The Colfax County Press publishes a weekly column entitled Peeking into the Past, which is comprised of articles taken from earlier Colfax County Press files, written by Helen C. Evans. A special thank you to the Colfax County Press for allowing me to reprint those articles! The following are selections from that column:
May 1, 1906 - reprinted December 23, 1981Jos. Indra who had been suffering from blood poisoning, had the third finger on his left hand amputated by Dr. Allen.
At a meeting of the village board saloon licenses were granted to Joseph Slama, Frank Benes, Alois Tomes, Joseph J. Fajman, and Karl Kmoch, each being required to pay $750 into the village fund, $500 for school purposes and $250 for the use of the village. John Tlustos was also appointed street commissioner at this meeting.
May 8, 1906 - reprinted December 30, 1981R.P. Basta has sold his carpenter shop and the strip of land on which it stands, north of the railroad tracks to Hamernik & Hromadka for $1,300.
F. K. Sindelar of the Tabor neighborhood and some five or six of his neighbors came up with six loads of cottonwood framing lumber, cut from trees on his place, to be used in the erection of a set of buildings on his farm of 320 acres on the Bilby Ranch.
May 8, 1906 - reprinted January 6, 1982Joseph Dworak and wife, living northeast of town, have a little son at their home, born Wednesday.
They have twin boys out at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Emanuel Novotny, born Saturday.
Miss Rose Rudesdorf and Hans Severin were married at Holy Trinity Catholic church at Heun. The bride’s parents are Mr. and Mrs. Conrad Rudesdorf.
We are in receipt of Vol. 1. No. 1, of the Cornlea - Independent, of which a former Clarkson man, John Koza, is editor. The paper starts out with a good patronage, is well filled with news and no doubt, it will be an important factor in the upbuilding of Cornlea.
While little Elsie Kamensky was gathering violets on the vacant lots east of the mill, she was set upon by a pack of five dogs. The frightened child started to run home closely followed by the dogs, when her lusty screams brought help in the persons of the employees at the mill. Some of them drove the dogs away while one telephoned for Marshal Kroeger, who lost no time in making his appearance and a gun play followed which resulted in killing twO of the dogs. But for the timely arrival of help, little Elsie, who is 7 years old, would have been disfigured for life. As it is, she cannot speak above a whisper as she strained her vocal chords in screaming for help.
May 15, 1906 - reprinted January 20, 1982Clarkson Markets - Good milling wheat 52c, good milling rye 45c, corn 37c, oats 28c, eggs 12c, butter l2c, and hogs $5.90.
Anton and Joseph Kopac, Dr. Schultz and Joseph R. Koza are the champion fishermen in these parts, having broken all previous records. In less than an hour’s time, they caught 74 fish in Maple Creek, near the railroad bridge. They were redhorses and chubs, the catch weighing between 14 and 15 pounds. Later in the day, Joe Kopac went back and he and Dr. Shultz caught 22 more.
Folda and Mundil report the sale of the Frank Makousky 80, northeast of town, to Frank J. Sindelar for $75 per acre. This gives Frank, with what he already had, a good place of 160 acres. When the deal was completed, Mr. Makousky bought the John Dworak 120 for $65 per acre.
At a meeting of the board of education, the salaries of the teachers in the Clarkson schools for the coming year were fixed as follows: F. J. Vogltance, principal, $75 per month; Bertha E. Phelps, intermediate, $50; Stella Folda, primary, $50 and Mayme Hrdy, second primary, $45.
May 29, 1906 - reprinted January 13, 1982Joseph Dudek died at his home at the age of 76 years, 7 months and 4 days.
Last week great forest fires swept over portions of northern Wisconsin, but luckily that section of the state where Anton Zabka, Joseph Subrt, Anton Cinfl and other former Clarkson citizens are located was spared.
Through the kindness of Principal Vogltance, we are able to publish the following statement concerning the number of pupils in attendance in our school the past year: Primary 27 boys and 28 girls; second primary 27 boys and 20 girls; intermediate 32 boys and 22 girls; high school 20 boys and 14 girls. Total 190 students.
Two Clarkson boys, Franklin Blotz and Theodore Fillipi, will graduate from the Schuyler high school next week. Here are two boys who have made good use of their opportunity and have in them the making of useful citizens.
The organization of the Clarkson Commercial Club was perfected at a meeting held in the city hall by the election of the following officers: Jos. Krikac, president; Dr. F. B. Schultz, vice president: J. D. Wolf, secretary and F. W. Noh, treasurer. The club starts out with a membership of forty.