In January of 1919, Mrs. Mary Gingery was living in Shellsburg – a small city in east central Iowa, not far from Cedar Rapids.

it seems that Mrs. Gingery kept horses at New Hall, a small city 12 miles to the southwest.

Mrs. Gingery received a postcard from her son, Jess, who had made a rapid train trip to New Hall the night before.

From the message on the reverse, it seems that Jess raced to the train in Atkins, a small town six miles to the east of New Hall.

The ride to New Hall was so short, that no one collected a fare from Jess.

(The city of New Hall was developed as the rail lines of the Chicago Milwaukee & Saint Paul Railroad reached across Iowa.)

The purpose of the emergency visit appears to be the horses.

Jess concludes the message to his mother by reporting, “The horses are all right”.

The face of the postcard bears an evocative drawing of a foresested area in winter.

The artist is uncredited and the publisher is not identified.

One hopes that Mrs. Gingery was relieved by the news from Jess, and that Jess returned safely to Atkins.