that could be bought, if one had the necessary funds. Our ready funds were limited, so what?

After the disposal of our Dakota County Democrat at South Sioux City, we finally decided to try a temporary location in northwest Iowa. In beautiful Sioux County there was a nice little business berg 12 miles north of LeMars and a distance of about 36 miles from Sioux City. This town was Maurice, eight miles west of Orange City, the county seat and the center of a large colony of Hollanders that had pioneered in the county. Most of them originally came from the Holland colony at Holland, Michigan. So Orange City was appropriately and “lovingly” known as “Little Holland”, the whole of the eastern, central and much of the western part of the county being populated by folks from Holland in Europe, from Holland, Mich., and their descendants.

With no intention of making it our permanent home, but simply as a “stop-gap” until something better developed, we decided that we could take a “gamble” on Maurice. Trucks were almost non-existent at that time, so we found suitable conveyance to the new location by wagons, “navigated” by beautiful big Percheron horses belonging to a relative. It was slow compared to present swift traveling, but sure and dependable. The trip was slowly made and we were able to get small office quarters and a livable residence.

The Maurice Review was launched August 20, 1897. This writer was editor and publisher, and his eldest son, Ralph, was the printer and all around office manager. There had been a number of newspaper ventures in Maurice, none of them succeeding to any great extent, so it took some courage and a lot of hustling to get a start. Many had tried out former Maurice newspapers, only to have the paper discontinued in a few years or months, with the subscriber holding the “sack”.

We tried all sorts of schemes and inducements to get the citizens of town and country to subscribe or give us much recognition or encouragement. We finally resorted to the plan of giving them the paper three months for 25 cents - pay in cash or at the end of the period. By dint of much talk and hard work, we finally succeeded in securing a list of over 500, and this number of readers was maintained during our five years of conducting the paper.

The merchants, business men, and other citizens of the village were extremely loyal and friendly, and also liberal in their advertising and other helps to make the venture successful. We managed to make the paper pay its way and earn living expenses for the family. To supplement this and increase income, the editor went into real estate and insurance to some extent, and this proved moderately successful and brought in substantial revenue that helped to get the editor out of the “red” after his sad experiences at South Sioux City. At the end of five years we had bought and paid for a home and had a substantial bank account.

In this little village of Maurice, there were only three churches at that time - two Holland or reformed organizations, the one exclusively Holland Dutch language service and the other occasional English service. A small congregation of Irish Catholics had a small church (which the editor and family attended, as the only real English church). Later, the Methodists came in and established and built a nice brick church building, which served for the Protestants of various sects for a number of years, but was finally sold to the young Hollanders, who wanted a church of their own with exclusive English service and speaking.