Clark County Press, Neillsville,

January 24, 2007, Page 15

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

 

Compiled and contributed by Dee Zimmerman

 

 

Clark County News

January 1882

 

Mr. John Hein and Henry Hein, of Menasha, Wis., have just secured a lease of 5 acres of land in this village. They will erect a stave mill, at once.  They have already contracted with Mr. J. L. Gates for 500 cords of bolts, to start the business, and have secured land from Mr. Hewett.  The mill will be built west of Dewhurst’s place, on what is known as the King forty.

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Thomas Steele, of Warner, made us a friendly call last Friday.  He informs us that the new schoolhouse, in district No. 2 of Warner, is just completed and ready for use.  He claims it is the finest district schoolhouse in the county.  It was built by G. W. Montgomery, of Neillsville and reflects great credit upon him.  Cost was about $1,300.  Miss Ferguson, of Colby, will teach the next term, which commences this week.

••••••••••

Don’t throw out any old barrels.  They are useful.  It has been found that an ordinary flour barrel will hold 688,000 silver dollars.

••••••••••

The new bridge across O’Neill Creek, near Judge Dewhurst’s place, is progressing finely.  Mr. C. B. Bradshaw is the contractor.

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The birthday reception given, last Wednesday evening, by Judge and Mrs. Dewhurst on the eighteenth birthday of their daughter, Mary, was the social event of the season in Neillsville.  The finest society of the town was represented among those who assembled to pay their respects to one of our most charming young ladies.  Music and dancing was indulged in until very late.  Miss Mary received birthday presents from her father, an elegant gold watch and from her mother, a costly diamond ring.

••••••••••

The County Board, at their meeting last week, appropriated $250 for the purpose of building a barn to be used for sheltering the sheriff’s horses.  Tom B. Philpott, sheriff, J. F. Canon and H. N. Withee were appointed as the committee to supervise the building of the barn, which is to stand just northeast of the jail.  This will be a great convenience to the sheriff.

••••••••••

Old Winneshiek, head chief of the Winnebagos, residing near Black River Falls, died Dec. 30th aged 78 years.  The old chief was well known in this region and generally esteemed for uprightness and honesty.  The Indians are all deep mourning on account of his death.  He had in his possession, a medal presented to his father as a token of friendship by James K. Polk, president of the United States, many years ago.  It was highly prized by him.  Winneshiek had several times represented his tribe as a delegate to Washington, and had been present at many important Indian tribe councils in the West.  He left a son, Big Fire (or Medicine Smoke) who will probably succeed him.

••••••••••

The Methodist Church society, in the Town of York, has decided to build a church, the dimensions of which will be 24 x 36 feet with 16-foot studding.  A meeting of the members of the society was held last Thursday evening, and the preliminary arrangements were made for its building.  Some money was subscribed and a building committee appointed.  The work will be commenced on or before the first day of next May.  D. L. Safford has leased the society one-half acre as a building site.

••••••••••

Frank Pfeifer, former partner of Henry Huntzicker is about to open up a new meat market in the Honeywell store in Greenwood.  There, he will cater to the wants of a hungry public.

••••••••••

Mr. Aaron Huyke and wife, of York, had a golden wedding, last Monday.  Two merchants and the North Side grocery man, of Neillsville, were in attendance, as were about seventy others.  The house was so crowded that the floor of one of the rooms was crushed down.  Luckily, there was no cellar under that part of the house.  Presents were numerous, and a good time was reported.

 

There was an unusually large attendance at the dance held at the school, last Wednesday evening.  After the music retired, Miss Mary Johnson, the back bone of many of the area entertainments, was called to the organ, so dancing and singing was continued long into the wee small hours.

••••••••••

Hiram Hart is running a logging camp along Wedges Creek, six miles up from Hewettville.  He reports success in getting in the cut logs.

••••••••••

The Fox River Company is not selling any hardwood lands for less than $8 per acre.  People will soon find out that our hardwood lands are worth five times as much as the pinelands.

 

January 1942

 

The selection of the big news story of 1941, in Clark County, is that of war.

 

All over the civilized world war is the biggest news of this generation.

 

During the last year, Clark County may have seen but little of the terrible effect of war. Although the treacherous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, at long last engulfed this nation in World War II, it is yet too early to know the full meaning of this to Clark County.

 

During 1941, we have felt principally the effect of the world war on our economy.  Near Depression prices for milk have soared to booming levels.  Milk prices paid at the Condensery plant of the American Stores Dairy company plant here, have gone up 80 cents per hundredweight during the year, from $1.45 to $2.25.  Other plants have kept pace.

 

The effect of the war, to date, then has been to bring a return of prosperity to the dairy farmers of Clark County.  Results of this have been apparent in everyday life.  Tax delinquencies have been fewer this year, old debts are being paid off more rapidly; people are more optimistic and more neighborly than they were when financial troubles pressed down heavily upon them.

 

In other ways, too, the war has left its imprint on Clark County.  Selective service has drawn many of the youth from their homes and their jobs.  Others, beyond the reach of the selective service ages, have been lured to industrial areas with the high wages: teachers, too, have given up their positions for the higher pay of private employment.

 

The result of this condition, in the spring and during the harvest seasons, was to create a shortage of farm labor.  The shortage was not acute; but it was enough to bring about a serious problem to many farmers.  A number of them were struggling to get in their hay crops long after they should have been cut and cured.

 

The influence of the Finnish-Russian War, of 1940-41, was felt on the western edge of Clark County in February.  There, for a period of about six weeks, the United States Army trained selected men for duty as ski troopers.  This training resulted from the effectiveness of Finnish Ski Troopers in their defensive battle against the Russians.  Ski troopers of the United States Army were stationed at Camp Globe, old CCC Camp, and there they experimented with equipment and ski troop tactics.

 

As the snow vanished from the ground, so vanished the ski troops; back to Camp McCoy, from where they were deployed to their original outfits.

 

A few months later, in July, came the second registration of men for selective service.  This time, the registration was conducted at the selective service board headquarters, in Loyal.  There were 150 youths who had turned 21 since the first day on October, 1940, registered for service to their country.

 

Next, was the county and statewide collection of aluminum. There was a shortage of this metal necessary for the building of great bombers; and Clark County pitched in with a will to do its part.  More than 6,000 pounds of the metal was collected under the sponsorship of the County Civilian Defense Committee.  It was dumped in a huge pile in Greenwood, and a week later it was moved to a central depository at Eau Claire.

 

The county’s drive for funds for the United Service Organizations was launched August 9, under the sponsorship of the Neillsville Rotary Club, a new organization of business and professional men of the city.  Freely, Clark County people gave to the U.S.O. and the funds thus raised are being used to equip recreation centers for men in the United States armed forces.  Over $3,000 was collected in the county drive; and although this was below the quota, it was considered a gratifying response.

 

Early in October, Clark County farmers were given an idea of what they would be expected to do in 1942, if this nation was to keep its pledge to become the “breadbasket,” as well as the arsenal, of democracy.

••••••••••

The Clark County Highway offices were moved Saturday afternoon, from the courthouse into the office space in the highway commission’s new $30,000 storage garage at the corner of Ninth and South Clay Streets.

 

The highway commission’s courthouse office, located on the east side of the first floor, is being temporarily occupied by the Tire Rationing Board.  It is expected that this office space will become the headquarters for direction of the Civilian Volunteer Defense Organization, in Clark County.

 

Although the construction of the new highway storage garage has not been entirely completed, the offices have been furnished and decorated, (deleted repetitious portion of sentence) and the storage space has been put into use.  Very little work remains to be done on the building, mainly the installation of the big doors of the storage space, which have been a long time in coming.

••••••••••

Some of Clark County’s young men have recently joined the armed forces. Three former Levis youths, all former students of the Meadow View School, are reported to have joined the armed forces of the United States, in Chicago, last week.  They are: John and Roman Stankiewicz and Joseph Ignacz.  John and Joseph have joined the army, and Roman has enlisted in the navy.

 

Jack Crothers of Romadka, a student at River Falls State Teachers College, has enlisted in the air corps of the United States army.  He stopped at Eau Claire on his way home from school, Friday, to enlist.  On Monday, the Crothers family took him as far as Eau Claire where he took a train for Jefferson Barracks.  His father spent some time there in 1917, as a soldier in World War I, Mr. Crothers, Sr., also being in the aviation service.

 

Garfield Freeburg, of Romadka, has enlisted in the air corps of the United States Army.  He expects to be called about Feb.1st.

 

At least four Neillsville youths, two of them high school students, this week, were preparing to enter into service of the armed forces of the United States.

 

Darwin Graves, 17, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arleigh F. Graves of the city, and Paul Krutsch, 17, son of Mrs. Lydia Krutsch of Washburn, have joined the navy.  They expected to leave either Wednesday or Thursday, for a six-week training period at the Great Lakes Naval training station, near Chicago.

 

Darwin, a high school senior, will be granted his diploma of graduation along with members of his class at graduation exercises this spring, Supt. D. E. Peters said.

 

Romuld Schmidt, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Schmidt of Levis and a substitute post office clerk-carrier, expected to leave today for Jefferson Barracks, Mo., where he will undergo six weeks of study in the weather observations service of the Army Air Corps.  Romuld was graduated from Neillsville High School in 1934, and has been employed at the post office since July 16, 1940.

 

The fourth local youth to enlist during the last week, was Peter Beck, chief clerk of the local Northern States Power Company office.  He enlisted in the technical branch of the Army Air Corps at Eau Claire, Monday.  He is expected to take a physical examination in Wausau, Friday and enter the service next week.

••••••••••

Certificates for the purchase of five new tires and five inner tubes were approved by the Clark County Tire Rationing Board, Saturday afternoon.  Eight other applications were rejected. 

 

Approval was granted to the following applications:

 

O. W. Trindal Elevator, Granton branch, one truck tire and one inner tube;

 

Edward Anderegg, Rt. 1, Greenwood, contract milk hauler, one truck tire and one inner tube;

 

Ambrose Keller, Rt. 2, Curtiss, contract milk hauler, one truck tire;

 

Eugene Christie, Neillsville, contract milk hauler, one truck tire and inner tube;

 

Board of education, Owen, 12-passenger school bus, one inner tube.

••••••••••

In spite of the fact that the United States is at war with Italy and Germany, enemy aliens may still become naturalized citizens of the United States, according to information from Ben Frantz, Clerk of Circuit Court.

 

Certain conditions and procedure, however, have been laid down by the Immigration and Naturalization service of the Department of Justice.  Under these conditions, enemy aliens eligible for naturalization fall into three classifications, Mr. Frantz said:  1. A person who declared his intention to become a citizen not less than two years, or more than seven years prior to the beginning of the state of war; 2. A person, who at the beginning of the sate of war, was entitled to become naturalized without making a declaration of intention; and 3. A person who had a petition for naturalization pending at the beginning of the state of war.

••••••••••

Approximately 20 percent of Clark County’s rural and village schools are conducting Saturday classes in order that children might be released earlier to help with spring farm work, Louis E. Slock estimated this week.

 

While most village systems and a number of the rural and state graded schools are already conducting classes on Saturday, several school boards as yet are undecided.

••••••••••

 

 

An over-head truss bridge spanned the Black River, on North Grand Avenue, in the early 1900s.  George Sontag, a pharmacist who worked at the C. C. Sniteman Drug Store during that time, is shown with his team of horses and buggy as they were traveling over the bridge.  (Photo courtesy of the Sontag family collection)

 

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