Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin

January 8, 2014, Page 12

Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press"

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

Compiled by Dee Zimmerman

 

Clark County News

 

January 1869

 

Freights have been reduced on the West Wisconsin Railroad, ten cents on a hundred pounds.  Wheat is carried to Milwaukee at 40 cents per hundred, or 24 cents per bushel.                  

•••••••••

The farmers on the prairie, as far west as twenty and even up to forty miles from here, find Neillsville a good market for the sale of their produce. Within the past few days, a large number of teams have come in brining flour, feed, wheat, oats and such, which are sold here at the highest market price. The farmers generally return home loaded with lumber, thereby creating quite a lively traffic between this place and our neighbors on the prairie.

•••••••••

“Kingston,” a small collection of houses about twelve miles west of here, with a large steam saw mill, hotel, etc., receives its name from the energetic, go-ahead proprietor of all the surroundings, Mr. Geo. W. King, who inaugurated the custom of giving a grand ball at the advent of each year.

 

Less than two years ago, the place where Kingston now stands was in the midst of an unbroken forest, and it has just witnessed its second New Year’s Day.

 

Several couples went from her this season and all returned with an exceedingly good report.   Many were present. We hear of pleasant gatherings in other parts of the county which makes it appear that at one time in the year at least, in this county, all questions for local or general strife are laid aside for hearty enjoyment.

•••••••••

 

Rev. Mair requests us to state the he will preach in the schoolhouse at Neillsville on Sunday, 17th, at 10:30 a.m., and every alternate Sunday thereafter at the same hour.

 

It has been circulated by some of our exchanges that “religion in Neillsville is at a discount,” and that the public buildings here were closed against divine worship. We beg to correct the statement.  Neillsville has not yet disgraced herself by any such action.                                                                          

•••••••••

The time for killing deer expires on next Friday, January 15th.               

•••••••••

We call attention to an advertisement, of W. S. Covill, Sheriff of Clark County, who offers to look after lands for non-residents, examine titles, etc.  We cheerfully recommend Mr. Covill as a reliable and trustworthy gentleman, who will attend to any business entrusted to his care in an efficient and honorable manner.  

•••••••••

The measles disease is prevailing in the community to a considerable extent. We learn of some who are dangerously ill. It has been in the vicinity for some weeks and seems now to be increasing.

•••••••••

Caught at last!  An old bachelor, of three score years and ten, who is living near here, after having escaped for nearly three quarters of a century, has at last been caught, by the measles.           

•••••••••

Owing to the high priced hay in this county, considerable amounts are being brought here from Jackson and Trempealeau counties.                                                                                            

•••••••••

A new paper called the Augusta herald will soon be issued from Augusta, Eau Claire County. It will be Republican in politics and be conducted under the management of Mr. Geo. W. Brown, a gentleman once connected with the Banner.

•••••••••

Snow is very much needed, yet a scarce article in this region. Lumbermen in the woods are obliged to keep men shoveling snow upon the roads and some of them having long distances to haul, find it a serious impediment to their progress.  We are informed by some of the most experienced that further operations in some of the camps will b4e stopped for this winter, and one old veteran in the business says he has already taken one crew of men out of the woods.  Last wint4er was not considered a favorable one, but a fourth more was accomplished than will be done the present season.

•••••••••

The following g model business letter we present ‘verbatim et literatim,’ which will no doubt be of pecuniary advantage to some person in this vicinity, who must be by this time under the delusion that the honest proprietors of the Madison Journal are “swindlers.”

 

‘Neelsvill Jan 12 ‘69

 

Mssrs. Atwood Rubyle inclosed I send yoo 25 cent foryoor valuable paper for the present Legeletur please send all the back numbers I want the full seshion.’

 

The letter has no signature and Messrs. Atwood & Rublee are about 25 cents ahead thus far; but to prevent any stigma resting upon their fair character as gentlemen of integrity, we will add that they returned the letter to the postmaster here with their name and address signed to the query: “Who is it? Let us know.”

•••••••••

For Sale at C. E. Adams’, Trunks & Valises; assortment of horse blankets, 2,000 lbs. choice butter.

 

January 1944

 

The Man of the Year of Clark County, as selected by The Clark County Press, is Herbert Milton Smith, lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. In the year just ended, Lieut. Co. Smith was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart for leadership and heroism at the Battle of the Beaches at Buma, New Guinea.  He represented the people of Clark Count at destiny’s most critical point in the Southwest Pacific and acquitted himself with high honor.  In selecting him, it is the purpose of The Press, as it would be the desire of all the people of Clark county, to recognize him as the representative of all those who have gone out from the county to the armed services of the nation.  He is, so to speak, the composite of some 2,000 persons who represent the people of Clark County in the fighting services of World War II.  To all of them and to Lieut. Col. Smith as their representative, it is the purpose here to pay tribute.

 

The selection of Herbert M. Smith as the Man of the Year was made without consulting him, and in the knowledge that, if he were consulted, he would disapprove. But in his service on New Guinea, Lieut. Smith made history, and the public acts which make history pass beyond pass beyond individual control.  His citations within the service and this recognition on the Home Front come as the logical sequel of his public and recorded acts, which give him a place in history. All of the information contained for this article has been gathered from publications already made in this country and more particularly from articles appearing in the Fortune magazine of June 1943 and in various issues of the Milwaukee Journal.

 

But if Col. Smith was not consulted, his commanding officer, Lieut. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger was consulted. To a letter from this newspaper General Eichelberger made the following reply: “You certainly could have made no better selection for the Man of the Year of Clark County than Lt. Col. Herbert M. Smith. He proved himself to be an able soldier and a very brave man.  I will always be glad to do anything I can to be of service to him.”

 

In the prior history of the United States, a somewhat similar situation developed at the Bloody Angle on the field of Gettysburg.  That was the point of heaviest impact of Pickett’s charge. At Bloody Angle, muskets were clubbed in the hardest hand-to-hand fighting. At the Bloody Angle the line held. That was the high point of the Confederacy.

 

From that point on, the Confederacy was on the way down and out.

 

In the Buma campaign, Herbert Smith was wounded at the point, which corresponded with bloody Angle. At that point, as nearly as can now be seen, the Japanese effort reached its high tide.  Beaten back there, the Japanese forces have been making one withdrawal after another, with power and prospects continuously waning, as compared with those of the United Nations. Service rendered at Buna was rendered at the critical spot, and in the nick of time.  The men who served there served where it could help most.  They stood at the turning point of history, and it is to their everlasting credit, and to the future hope of their country, that they did not fail.

 

This is the point: Could the Japanese extend their foothold on the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea, and use that as a base for the invasion of Australia?  That was their last hope for such an invasion, and the invasion of Australia was clearly their main purpose.

 

Except for Mac Arthur, there would probably have been no fighting at that time in New Guinea at all. When he arrived in Australia from the Philippines he found the Australians anticipating early invasion.  Their plans called for abandonment of the northern part of the country and defense along a line about 300 miles north of Brisbane.  With this plan, Mac Arthur was dissatisfied.  He took the position that the best defense of Australia was on offensive on New Guinea, and he vigorously pushed his plans accordingly.  He rushed the construction of airfields and camps northward in Australia, and he prepared to land and support, in New Guinea, forces adequate to gain control there.

 

(We tend to forget the sacrifices made by those who have served in defending our country during World War II and the conflicts since.  It is difficult to imagine there were nearly 2,000 from Clark County who were in the armed forces during World War II. DZ)                                                                                           

•••••••••

A quiet wedding took place on New Year’s Day, at the parsonage of Immanuel Lutheran Church of Globe, when Miss Victoria Schoenherr, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Schoenherr, Neillsville, Route 3, became the bride of George Thoma, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Thoma, also of Neillsville, Route 3.  The double ring ceremony was performed by Rev. Adolph Schumann, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church.

 

The bride wore a blue velvet dress and carried a bouquet of pink and white carnations. The matron of honor, Mrs. Lee Mills, a sister of the bride, wore a beige dress and also carried a bouquet of pink and white carnations.  Lee Mills attended the groom.

 

Both the bride and groom grew up in the Globe Community and attended school there. They will reside in an apartment at the Globe store, and the groom will continue to assist with farming on his father’s farm.

•••••••••

Frank Shulz and seven of his companions in a cheerful life perished in the flames early last Friday morning in the Town of Fremont.  Mr. Shulz was a bachelor, living alone in a former brooder house.  His seven companions were goats, who lived in the brooder house with him.  One other goat, nanny goat of the flock, escaped from the flames, presumably by jumping through a window. She received a cut above the eye and caught a bad cold, but is no recovering under the ministrations of the Edward Lindow family.

 

The setting of the departure of Frank Shulz was seemingly one of depression and gloom. Losing his house six or seven years ago by fire and losing nearly all of his possessions with it, the old man had managed to buy a former brooder house, about 12 x 14 feet in size.  This, he moved to his little place in Fremont.  It was of one room.  In it at the time of his death he and himself, eight goats, the bicycle, which, he had learned to, ride at 80, a cot, a stove, a shoemaker’s sewing machine, parts of harness and the tri-flying equipment of a bachelor-keeping house.

•••••••••

A young Mankato man tried to take off with something under his belt, when he visited Neillsville Tuesday. He was driving a car and the navigation was difficult.  He admitted this before Justice Campman, who fined him $25 and costs.

•••••••••

Fuel oil users of Clark County, numbering about 1,200, face a cold prospect. The supply of fuel oil has become exceedingly short, with difficulty in filling rations with danger that ration units may be reduced and with the certainly that additional rations cannot be granted.

 

A grim note of warning has been sounded by the local rationing board, based upon a tightening situation.  With the attack growing in intensity and growing of the second front about to be opened, the demand upon petroleum products for the war has been stepped up to a crescendo. The war has first place, which means that the Home Front will take what is left.  And what is left will not be sufficient to go around, according to the present outlook.

 

A statement of the rationing board is to the effect that some Clark County homes are cold and that some families are uncomfortable, but that the board can do nothing about it. The statement is authorized by W.A. Campman, chairman of the board.                                                                                                 

•••••••••

During a period of such mild weather as we have been enjoying this winter, one often hears stories of the first robin, but here is a true story of the first campers of the season. It is the story of three outdoor youths who wanted to try something new.  The boys are George Crothers, Francis Zilk and Billie Farrand, and the new thing they tried was a camping trip in the middle of a Wisconsin winter.  Last Friday, Jan. 14, after school, the boys transported to the banks of the Black River, full camping equipment, including tent, bedding, food and cooking supplies. They spent the night in the tent and prepared supper, breakfast and a dinner on Saturday.

 

An expedition of this kind has been running in the minds of these 13-and -14-year-old-boys for some time, but only in the past week did it really reach a definite plan. A week before the day of the expedition, the boys began assembling supplies and by the Saturday before, the sled was packed with tent, bedding and cooking equipment and all ready in the basement at the Zilk home.  On the last day, foods were packed and here the mothers lent a hand. George foraged about his mother’s pantry to supply pork chops, a gallon of milk, chocolate, etc., and Francis says that his mother baked an extra loaf of bread for the occasion. Billie brought the boiled potatoes to fry for supper with the pork chops.

 

After school closed Friday, the campers started out drawing their laden sled across the Herian fields to the Black River.  They chose a campsite southwest of the Crothers farm buildings, but on the west river bank and crossed over on the ice.  George pitched the tent, while Billie and Francis gathered wood and got the fire going. They spent the night in the tent and prepared supper, breakfast and a dinner on Saturday.

 

The boys are experienced campers, but this was their first camping trip in the wintertime.  It was all for fun, and the boys agree that it was worth the effort.

 

 

A circa 1940 photo of the west side of the 500 block of Hewett Street when the

Coast-to-Coast and Berger-Quinlan businesses were located in buildings in that block

€€€€€€€€€€€

 

 


© Every submission is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

 

Show your appreciation of this freely provided information by not copying it to any other site without our permission.

 

Become a Clark County History Buff

 

Report Broken Links

A site created and maintained by the Clark County History Buffs
and supported by your generous donations.

 

Webmasters: Leon Konieczny, Tanya Paschke,

Janet & Stan Schwarze, James W. Sternitzky,

Crystal Wendt & Al Wessel

 

CLARK CO. WI HISTORY HOME PAGE