Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI, October 14, 2015, Page 9

Mr. Douglas of England is in the city to attend to matters connected with the Neillsville Stock Farm. This is his second visit here and he meets many former acquaintances.

The John Paul Lumber Company sent a crew of men in the woods this week, with Louie Brillion as foreman.

Luethe & Schroeder and Company will ship Potatoes Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 7th, 8th & 9th. Only white potatoes are wanted for this trip.

Gus Hoesly and Mont Brown have been shipping supplies this week to their logging camps in Northern Wisconsin.

John Hein’s carload of apples settling at the Neillsville train depot has been drawing a crowd recently.

Some farmers in the Town of York area report the gray and black squirrels are so thick in that vicinity that they do considerable damage in the cornfields.

J. F. Braiser of Loyal was in our city of Neillsville the other day. He is a worthy veteran of the war.

Fred Rossman bought the Townsend barbershop Friday, consolidating it with his own in Kapellan’s block, and now runs three chairs, manned by the proprietors, Ike Spencer and Dick Townsend. It makes a strong team.

The scaffolding in front of the new Sniteman block has been taken down and the front of plate glass, oak sash cherry finished, with pressed brick and iron cornice in aluminum and a fine mortar-and-pestle sign in the center of the upper façade, making a most striking and showy appearance. The deep recessed entrances, surrounded with plate glass, are a noticeable feature. The last stick of the old building has disappeared.

The work of restoring the Ring & Youmans brick building into a full -sized and desirable store building is now under way.

Judge Richard Dewhurst of this city died of apoplexy at a hotel at Atlanta, Ga., Sunday morning. He was with Mr. Brice, a friend whose home is in Florida, and at the Judge’s winter home, at the time of his death. His cousin, Eli Dewhurst, had gone to Atlanta with him but left the city for a short excursion into the country to visit a relative.

It was his third attack of apoplexy. He left here last week feeling well, and the news of his death was hence the more unexpected. W. L. Hemphill and Mrs. Dewhurst and Decatur Dickinson and wife went to Chicago Sunday where they took charge of the remains and returned home Tuesday morning.

The deceased was one of our wealthiest citizens, a pioneer, locating here 39 years ago. He was 69 years old. He was born in England and possessed to a marked degree the quiet, pushing instincts of his race. He had represented his district in legislature four terms, in 1859, 1865, 1875 and 1887; was county judge at one term, late in the ‘70s and had filled many positions of trust. At the time of his death, he was president of the Neillsville Bank, of the German-American Bank of Marshfield, a stockholder in the American National Bank at Milwaukee, with interests in other enterprises. He was, for years, a successful operator in pine lumber, always conservative, master of his affairs, liberal to those who had his friendship, generous to old friends, and unostentatiously charitable wherever he found the deserving needy. His death creates a vacancy no other man can fill.

Years ago, Neillsville possessed a coiled hoop factory, but it quit, and is no more. Marshfield has a factory of this kind now getting started, which will employ 45 hands.

W. H. Schwarze, of the Town of Warner, who delights in being a bachelor, was in our town Friday and a caller at our office.

Frank Potter of York Township reports digging up 100 bushels of potatoes, Beauty of Hebron, from planting two bushels of seed. Isn’t that a good crop?

Joseph Gibson of Longwood is in the city. He has the contract for cutting all the timber on the Black River belonging to the Sawyer & Austin Lumber Company, banking each winter from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000.

Since bicycling has become so popular, the sly peek at a lady’s ankle as ceased to be a novelty. One doesn’t need to be sly, or peek even.

On Main Street, next to Dickinson’s store is Clark’s new studio. His work is of the best and at present he is making pictures at greatly reduced prices, 15 elegant cabinets for $1.50, work guaranteed.

Halloween is this evening. The wary storekeepers will take in their signs, nail down their movables and hang on to everything.

The Fred Bullard residence on Emery Street has been sold to Ferdinand Hrach. The house was built by Mrs. Bullard’s father, W. W. Taplin in 1885, and the Taplins or a member of their family have always resided there, except for a period of time between 1910 and 1920 when the house was rented to George Ure in 1910 and 1916 to Charles Hugh.

One of the finest shipments of purebred livestock ever to go out of Wisconsin has been selected to go to Colombia, South America. There the Wisconsin animals will become foundation stock for the future herds of that country.

Selection of the animals has been made by three Colombians who have been in Wisconsin for some time. Included in the shipment are animals from two herds of Clark County, those of Imig Bros. and John Wuethrich.

Mrs. W. L. Hemphill of Neillsville knows now what happened to her grandson, Capt. John Rodolf, when he was reported missing for a month. He had been forced down into the sea north of Australia; had spent more than 11 days in a rubber life raft; had sat helplessly by while death came to two of his companions on the raft.

It was touch-and-go with the little party of seven. Flying from the Philippines to Australia, they encountered heavy head winds and ran out of gas about 300 miles north of Darwin, Australia. The pilot, Capt. Leipaki, was obliged to set the plane down. They got into a life raft, and drifted. They had a small supply of water; limited rations. Presently the water ran out. One of the parties, a lieutenant, gave in to his thirst and drank sea water. Rodolf and the others held out.

They drifted toward Tanimbar Island. As they sighted the island, on the tenth day, the lieutenant who had drank salt water, succumbed. Shortly thereafter another of the party, a purchasing officer, died.

On the eleventh day the raft, with its five survivors, drifted to the shore of the island. There they were fed by natives and helped by Japanese. Presently an Australian plane was summoned from Morotai and they were taken on to Australia.

The survivors, in addition to Capt. Rodolf and Capt. Leipaki, were Capt. Otto Howie Crothers of Little Rock, Ark., co-pilot Sgt. Frank Ternin of Borger, Texas; Cpt. Eugene Janicek, Cameron, Texas.

The names of the dead were not divulged. The lieutenant who drank salt water had gone along “just for the ride.”

The second annual Harvest Ball, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Granton, will be held in the Granton Village Hall Saturday, Oct. 13. Music will be furnished by Ferd Riedel’s Orchestra.

“The Good Old Days” was the subject of an address to the Kiwanis Club, delivered Monday evening by the editor of The Clark County Press. He told of Black River as the great highway of the pioneers, up which they traveled to open Clark County, and down which they sent lumber and logs.

James O’Neill and the early lumbermen tried to establish the sawmill business in Clark County, but with lumber selling at $10 and $12.50 per thousand, they found the going tough, and Mr. O’Neill was the only local survivor in 1875. The industry had shifted to the mouth of the river, with a great business of cutting in Clark County and driving to La Crosse. This driving of logs was in the hands of the Black River Improvement Company, which held a state charter for the exclusive rights to improve and use the river and to charge tolls on the traffic. Each log went down with the mark of its owner registered at La Crosse. At the foot of the river there was a sorting process, similar to that at a cattle round-up.

The cut in Clark County is estimated to have been eight billion board feet. In logs placed end to end the pine taken out would have reached around the world five times, with a lot of logs left over. The value of the lumber was about $1,000,000,000.

But from the ashes of the industry, said the editor, has risen the great dairy industry, which is permanent. Its production in Clark County is not less than $16 million per year, as compared with an average of$2 million per year from the 50 years of the lumber industry.

E. L. Hanson has assumed possession of the Shortville Cheese Factory, which he recently purchased from Sandmire Co., Inc. Mr. Hanson was the cheesemaker in the factory when the Sandmire Co. owned it.

Wagners Café is now open on Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be Special Sunday Dinners. Sunday re-opening is made possible by the return of the two Wagner boys, Kenneth (Budge) and Arthur R. (Stir), who are happy to be back with the home folks.

The Christie 4-H Club held a wiener roast on Sunday, October 14, near the Wildcat Mound. There were 18 young people in attendance. The only misfortune at the picnic occurred to the porcupine. The boys teased Mr. Porcupine with sticks until he became annoyed and shot out his quills, which the girls took home for souvenirs.

Mr. and Mrs. Myron Wilding have sold their home on Clay Street to Mr. and Mrs. Fremont Wonn of Withee. Mr. and Mrs. Wilding plan to purchase a smaller home in Neillsville. Mr. Wonn formerly owned the Lone Oak Cheese Factory, which he has sold to Blue Moon Foods, Inc., of Thorp.

The city council has, after investigation by a committee, applied for 20 of the sectional house now standing near the Badger Ordnance Works at Merrimac. The committee’s report indicates that these houses are reasonably comfortable and sightly; that they will serve as temporary dwellings until the present housing shortage can be relieved by standard construction.

That there is a real shortage of housing in Neillsville is certain, and it is equally certain that there is otherwise no early prospect of relief. The shortage has resulted in a marked increase in rents. In some instances, these rents are very high as compared with old standards here. Perhaps it would be only fair to the landlords to say that they are no more excessive today than they were low during the 1930s. Nor will it be possible to rent the sectional houses at a very low rate. The prospect is that the city must charge from $25 to $30 per month per house, if the project is to meet its cost.

If the city is successful in getting the units, it will face an opportunity to create a distinctive Veterans’ Village. Since these sectional houses are of one-story and of a plain, uniform style, they ought to be placed in an area by themselves, where their architecture will not suffer by comparison with any other. They ought to be given an artistic setting, with good landscaping and with sufficient land available for gardening.

Each year, in the fall, somebody revives the pleasant fairy tale about Jack Frost painting the leaves. It is an appealing legend for youthful imaginations to linger upon; the story of a friendly elf hurrying through the woodlands and forests, giving them glorious colors. In fact of course, neither Jack Frost nor any other frost has anything fundamental to do with the autumnal coloring of the woodlands. Trees but develop calluses, or thickenings, at the bases of the leaves. Gradually these choke off the flow of food. The leaves, which are digestive or conversion organs, cease to function, the residue of chemicals within them clogs the leaf cells, and these “salts” change color. Thus the maples become yellow and more brilliant, the oaks become red. There have been gloriously colored woodlands in Wisconsin and other states even when there has been no frost.

The Jack Frost fairy tale continues to be a delightful one but the remarkable processes of nature are no less interesting to the student.

Mayor Anderson has appointed D. E. Peters as chairman for the observance of Navy Day on Saturday, October 27, and calls upon local persons and organizations to observe the day.

Various kinds of Italian cheese will be produced in Greenwood after January 1. The makers will be the Stewart Cheese Corporation, which has bought the old canning factory in Greenwood and is remodeling it.

The principal men in the business are Arthur Stewart, Wilbur Stewart, John Lesniske and H. Brooks. They plan to employ from 15 to 25 men.

This concern is now operating with facilities at Redville Dairy, north of Withee. There, the accommodations are insufficient. In full production, they expect to make 10 or more styles of Italian cheese.

A gift of $500 has been made to the Central Wisconsin Cheese and Butter Makers’ Association to promote the art of cheesemaking in Central Wisconsin. The gift was made by an anonymous donor, who is interested in the promotion of the cheese industry and whose hope is that his gift will be the nucleus of a fund to which others will wish to contribute.

The gift proceeds from the need of the industry for recruits. As the war ends, the cheese industry is very short of makers, the shortage having begun to creep up even before selective service began.

The city of Greenwood has long been home to various dairy industry plants through the years. In 1932, the Greenwood milk Products Co-op started its business, which was in operation for nearly 60 years, selling out to the Land O’ Lakes Co. in 1991, which continued for a few years. The Stewart brothers, Arthur and Wilbur, remodeled the old canning factory building to be used for their new business, named the Stewart Cheese Corp., manufacturing varieties of Italian cheeses, starting January 1, 1946. Presently, that building is being used for manufacturing a variety of cheese. The Grassland Butter plant, located a couple of miles southeast of the city, was started by John Wuethrich Sr. over 100 years ago.

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