Good Old Days 

Clark County News

September 1919

The Clark County Fair and Soldiers Homecoming celebration was well attended.  A large crowd of people were in attendance. Three bands were on hand, Thorp, Loyal and Neillsville bands gave concerts on the street and at the amphitheater. 

Judge O’Neill gave an address of welcome to the soldiers present.  He stated that nearly 1600 Clark County boys participated in the armed services during World War I.

Colonel B. R. McCoy, who was a colonel of the 128^th Infantry of the 32^nd Division, was present and gave a speech in regard to his war experiences.

Thursday evening most of Neillsville’s residents turned out for the festivities.  Main Street was blocked with traffic and aglow with red, white and blue lights.  The Wednesday afternoon races had a capacity crowd of spectators at the fair-grounds.  A railing at the grandstand gave way with the pressure from the crowd and a hundred or more spectators went tumbling into the race track.  Fortunately, nobody was seriously hurt.

Bob Kurth’s garden is short two watermelons and three muskmelons since Sunday night.  He is offering to lay off smoking for one day if the identity of the thief is proven to him.

Edward Hubing arrived in Neillsville last Thursday evening from Union, Montana.  He was very tired and worn as he had made the entire trip by horse and buggy.

Hubing has proven up a fine claim at Union, but as conditions in that section of Montana have not been favorable this year, he decided to return to Wisconsin for the winter and bring his horse with him.

Leaving Union on July 12, he started his long trek eastward.  He met a lot of varied experiences on his trip, two of which will remain in his memory for some time.  He encountered a group of hold-up men on his trip across the prairie and was struck by a train while crossing a railroad track.  The latter experience came near being a fatal one, but he escaped with an injury which required him being in a hospital for about two weeks and caused slight damage to his traveling rig.  In the hold-up experience, Hubing was traveling along when he saw five men coming toward him, all of whom seemed to be under the influence of liquor.  He suspected they would try to make him trouble, so he prepared for them by throwing his watch and money into the tall grass at the side of the road.  His suspicions were soon verified, for the five men ordered him to give them his valuables and money, but Hubing finally convinced them that he had none.  They unhitched his horse from the buggy and let it loose.  But, before they left they decided Hubing had told the truth and caught his horse again, hitched it up to the buggy, then took up a collection of $3.00 to give him as he started to resume his trip. So, his experience with the robbers ended up being an amusing one as well as starting out rather harrowing.

Hubing had many experiences that he will remember.  A great portion of the trip was made alone and yet he picked up a number of persons whom he carried along with him for short distances.

Frank Pflughoeft came near being killed yesterday morning when he was caught beneath a cave-in while digging a trench in front of the Sniteman drug store.  A sewer was being laid and Pflughoeft was in the trench when it caved in on him.  He was entirely buried beneath the dirt, but fortunately bystanders knew just where he was when the dirt went down and hurriedly uncovered his face while digging the dirt away.  The water pipe broke at the same time so Pflughoeft was pulled from the mud, put in a car and taken home.  It was a mighty close call for Pflughoeft.

Neillsville’s canning factory is preparing to cut kraut.  Any persons having cabbage to sell are requested to contact the factory, ask for Robert Kurth or Gust Krause.  They will make necessary arrangements for hauling the cabbage to the factory.

The school districts of the Town of Dewhurst, Village of Merrillan and Town of Adams consolidated at a meeting of the various boards last week.  The students of the Town of Dewhurst will be transported to Merrillan by teams and wagons hereafter to get their education in the village school.

During the Neillsville Common Council proceedings on Sept. 26, it was resolved that the Victory arches across Hewett Street at 4^th and 7^th Streets be dedicated to and be maintained by the city in memory, honor and respect of the soldier boys who were and are now in any branch of the U. S. Army or Navy in the war against Germany and its allies.

The cook railroad cars have been stationed at Tioga the past week, while some repairs were done to the depot, tracks and bridges.  A threshing machine broke through the bridge north of Tioga and is now being repaired. Also, the bridge across Scotch Creek is being rebuilt and is nearly completed.

St. Mary’s congregation will serve dinner and supper at the Woodman Hall on Oct. 16.  Everyone is invited to the Church Fair.  The menu includes: mashed potatoes, chicken, baked beans, jello, rutabagas, cabbage salad, rye and white bread, pumpkin pie, cheese, cake, cookies and coffee.

September 1934

Although the rains of Sunday marred the opening of the Hawthorne Hills country club, a much larger crowd was on hand to try out the new course than had been expected.  All who played golf were enthusiastic over the new grounds and praised Mr. Baer for his efforts in establishing the fine course for the benefit of the community.  About 30 visitors were served at the supper.  The course will be open daily for the rest of the season.

P. M. Warlum was awarded the plumbing contract last week on the new Globe CCC camp, which is being established northwest of Globe.

There have been 621 students enrolled in the Neillsville Public Schools this fall.  The assembly room is filled to capacity with a new classroom being set up in the basement to ease congestion.

Little Wilmette Russell received a bad cut across the forehead last Thursday while playing in the M. Lastofka barn.  She fell from the hay loft to the barn floor, striking her forehead on the steel rim of a feed barrel.  The cut required nine stitches to close the wound, but Wilmette is getting along nicely and was able to return to school Tuesday morning.

Dams are now under construction or will soon be started in the drainage district west of Neillsville.  There are 2100 forties of Clark County land and other lands in the forestry reserve.  Some 25 dams will be built at strategic locations to control the waters so as to raise the water levels, create ponds in certain places and give fire protection to the entire area.

The work will be done by relief labor, the only local expense being supervision and equipment.  (The relief work was probably done by the CCC. D.Z.)

One lake is projected that will cover for sections.  The Conservation Commission has promised to secure wild rice seed to sow in ponds to furnish feed for wild ducks.

Hereafter, when you catch one of the “tigers of the north” you will catch a muskellunge, spelling approved by the Wisconsin Conservation department.  The department has adopted that as the Wisconsin official spelling after all the confusion caused by nine spellings in more or less common use.

Other spellings of this same word have been “maskalunge, maskilonge, muskelonge, muskellunge, maskinonge, mascalunge, mascononge, and maskaning”.  All of these are Anglicized versions of the Chippewa and Ojibwa words which sound most like “mashkinonje”.  To be on the safe side, the Department advises fishermen to say, “Muskie”.

Monday afternoon, Billy Musil and Kenneth Dux went through town with a load of hay.  The little fellows had cut the hay by hand and loaded it on the toy wagon.  They pulled their loaded wagon, transporting the hay to Grandpa Musil’s barn on Neillsville’s north side, a distance of nearly one mile.

Tuesday afternoon, as the west bound freight train pulled into Chili, Fred Keuer of Lynn was driving his Ford car when it ran into the train’s engine.  The car rolled over three times and was entirely destroyed, but Keuer did not appear to be badly hurt.  The train brought him into Granton to be examined by a doctor.

The Brellenthin Co., consisting of the father and two sons, who had the grading contract for widening Highway 73 south of Neillsville to Cunningham Creek, gave a farewell party.  The party was held Friday night for their employees and some of the farm folks who live along the highway, at their home in the Sears house on South Hewett Street.  There was dancing and a fine lunch served at midnight.  (The Sears house was of Victorian style, located on the southwest corner of the Hewett Street and First Street intersection.  It was later destroyed by a fire. D. Z.)

The old steam pipe running under the O’Neill Creek Bridge, by which the old electric steam plant received its power supply from the American Stores Dairy Co. boilers, was dismantled Thursday by a Condensary crew.  For a time after the Northern States Power Co. took over the electric service here the old steam plant ws kept as an auxiliary unit and when the high line was out of commission the steam plant was operated by steam from the Condensary.  The steam plant was tore down some years ago.

Pleasant Ridge families gathered for a dinner on Thursday.  Everyone enjoyed visiting and eating the good English plum puddings, baked beans, chicken pies, etc. Mr. and Mrs. Joe Buss were the oldest couple in attendance; both are near the 80-year age mark.  Despite her age, Mrs. Buss made two pies and brought them for the feast.

The gravel resurfacing job on 1.64 miles of Highway 73, south of Neillsville was awarded by the state highway commission to the J. W. Lathers Co., of Beloit, on a bid of $4,286.05.  The surfacing is to start this week and be finished in 30 days.  Clark County unemployed labor will be used where possible.

Two World War I Infantrymen “doughboys” as they appeared in the uniforms of that era (Photo courtesy of Schultz Family Collection)

The Omaha Depot of Granton was on the railway line between Neillsville and Marshfield, serving transportation needs of that area for 60 plus years.  (Photo Courtesy of the Webster Collection)