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Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin
April 10, 2013,
Page 9
Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press"
Transcribed by
Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.
Index
of "Oldies" Articles
Compiled by Dee Zimmerman
Clark County News
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March 1868
Mr. G.
Schutte and Mr. B. Kunze, two enterprising young men from Dodge County, have
made arrangements to locate in Neillsville. The former gentleman has purchased
the lot of ground on the corner south of Hewett, Woods & Co.s store, and will
erect there in the spring a two-story building 30 x 60 feet, which will be
occupied by him in the front as a clothing and tailoring store. Mr. Kunze will
open a boot and shoe shop in the rear of the building, which will face towards
the east, with entrance to his shop on the south
side.
At its last meeting, the County
Board of Supervisors made a new town of twenty-four range one west, with the
exception of a piece across the north side, a half-mile wide. It is to be
called Grant and will hold its first election of town officers next spring. We
have no doubt that at the coming Presidential election it will prove itself
worthy of the illustrious name it
bears.
Hon. James ONeill, who has well and
faithfully attended to the interests of this Assembly district of the
legislature this winter, arrived home last Friday evening. This district has
never before been represented by a more able gentleman. He has not made any
lengthy speeches, but he has introduced and carried through a number of bills
that will be of benefit to the people. His constituents may feel proud of him,
and we are satisfied they do. With the exception of a short visit home during
the session, he has been in constant attendance.
We intended to speak before of the
fine residence of Mr. Robert Ross, which was erected last fall about a mile
south of this village. It is a two-story frame house 32x24 feet, with a wing on
the south end 20x32 feet. It was built by Simpson & Eyerly and in point of the
finish and architectural proficiency, is without a rival in either Jackson or
Clark Counties.
There is not a more enterprising or
reliable firm on the Black River than Hewett, Woods & Co. They steadily add to
the improvements of the county and to their own wealth and importance, some new
and needful institutions and at the same time with little stir that half the
people are not aware of it until the noise of some new machinery in motion
attracts their attention. This firm owns the only saw mill and the only flouring
mill in this village. The latest evidence of their enterprise and prosperity is
the putting up new and improved machinery for a planing mill, which is capable
of planing one thousand feet of flooring per hour. It is already prepared to
run. In addition to this, there is in connection with the planing mill enough
power and shafting for a sash and door factory, the machinery for which is soon
to arrive.
The Town of Mentor, in our county,
seems to be taking the lead in saw mills. We learn from Mr. G. W. King that
there will be no less than four steam-powered saw mills running in that town
early this spring.
Mr. J. P. Buck, agent for the sale
of the Fox and Wisconsin Improvement Companys lands in this county, has been in
town a few days. These lands are being sold very fast; and no wonder, for they
are among the best.
Mr. A. W. Clarks mill on Cunningham
Creek, two miles south of the village, is again in motion under the
superintendence of Mr. I. C. Gotchy. Mr. Clark is one of our substantial,
go-ahead men and has been identified with the prominent men of our county in
lumbering and in the advancement of home interests, for more than ten years. He
put in 1,500,000 feet of logs this
winter.
A clothesline at the residence of
Mr. Wm. T. Hutchinson was robbed of a few articles by some low petty thief,
about eight oclock last Friday evening. Such a person should be publicly
chastised and rode out of the community on a rail, adorned with a coat of tar
and feathers. Two or three days of honest labor would have procured the articles
stolen and prevented another stain on the character of some wretch. This is not
the first act of the kind in our village. Suspicions sometimes center upon the
right person and we advise this one to return his ill-gotten gain or he may be
summarily dealt with.
Last night a man named J. E. Hardy,
who has long been addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors, crept into the
barn at the Lumbermens hotel to sleep it off, it is thought, in a fit of
drunkenness, which he is often subjected to. By some mistake he fell through a
hole in the loft over the cattle, breaking an arm and spraining an ankle. His
cries brought assistance and he was carried into the hotel where Dr. Bemis
attended upon him.
Neillsville has just had its first
silver wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ross celebrated the twenty-fifth
anniversary of their wedding day, at their fine and commodious residence, on
March 22nd. This pleasant episode brought together an agreeable party for a few
ladies and gentlemen and was one of a most happy affair, which has occurred in
our village. The sumptuous repast spread upon the table at five oclock was
never surpassed in this county neither in excellence of variety.
Mr. Ross, with his family, settled
in this county nineteen years ago. He had no money when he came, but being a
master of work, and after suffering many reverses in fortune, he can now look
back upon the past with pride and satisfaction. He has risen from poverty to
affluence from the trials of a frontier life to one of comfort. Almost penniless
when he came, he is now reputed to be worth over one hundred thousand dollars.
At an early hour their guests
departed to each couples abode, after extending heartfelt wishes to the happy
couple for more years of prosperity.
March 1948
Formal
dedication of the new cheese plant in Abbotsford was held on March 2nd. The
cooperative, which erected the building, began its operations in Abbotsford in
1933 with 86 patrons. The organization now has 275 patrons and during the summer
handled about 100,000 pounds of milk daily.
Mr. and Mrs. Matt Gassen and son
moved into the home they recently purchased on South Clay Street, built by John
H.
Flynn.
Huge 90-foot poles for the
fairground athletic field were being set in place this week by a Northern States
Power Co. crew.
The big poles, of western cedar, are
being set 11 feet into the ground and 79 feet above the surface of the playing
field. The lighting equipment will be installed by a Whitehall contractor.
The first steps in the improvement
of the fairground athletic field, was the leveling and dragging of the field
late last fall. The ground will be seeded down this spring.
The improvement work is a project of
the Neillsville Athletic Association, of which Jack Tibbett is president, with
the cooperation of the public property committee of the county board of
supervisors. O. J. Warren of the Town of York is chairman of the county
group.
Billie Jean Urlaub received the
nicest birthday present of them all last Saturday, March 6.
You see, a baby sister was born to
her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Urlaub of Neillsville on that day.
She is Billie Jeans first sister,
born on Billie Jeans first birthday. The new baby is Darlene Jane. She weighed
eight pounds, 10 ounces at birth. Mrs. Urlaub was at one time the kindergarten
teacher in the Neillsville school system.
For the first time in seven years
here, a high school course in driver education will take to the road.
This spring Earl Ruedy, the teacher,
will have a dual-controlled automobile at the disposal of the driving class for
instructional purposes. The car is being provided by the Svetlik Motor Co.
In the past, driver education here
ahs necessarily consisted of learning the rules of the road. Now the
opportunity is provided for practicing the rules on the road, as well.
The course will provide opportunity
for full discussion of traffic problems and this will develop an appreciation of
what is expected of a good driver, Supt. D. E. Peters
explained.
Robert Ratsch has purchased a farm
in the Town of Grant of Charles Schaeffner. This is the old Emil Jahr farm, a
mile north of the Reed School on Pleasant Ridge. The farm was owned and
operated for several years by Marvin Jahr, son of Emil Jahr, and later was sold
to Mr. Schaeffner. Mr. and Mrs. Ratsch are living at the present at the home of
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Ratsch, Town of
Grant.
The Hewett House, a landmark of
Neillsville for the last 86 years, was destroyed by fire last Thursday morning,
March 11.
Discovery of the blaze, shortly
after 9 oclock in the morning, was made by two unidentified men who were
driving through Neillsville on Highway 10, which passes the house on the western
city limits. One of the men went to the Jess W. Scott home, directly opposite
the Hewett house to give the alarm. The other ran to the burning building to
arouse the occupants, failing to get a response. In the meantime the second man
ran to the west entrance and summoned the Earl Pierces, who were living in a
portion of the building.
Mrs. Gene Christie, also a neighbor,
ran to the burning building and was responsible for bringing Miss Hewett to
safety.
The Pierces and the strangers, in
the meantime, turned their attention to saving what they could from the rooms on
the second floor. They were joined by others; however, the fire spread so
rapidly along the aged and dry pine lumber of which the house was built, that
they were able to save but little from the second floor. Most of the household
items from the first floor, however, were saved.
One of the important losses was S.
F. Hewetts collection of original surveyors records of Clark County. These
records were highly prized and of considerable value.
The Hewett House, built by one of
Neillsvilles Pioneer families, was a city landmark for 86 years
before being destroyed by a fire in 1948. It was located at the top
of the hill, north side of the 700 block, on West Fifth Street |
Recent real estate transfers
recorded in the office of the register of deeds include the following:
The purchase by Dairyland Power
Cooperative of La Crosse, property in section 1 Town of Withee from Mr. and Mrs.
Ralph Bartosewitz;
The purchase by Mr. and Mrs. Albert
Gall of property in section 15, Town of Sherwood, from Mildred Frank, Marjorie
Hirth and Florence Breakey;
The purchase of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold
Miller of property in section 18, Town of Sherman, from Mr. and Mrs. John Herman
The proposition of consolidating all
districts in the Town of Fremont will be up for consideration at the open public
meeting in the town hall at Chili, March 30. The time is 8 p.m.
This move was a counter proposal of
Fremont residents to the county school committees proposal to combine the
Chili, Big Four, Cozy Corner and Forestside School Districts.
Petitions from each school district
in the Town of Fremont were presented to the committee in support of the
township-wide consolidation last Thursday.
The suggestion of township
consolidation followed a series of meetings in each of the school districts,
followed by a general meeting of all the areas in the township.
When the committee was presented
with the petitions and heard the plan the people of Fremont had worked out, they
delayed their decision on the four-district consolidation; scheduling the March
30 meeting.
Mr. and Mrs. Ross Paulson will
observe their golden wedding anniversary March 29, Easter Sunday, by keeping
open house to their family and friends at their home at 143 East Division,
Neillsville, from 2 to 5 p.m. There will also be a family dinner.
Maude Raymond and Ross Paulson were
married at Christie March 23, 1898, and have spent their entire married life in
this community. Their home has been at different times at Granton, Pleasant
Ridge and Neillsville. Mr. Paulson has been engaged in farming, buying and
selling of stock and in road construction.
They have five children: Clifton of
Neillsville; Lilas, Mrs. Erwin Voight of Madison; Raymond of Neillsville; Mrs.
Gene (Ardeen) Hart of Neillsville; and Mrs. Norbert (Ruth) Berlick of
Milwaukee. There are eight
grandchildren.
George Haack, Neillsville bowler,
will be sweating it out, until April 1 and there is a chance that it might be
a $1,000 sweat.
Bowling in the $1,000 sweepstakes in
Milwaukee last week, Mr. Haack rolled a four line series of 892 to take first
place in the event, up to that time. If no one betters that mark before the end
of the sweepstakes on April 1, Mr. Haack will receive the $1,000 prize, plus
another $425 for the high score during the week he bowled. Up until Mr. Haack
bowled, an 886 led the
field.
Ole Black River beat spring to the
punch.
The ice started going out in the
river about 6 p.m. Friday, March 19, 16½ hours in advance of the official
arrival of spring.
The break-up was temporary, for the
ice stopped moving during the night Friday, then let loose for good about 6:30
p.m. Saturday.
This information comes from Mrs. Guy
Schultz of Dells Dam, who has watched the antics of Ole Black for many years.
The break-up came about as usual, this year, Mrs. Schultz said. The ice in the
river usually breaks up between the 15th and the 20th of March.
There was one difference, however;
the break-up was not as violent as has been the case during some springs. The
roar of the river could be heard above other noises Saturday night by the
old-timers whose ears have been attuned to the first spring roar of the flashy
Black River.
If the breakup of the Black werent
enough to herald the end of winter; then the sugar bush tappers definitely put
winter on the run.
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