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Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin April 9, 2008, Page 14 Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press" Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon. Index of "Oldies" Articles
Compiled and contributed by Dee Zimmerman
Clark County News |
April 1898
Repairs are being made on the Christie Creamery Co. factory. They will put in a new engine and boiler. The creamery will continue to run while the repairing is going on. It is expected to be in the finest shape soon.
Carpenters are busy at work on the new post office building in Granton. As soon as it is completed, Mr. Williams will take possession.
Matt Marx is building a windmill and water tank near his saloon, so hereafter Granton will not be without fire protection.
From out of Prentices red sandstone quarries at Houghton, Wis., the monolith originally cut for the Worlds Fair is proposed to be taken and set up in Milwaukee. It is 115 feet long by 10 feet square, the largest stone ever cut, the granite obelisk at Karnac being 108 feet high. (A monolith is one large section of stone. D.Z.)
There was a Maple Syrup social at the Unitarian Church parlors on Friday evening, Mar. 25. Progressive caroms and dominoes were played. Maple syrup was served from 8 to 10 oclock. Admission was 10c each.
The flow of maple sap for the past two or three weeks has never been exceeded in these regions. Maple syrup has been freely offered by the farmers in the local market and sold at $1 per gallon. Stumps of maple trees that were cut last winter have been pouring forth streams of sweet sap intended to feed the tree that is no longer there, an arboreal surprise and tragedy.
The Neillsville City Council voted Saturday night, to invest in a butter factory building to be used by R. M. Jencks, the butter maker, provided he agrees to maintain the business for a certain fixed period of time and buy the property later on at the present advanced price. The factory will be located at the foot of West Street, between Emery Bruleys residence and the gristmill property.
(That would have been along Eighth Street, on the present site of Russells Hardware. D.Z.)
A Necktie Social will be held at the Levis-Southern Pine Valley Church Thursday evening, Apr. 28. Each lady attending will furnish a necktie and basket lunch for two. The gentlemen pay 25 cents for their choice of the ties.
Dwight Roberts has leased the vacant corner lot of the Walk Bros. near the post office, for a term of two years. He will erect thereon, at once a one-story building and open up a fruit, confectionery and vegetable store. Dwight has a genius for that line of trade and will no doubt make business lively on that famous corner.
(The store was located on the west side of Hewett Street, near the Fifth Street intersection. D.Z.)
A number of local sportsmen took a boat up to Greenwood Sunday, and rode down the Black River in quest of the festive ducking (dunking). No inquest was held over the remains of anyone. When Jim Cannon saw the war-like looking craft coming down past the pumping station, he took it to be the Spanish torpedo flotilla and immediately took refuge in an empty kerosene barrel.
Will Klopf, Jim Campbell, and Charley and John Servaty spent Saturday and Sunday trout fishing over near Humbird, along Stockwells Creek, catching a total of 66 trout.
James L. Gates has put in a proposal to purchase 19,500 acres of county land in Chippewa County for $5,000 and the county board has taken the offer into consideration. Five thousand acres of land is classed as worthless pine cut-overs. But his object in getting possession of these also is to keep them from injuring the reputation of the other lands which he and the combination of other land holders have and expect to put into a pool for an immigration movement.
An operation for abscess of the lungs by Drs. Esch, Conroy and Lacey was performed upon Neta Bruley, Emery Bruleys daughter, last week. To get at the seat of the trouble, a section of rib had to be removed. The condition of the lungs and pleura were dangerously bad and the relief from the operation was great. The child is much better and will soon be well.
Masons report much building going on around in the country districts surrounding the city.
The Ketel Bros. have been hired to put in some big stone walls under the barns at the Withee farm near Longwood.
Mrs. Caroline ONeill arrived here from Palo Alto, Calif., Monday for a visit with her daughter, Mrs. Ludington and other relatives. Mrs. ONeill formerly ran the ONeill House and was a resident here for many years.
April 1948
Seventy years ago the Rev. Jacob Hauser came to this part of Wisconsin and was greeted by old Chief Blackhawk, Winnebago. Said the old chief; We are glad that you have come. We too believe in Earthmaker. We love our children and shall be glad to see them well trained and well taught.
Last Wednesday evening the Rev. Mitchell Whiterabbit, great-grandson of Chief Blackhawk, spoke to the people of Neillsville at Zion Reformed Church. He brought, in his own way, much the same message that was brought 70 years ago by Mr. Hauser. He spoke to a congregation, which filled Zion Church to overflowing, with the aisles partially occupied by extra chairs.
The occasion was spoken of as a homecoming for Mr. Whiterabbit. He was back among friends whom he made in Neillsville during his long residence here as a boy in the Indian School and a youth in the high school. Since his graduation from Neillsville High School, he has spent eight years in gaining a higher education; four years in college studies at Mission House at Plymouth and two additional years in theological studies there; then a year in Lancaster and McCormick seminaries.
At the completion of his seminary studies Mr. Whiterabbit was commissioned chaplain in the U.S. Navy, the first Indian to be so honored. The war ended before he went abroad, and he took temporary service as a supply pastor in a church in Wheeling, West Virginia. During his preparation for the ministry he was strongly desirous of serving white congregations, but he finally came to look upon work among his own people as his calling. So he recently accepted appointment to the Indian Mission at Black River Falls.
Mr. Whiterabbit is married. His wife is the daughter of an Arapahoe Indian.
Though old Chief Blackhawk welcomed the missionaries, he died not associate himself with the Christian Church. His great-grandson was baptized in 1930, along with other young members of the family. It was not until his grandmother and great aunt were in their golden age that they became baptized by the Rev. Ben Stucki.
The furnishings of St. Lukes Episcopal Church of Neillsville were taken Tuesday to Our Saviours Church at Lugerville, Wis. This is a parish near Phillips and is served by Deaconess Helen Hill as field worker.
The removal of the furnishings was directed by the Right Rev. William W. Horstick, bishop of the diocese of Eau Claire. With him was Dr. K. O. Crosby, vicar of St. Katherines Church of Owen, who is in charge of the Neillsville area.
The removal of the seats and furnishings probably marks the passing of old St. Lukes as a place of worship. Bishop Horstick understands that this was the first church building erected in Neillsville. It was used as an Episcopal place of worship for a long time, but has not been so used for many years. For quite a time it was used by the congregation of which the Rev. Homer E. Webster is in charge, but that use also discontinued two years or so ago.
The old church building stands as something of a problem. Its superstructure has in it lumber of value, but the foundation is evidently pretty well gone. The floor resembles the surface of a lake in weather mildly windy and the walls give some evidence of accommodating themselves to a changing world.
The property has been offered for sale, but there have been no takers. For all these years the Bishop has been paying insurance on it. He would like to relieve himself of the responsibility.
Until a year or so ago, there were two Episcopal communicants in Neillsville, but one of them moved away.
(Does anyone know where this church building was located? dmk)
Ed Bertz will be the first mayor
of the city of Loyal. He was elected Tuesday over Jesse Raab by a vote of
278 to 211. Mr. Raab had been village president.
In the contest for city treasurer, Earl L. Theisen, who has been village
treasurer, won over George Weyhmiller, the vote being 314 to 166.
In the First Ward Henry Ott defeated Henry Boe for alderman.
In the Second Ward Lawrence Cowles defeated Harold Tucker for alderman, the vote being 77 to 66. Mr. Tucker had been village trustee. For alderman-supervisor of that ward R. F. Gotter defeated Otto Weyhmiller by a vote of 80 to 66.
In the Third Ward C. W. Myre defeated M. W. Erickson for alderman, the vote being 54 to 48. For alderman-supervisor Ted Gregory defeated Max Langfeldt 70 to 29. Mr. Langfeldt had been a village trustee.
In the Fourth Ward R. B. Giese won in a three cornered race for alderman; receiving 52 votes to 16 for Edw. M. Trnka and Albert Witt, incumbent trustee. The post of alderman-supervisor went to Bert B. Brown, who received 58 votes, while Arthur Schutte received 35 and Melvin Zettler received 23.
The highest building in Clark County has been razed to the ground. Its 87 feet of height vanished last Thursday in a blaze, which lighted the skies for 20 miles around. Thus the main elevator of Clark Mills, Inc., located at Colby, has come to disaster, carrying with it 15,000 bushels of grain and a lot of valuable equipment.
This industry, Colbys largest, has been pursued by misfortune for a year or more. It was about a year ago that it hit the toboggan of bankruptcy. Having had a meteoric rise, employing upward of 100 men and operating three shifts per day, it came up against presiding obligations, for which cash was short. Included in the obligations was a government claim of about $100,000 for income tax. The manager and chief owner was then Irvin Marcus. Though the business had shown large profits, Mr. Marcus, caught short, went the bankruptcy route, and presently began struggling in a maze of complications.
After a period of halting operations, with a receiver in charge, the property was sold to Steve Miller of Marshfield. Being essentially a cheese man and having no special knowledge of the feed business. Mr. Miller looked upon himself as a rescue party. A short time later, he sold the business to I. S. Joseph Company, a brokerage house of Minneapolis, which had been among the chief creditors of Mr. Marcus original company, the Northwest Distributing Co. Mr. Marcus continued in the business, after being replaced by Thomas Nicholas as manager.
The elevator was about 50 feet square and divided into 21 great bins. The top of the bins was nearly 80 feet from the ground. At all levels there were unavoidably considerable accumulations of dust, despite constant and persistent efforts to keep the dust cleaned up. Back in the days of Mr. Marcus, he declared there (would) be no smoking on the premises.
The fire was supposed to have caught from an over-heated motor on the third floor. Once started it spread through the dust as though powder. A building located north of the elevator site was saved by the Colby Fire Department and is now used by the firm for its retail business.
A green light for the Mead Lake project of Clark County was given by the Public Service Commission at Madison, last Thursday. While the formal order approval was not immediately issued, assurance was given the delegation from this county that the project is acceptable and that the order will follow.
The action of the commission will open the way for the construction of the dam, which will hold back the waters of the Eau Claire River and create a lake in the Town of Mead, available for resort purposes.
Mrs. Myrtle Robinson has men working on the new home, which she is developing on East Sixth Street at the corner of Center Street. The house was moved last fall from a county-owned farm several miles west of Neillsville and placed on a foundation at that time.
Over on the southeast part of the city, on the newly opened South Huron street, excavation is underway for two new residences. One is to be constructed by Ernest Begley and another by Herman Tesmer.
Norman Lynch is building a new garage at his home on North Hewett Street. Raymond Larson is working once again on his new house next door, south of the Lynch residence. Another North Side home being improved is on the corner of North Hewett and 19th Streets, home of the Wayne Potters. The house is being remodeled and a new garage is planned.
Miss Frances Pozega, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pozega Sr., Willard became the bride of Joseph Petkovsek, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Petkovsek, Willard at the Willard parsonage 2 p.m. April 15, 1948. Rev. Michaels Rogel performed the marriage ceremonies. They were attended by Mrs. Lillian Bangert, Rozeville, Wis., sister of the bride and Edward Herrick, Willard, a friend of the groom; also by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Petkovsek Jr., a brother of the groom and his wife.
A reception for immediate relatives was held at the brides home on Thursday night and wedding dance was held that night at the Lakeside Inn at Rock Dam.
They will make their home with the grooms parents on their farm, near Willard.
Occasionally thawing of snow and spring rains brings flooding, such as in 1943 when waters of the Black River covered the roadway of Highway 10, now County Road B. The above photo was taken west of Neillsville with the railroad trestle visible in the background. (From the Clark County Press files)
