MENU100 Years Ago
Life in Viroqua from the Vernon County Censor:
OCT. 27, 1926
The patrolmen and the tar cooker have been in evidence on the pavement through Viroqua the past few days repairing the same. All concrete pavements will crack, but no damage when the cracks are properly filled with tar. Left unfilled, the cracks prove the entering wedge, especially during the thawing and freezing winter weather, and this spells ultimate ruin if tarring is neglected.
George Armstrong exhibited his car in the city Monday morning, to show the force that a passing car traveling at probably fifty miles an hour can throw a stone. He passed a car on Bashford hill... The other car threw from its tire a small rock with such force that when it hit the Armstrong windshield it pierced it as would a short gun making a small hole through the heavy plate glass, but not shattering the glass. Richland Democrat.
Two instances have occurred in the past on Viroqua’s Main street where cars traveling at moderate speed have thrown pebbles thru heavy plate glass display windows with such force as to pierce them like a rifle bullet without shattering the glass.
Readstown, October 25 – Some one broke into the Readstown creamery last Wednesday night and appropriated three tubs of butter... During the excavation for a new bridge near the L.E. Rabbitt place at Kickapoo, Art Henthorn picked up a tooth measuring 3 3/4 inches lon [sic] and 2 3/8 inches wide. It is supposed to be a tooth from a mastodon or some large prehistoric animal.
COAL
Don’t blame us if you get short of COAL this winter.
It looks now like higher prices were liable at any time and all good coals are getting scarce on account of the long coal strike abroad.
Call us while we may serve you properly with choice coal at right prices.
Viroqua Coal Co. Phone 337.
OCT. 20, 1926
A new epic in motion pictures was inaugurated in Viroqua last week when our people were privileged to witness the great film, “The Black Pirate”... The film was in natural color from start to finish, taken with the new Technicolor process. It was beautiful, and seemed more restful to the eyes than the ordinary black and white.
Highway officials throughout the state are busy marking the highways which have been designated as “Arterial” or “Through” highways. Stop signs are being placed at every intersection. It is the beginning of a movement designed to bring more protection to traffic and eliminate more accidents than possibly any one single factor in the driving game.
Lars Haugen, the noted ski rider, of St. Paul, Minnesota, was a visitor in Westby last Sunday, his mission here being to inspect the Snowflake ski scaffold and hill. Following the tournament here last winter some of the best riders registered complaints against the condition of our hill and scaffold, claiming that their general construction was not conducive to satisfactory riding results... Adolph Holte has repaired the scaffolding and fixed the hill... Hence the coming of Lars Haugen. He stated that the hill is now in first class condition, and that it is one of the nicest and best hills in the country... By adding forty feet to the present scaffold it would be possible to make jumps of 200 feet. – Westby Times.
Wouldn’t another blanker these cool nights feel quite comfortable? See our nice, bright new stock of bed blankets. All sizes and prices. Surenson & Thompson. The Farmers Store.
Readstown, October 18 – The concrete sidewalks in this village are being repaired and new sections put in wherever the walks were in bad shape.
OCT. 13, 1926
The Nottingham School District will dedicate their new school building on Wednesday evening October 20, 1926. They will hold a Novelty Social, we mean that each lady bring some comical, inexpensive article, wrapped ready for auction and lunch for two. Good speaking and singing will be provided. Coffee and lunch will be served.
Readstown, October 11 – Work on improvements on the Methodist Church commenced last Monday. The church is to be raised, a new wall built and the basement will later be fitted up for a kitchen and furnace room... David Smith was obliged to close his school last week while he was at home with the mumps.
Bath salts at 50¢. O.E. Davis’ Drug Store.
The 1926 fair was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” and the officers of the Viola Fair Association have admitted that it is next to impossible to conduct a fair and make it a paying proposition, especially when the weather is bad... The attendance was the smallest it has been for years... The receipts fell far short of paying the obligations of the fair... So the officers have to call a special meeting of the stockholders to see if they are willing to offer the grounds to the village of Viola for a park. – Viola News.
Orlo Staley and his airplane took a nose dive Saturday afternoon after a flight over the village. The accident happened at the Warnick farm three miles east of Hillsboro which Orlo has been using as a landing field. Something went wrong with one of the wings...and in landing it struck a fence and turned over landing on its nose. Orlo was only slightly injured...but the plane was put out of commission until new parts can be secured. Hillsboro Sentry.
OCT. 6, 1926
The 70th Vernon County Agricultural exhibition was certainly pulled off under difficulties, bad weather being in the saddle practically all the way... Although the attendance was but little better than half of former years, yet even this was remarkable in view of the bad weather. Thursday’s crowd was especially gratifying for such a miserable day... Why couldn’t the frost have held off until after the fair. The fine flower beds around the grounds would have been very beautiful had they been speared by the weather...
All during the fair, Viroqua’s fire truck stood near the gate. It was not on exhibition, even though it attracted its share of attention for sure, but performing double service – ready for fire call from either the grounds or the city.
The Viroqua Shoe Store, H.D. Williams & Co., has added new mahogany pedestals, trimmed in gold, to their display window which makes a wonderful improvement... It has a metropolitan air...
The Federal officers not satisfied with the results of their recent raid for booze in DeSoto, decided to try again and the first of the week swooped down on the Corner Café and made a diligent search of the premises... Nothing appearing to the optical, the sleuth appealed to the olfactory, and like the well trained bloodhound, soon caught a scent that led to a pile of rubbish where they unearthed a bottle of such excellent home brew that they decided to retain it for their own. No arrests. – De Soto Argus.
Now is the time to think about winter underwear. You can’t be healthy and be cold. Guard against sickness by using our warm underwear, for every member of the family. Surenson & Thompson. The Farmers Store.