March 1868

The Honorable James O’Neill, who has well and faithfully attended to the interests of this Assembly district in the Legislature this winter, arrived home last Friday evening.  This district has never before been more ably represented than by this 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.

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A daily stage line is now running between this place and Black River Falls, under the efficient management of L.R. Stafford and W.T. Price.                                                     

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Telegraphic operators are beginning to style themselves “Telegramers,” and very bad “grammers” they sometimes are.                                                                                   

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Neillsville has had its first silver wedding.  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ross celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of their wedding day, at their fine new commodious residence on March 22nd. This pleasant episode brought together an agreeable party of a few ladies and gentlemen, and was one of the happiest affairs, which has yet occurred in our village.  The sumptuous repast spread upon the table at five o’clock has never been before surpassed in this county neither in excellence or variety.

The meeting seemed to have a double purpose, not only to extend hearty congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Ross on their long happy married life, but to bring together many of the old residents of the county, whose conversation naturally turned upon earlier scenes, rendered highly interesting by their comparisons of past and present.

Mr. Ross, with his family, settled in this county over nineteen years ago.  He had no money when he came, but master of an indomitable will, he commenced working, 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, the guests departed to their several abodes, after extending numerous heartfelt wishes to the happy couple for many more years of prosperity and connubial felicity.

(The Ross house was built upon a knoll above the Black River, in the area known as “Ross Eddy,” as it flows eastward, before taking a turn south, near a creek that runs under State Hwy. 73-95, about a mile south of Neillsville. DZ)                                                                               

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There is not a more enterprising or reliable firm on 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 such 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 sawmill and the only flouring mill in this village.  The latest evidence of their enterprise and prosperity is the putting up of a new and improved machine 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 enough power and shafting for a sash and door factory the machinery for which is soon to arrive.                                                                                  

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A clothesline at the residence of Mr. Wm. T. Hutchinson was robbed of a few articles by some low petty thief, about eight o’clock 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.  To 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.  Suspicious sometimes center upon the right person, and we advise this one to return his ill-gotten gain or he may be summarily dealt with.                          

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Last night, a man named J. E. Hardy, who had long been addicted to the use of intoxicating liquors, crept into the barn at the Lumbermen’s Hotel to “sleep it off,:” it is thought, in a terrible fit of drunkenness, which he is often subject to.  By some mistake he fell through the haymow chute, over some cattle in the stable below, breaking an arm and spraining an ankle.  His cries brought assistance and he was carried to the hotel where Dr. Bemis attended upon him.

March 1938

The permanent 16-light windows were installed at the new Neillsville post office last week.  They are the standard European design windows used in all government buildings.  The sash and frames will later be painted a light cream, while the entrance door will be done in copper green.       

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Nearly 10,000 catalogues, weighing 3 ½ pounds each, were distributed in Clark County this week, a total of over 30,000 pounds or better than 15 tons,.  Sears-Roebuck distributed theirs by trucks at local post offices, from where they went out by mail, while Montgomery Ward had a crew of men make house-to-house deliveries.  The cost of this advertising to the two catalog houses was over $10,000.  They also use large advertising spaces in papers where they have stores.

(Some of us remember the arrival of the Spring or Fall catalogues, from Sears and Montgomery Ward.  Our moms would be anxious to see the new fashions for the coming season, pictured in color.  The kids made a “Christmas wish list” from the smaller Christmas catalogue edition.  Not only clothing was available in the catalogues, but also a variety of other items.

In the 1930s, someone wishing to build a new house, could place an order for a pictured style of home shown in the Sears catalogue.  All of the lumber was precut, marked, with assembling directions printed out for the construction.  A few of those 1930 catalogue-ordered houses remain within our area. DZ)

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Orders continue to come in for Clark County maple syrup, guaranteed to be pure and grade No. 1 as handled through the office of the county agent.

A recent order for 38 gallons came from the head office of one of the large railroads at Chicago.  Also, two orders came from Spokane, Wash., one of eight gallons from Anaconda, Montana,  and a nationally known company in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, states that next December, it is planning to send out hundreds of Christmas gifts of maple syrup.  Many companies are also sending assorted gifts for Christmas, which includes maple syrup, honey, cheese and other Wisconsin products.                               

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A large number of farmers attended the Allis-Chalmers day entertainment sponsored by Fred Stelloh, local dealer, last Thursday, at which ten reels of movies were shown. 

Stelloh and other car dealers here have joined in having a sale on good used cars this week.

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The officers of the Neillsville Country Club were re-elected at a meeting of the board of directors held Monday evening, being as follows: president, Roy E. Schmedel; vice-president, Otto Zaeske; secretary, Ray R. Munger; and treasurer Everett Skroch.  Francis Welsh is a member of the board of directors.

A meeting of all stockholders and golf enthusiasts is to be held Monday, April 3, at which committees for tournaments, greens, memberships and planning are to be elected.  The women also are invited to be present and elect committees to look after social nights and other events.

The country club had a wonderful year in 1937, which besides sale of stock of $5,500, took in enough to make the year’s receipts $7,413.98, enabling the club to pay all bills and debts and came out with a cash balance of $23.70.                                                                                         

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The last day of dray horses has passed out of the picture in Neillsville, with the team disposed of by A. Hauge and Son recently.

However, it has been brought to our attention that Neillsville still has a team used in the delivery business, being that of the Tibbett Ice & Fuel Co., a heavy well-matched team of blacks.

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Mr. and Mrs. Joe Felser have begun remodeling their home on the corner of West and West Fourth Streets.  Mr. Felser, who is employed with H. P. Ghent,  built a porch at the Ghent shop and with the assistance of relatives and friends, he moved and attached it to the east side of his house Sunday.  Other improvements are to follow.                                                                                    

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A crew of men, from the section of Humbird, have been traveling by truck to Hay Creek, north of Tioga, where they are brushing out 20 acres of land, which will be flooded for the new lake  to be created by a dam that will be constructed at that point.

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“Ruggles,” the pal of South Hewett Street and one of the friendliest and happiest dogs in town, was killed by a car on Monday.  Ruggles would run and play with the boys, take part in their games, run after sticks or balls and was a general favorite.  The boys feel they have lost a real friend and mourn his loss.

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The Trempealeau Trail Ass’n, which is working hard for the paving of highway 95 through Trempealeau and Jackson counties, calls attention to a radio broadcast from Winona Sunday in which prominent officials will take part.

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Several Dane County farmers, unwilling to scrap their old family cars merely because they became out-moded, are converting them into useful pieces of farm machinery.  By taking out the car engine for the power unit and combining it with a used truck transmission, a considerable number of the farmers are reported to have made farm tractors at very small cost.  Such tractors, they find, are suitable for doing such work as plowing, disking, harrowing, and for pulling binders and mowers.

(I remember seeing a few of those improvised tractors.  Maybe that gave the Ford Motor Co. the idea of manufacturing the popular 8-N, 2-n, and 9-N Ford tractors, from 1939 to 1952, which were in popular demand by the small-acreage farm owners. DZ)                                                                              

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The U.S. Treasury Department announces that out of a total of 982 bank receiverships completed recently, exclusive of 42 banks restored to solvency, the average return to depositors and creditors has been 17.36 percent of total liabilities, while unsecured creditors have received dividends amounting to an average of 66.4 percent of their claims.  The total dividends and distributions to depositors in three years and eight months was $866,080.41.  The policy of the federal government has been to liquidate closed banks as quickly as could be done with convenience and safety.  These returns are for banks that closed before deposits were insured 100 percent.

Another dividend was paid during the week by the former Chili State Bank, with a number of those checks coming to Neillsville.  Some other banks in this territory are also preparing to pay further or liquidating dividends in the near future.

(Fortunately, some banks were able to pay back about 80 percent of the liabilities to their former customers, years after the 1929 “crash,” DZ)                                                           

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Capt. Supt. J. E. Tenney and Lieut. M. J. Cain of Camp City Point 85-S called Tuesday and left programs of the big fifth anniversary celebration to be held there Sunday, April 3, to which the general public is invited.  There will be camp and project tours, handcraft exhibit and luncheon early in the afternoon with quartet singing, and in the evening a dance.                                                                             

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The Lakeshire Cheese Company plant in Loyal will cease to take in milk after March 31, 1938, according to notices given patrons and drivers last week.

No official announcement has been made by Lakeshire officials up to this time, as to their future plans for the plant.

The Lakeshire plant that is one of the largest in the state.  It is reported that because the plant is not receiving enough milk is the reason for the action taken by the Lakeshire officials.

(At this time, there were several cheese factories still in operation throughout rural Clark County, which drew from the milk supply needed by the Lakeshire plant.  The Lakeshire building later served as a cheese aging facility, which was operating in the 1950s.  To enable the proper aging process, a few employees were needed to turn the 50-lb. round cheddars, daily.  DZ)                                     

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Chicken Notice!  Dogs and chickens must be kept in your own yard.  Any dogs or chickens which stray from the owners’ yards are a nuisance and the owner thereof will be arrested for this offense.

Fred Rossman, Chief of Police.                                                                       

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Wildlife Conservation Week was very well observed by Ray Urbans and his conservation class at Neillsville High School.  The classroom was trimmed with pine boughs, picked up from trees that were stripped of limbs by the recent windstorm.

On the tables were several exhibits, lent to the school by local sportsmen.  Among them being two white owls, a wild duck, a mud hen, a quail, blue jay, two gray squirrels, a screech owl, mink, a hawk, a buck head, several sets of deer horns and two muskies.

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