Time Machine Trip to May 1918

May 3, 1918

We would suggest to any young man from town who contemplates entering the navy that he take a preliminary training in the form of frequent rides on the interurban between this Kaukauna and Appleton. After a few days he will be so accustomed to the tossing, pitching and rolling that life on the ocean will be easy.

The Times has received so many complaints as to the failure of the soldiers to receive their copy of the home paper that we have investigated. The three-month delay is not with the post office, but the blame is on the military red-tape.

Kaukauna’s monument to the soldiers of the Civil War has arrived in the city from Barre, Vermont. The dedication of the statue will take place on Memorial Day May 30.

Eight Kaukauna boys and twenty-two from other parts of the county marched to the north side depot Wednesday afternoon and boarded the train bound for Columbus Barracks, Ohio to become members of America’s big national army.

There is a considerable measles in town, which in the piping times of peace was termed German measles. Now however, all those suffering from measles have Liberty measles.

May 10, 1918

Kaukauna is expected to buy $79,000 worth of war saving and thrift stamps. Thus far the total purchases here amount to only $7,842.74, about one tenth of the quota for 1918.

The Kaukauna high school commencement program has been set for May 28, 1918 at the high school. The following are the candidates and the course they pursued in high school:

ENGLISH COURSE

William T. Garvey

Francis Margaret Gerend

Irene A. Golden

Ruth M. Haas

Ruth Mary Hayes

Myrtle Sophie Macrorie

Ursula Latone Mitchell

Alma Helen Nitz

Germane Edith Schude

Ione Mary Schmidt

Florence Helen Van Able

John Norbert Wandell

Allen K. Whitman

GERMAN COURSE

Alban H. Gerend

Rosetta Mae Godshall

Kenneth Leroy Schussmann

ENGLISH-COMMERCIAL COURSE

Anna Mary Henter

Dorothy Mary Heiting

Dana E. Lambie

MODERN CLASSICAL COURSE

Lozelle B. Connors

Leonard J. Jansen

Ninety-seven men will be selected to go to Camp Grant during the five-day period beginning May 25. This is the largest group thus far called from the Kaukauna district.

Birmingham, Ala., May 8 – One hundred and fifty white-robed men in Ku Klux Klan uniform, carrying an American flag and a fiery cross at the head of the procession rode through the streets of Birmingham at night warning idlers to find work to do. The riders distributed cards saying the United States is at war and that every man is needed - - except those whose attitude is hostile to the government. No able-bodied man, rich or poor, has a right to consume without producing. Take heed the eye of scrutiny is upon you and the Ku Klux Klan is pledged to the enforcement.

May 17, 1918

The work of beautifying the grounds adjacent to the county Training School is so far advanced toward completion. The ground has been graded and the slope of the hillside terraced so that the handsome school building will have an appropriate setting. The rubbish, tin cans, ashes, worn-out stoves etc., which made the street leading to the river anything but a place of beauty.

The Kaukauna band is feeling the result of war and the draft. The leading cornetist is leaving within five days. The bass horn is about to enlist. The trombone has left for the navy. Director, A. R. Mill, is looking for new members to take their places.

One man was killed and three were injured along with a loss of $8,000 when the halls of St. Nicholas church in Freedom, which is under construction, collapsed Thursday afternoon. Michael Rath, of Two Rivers, a bricklayer lost his life. The steel truss work had fallen, demolishing the walls.

May 24, 1918

Mr. J. H. Chamberlain holds the record for continuous service in office in G.A.R. having been elected commander in 1918 for the twentieth continuous time of the Paul H. Beaulieu Post. He enlisted in the Sioux war in 1862 while in Minnesota and was a witness to the cruelties by the Sioux upon the white settlers.

When Mrs. Ella Brewster said goodbye to her son Ethan, she sent the fourth of her five children into the nation’s service. The Misses Rena and Dolly Brewster are now on their way to France as Red Cross nurses. Lester Brewster is in the army in Texas and now his brother Ethan goes into the army’s mechanic service.

Here’s some good news for the old boys of “61 who are needing a better pension than they are now getting. The new pension bill provides for an average raise of $10.00 per month to each old soldier now living.

May 31, 1918

The present war will teach and demonstrate that the American republic means something and those who come into this country to accept of its blessings must lay aside all affiliations across the seas and become thoroughly Americanized.

“In donating this memorial we have endeavored to show how this beautiful monument which we are receiving today will perpetuate the memory of the soldiers of the Civil war as well as the memory in years to come of the soldiery of today."
Dr. O. G. Lord

While all eyes were directed toward the monument Miss Grace Raught, daughter of mayor C. E. Raught, released the wrappings which had veiled the statue of the volunteer soldier of the Civil War.