November 1905

A carload of the finest potatoes will be received from Eau Claire either the end of this, or the beginning of next week; with another carload expected one week later and still another two weeks later.  Place your orders with us now.  We are expecting a carload of the finest winter apples in the near future, at the Farmers Cash Store.

Money is power and power rules the world.  You may gain both if you take your produce to the Farmers Cash Store where you will get the highest market price and where they have been paying 18 cents a dozen for eggs since the 13^th of October.

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James Cannon and John Carter have invented a device for the prevention of creosote in furnace chimneys or in airtight stoves.  They have applied for a patent and are prepared to furnish them, which would guarantee them $10 each.  These devices used thus far have proved very successful.

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John Aumann, who bought the old Chandler farm from Fred Wendt, Sr., shipped his crop of sugar beets to Chippewa Falls last week.  He harvested about 13 tons of beets to the acre and averaged better than $4.50 per ton.

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C. Krumrey is getting ready to put in about 400,000 feet of hardwood logs on his land in the Town of Seif.  August Lautenbach, of Grant, is putting up his sawmill on the tract and will saw up the logs as they are landed.  Mr. Krumrey will have about a dozen men in logging camp when the job is in full swing.  Louis Handtke has charge of the crew, some of which are now building camps.  Mr. Krumrey will utilize every kind of timber on the land; even the slabs will be sawed up and hauled to Neillsville for wood.

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Tragsdorf, Zimmerman & Co. is the only store that will sell you a 25 lb. white muslin sack of the best cane granulated sugar for $1.25.  Take note of that.

Buy a 15 lb. pail of jelly for only 47c at Tragsdorf, Zimmerman & Co.

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The R. Connor Company of Stratford is looking for men to work in the woods and logging camps.  They will pay good wages, $28 to $33 per month.

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Chas. F. Grow, Geo. E. Crothers and F. W. Draper have been appointed State Civil Service examiners for this Assembly District.  The office is a purely honorary one, as there is no provision in the law for their receiving any pay.

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Many of the farms in our area have been named, such as:

Pleasant Ridge Farm: Section 33 Town of Dewhurst, Griff Davis, Hatfield, Wis.

Poultry Grove Farm: Section 8, Chas. Knoop, Neillsville.

Stony Brook Farm, Section 1, Grant, E. A. Beeckler, Granton.

Silver Leaf Farm, Section 17, J. E. Counsell, Neillsville.

Cunningham Creek Farm, Section 6, Washburn, Chas. Wilke, Neillsville.

Elmwood Farm, Section 20, Grant, Neillsville.

Edgewood Dairy Farm, Section 34, York, W. D. Rose, Granton.

Plain View Farm, Section 36, Weston. H. Imig and Sons, Neillsville.

Rolling Slope Stock Farm, Section 17, York, Chas. Buddinger, Neillsville.

Grand Avenue Farm, Section 22, Pine Valley; joining city limits on the south, known as the Dan Gates farm.

Bunker Hill Farm, Section 10 York, W. H. Turner, Granton.

Central Wis. Up-to-Date Dairy Farm: Town of York, Frank Greeler, Neillsville.

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A Thanksgiving Dinner will be served at the O’Neill House.  The bill of fare will be: Cream of Tomato soup, pickles, olives and celery.

Meats will be: Roast Beef, brown gravy: Roast Turkey w/Cranberry Sauce; Baked Goose w/Oyster Dressing; Chicken Pie.

Fruit Jello, Vegetables, Steamed Potatoes, Mashed Potatoes, Cabbage, Hot Slaw, Kidney Beans & Parsley.

Pastry: Apple, Mince & Pumpkin Pie, American cheese, Hartford Pudding, Wine Sauce, Vanilla Ice Cream & Assorted Cakes.

Served with White & Brown Bread, and beverages: of Tea, Coffee & Milk.

Dinner will be served at 12:30 p.m.  Price will be 50 cents per plate.

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The beautiful new brick church of the Evangelical Lutheran Zion’s Congregation, 1 mile southeast of Granton will be dedicated on Sunday, November 26^th.  Services will be at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.  Music will be by the Brass Band, singing of anthems by two strong choirs.  Dinner and other refreshments will be served on the grounds under shelter.  Everybody is cordially invited.

Don’t forget the New England supper given by the Presbyterian ladies, at the home of Mrs. W. C. Bullard, today.

November 1945

The American Legion will give a dinner at the Moose Hall Sunday, November 11, for all ex-servicemen, their wives and the wives of those servicemen not yet returned from duty with the armed forces.  The dinner will be in commemoration of the Armistice of World War I.

The American Legion Auxiliary will meet at the Kiwanis rooms Tuesday, November 13.  The president of the Auxiliary, Mrs. Hazel Casler, requests that the members bring the following articles for a shower for our boys in hospitals: cigarettes, smoking tobacco, playing cards, hankies, tooth paste, men’s socks and wash cloths.

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Lawrence Drescher, 29, a veteran of World War II, has taken over his new duties as night policeman in Neillsville.  He was sworn into the position Saturday afternoon, by City Clerk Dale K. Armitage.  Drescher takes the place of Tony Handtke, who resigned after nearly a year of service.  He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Drescher of the Town of Grant.

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Pfc. Russell J. Ferguson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ferguson of Granton, has been awarded the Bronze Star for gallantry in action.

A messenger, Pfc. Ferguson “displayed exceptional courage” by voluntarily braving heavy enemy fire between his company and battalion headquarters,” the citation stated.  The action took place July 6, 1944, when all communications with higher headquarters had been disrupted.

Pfc. Ferguson later was hospitalized in England because of a wound received in action August 5, 1944.

1/Sgt. Oscar H. Walk, of 220 W. Seventh Street, Neillsville, has received his discharge after five years of active service.  His awards include Good Conduct Medal, the European Theater service ribbon, and the American Defense service ribbon.  Sgt. Walk was one, of the first contingent of two men from Clark County to enter the service through Selective Service.  Sgt. Arne Matheson was the other man in the first contingent.  He also has been discharged.  Both men were volunteers.

T/4 Clarence J. Becker, Rt. 4, Neillsville, has received his discharge after four years in the service.  His decorations include the Purple Heart, the Good Conduct Medal, the Meritorious Service unit award, the Asiatic-Pacific-Middle Eastern Theater service ribbon and four overseas service bars.

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“The Spirit of the Pioneers” as applied to the present troubles of the dairy industry was the topic of Wells F. Harvey, editor of The Clark County Press, in an address at the convention last Thursday.

Mr. Harvey referred to the happy coincidence that the convention came to Neillsville in the Centennial year, marking the 100^th anniversary of white settlement in Clark County.  He told how the pioneers had developed lumbering, sending logs down the Black River which, placed end to end, would have reached five times around the world at the equator, five billion board feet, worth $100 million.

“Considering these big figures in the light of present troubles, we are inclined to make much of our worries,” said the speaker.  “We worry over shortage of manpower in the dairy industry; over the difficulties of meeting the increasing demand for quality; over the stiff competition for milk; over the uncertainties of future markets.

“But the pioneers had their troubles, too.  Early lumbermen, including James O’Neill, tried to get lumber down the river in rafts, but the rafts hit the rocks and some of them were dashed to pieces, with much loss.  Then, they tried cutting the lumber into large pieces called cants and for years lumber and cants went down the river together.  Finally, they had to give up both lumber and cants, and practically all the lumber went down the river in whole logs, which were cut up at the river’s mouth. In those days lumber brought only $10 to $12 per thousand, and it was only the very efficient mills that could make money.  By 1875, all of the mills around Neillsville had disappeared except that of Mr. O’Neill.

The pioneers found a way to lick their troubles, and so must we.  The spirit of the pioneers is reflected in the gift of $500 to the Cheesemakers Association to promote the art of cheesemaking.  The man who contributed that money has a vision worthy of the pioneers.  And while today the troubles of personnel seems serious, with young men thinking of a 40-hour week and the wearing of white collars, the time will come when a sounder estimate will be placed upon this industry, which comes nearest to the old Americanism, an opportunity for a young man to become his own boss.

On the question of quality, Mr. Harvey offered one specific suggestion: that the 4-H leaders of each county are asked to make dairy cleanliness a 4-H project, with competition in each county and with emphatic recognition accorded to the 4-H member or members who excel.  The purpose of this project would be to emphasize the importance of quality, and to draw attention to the value of cleanliness in dairy operations.

Competition in Central Wisconsin is difficult, the speaker said.  In recent years, it has been extreme, with plant operators hesitating to make proper demands for the quality of fluid milk. From the farmer’s standpoint, the advantage of this is that he is assured of a splendid market, without one drop of milk going unsold.  But, with indications that competition will become still keener, a suggested answer, profitable to farmers and the entire industry, is that herds be improved, with larger average production per cow.  And that an important agency in accomplishing this can be artificial breeding, with the consequent increase in usefulness of choice sires.

On the question of markets, the speaker said that development of packaging in small sizes is very recent, and that its usefulness in developing the market has not yet become apparent.  He gave it as a reasonable prospect that there will be a large development in the use of cheese because of the more convenient and sanitary form in which it may now be purchased.

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Neillsville High School’s homecoming will be Friday, Nov. 2.  The homecoming parade starts at 1 p.m.

The football game between Neillsville and Withee will start at 2 p.m. at the Clark County Fairgrounds.  Business places will be closed during the game.

The homecoming dance will be held at the armory, starting at 8 p.m.  Emil and his orchestra will provide the dance music.  Admission will be 30c for students and 50c for adults.

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It required just 13 hours for three boys, 13 to 15 years old, to get their fill of “seeing the world” Monday.  The world was more than they could take.

The boys left the State Public School at Sparta about 8:15 a.m., and gave up about 9 p.m. at the Scheffer farm, near the junction of highways 10 and 12, 18 miles west of Neillsville.  There, they asked Mr. Scheffer to call the police.

They were cold; they were hungry; and they had “about walked our feet off,” according to the 13-year-old.

In the morning when they should have been reporting to classes, the three boys struck out through the woods and across the swamps, heading in the general direction of “Canada.”  They kept off the roads until they came to a town about four mils from the school.  There they saw an airport – or at least watched an airplane take off and land. The youngest boy said it was the first time he ever had seen an airplane start and complete a flight from “close up.”

When they struck out to see the world, the three counted three pennies as their capital wealth.  One of them found a penny along the way.

So, when they reached Black River Falls, they converted their total capital into four cents worth of pretzels.

“They’re cheap,” explained the youngest boy.  “You get a whole pound for twelve cents, and that’s a big sack full.”

The four cents worth of pretzels and a head of cabbage (which they said “a lady” let them have from her garden in Tomah) comprised their rations for the day.  Of course, the salty pretzels called for a drink of water.

How they happened on Highway 12 was something the boys were at a loss to explain.

“We were on 16,” commented one; “then the next thing we knew we were on 12.”

When they reached the Scheffer farm, they had decided the world would have to get along as best it could without their personal scrutiny.  They asked Mr. Scheffer to call the police.

City Police Chief Ray Kutsche and two other men brought the boys back to Neillsville and lodged them in the county jail.  The next morning they were ready to return to the school.

“We’ll probably have to do a little K.P. when we get back,” one of them said.

“But that ain’t so bad.”

Wisconsin Trivia

Q. What Wisconsin army division earned its nickname by being the driving point of Allied offensives in World War II?

A. The Red Arrow (32^nd) Division

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The Neillsville Armory, built in 1892, was located in the 400 block of East 4^th Street.  Besides being head-quarters for the local National Guard Unit, its auditorium was used for high school basketball games, plays and graduations.  Many other large community events, such as dances, programs and meetings were also held there.  The armory building served its community well during its existence.  (Photo courtesy of Bill Roberts’ family collection)