“Short Takes.” from the January 1, 1885 Door County Advocate
Short Takes.
—The mails arrive on schedule time since the heavy thaw set in.
—County court on Tuesday next, the 6th instant, at which time considerable business will doubtless be disposed of.
—In accordance with an old and established custom THE ADVOCATE wishes its thousands of readers a happy new year.
—The recently elected officers of Henry S. Baird lodge, F. & A.M., were installed at masonic hall last Thursday evening.
—The city council meets this (Wednesday) evening, the regular meeting having been adjourned from the 26th to the 31st instant.
—The barber shop of James Meyers has been removed from Leonhardt’s building to the Jacob Noll property opposite Cochem’s store.
—The new county officers assume their respective stations on Monday next, though all except the county clerk and sheriff hold over.
—The west shore papers report a general stagnation in business of all kinds, both work and money being scarce with no very encouraging outlook for the near future.
—Henry Marshall, the United States deputy marshal of Milwaukee, was in the city on Tuesday night on his way north, but nothing could be learned concerning the nature of his business.
—C. L. Martin is purchasing all the beef and pork offered, which is being placed in the freezer for future use. E. S. Minor also has upward of forty tons of fresh fish stored in the same building.
—James Hendrickson, of the southern part of this town, will cut about seventy thousand feet of logs for Leathern & Smith during the winter. About one-half of the amount will be pine and the remainder hemlock.
—A large fishing-boat belonging to Robert F. Graham is advertised to be sold at sheriff’s sale on Saturday, January 3d, the property being attached by Dreutzer & Co., the owners of the steamyacht Truscott.
—Capt. Laurie is in receipt of a telegram from New York announcing the arrival of the steamer City of Berlin at Liverpool on the 21st of December, this being the vessel on which his son John took passage
—Andrew Johnson, of Fish Creek writes THE ADVOCATE that he is in receipt of a letter from his brother, who resides in St. Croix county, this state, stating that the mercury was down to 40 degrees below zero one day last month. How is that for weather?
—C. Feldmann, treasurer of the city of Sturgeon Bay, was the first to pay his apportionment of the state tax to the county treasurer, being soon afterward followed by J. F. Gilson, treasurer of the town of Brussels, their payments having been made on Monday.
—This section was visited by another heavy snow storm last Friday, and it looked as if there was going to be a general suspension of operations in the woods, but the thaw that began on Sunday and continued until Tuesday night has greatly reduced the depth of the snow.
—The suit brought against Emma A. Sherry and Martin Baye, of Gardner, by Miss Sarah M. Poffer, the particulars of which were given in these columns last week, was amicably settled by the defendants paying the amount of pension money claimed, and the case has been dropped.
—Rain fell through the greater part of Monday and Tuesday which settled the snow most effectually. On Tuesday night the rain changed to sleet and at this writing (Wednesday afternoon) the indications are that the thaw has ended, colder weather having set in. The roads are badly cut up and travel is anything but pleasant and agreeable.
—Travel on the ice between the city and Bay View has become unsafe for teams since the thaw set in, and those who are compelled to cross go by way of Smith & Daley’s mill to avoid the channel made by steamboats. On Monday a horse belonging to John Kramer, of Forestville, dropped one of its feet through while passing over the ice, since which time teamsters have been pretty careful.
—The thaw of this week had at least one good effect. It so largely reduced the amount of snow that property owners were encouraged to put out their shovels and clear the remainder from the sidewalks, which are now in better condition than we expected to see them before next May. It appears that to accomplish wonders our people need only a little assistance from providence.
—General Dreutzer informs THE ADVOCATE that the defendant in the suit brought by Rev. E. Blume has been granted a new trial, and this will necessitate another journey to Watseka, Ill., at a later day. The amount claimed by the plaintiff is about seven hundred and fifty dollars, of which Mr. Dreutzer was to receive one-half, but if the case drags along two or three years more there will not be much left for the attorney or his client.
—The bad roads and cold weather previous to last Saturday caused the wood supply in this city to be very nearly exhausted. There is an abundance of fuel ready for hauling to market, and as soon as the roads are passable it will be brought to town. The Green Bay papers say that there is no lack of fuel in that market, good body maple wood selling at from $3.50 to $3.75 per cord delivered in any part of the city. This is from $1.25 to $1.50 a cord cheaper than it has been for several years.
—A watch-night service will be held at the moravian church on new year eve, beginning at half-past eleven o’clock and closing soon after midnight. A sermon will be delivered by the Rev. Chr. Madsen. At half-past ten o’clock on new year day an appropriate service will be held at the same place. At two o’clock in the afternoon there will be a meeting for the purpose of electing trustees and other church officers for the ensuing year.
—The annual announcement of the New York Sun will be found in our paper to-day. We have on several occasions highly commended this great journal to our readers, and continued acquaintance confirms the opinion that it is the most honest, able, fearless and influential newspaper on this continent, if not in the world. Its courageous and independent action during the presidential campaign should commend it to republicans and to patriotic citizens of all parties. It contains all the news of the world and at one-half the price of the larger papers, while every line is readable.
—One cold day last week, while several persons were taking comfort around the bar-room fire in the Exchange Hotel, the conversation naturally turned upon winter amusements and some anecdotes were related showing the tenacity with which a piece of frosty iron will cling to the human tongue that comes in contact with it. Fred Erskine heard these stories and having some doubt of their correctness he determined to settle the question by a personal experiment. As soon as the experienced liars present had exhausted their stock of winter stories and began to tell how much cordwood they used to chop in a day when they first came to this county, Fred quietly left the room. In about five minutes he burst in at the kitchen door presenting an appearance so extraordinary that the ladies of the household did not know whether they ought to go into a fit of weeping or laughter. Fred had found in the yard an old ax and had intended to touch it with his tongue so carefully that he could close the experiment in case he found there was truth in the bar-room stories. But the ax was attending strictly to business, and no sooner got hold of the moist flesh than it settled down its work as though it intended to hold on all winter. Fred tried to pull himself loose but was only successful in drawing out a foot or so of his tongue, and in this somewhat startling posture had made his way into the house. As a matter of course he was unable to speak, but it was entirely unnecessary for him to explain the situation, and moreover the ladies immediately demonstrated that they were competent to do all the talking that was required.
Everybody had a plan for separating Fred from the ax, and as usual each suggestion was just a little more absurd than the others. Somebody proposed that Fred be put into the oven until the ax was thawed out. Another brought a dipper of hot water and insisted that Fred should drink it and thus release himself, though it was manifestly impossible to get the dipper within six inches of his mouth. It seemed as though the unlucky boy must either lose the end of his tongue or carry the ax around until next spring, when a lady visitor came to his relief. By her direction a stream of warm water was poured upon the ax, which was in a short time sufficiently heated to cause it to loosen its hold upon Fred's talking machine. They tell some marvelous stories in the bar-room of the Exchange Hotel, but hereafter Fred will believe every word he hears.
—Notwithstanding the very inclement weather on Saturday a goodly crowd participated in the dance given in the evening at Lawrence's hall by the masonic fraternity. The party was one of the most pleasant that has assembled in this city for a long time, and the gentlemen who managed it performed their duties from beginning to end in a highly satisfactory manner. About sixty couples were present, and it is doubtful if one of the number can be found who was in any way dissatisfied with the entertainment. Among those present from neighboring towns were Dr. Parsons, of Ahnapee, K. Lundberg, Miss Anna Blakefield, Alex. Lundberg, Miss Alice Schuyler, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Blakefield, of Fish Creek and Geo. Baringer, of Egg Harbor.
—Sheriff Scott again visited the town of Union on Wednesday of last week at the request of Augustus Liesse, of Green Bay, who holds a chattel mortgage on merchandise recently sold to Eugene Everard. On the occasion of his first visit, a week previous, all of the property was found except one box, and to recover this a search warrant had been issued. The sheriff and Mr. Liesse visited several residences and other buildings, but did not succeed in finding the missing goods. The name of the mortgagor is Joseph Otcort, and he still remains in jail at Green Bay. Although the roads were badly drifted and a snow storm continued nearly all day, Mr. Scott reached home soon after dark, having traveled about sixty-five miles between seven in the morning and six at night, besides spending some time in searching for the property. The unrecovered goods are valued at about six hundred dollars. Mr. Everard (who, by the way, is not a relative of Frank and John Everard,) appears to have placed the disputed property where nobody but himself can find it.
Courtesy of the Door County Library Newspaper Archive
Articles written by Frank Long
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/frank-long
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