Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin

January 16, 2008, Page 11

Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press"

Presentation by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

Compiled & Contributed by Dee Zimmerman

 

Clark County News

January 1868

 

The Greenwood Band is becoming quite popular and deservedly so, with the Neillsville dancers.  Its band members are finished musicians and as nice of fellows a party has ever been associated with.  May their visits here be often.

* * *

New goods consisting of dry goods, groceries, furnishing goods, and such, are being received daily at Blakeslee’s new store on the corner of Main and Court House streets. The stock is now complete in every line and all are invited to come, examine the goods and prices.

* * *

Hon. S. L. Nason, of Wood County, Member of Assembly, elect for this Assembly District, in company with John S. Dore, of the county, took the morning train for Madison, last Monday.  They will witness the inauguration ceremonies and will be on hand for the organization of the Legislature, on Wednesday.  Hon. F. D. Lindsay and M. C. Ring also went to the capital on the same train for the same purpose.

* * *

Lumbermen on the river, though not as hopeful of a good winter’s work as they were two weeks ago, have not thrown in the sponge, but are getting an immense amount of logs skidded. If enough snow comes to permit hauling between now and the Fourth of July, there will be lively times all along the line. An unusual number of teams have been engaged for use when the snow does come and from that time on, if it ever does come there will be no time lost while the sleighing lasts.  (The winter of 1877-1878 was referred to as the “Al Brown Winter,” due to the lack of snow, which brought logging operations to a standstill and caused some lumbermen to go broke. D.Z.)

* * *

Indian Summer has been too frequent of an occurrence during the past few months to be fully appreciated.

Al Brown is a better weather prophet than Prof. Tice. He knew January would be a cold month when dog days came in December.

* * *

A bill providing for the division of the counties of Clark and Marathon, and the beginning of the County of Forest, was introduced in the Assembly last Tuesday. It’s the same old saw, but it will never get through.

At an evening session of the Clark County Board, held last week, a lively discussion was had for a short time on the question of organizing a new township out of portions of the towns of Hixon and Thorp.

Messrs. Wm Darton, Joseph Gibson and T. J. LaFlesh were appointed commissioners on the part of the county by the County Board, at its late meeting, in accordance with a resolution adopted at a previous meeting of that body appropriating $3,000 to the towns of Mayville, Colby, Unity and Sherman for road purposes, to superintend the work for which the appropriation was made. The matter could not have been placed in better hands.

* * *

The altar manufactured by Mr. Sterns, who lives here, was presented to the Odd Fellow’s Lodge of this village. The finish and workmanship throughout, is the finest piece of furniture of its kind that we have ever seen.

* * *

You can’t always tell by the looks of a man whether he will work or not, as Bussell found out to the tune of the greater fraction of the dollar, last Saturday. He offered Horace Weston and Peter McLow fifty cents if they would pile up several cords of wood that had been left at the Newspaper office on subscription. The work was well done, but we’d like to give some man with an able-bodied step-ladder, a job of bringing the top of that wood pile down to the reach of ordinary mortals. Pete did the high stacking on a sure foundation laid by Horace, so again we are forced to borrow wood from our neighbors during the evening.

January 1948

Deeds recording the transfer of property in Clark County slowed up during December, as are customary at this time of the year, after a year of property turnover approaching record proportions.

Included in the few recorded at the office of the register of deed were:

The transfer of ownership of all buildings belonging to the Dairy Belt Cheese and Butter company on their property in section 8, Town of York, to H. F. Magadanz. The property is an old cheese factory, which Mr. Magadanz will raze.

The purchase by Myron Anderson of Lot 7, block F, of the village of Withee for $550 from Luella M. Bestel estate, through William I. O’Neill, administrator.

The purchase of John E. Smith for $3,825 of lots 16 and 17 of the original plat of Thorp village from the Anna Oberle estate, through H.E. Trewartha, administrator.

The purchase from Lavon and Lawrence Wilson of their property in section 21, town of Mead, by the Thorp Finance Corp. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson reserved a life estate on the property.

A recording of an easement granted by Amanda Dormady of the town of Hewett, granting E.H. Snyder to maintain a private roadway across her property in section 10 of that township.

* * *

Mayor Victor J. Anderson has received a letter addressed to the “Lord Mayor, Neillsville, Wis., U. S. A.”

It comes from a German girl who is seeking a pen pal among the girls of Neillsville. The envelope contained a letter asking the mayor to find a girl who will correspond with her.

In the letter, she wrote:

Dear Sir:

“In the school we have to learn English, but we must learn without a text-book.  That does not well.  There I wish to correspond with an American girl. I ask you heartily to help me. There wish I get some practise.  Please give the enclosed letter to a girl.  I back your pardon and thank you very much for your trouble.  I wish you a merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Your Edith vanFreeden

(24b) Kiel

Testalozzistrasse 82

Englische Zone”

The mayor asks that any girl desiring to correspond with Edith, get in touch with him.

* * *

The thousands of friends and well wishers of Clark County who followed the story of David Krutsch of Washburn in the last New Year’s Edition will be delighted to know:

Dave, at long last, is being married to “The Girl,” the silent, helping heroine of your story, who waited patiently while Dave, the boy and young man, completed a man-sized job. You remember Dave wanted to be free of farm debt and get everything ship-shape before he took the step.

Well, The Girl, Jean Stanley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roy Stanley of Neillsville, and Dave were to be married Saturday afternoon, at 2 p.m., in the Cannonville Church.

Circuit Judge Roland J. Steinle of Milwaukee, who called the story of Dave and his struggle a “modern Horatio Alger story of the farm,” no doubt will be glad to learn that the climax of the story has now been written.

From: The City Desk

* * *

About four million dollars went into building construction and maintenance in Clark County in 1947. This is a conservative estimate, based upon exact figures of sales of building materials and upon estimates of costs for labor and supplies.

Difficulties of construction have grown out of a real shortage accumulating over a period of nearly 20 years.  In the 1930s lack of money was the difficulty; many persons wanted to build but lacked the cash and then came the war with more money but no materials.  The end of the war found a large accumulation of cash, and shelves just about bare of building materials.  The building industry has not been able to catch up, nor is it to be anticipated that it can catch up to a number of years.

In Clark County perhaps the largest single piece of construction was that of Western Condensing at Owen, where additional capacity was created, including a mammoth boiler, enlargement of the boiler room, a new building to house evaporating equipment and some additional storage capacity. At Greenwood, the REA is constructing a large building for office and warehouse. In Neillsville the largest single unit of business construction was the garage building, on U.S. 10, owned and occupied by Rychnovsky Bros.  The Quality Egg Company built an office and a warehouse on Seventh Street and Otto Lewerenz constructed a modern front and additions to his restaurant building on South Hewett and East Fifth corner.

Also Arthur Dern installed a modern front for the Neillsville Bakery, this being the first front in Neillsville with glass descending completely to the floor level.

Residence construction went on all over the county, despite the difficulties. All of the villages and cities were bursting at the seams, with need for housing which had to be undertaken, shortages or no shortages. In the country, the construction was largely in the direction of machine sheds and similar utility building, though here and there a barn was put up. All over the county painting went forward apace, the viewpoint evidently being that it was cheaper to meet the cost of painting than to let the buildings deteriorate further.

* * *

More than 700 silver dollars were turned loose in Neillsville Monday night when the local Service Company received its first pay since reorganization.

Attached to each “cartwheel” was a red sticker to indicate that the coin had come into the community as a part of the National Guard payroll. By this means people of the community will be able to gain some impression of the financial value to the city of the Service Company.

The total payroll amounted to $944.99, of which $166.83 went to out-of-town officers connected with the company, according to Capt. Hallie Gault. The remaining $778.16 was distributed to local members. The payroll covered the period of September, October and November.

* * *

The government thermometer in Neillsville hit 40 below zero early Saturday morning, January 17, 1948. It was the coldest in the memory of most local residents, but not so cold as some of the old-timers tell. In the pioneer days, the reckoning was not by government thermometer and so the stories must be taken with allowances.

It was so cold Saturday morning that the fuel oil congealed in the outside tank at the George Freezy home, 132 Twenty-First Street.  The fire went out and the Freezys were compelled to pour hot water over the connections before their oil heater went to work again.

Temperature reported from Merrillan was –44, from Hatfield, -42.

* * *

Mrs. Evelyn Walk of Neillsville, Monday, started teaching the lower grades in St. John’s Lutheran School.

She became the third teacher in the lower grades this year, succeeding Mrs. James West of the town of Washburn, who was forced to retire because of illness after a week of teaching.

Mrs. West had taken the position on a temporary basis while Miss Gertrud Beierle of Milwaukee was under the care of a physician for a throat ailment. Miss Beierle since has notified school officials that she has been advised that she will be unable to return.

Miss Walk, the former Evelyn Wetzel, has had 10 years of teaching experience in the Clark County school system.

* * *

Louis Wojtkiewicz is the first farmer in the town of Withee to produce Grade A milk. He started October 28. The first step in preparing for this quality was the construction of a milk house according to approved specifications.

Mr. Wojtkiewicz is satisfied that it will pay him to produce milk of this quality. His first check showed a premium of 60 cents and he anticipates an average premium over Grade B of 35 cents or more per hundred, on a 3.5 basis.

* * *

The village board of Loyal is discussing tentative plans to become a city. Under the statutes a community must have a population of 921 at the last census, but the village board may take a special census to determine if the population of Loyal has since reached the 1,000 mark. The main benefit of the change from village to city is a greater of number of representatives on the county board.

* * *

The latest record releases can be purchased at Bollom’s Record Store, 126 W. 7th Street, Neillsville.

Among those are: I’ll Dance at Your Wedding, by Buddy Clark; The Gypsy, by the Ink Spots; Ding Dong Daddy, by Arthur Godfrey; Angry, by Tiny Hill; Doghouse Polka, by the Babe Wagner Dutchmen; Rolling Rock, by Frankie Yankovic; Hilltop Waltz, Grasshopper Polka and Saxophone Schottische, by Whoopee John.

* * *

C.E. Mallory has disposed of his taxi business in Neillsville and his newly constructed home at the corner of South State and East First streets and is returning to Boscobel. There, he is taking back a business, which he had sold before returning to Neillsville last fall. He left early last week for Boscobel. Mrs. Mallory and daughter, Marlene, were to join him there on Friday. Miss Delores Mallory plans to go to Boscobel later this month and will be employed there.  Mr. and Mrs. Dan Brewer, who bought the Mallory home, took possession Sunday.

A unique diner was located along Hewett Street and near the railroad tracks, called the Al’Aboard, deservingly so as it was an abandoned railroad car converted into a diner. The above sign, taken in the late 1940s, was located near the sidewalk, in front of the building. Visible in the background are the railroad tracks, as well as the Condensery at the left, Hewett Street Bridge in center and the old American Legion Hall at the right. (Photo courtesy of Gordon Thoma’s family collection)

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