Sunday, January 7, 2024

Time Machine Trip to January 1904

 

Kaukauna Times & Kaukauna Sun – January 1904

By Lyle Hansen

 

January 1, 1904

Word has been received today from Chicago of a terrible holocaust yesterday afternoon at the Iroquois Theater where more than 800 people died as fire swept the structure. The fire started on the stage when an electric light broke and minutes later, an explosion shook the structure.

 

Nineteen lives were lost on the football field during the season of 1903. Thirteen players were severely hurt, some being disabled for life. The number of minor but painful injuries goes into the hundreds.

 

The postoffice department’s interest in a matter of good roads travelled by rural mail carriers has been made. An order just received that the post office states that all carriers will hereby be required to report each day or the route they are unable to cover owing to the impassable condition of the roads. And whether or not the patrons did all they could do to keep the roads open. Rural carriers will not be expected to break snow roads.

 

The season of 1904 was formerly opened at the Kaukauna Ice Rink last Saturday evening and large crowds were now enjoying the winter sport.

 

January 8, 1904

The decorations being made at St. Mary's church have but fairly begun. The stage is not yet completed. It is an immense affair and takes over 30,000 feet of lumber and has to be built about fifty feet high. The work of decorations is about ready to be commenced which it will take five or six workmen six months to complete.

 

The man who tells his friends about his resolutions will probably regret it in a week or two, when they begin to give him the ha ha because he can't keep them. 

 

 

January 15, 1904

The cold storage warehouse of the Fred Miller Brewing company on the island was badly damaged by fire Wednesday, the roof being burned off and the balance of the building burned so that most of it will have to be torn down. There were 34 barrels of beer stored in the warehouse at the time, but this was not damaged.


 

Antone H. Hietpas crawled into a shaving converter at the Combined Locks mill last Thursday morning to clean it. An employee, seeing the machine at a standstill, started it up. Hietpas was carried through the entire conveyor, then violently thrown against a wall at the dump. He sustained a broken ankle but otherwise he miraculously escaped injury.

 

January 22, 1904

Red Cloud, the once recognized chief of numerous Indian Tribes, is nearing death in a teepee near the little wooden house which the government built for him many years, ago, at the Pine Ridge Agency in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He led hundreds of braves on the war path throughout his 83 years of life which resulted in the death of hundreds of people.

 

George L. Filbin has assumed the management of the Princess bowling alleys on Third Street and will commence the same the balance of the season. Mr. Filbin is an excellent bowler and instructor and has scored many high games of 250 or more.

 

January 29, 1904

A fire broke out about 2:30 Sunday morning totally destroying the blacksmith shop of Herman Knitter at the lower end of Wisconsin Avenue, the wagon shop of Herman Pauli adjoining was badly damaged.

 

The Mill and Nugent Orchestra are quite busy this week. They will be playing for three evenings at three different locations.


 

One of the flues in the boiler at Kaukauna Fiber Companies mill burst Tuesday afternoon. Albert Dreger and Frank Snyder were scolded by the steam. Both men were standing in the boiler room. The men were removed to their homes where they will be confined for about a week to recover.


 

Landlord Whitman of Hotel Brothers informs us that he burned one ton of hard coal in 16 hours on Monday of this week. Or in other words, a cost of a $10 bill to keep his hotel in a comfortable condition for one day as the temperature remained at 30 below.



 

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