Clark County Press, Neillsville, Wisconsin

September 30, 2009, Page 17

Contributed by "The Clark Co. Press"

Transcribed by Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon.

Index of "Oldies" Articles 

 

Compiled by Dee Zimmerman

 

Clark County News

September 1879

 

A donation was held at Mrs. C. Blakeslee’s Tuesday evening to aid Wm. B. Campbell and family, the typhoid fever sufferers.  The handsome sum of $31.15 was raised besides quite a large quantity of wearing apparel, bed clothing, provisions and such.  A large number of people attended and many kind words of sympathy were heard.  The generosity of our people is exemplified in the substantial manner, as Tuesday evening cannot be too much extolled.  Neillsville is full of warm-hearted men and women who delight to do generous deeds.  Judge Newman, T. A. Dyson, H. Myers and a few gentlemen who did not attend the donation made up a purse of about $7.50 and sent it over to add to the receipts.

•••••••••

Has the villainous Nihilist come among us?  Green’s barn was burned to the ground a short time ago, incendiarism.  Harriman’s house was burned on Monday at midnight, incendiarism.  Some fellow will haul up at the noose end of a rope next!

•••••••••

During the past week several building improvements have been put underway and there can be no doubt that our people are feeling much easier financially than for a few years back, as these improvements testify.

 

W. M. Heaslett is putting up a one-story building on the Odd Fellows’ lot, on the east side of their hall.  The building will be used as an armory for the Sherman Guards, who, we understand will own the building and let Mr. Heaslett occupy a portion of it for a gun shop.

 

Judge Dewhust (Dewhurst) has set a squad of men at work at his office north of the post office and they have moved it out to the alley side of the lot, lowered it to the sidewalk level and the Judge will soon have built another office between the old one and the store, for the use of the law firm of Hendrix and Doolittle.

 

Then there is Hewett’s new sidewalk, the new Court House fence, Tom Philpot’s improvements on his residence, Mahar’s addition to his house and several new buildings north of O’Neill Creek. Sol Jaseph’s residence next to the Presbyterian Church is rapidly approaching completion.

•••••••••

O. P. Wells ships cheese to all parts of the State from the proprietors of the Lynn Cheese Factory, who send out a thoroughly good product, that is winning an enviable popularity.

 

(Having been in operation for over 130 years, the Lynn Cheese Factory was among the first in Clark County’s cheese industry. D. Z.)

 

 

The Lynn cheese and butter factory, when owned and operated by Otto W. Becker, was receiving 8,000 pounds of milk daily from 60 patrons and up to 10,000 pounds of milk during the peak of the season.  The product of the factory was hauled to Marshfield for shipment.  The factory owner’s house is at the right.

•••••••••

News from the Town of Lynn:

One day last week, the Sternitsky brothers went on a bear hunt.  They did not find any bear, but brought home two fine deer.  They said they had lots of fun.

 

Price has a gang of men at work on the upper dam, preparatory to putting logs in the pond.

 

Messrs. Chubb and Homles, who bought homes here last spring, have cleared and each sown about three acres, and are now building preparatory to bring their families.

•••••••••

Hundreds of acres of the rich land in this vicinity are being cleared for the plow this fall.  Where dense forests stood two years ago, winter wheat has been dragged in and the agricultural resources of Clark County are being developed more rapidly.  It is not likely hereafter that the logging interests will consume all the surplus production.  The need for better and cheaper transportation becomes more and more pressing.         

•••••••••

Gustavus Stern at his planing mill, north of the creek, is as busy as a bee and turns out all kinds of plane and matched lumber with great dispatch.  He has a splendid turning lathe and does the finest styles of turning for brackets and such items.

•••••••••

At 2 o’clock Saturday afternoon, the case of the State against Jacob Rossman was up before Judge Kountz at the Court House with much interest manifested in the case by our citizens.  Mrs. Richard Hawk and another lady complained that their boys, minors, were permitted to play at Mr. Rossman’s bowling alley.  At the trial, facts were developed showing that Mr. Rossman conducted the alley in strict acceptance with legal requirements and exercised more than ordinary diligence in the matter of the prohibition to minors, and the case was, therefore, dismissed.  The greatest diligence may sometimes be unable to guard against wrong, but the law regards with favor the party who, like Mr. Rossman, has maintained perfect good faith in the conduct of his business.  The bowling alley is a good thing; in itself it is an innocent and healthful sport, and Neillsville is fortunate in Mr. Rossman’s establishing such an enterprise.

 

September 1944

 

The bus route for the Neillsville High School has been approved by the State Department of Education and will be in operation on, or about, Sept. 15.  Delivery of the bus has been promised for that date.

 

The bus will follow about the same route as the one, which was suspended.  It will proceed straight east from the city, first on Highway 10 and then on the dirt road until County Trunk W is reached; then south on W to Highway 73; southeast on 73 to Sherwood Center; then back on 73 through Shortville to Highway 95, on to Hagie’s shop; then back to Neillsville on 95.

 

The route is about 50 miles long for the entire circuit.  Hence the bus will make about 100 miles per day in the two trips.

 

The manner of the reinstatement of this bus route is significant to local people who want to attend high school. The route was of necessity submitted to the state department and the service could be instituted only with state approval.  The policy of the department is to prevent duplication of service and to prevent undue competition between schools.  The development of school territory by bus service is thus conditioned by state approval.

•••••••••

The Joint School District of the Town of Sherwood has built a trail through the Seman woods for the Marek children.  These two children, Eleanor and Dorothy, will travel this trail to the Audubon School and will thus occasion no expense to the district for bus travel.  Work on the trail was completed in two days by five men using a grader and tractor. They made a trail, which in good weather might even be passable for a car.

 

The solution was adopted by the school district because of the difficulties faced in connection with the schooling of the Marek children.  The Marek home is north of the Seman farm and only about a mile from the Audubon School.  But to get to that school by road, it was necessary for the Marek’s to go west to the county trunk road, south to the Paun corner and then east on the county road to the school.  The distance is nearly four miles by that route and the road is not always good.

 

This action in Sherwood brings to notice the legal requirements in such a case.  School districts have no responsibility with reference to the travel of children living within 2 ½ miles of a school, but if they live 2 ½ miles or further, it is required, either that the district furnish transportation, or that the parents be paid for carrying the children.  Such reimbursement is at the rate of 20 cents per day for the first child and 10 cents per day for the second child.  The responsibility for this arrangement is upon the school district, but the district is, in turn, reimbursed by the State at the straight rate of 10 cents per child per day.

•••••••••

Bean harvest and canning in the Humbird community is a major undertaking this year.  It is requiring the services of more than 1,500 persons and has occasioned a delay of two weeks in the opening Humbird public schools.

 

The size of the canning pack is a closed book, for much of the output goes to Uncle Sam and Uncle Sam discourages information on that subject.  A rough estimate, however; is that the acreage will run not far from 250 and that this is in about 600 different plots.  In many instances the plots are of a quarter of an acre each, the size estimated to be a proper full-time job for one person. Some plots run as high as 10 acres, but there are not many of that size and on such a plot the harvesting is a major undertaking, requiring a lot of help.

 

To estimate that 1,000 persons are engaged fulltime in picking is to be conservative.  The fact is that much of the picking is done in situations where a whole family turns out and the members do chores and other work beside.  It is more likely that there are close to 1,500 persons in the Humbird community, children and adults, whose chief work is now to pick beans. 

 

These beans are going to the plant of the Humbird Canning Co., which is operating under great pressure this summer.  The number of employees is reported locally to be close to 100.

 

Some of the older pupils of the public schools are working in the cannery, but more are in the bean fields, picking.  The estimate is that the major part of the crop will be out of the way by Sept. 11, when the Humbird schools are opening.

 

This is a good year for beans and the acreage is up.  Hence it may be reasonable to expect that Humbird will can double as many beans as in an average year.  The pea crop is out of the way and it is estimated that this was far above normal, although not in the same proportion as the beans.

 

The Humbird cannery is managed by Roy Fletcher.  Its ownership is vested in the Humbird Canning Company, the owners of which also own the Whitewater Canning Company, operating a cannery at Whitewater.

•••••••••

Cranberry harvest workers are wanted on Wisconsin marshes starting September 11th.  Earn extra money, good wages.

 

Work is for able-bodies men to rake berries and handle the crop.  Farm draft status not impaired. Extra gas rations coupons available to harvest workers.

 

Apply to Wood County Agricultural Agent, Court House Annex, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. Phone 1570.  All workers will be assigned to marshes nearest their homes. Experienced rakers should contact marshes where last employed.  Housing and board are available at some marshes.

•••••••••

James Redmond of Neillsville will quit hauling milk on October 1st.  At the age of 67 he will bring to a close the active work of one of the most experienced haulers of the Neillsville area.  He has been in this service more than 16 years and has spent 14 years on the route.

 

Mr. Redmond is a veteran representative of an occupation much followed in Clark County.  With about 450 million pounds of milk produced in this county, it takes a lot of hauling to get it to the 100 or more plants where it is processed.  It is a job for nearly 300 haulers.  These men render an important service in the community and many of them entrench themselves in the good will of the farmers whom they serve.  That this is true of Mr. Redmond is evidenced by the fact that he has increased the patronage on his route from 44 cans in the flush at the start to 116 cans in the flush of 1944.

 

Mr. Redmond is giving up because he suffers from asthma.  He finds it hard to endure through winter weather.  While conditions have improved greatly during the 16 years of his service, nothing has been done as yet to temper the bitterness of the winter winds and the winds clamp down upon the milk haulers when they must leave the cabs of their trucks to handle and carry the cans, empty and full.

 

But even this exposure is minor compared to the difficulties, which Mr. Redmond has experienced from drifting snow and the mud of spring.  In the old days the mud was an almost unconquerable enemy.  That was especially true, for instance on the route, which Mr. Redmond first had, a route lying north of Christie.  The Christie route was 36 miles long and 36 miles was plenty long 23 years ago.  Then in the spring, Mr. Redmond hitched four horses to his wagon and they had all they could do to get over the melting snow and through the deep mud.  At that time the main route north of Neillsville was not paved and the snow was not removed.  So the road became a quagmire when the breakup came.

 

Even when Mr. Redmond began on his present route in the Town of Mentor, there was a time when he could not haul direct to Neillsville.  That was before Highway 10 was paved and for a week or so in the spring he found it necessary to reach Neillsville by driving to Chippewa Falls, thence across the north end of Clark County, thence to Marshfield, and then into Neillsville.  Even that was better than trying to force his way direct to Neillsville, as he found one day, when he landed solidly in the deepest mud, and was stuck there for hours.  He finally gave it up, on that occasion, and hoofed it 13 miles into Neillsville, reaching the city at 10 p.m.  He has been stuck so many times that he has lost all count of it.  He feels that he knows every mud hole in the Town of Mentor and has an intimate acquaintance with practically all the soil in the road and alongside it.

 

Even now, with so much snow plowing and so many miles of hard road, there are times when the going is tough.  In the winter of 1942-43 Mr. Redmond had to hire teams of horses for a time to get the milk over the snow-filled side roads to points where he could pick it up.  Those were rough and profitless days and such experiences have been many.

 

Milk hauling is no easy way to make a living, yet many men in the dairying community desire to do it.  He finally sold to “Bud” Walker of Wisconsin Rapids, son of Wes Walker of Mentor, long one of Mr. Redmond’s patrons.

 

Two other changes in milk routes are of local moment.  Andrew Walters, who has hauled for some seven years, has sold to Herbert ‘Snick” Kurth, stepson of Martin Hauge.  Mr. Kurth has been trucking out of Mauston, but is now returning to Neillsville with his wife.  Gilbert Gibeau, who had a route in Augusta territory, has sold to Laurin Mallory of Neillsville.

 

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