News: The Clark Republican and Press 2-11-1886
Contact:  Vickie

----Source: The Clark Republican and Press Date: 2-11-1886

Last week Alex Sires and daughter were arrested at Merrillan on the charge of burning the Blain House. The examination resulted in an acquittal. People who know Sires, know that he is not that kind of a man. The rumor at Merrillan now is that another man, an avowed enemy of Sires’, is the guilty one. He has skipped the country, but he was in Milwaukee on Monday and Tuesday of last week.

HOOKER UP-WATER: The Neillsville Waterworks had steam up last Tuesday, and showed, under difficulties, its powers to squirt. One thousand feet of hose was laid from the pump house, an inch nozzle put on, and with very little steam on a stream was thrown nearly 100 feet high. AS an experiment it was a decided success, and the people of Neillsville, at least the business portion, can congratulate themselves on the fact that the fire king, although not wholly dethroned, is as powerless to do injury, as the king of Dehomey. The hose reached from the pump house to the corned of Main and Third Streets, and the experiment shows that all buildings within that distances are safe from the ravages of the fire king. Without delay the Council should procure another thousand feet of hose, and then the most of the residence properly in the city would be safe, and insurance rates would drop very low. All honor to the men who, by persisted efforts, have rendered these things possible. It is as good an advertisement to the city as the finding of a gold mine which would assay 8500 to the ton could be, Hurrah for the Neillsville Waterworks. Hoop ‘er up.

I was told yesterday that Mrs. Kurth, the noted female salon keeper at Pleasant Ridge, was taken before Justice Jacques, of Neillsville, on divers charges of selling liquor to minors and selling on Sunday, found guilty and fined for each offense. It is quite generally known throughout this town of Grant that these and other parts of the license law are repeatedly violated by her every week in the year and would it not be well for the town board to do its duty in this line and take her license from her? We have a saloon here at Maple Works, one of those respectable saloons that we read about, which is daily dealing out death and destruction by authority given by that same town board and without doubt the license law is violated on an average six days out of a week, and I think the average would crowd seven. When we thur complain , people ask us why we don’t have the keeper pulled, -we answer, because it would do no good. The only object we would have in doing anything of this kind would be to rid the community of the saloon. A little fine of $5.00 occasionally would not do this, and aI verily believe that our town board wouldnot annul the license, even if its owner were found guilty of a transgression every day in the year, therefore if we should spend our time around the saloon, catch the transgressor in the act, and compel him to pay an insignificant little fine, what would we have accomplished towards our object? Echo answers what!

THINGS AT THORP: Frank Misheu, Isaac Smith, V. R. Mead and G. B. Parkhill went to Cadott last week Tuesday and helped organize a K. of H. lodge at that place of twenty-five members.

Dr. Clark Watson and Frank Olin of Cadott, were in town on Friday last.

Peter Konter; Boyd’s busy blacksmith, was in town yesterday visiting friends.

Mrs. R. Wilson, (colored), of Augusta, is in town visiting with "Niger Dick’s" family and other friends. Mrs. W. is a professional singer.

About fifteen couples of our town people tendered Mr. and Mrs. Egbert Mead a pleasant surprise on Saturday evening last, and passed the evening in dancing.

John McCarty, of Longwood, is in town being examined by pension examining surgeon Dr. McCutcheion.

J. Sanders, of Longwood, is in town.

Homer Root, of Greenwood, rooted into the Forest Queen House hash yesterday.

Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Arnold visited Eau Claire last week.