Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI, September 11, 2019, Page 9

The Ruplinger Stave and Heading Company sawmill in Loyal was completely destroyed by a fire Tuesday afternoon.

This is the second loss to this company within a year, as the dry kiln burned on February 13, with only a small part of the loss covered by insurance. The Heading factory burned in the fall of 1896, so this is their third loss by fire since locating there.

Mr. Ernest R. Vine was married on Wednesday evening, August 23, 1899, at the Methodist parsonage, Greenwood, Wis. Rev. Paul Hull performed the ceremony,

The festive hen may justly put an extra tone of pride into her cackle. The state Board of Agriculture offers premiums to be captured at the state fair, Sept. 12 to 15. This is exclusive of another $500 in prizes for pigeons and ornamental birds.

John Prokop, a Town of Levis man, was before Justice MacBride one day this week, on the charge of having used abusive language, preferred by a woman of Levis. He was found guilty and was fined $7, and costs amounting in all to $13. Immediately upon his release he had the woman arrested on a similar charge, but the matter was settled out of court.

Mis Catherine Braun, daughter of Andrew Braun, of Loyal, was married to Peter Ruplinger, by Rev. Daniels, last Tuesday morning at the Catholic Church, Hewitt, Wis. In the presence of relatives and friends of the bride and groom. The bridesmaids were Misses Lizzie Braun and Anna Christman of Loyal, and Freeman Allen of Loyal and Phillip Ruplinger acted as groomsmen. The ceremony and observances incident to the wedding were very pretty and elaborate, and the event was the occasion of a gala day at Hewitt.

S.B. Calway will superintend the construction of the wood and framework for the Balch & Tragsdorf new department store. The contract has been awarded him by Thos. Morris, who will have the job of erecting the structure.

Will Campman is anxious concerning the whereabouts of his bicycle, which was taken from in front of Dickinson’s store about ten o’clock yesterday forenoon. Walter Redmond reports having seen a stranger riding the wheel and describes him as smooth-faced, a medium sized and fairly well dressed man. As yet no trace of wheel or the culprit has been found.

(At that time, a bicycle was still referred to as a “wheel,” derived from the first style of bike that had one large front wheel on the frame, with a very small wheel at the back. DZ.)

Eau Claire had a genuine tragedy enacted within her borders last week when two men attempted to kill each other with swords. As usual there was a woman involved in the case and she was an unwilling witness of the terrible scene. The participants were Hugh J. Thompson, a photographer of that city, and a traveling man named Maguire, and the tragedy took place in the Thompson’s photo gallery.

Some weeks ago, the woman applied to Thompson for a job and it was given her. Friday, Maguire called at the gallery and claimed the woman was his wife. She denied this and appealed to Thompson for protection. A quarrel ensued and each man grasped swords, which were hanging on the wall, and proceeded to do battle in the old-time fashion. The woman rushed from the room and called for help and when assistance arrived, they found Thompson on the floor nearly dead with Maguire standing over him about to finish the job. Maguire escaped from the room and fled down the street.

Thompson was cared for and physicians summoned, and latest reports state that he is in a fair way of recovery.

Some days later, Maguire was captured and lodged in jail. The outcome of the affair and the particulars which led up to the desperate fight will be awaited with interest.

Farm for Sale! An 80-acre farm, two and a-half miles west of city, 60 acres are free from stumps.

Wanted! Ten thousand bushels of oats, 20¢ per bushel. Highest market price being paid for Rye. Neillsville Cash Milling Company.

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 Hwy. 10 and then on the dirt road until County Trunk W is reached; then south on W to Hwy. 73 and southeast on 73 to Sherwood Center, then back on 73 through Shortville to 95, then southwest on 95 to Hagie’s shop; then to Neillsville on 95.

This 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 are interested in the 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 U.S. Office of Defense Transportation established a 35 mile-per-hour “Victory Speed Limit” to conserve gasoline and rubber consumption for the American was effort from May 1942 to August 1945, which is when World War II ended.

In March of 1943, our family moved from eastern South Dakota to a farm in southwestern Minnesota. My dad had to go to the county rationing board to apply for more gasoline in order to drive our 1929 Dodge sedan for the day we traveled 352 miles to reach our new home. We left early that morning, traveling 35 miles per hour, arriving at our destination 9 p.m. Mom had packed sack lunches for us to eat on the journey.

Our Dodge displayed a green “B” sticker on an upper corner of the windshield. Gasoline was 20 cents per gallon and the Dodge gas tank held a maximum of 10 gallons. A “B” sticker signified Dad was allowed to purchase eight gallons of gasoline a week, which included gasoline for the car and gasoline for the “pumpjack” engine that pumped well water into a tank daily for the livestock.

An ”A” sticker, allowed four gallons of gasoline per week, and was the sticker that was issued most, such as to the townspeople. Some who lived in town were told they didn’t need an “A” sticker or a car, as they lived close enough to walk to their jobs and nearby stores for shopping.

A ”C” sticker was for professional people that included 17 different occupations.

The “M” sticker was form motorcycle drivers, such as the Western Union employees who delivered telegrams by riding motorcycles. DZ)

Those who enjoy attending car shows may occasionally come upon a vehicle with its gas-rationing sticker still on the windshield such as that above. No cars, commercial trucks or auto parts were manufactured from February 1942 to October 1945. The above car had to have been a pre-war model.

A program of immunizing children against small pox and diphtheria will be carried on in Clark County this fall. Arrangements for the clinic are being made by the county nurse, Mrs. Elizabeth Steward Helwig, who is in charge of the program.

The program will consist of vaccination against smallpox and inoculation against diphtheria. The work will be done by the doctors who live in the county. They will work at 11 points in the county at specified times. There will be two periods or centers at each point.

The program is intended for children between the ages of nine months and 12 years. For each treatment, the fee is 25 cents. Each child participating must show a consent slip signed by a parent or guardian, and these slips are obtainable from any school or from Mrs. Helwig. The consents, filled out, should be sent to Mrs. Helwig not later than Sept. 18.

Mrs. Carl Thoma is spending a month in Chicago. Her mission there is to learn to make wind transformer coils. She will return to Neillsville on or about October 13. At approximately that time, also, the Joseph Weidenhoff branch here will receive the equipment required for coil winding, and that operation will be undertaken locally.

Fred Lakosky of Loyal has sold his implement business to Ted Gregory, farmer of the northern part of Clark County. He will take possession Nov. 1. The deal includes the implement shop, two vacant lots and stock.

Neillsville is experiencing an acute housing shortage. The market for residences is sharply short, with practically nothing now available.

The result has been a sharp upward movement of values. Owners may not care to sell, but they have marked their values up mentally and have the comfortable feeling that they could sell, if they would at prices, which are high as compared with those obtained three or four years ago. The fact is that very few residence might be had, even now, but only at values sharply increased.

The tight market has stood in the way of activity. Within the past few months some deals have been negotiated or concluded. Earl Schultz has bought from Jess Scott the house on Oak Street now occupied by the W.R. Marquart family. The price has not been made known, but it is understood to have been not far from $3,000 to $3,200. This is a small house well located upon a desirable lot. The purchase was arranged before the market reached its present acute stage.

Another deal involves a property just two doors north of the house bought by Schultz. This transaction is not complete, but an agreement is understood to be between Willard Thomas, manager of Schultz Bros. store, and Judge Crosby for purchasing this small frame house now occupied by the St. Denis family. The deal includes the vacant lot to the south. The consideration is understood to be not far from $2,000. The house is small, and not fully modern, but the location and site are excellent.

Another deal, which is in the closing stage is for a property on North Grand Avenue, which is being purchased by Harry Carl. The sale is being made by Miss Olive Schafer. Mr Carl works at Greenwood but could find nothing there.

Another deal, which is being closed is for the sale of property on East Ninth Street and is owned by Elizabeth Wiertz estate and the property, now arranged for two families, was bought by Sheriff Kutsche at $2,500. The price is moderate as compared with figures now discussed.

The present prospect is that there will be a few sales in Neillsville in the near future, but there may be considerable talk about prices, which a few years ago would have seemed almost fantastically high. The reason is that Neillsville, like most American communities, has grown and that there has been practically no residential building, first because of the Depression and then because of war restrictions and shortages.

(During the Depression, money wasn’t available for building new homes. World War II followed the Depression and then lumber couldn’t be purchased for building, as everything went for war purposes. This, as a result, affected the housing shortage. DZ)

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 of the Humbird

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 acreage will run not far from 250, and that is in about 600 different plots. In many instances the plots are of a quarter of an acre each, the size estimated to a proper full-time job for a 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.

(At that time, all members of the family had to work at hand-picking green beans down on their knees. There wasn’t the question of “Will you do it?,” as everyone of the family was expected to do their part so that the farm work would get done, and they did just that. It also taught good work ethnics, which the children carried with them throughout their future, helping them be employable. DZ)

(I recall, when I was a kid we had a large bean patch, and we kids of the family had to all get out there and pick beans. I was about 10 years old and the oldest. Dmk).

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