Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin

February 14, 2018, Page 9 

Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press"

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

Compiled by Dee Zimmerman

 

Clark County News

February 1878

 

In the absence of snow, lumbermen are taking the world about as “easy” as uneasy mortals can.

•••••••••

Mel Trucks, a typesetter in this office, had a little “scrimmage” with a stick of kindling wood yesterday morning, and now he has his nose and one eye in a sling.

•••••••••

Catholic services will be held in the new church in this village, Sunday, February 10th, at 10:30 a.m.  All Catholics are requested to attend.  Services will be conducted by Father Hess, the newly appointed priest for this charge.                                                             

•••••••••

Hank Maher offered to carry passengers to Hatfield for nothing in his stagecoach last Thursday, in celebration of the arrival of a bouncing baby boy.                 

•••••••••

The flouring mills at Nasonville, built last summer by P. Mitchell & Co., were totally destroyed by fire last week.  The loss is a serious one to that locality as well as to the owners.

•••••••••

Lumbermen in this locality have about given up all expectation of snow during the present logging season, and most camps have suspended business.  Enough logs are now on the skidways for all the hauling that can reasonably be expected this winter.

 

Al Brown is experimenting with wheeled trucks as a means of getting logs to the river.  The result is yet in doubt, but should it prove that logging can be profitably done on wheels, there will be a reasonable amount of logs put in on the river during the present winter, snow or no snow.

•••••••••

The Recobite Clan made a terrible racket at their social “kickup” Sunday evening.  To Command respect, it is necessary to respect the rights and opinions of others.  A continuation of those festivities on that evening, we fear, would have a tendency to bring this ancient order into disrepute, which is hoped won’t be allowed by its members.                                                       

•••••••••

Quite a lively business is being done in this vicinity by making and getting out barrel staves to be shipped abroad.                                                                                      

•••••••••

Bad whiskey involved a peaceable citizen of Norwegian birth most disagreeably, last Monday night, and ended in his confinement in the county jail, by order of Justice Kountz, before whom he was arraigned on a charge of drunkenness.  The penalty awarded was five dollars, with costs, and three days at hard labor in the county jail.                                                                  

•••••••••

The temperance cause in our village is constantly gaining ground, and the meeting last Wednesday evening, which was addressed by Rev. J. N. Phillips, of Greenwood, and Rev. J. G. Wells, of Hixton, Jackson County, was the largest of the series, if not the best attended of any meeting of the kind ever held in this place.                                                                      

•••••••••

Ice dealers who have been waiting for a better crop before procuring a supply are in danger of being left without that beverage cooler.                                             

•••••••••

The West Wisconsin Railway is to be sold at auction next month.  Why not buy a section of it to use between here and Merrillan?

•••••••••

Herman Schuster is instructing a class in German.  The class meets at his office, evening, and is making good progress.  Mr. Schuster is an able scholar, and a thorough teacher of that, his mother tongue.

 

February 1943

 

Cpl. George Green, member of the local National Guard Company, reported missing in new Guinea action a few weeks ago, has been found wounded.

 

This is the report of Charles R. Low Cloud, News reporter of the Black River Falls Banner Journal. Mr. Low Cloud reported:  “Milford Green received a word from the war department, that his brother George Green was found at last, in the area where they had been fighting lately.  He was missing a number of days after fighting there.  He was glad to know that his brother was safe, but not that he had been wounded and hoped he would get better, and wanted to hear from him again, soon.

 

Rev. Benj. Stucki, superintendent of the Indian School here, said he had not been informed up to Monday of the development; but remarked, “Glad to hear it!”

•••••••••

Oscabel Nielsen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Neilsen of the West Eaton community, is joining the WAAC.  She is spending a vacation with her parents, prior to reporting for duty.  Her home recently has been Hartford, Wis.                                                                          

•••••••••

Mrs. Minerva Viergutz, whose husband, Sgt. Theodore, is serving overseas, has become the third Neillsville woman to enlist in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

 

She enlisted last week in Milwaukee and is now awaiting a call for training, Mrs. Viergutz is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leland Davis.  At present, she is teaching at the Lone Pine School in the Town of Foster, where she expects to remain until her call is received.                       

•••••••••

Paul A. Davel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Davel, has been promoted to sergeant in the army medical corps.  He is assigned to the 41st station hospital at Camp Barkeley, Tex.

 

Earl Thiesen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Thiesen of Loyal, has been promoted to pharmacist mate, 1/c.  He is in Hawaii.  Also promoted were Leon Picus, son of Mrs. Jesse Picus of Loyal, and Roland Seeman, son of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Seeman of Loyal.  Pfc. Picus is at Fort Sam Houston, Tex. and Pfc. Seeman is at Camp Gordon, Ga.                                        

•••••••••

Mr. and Mrs. Abie Turner of the Town of York received word that their son, Pfc. Clayton Turner had arrived safely overseas and on Thursday they received a cablegram from him, which read: “Well, safe; please don’t worry.  Love, Clayton.”                                           

•••••••••

The Riverside Pavilion, located on the west bank of the Black River in the Town of Levis, has collapsed.  It went down last Saturday, because of the weight of snow on the roof.  The roof supports consisted of poplar poles, and they just weren’t strong enough, after 33 years of work, to hold up against the present sample of Wisconsin winter.                                                 

•••••••••

John Resong has purchased the Halle Horswill housed on North Hewett Street.

•••••••••

We are getting in a tight spot for hauling service.  Repair parts for trucks are running out.  It is becoming almost impossible to get axles, universal joints, ring gears, pinions, clutches and other essentials.  What will happen if and when the supply stops entirely, as may actually happen?

 

To us in this section the truck service is absolutely essential.  We must maintain it, and the only way to maintain is to take good care of the trucks we now have.

 

Every dairy producer has a vital stake in the truck of his hauler.  It is to his interest  to operate in such manner as to keep the truck running.

 

The price of 3.5 milk for the first half of January was $2.60.

 

American Stores Dairy Co., Neillsville, Wis.

 

(Due to World War II, auto and truck repair parts were difficult to get.  Military related vehicles had first priority.  My dad, who was mechanically inclined, along with “junkyard visits” and his own ingenuity, was able to keep our 1929 Dodge in operation. DZ.)

 

The American Stores Dairy plant, which processed evaporated condensed milk, was located on the northwest corner of the West 8th and Hewett Streets intersection.  It operated from the 1920s into the early 1950s, when the market for canned, condensed milk fell off, especially after World War II, forcing the business’s closure.

                                         

•••••••••

Enthusiastic support for the Neillsville Country Club, with the maintenance of the golf course, was voiced Monday evening at the annual meeting, held in the Kiwanis room of the Neillsville Bank.

 

The meeting was attended by some 50 golfing enthusiasts, not all of them stockholders.  They had rallied to the invitiation from the president, William Campman, who, in announcing the meeting, had raised the question, definitely, whether the course should be maintained during the war.  In this statement, Campman pointed out that the club had acquired, at small cost, a course, which had been built at great expense.  The best estimate obtainable of the cost of the course is not less than $15,000, and Mr. Campman pointed out that failure to maintain the course for a single year would mean a terrible setback and perhaps even its abandonment.

 

But nothing like abandonment was in the minds of those who had rallied to the call.  For instance, Kurt Listeman spoke earnestly for the maintenance of the course and made detailed suggestions for economics.  R. E. Schmedel also made an optimistic talk, in which he told of progress made and of the excellent prospects.

 

One of the surprises of the meeting was that several persons present volunteered to work on committees, and there was emphasis upon a drive for playing members.

 

The club will enter the next playing year in the best financial condition of its history.  It is without debt, has considerable equipment and owns one of the finest courses in central Wisconsin, with this background it was left for the directors to take the lead in an aggressive campaign for members and for play.                                                                                                      

•••••••••

Action to wind up the affairs of the Clark County Bank of Loyal was taken in Circuit Court Tuesday.  W. G. Rathke, special deputy commissioner of banking, was authorized by Judge Crosby to pay a final dividend of .04296 percent.  This is the final step in a casualty of the Depression.

 

(Unfortunately, the Clark County Bank of Loyal was one of many forced to close across the United States during the “Crash” of 1929, which resulted in the Great Depression that extended into the 1930s. DZ)  

•••••••••

The Hamilton Hotel on Seventh Street in Neillsville, now unoccupied, has passed into receivership, with Charles Setzkorn of Marshfield acting as receiver.  He was appointed at the request of the Home Owners Loan Corporation, which took judgment Tuesday in Circuit Court.

•••••••••

The church building at Columbia has been sold to Jacob Schmidt of Neillsville and is being razed by him.  No church services have been held in it for about two years.  The building was old, and badly in need of repairs.  The building originally belonged to the Baptists, but other denominations have held services in it from time to time throughout the years.                               

•••••••••

Phillip Erickson is now at home again, after treatment at the hospital for his frozen hands.  The outcome of his rough experience is still in doubt.  His hands are bandaged, and it will be some time before he can be certain that he will save all his fingers.

 

Phillip is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Erickson, and was caught out in the blizzard at night on the Erickson  place, located south of South Grant cheese factory.

•••••••••

Members of the AAA committee are now visiting every farm in Clark County, working upon plans for 1943 production.  They are translating into definite local terms the nation’s call for increased production of food and other war crops.  Each farmer will decide with the AAA committeeman just what he can do to meet the county’s share of Wisconsin’s goal of 14,000,000 pounds of milk, an increase of 3%; 616,000 sows to farrow, an increase of 5 per cent; 184,000,000 dozen eggs, an increase of 8 per cent.

 

Also, these specific allotments for Clark County: 640 acres of soybeans for beans; 20 acres of dry beans; 40 acres of dry peas; 30 acres of flax; 160 acres of potatoes.          

•••••••••

“Fancy” shoes will be fewer in the well-dressed family’s wardrobe next year.  The War Production Board in a move designed to save leather has issued an order prohibiting the manufacture of two-color shoes and reduced the variety of colors and styles of footwear to be made for Spring and Summer consumption in 1943.  However, no limit will be put upon the production of permitted styles to fill civilian needs.

 

By limiting styles and by limiting colors to six, the footwear conservation order issued by the directory general for operations is expected to reduce the number of extra pairs of shoes bought by consumers.  Aiding in this goal will be the request by A. J. Spring, chief of the shoe unit of the leather and shoe section, that the retailers discourage unneeded extra-pair sales to consumers and discontinue promotion directed to influence consumers to buy unneeded pairs of shoes.

 

The WPD explained that sole leather now being used expensively by our armed forces and allies had become the limiting factor in shoe production.  The order restricting excessive style and color variety will decrease the amount of sole leather tied up in dealers’ inventories and in little-used footwear on consumers’ shelves.

 

The permitted colors in the order are black, white, turf-tan, Army russet, Town brown and blue.

 

(A little later in 1943, shoes were rationed.  Each family member as allowed one pair of new shoes per year.  Our mom took my brothers and me shoe shopping in the fall.  As we tried on each shoe, Mom made sure there was enough “growing room” by pushing down on the front of the shoe to feel where the big toe was because those shoes had to be worn until next fall.  It helped that we kids went barefoot during the summer.  The new shoes were purchased before school started so wearing them was uncomfortable at first, after running barefoot all summer. DZ)

 

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