Time Machine Trip to July 1896

Kaukauna Times

By Lyle Hansen KAHS

July 3, 1896

The streetcar line between Green Bay and DePere, a distance of 6 miles, has been completed and will be in operation by the fourth of July. It will be operated by the Green Bay and DePere Street Railway Company. 

Giant firecrackers this year are 14 inches long and contain enough power to break a plate glass window when exploding on the curb. Small boys will not only have to look out for their fingers on the fourth, but parents will have to look out for flying boys.

A cut to eight hours per day was made at the Northwestern Company’s shop here on Wednesday morning, July 1. The men will start at 7:30 and quit at 4:30.

The post office Department in Washington announced last Tuesday the changes in salary of Wisconsin postmasters for the ensuing fiscal year based on the receipts of their respective offices. The salary of postmaster D. J. Brothers of the North Side has been raised from $1300 to $1400.

Hartford Conn., July 1 - Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe died at noon today. Members of her family were at her bedside. Only eight days ago she celebrated the 84th anniversary of her birth. Her marvelous genius reached its height in the production of “Uncle Tom's Cabin”.

 

The Kaukauna Carriage Works has reopened under the management of Messrs. Kircher and Asa.  A new, novel building has been completed at the foot of Dodge Street. Half a dozen ordered vehicles are currently under construction.

July 10, 1896

The express office at Kimberly was broken into in an early morning hour Monday and robbed of $120 worth of clothing by some Chicago firm. The depot was also set on fire but saved from destruction with a small loss. No clue as to the thieves.

The latest invention is one for cooling the atmosphere. The process consists of exploding bombs on the towers in the air by means of an electric wire. These explosions are calculated to produce air currents that will cool the surrounding atmosphere.

The Fourth of July celebrations claimed two lives in the area last week. Richard Gilbert of Wrightstown was killed when a piece of metal from an explosive device struck him in the head. William Gregory of Seymour died of injuries when he was shot in the forehead by a small cannon. I.B. Johnson lost two fingers when he attempted to push a small boy out of the way of a large firecracker.

July 17, 1896

A total of 34 saloon licenses have been granted this far for the coming year. Two brewery licenses and two druggists’ permits have also been taken out thus far.

A south side girl wrote and sent the usual $.25 to find out how to whiten the hands and she got the answer in a few days, “soak them in dishwater”. It tickles her mother almost to death.

July 24, 1896

Dubbed by Britons as "the latest novelty in velocipedes," the epicycle follows a wave of patent unicycles. It consists of an immense outer wheel spoked to an inner rim. Inside, a V-shaped contrivance is rigged with wheels at its ends and apex, with the larger bottom wheel featuring pedal attachments.

Miss Edna Booker, a schoolteacher in Midland, became a western heroine after an incident at her schoolhouse. A pupil’s pet antelope, which regularly followed the child to school, was suddenly seized at the door by a large mountain lion.  While her terrified students huddled in a corner, Miss Booker retrieved an empty shotgun from the wall. She bravely walked past the growling lion to get ammunition from her desk and load the weapon. As the lion sprang toward the children, she took aim and pulled the trigger the blast blew the lion's head nearly to pieces.

Brit Murphy, of this city, made a flying trip to Kaukauna this afternoon just as an experiment. He left the Sherman house at exactly 1:30 by post reporter’s watch and at one 1:51 ½ called the reporter by telephone from the hotel brothers in Kaukauna. That shows a record of 21 1/2 minutes for the distance which is 8 miles. This is the fastest time yet made between the two points. Mr. Murphy is a speedy road runner and recently won a 10-mile road race at Duluth in 26 minutes. 

On Wednesday three "bums" got off a late freight and were immediately taken in tow by Officer Mankosky.  They became unruly while being taken to the station and one started to run away. When Mankosky started in pursuit another pulled a revolver and shot at Mankosky, striking the club he held in his hand. In the excitement, all three escaped. But let vagrants beware in the future Officer Mankosky has donned war paint for this class of vagabonds.

July 31, 1896

Professor Falb of Vienna, a respected scientist widely known for his expertise in meteorology and earthquakes, predicted the destruction of the planet on November 13, 1899.

The Twelfth annual fair of the Seymour Fair and Driving Park will be held Sept 10-12.

A Green Bay woman thinks that while Kaukauna and Green Bay were at a curfew ordinance should have included husbands, compelling them to be in after a certain hour.

KAUKAUNAS VS. MANITOWOCS Despite heavy Sunday morning rains, the weather cleared around 2 o'clock, allowing the scheduled baseball game to proceed at 3 o'clock. Over 300 spectators turned out to watch the match despite the threatening skies, though a clear day likely would have maxed out the grounds' capacity at 1,200. The Kaukauna team their confident adversaries, securing an 8 to 4 victory for the home team.

Kaukauna baseball team 1896. Left to right standing, William Augustine, Emil Heidman, Harry Frambach, Jack Godersky and George “Stormy” Kromer. Seated left to right Joseph Dietzler, Fred Ott, W. C. Sullivan, secretary, Julius Martens, manager, Fred Mill, scorer, Charles Phillips. In front are George “Jinks” Phillips, and John Rassman.