MENU100 Years Ago
Life in Viroqua from the Vernon County Censor:
FEB. 22, 1922
The most disastrous ice storm which has ever visited this section of the Upper Mississippi Valley commenced Tuesday night and continued for about 24 hours. The storm opened Tuesday afternoon with a typical June thunderstorm... In the evening the temperature dropped to 32 degrees above while the rain descended at time in torrents with lightning and thunder rolling...
Shortly after midnight, the high tension line between here and Sparta gave way, was repaired, broke again... Viroqua awoke to find itself gripped in a complete blanket of ice, with ice-laden branches falling one every side, carrying down light and telephone wires by the score. Danger of electrocution from down wires forced suspension of light service shortly after daylight... The culmination of the destructive period came as night fell, when the thermometer dropped a little while the drizzle continued and brisk wind sprang up.
Morning dawned on as desolate a scene of destruction as Viroqua has witnessed since the cyclone... Whole trees blocked many of the streets...service wires were everywhere down...over it all was the merciless blanket of ice, topped with a few inches of snow...linemen found that out of the 200 poles between Viroqua and Bud only forty were standing...the small business section of the city has current after interruption of two days.
Leonard Zogg was in Monday... He tells us that on Wednesday night two weeks ago, some person stole 40 quarts of meat from his son-in-law, Fred Knower, who lives on the old Davig place southwest of town. Mr. Zogg says the folks wouldn’t feel quite so badly about it if the guilty party would only return the jars some night.
Feb. 15, 1922
The Vernon County Fair Association has just received the state aid, and the Censor is overjoyed to report that the association now has all debts paid and is $1591.28 to the good. This in spite of the fact that improvements of about $2,000.00 were made last year and the new steel poultry coops to the value of $300 purchased for next year.
NOTES ON HIGHWAY WORK
It will be good news to all that the committee has selected concrete as the material for the road south of Viroqua to the forks of No. 11 and 72... The new machine storage shed is completed. It is an 80x40 galvanized structure with string steel frame supporting a two-ton crane with large radius... The appropriation for its construction was $8000, and Commissioner Ristow has enough left out of this to construct the new blacksmith shop.
New auto trail and highway maps will be issued by the Wisconsin Highway Commission... The new maps will contain new features. Various types of surfacing will be shown in different colors... The commission proposes to place markers at all streams, lakes, parks, springs and camp sites. In addition it proposes to place markers just outside of the corporate limits of every city and village giving the name and population of such city or village.
The first month of county nursing in history... Twenty-five school rooms have had physical inspections. The total enrollment was 687... The list of defects as found are: Defective teeth 3128; abnormal tonsils 290; sore eyes 5; defects of vision 143; nasal obstruction 69; pronounced enlargement of cervical glands (glands in neck) 47.
FEB. 8, 1922
CASHTON RECORDS - Miss Annie Eichenberger recently resigned her position as county nurse. Her place was taken by Miss Hazel Sawyer, formerly County Red Cross Nurse.
At nine o’clock Wednesday morning, February 1st, Elenore Mattison, only daughter of Mrs. Signer Mattison, died of tuberculosis at the tender age of three years, eight months and fourteen days.
WESTBY TIMESES – The little hamlet of Valley was the scene of a fire a week ago last Sunday. The residence of John Eastman was totally destroyed by fire. This is the second loss Mr. Eastman has sustained from fire within a short time. Early in December he lost his store building and contents by fire.
FRANKLIN, Stump Ridge, February 7 – The shortest month of the year is with us again, and everyone is enjoying its fine weather.
The tobacco buyers have not been very active throughout this part of the country. Nearly all of this season’s weed has remained unsold as yet.
Plastering of the Theatre building is now complete and plastering of the upper story of the temple is well underway. Workmen are now engaged in placing the steel partitions in the upper story.
Barber’s New Price List
Effective at All Barber Shops in Viroqua On and After Saturday, Feb. 11th. Hair Cut 40¢, Shave 20¢, Hair Tonic 20¢, Singing 25¢, Shampoo 35¢, Scalp Treatment 75¢, Fitch Shampoo 75¢, Olive Oil Shampoo 75¢, Mange Treatment 75¢, Face Massage 40¢, Razor Honing 50¢.
The auto laws will be more strictly enforced in 1922 than heretofore. Get your new plates, watch your lights, close your cut-out in cities, keep your speed within the law, and pay attention to parking and traffic laws in the city of Viroqua and elsewhere.
FEB. 1, 1922
This morning, the old gasoline engine at the lower pumping station broke a connecting rod and injured itself beyond repair. This make over $3000 breakage expense this year trying to keep up the water supply of our city with antequated [sic] pumping machinery. It surely demonstrates the wisdom of the council in preparing one pumping unit with proper machinery and motorizing the same. The gasoline engine is obsolete in heavy jobs of this kind. This is the electrical age.
Lower Weister school now proudly boasts of one of the best one-room schools in this part of the state.
Fairview school board, town of Webster, are planning on an early start on the new building, so that school may be started in it next September.
Tewalt school near West Prairie is also making such progress towards their new school house as can be made at this time of year.
Vernon County Poultry show is now on at the Opera House... Come and see what the poultry association has done and give the fowls a chance to “show off their feathers.”
Potatoes, Red River, Ohio, sacked for sale by Thayer & Mills at $1.50. Excellent table and seed stock.
William Johnson delivered a crop of tobacco Monday, which brought the neat little sum of $3,472.
On State Trunk Road No. 11, between Viroqua and Coon Valley, 80 acre farm together with livestock, feed and machinery, price $13,000, cash $2,000, the balance on time, interest at 6½ percent.