MENU100 Years Ago
Life in Viroqua from the Vernon County Censor:
SEPT. 9, 1925
The severe drought of the past few weeks came to a blessed close on Saturday with copious showers and a general drizzle that soaked up the turf in wonderful style. It has been several years since this section has seen so much water fall as during Saturday night and of course some damage to roads and low-lying crops resulted, but the beneficent showers were a veritable godsend to pastures and late tobacco, and even late corn.
107th ENGINEER NOTES
The National Rifle match is now in progress at Camp Perry Ohio, and we are fortunate in having a representative at the camp in First Sgt. S. Jackson. Stanley is one of twelve best rifle experts in the National Guard of the State and is now in competition with the best that the regular Army, Navy, Marine Cops and National Guard Units of various states, or Canada, can muster. He received his training at the local armory and at Camp Douglas which shows that it is not impossible for anyone to become an expert even with limited opportunity.
Victory – Last Saturday’s rain surely caused quite a delay in traffic on the road between Heck Point and the Alvin Powell home. During the day there were more than a dozen cars stalled, four or five at a time. It was not so bad during the day as each was glad to help the other out. Several cars slipped over the bank, and the large bus running between La Crosse and Prairie du Chien tipped over. One car was completely demolished. It is reported that a truck driver hearing of the trouble went up to make a fortune, and some paid as high as $25 to be pulled out... The town of Genoa should see the necessity of fixing the old railroad track into a good road between Heck Point and the Ron Koskee farm.
SEPT. 2, 1925
Ordinarily, a bank robbery is considerably a catastrophe or tragedy or both, but the attempted robbery of the Stoddard in the early hours of Saturday morning had much of the element of mirth in it. At least it was a huge joke on the yegge. They tackled a safe in the lobby of the bank, using enough nitroglycerine so that the safe was demolished and two plate glass windows in the bank were blown out. The joke was that the safe had not been used for years, contained not a single penny, and the door was unlocked. The real bank safe was contained in the vault, and the Stoddard bank vault is protected by a very modern burglar alarm system which the burglars apparently feared to tackle.
Before the attempted bank robbery, the till at the Burlington depot was riffled and a couple of dollars obtained. Some tools were also stolen from the Burlington tool house.
Lem Stevling has traded his farm near Westby for Chris Sather’s building just south of the Censor office. Mr. Sather will continue to run his meat market as in the past and Lem is occupying the front part of the room with a nice stock of groceries.
Viroqua will have a hospital for the cure of all kinds of Band Instruments on Friday and Saturday of this week. Expert operations on clarinets, saxophones and all similar musical instruments. Leave your troubles at Brown Music Store.
Readstown, Aug. 31 – Quite a number from this vicinity attended the Viola fair last week...
Ferryville, August 31 – School opened in the village Monday and we will now hear the dancing and prancing of school children again although it is rather early.