USA > Wisconsin > Marathon County > History of Marathon County, Wisconsin and representative citizens > Part 45
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Northwestern railroad bridge with such force as to knock out big chunks of the stone in the pier, and had there been as many logs as were in the boom in former times, and all coming down, it is very probable that the stone pier would have been knocked out, too, letting the bridge down. Logs knocking against Strollers' bridge knocked it off the piers and carried the steel bridge down a quarter of a mile, leaving it stranded on the island below west of the property of Judge Henry Miller. The pumping station was overflowed at two o'clock A. M., the fires put out, and the power house of the street railway put under water, and electric lighting interrupted, until a current was received from the Mosinee plant, on the evening of the 24th.
Scholfield also suffered by the flood, the Eau Claire river rising to a great height, and by breaking of the dam of Kelly Manser's mill, increasing the flood, destroying the bridge, washing out the road and doing damage. " In the country most wagon bridges throughout the east side of the county were washed away, and some in the towns of Main and Berlin, though the rain was not near so heavy as on the east side of the river. The damage was great, the street railway company, the city, Barker & Stewart, the Roth- schild Paper Company, and the Wausau Paper Mill Company at Brokaw being the heaviest losers. Part of the west bank of the river at Rothschild was blown away by dynamite to allow the water to flow off, which gap had to be filled by the lengthening of the dam, but the dam itself was not damaged.
How fast the flood came is shown by the fact that the horses which Mr. Healy had in his barn at the foot of Franklin street and near the river were only with difficulty saved from drowning in the barns, and one did drown. Other horses in barns along the east shore above the guard lock were saved with difficulty. On the day after the flood, a farmer, Ernst Kell. came to the city with milk as usual and attempted to cross the bridge at Stiensfield creek which was yet covered by water. He supposed he knew the bridge, but missed it a little, and his wagon tumbled off the bridge, and he drowned being unable to get out of the wagon. His son who was with him got out and saved himself by swimming.
The loss was indeed very large, going into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but with Wausau grit and perseverance it was repaired and only traces of it can now be seen. Two other floods came after the July flood, not reaching the same height, but hindering the repair of the damage done.
The old guard lock has been replaced, the new one being made of con- crete with large gates, which will permit the opening of them and with the opening of more gates at the guard lock in time before a flood comes down, permitting the flowage of a large amount of water through the mill pond, the
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height of the water above can be lowered. No such amount of rain fall had ever before been experienced in the past, and it may never come again, but it may come again as quick as this last one. Cautionary measures are being taken by the federal authorities, and the men interested in water powers to guard any future surprise in that respect.
Beside the loss in bridges, washed-out roads, broken dams, and broken water mains, there was a loss in the floating off of saw logs, timber for paper mills, and the stoppage of work during the time it took to make repairs. The waterworks of the city of Wausau were out of commission for nearly two days, but the population suffered no appreciable harm, except the annoy- ance of getting water from a distance instead of having it at home.
The county board held a session soon after the flood had subsided and appropriated the sum of a little over $25,000 for repairs of bridges and washed-out roads, which was one-half of the estimated amount of the costs, the other half being borne by the towns and villages, but no part thereof being for repairs in the city of Wausau, which loss the city alone must bear.
A GRAND CELEBRATION.
THE GERMAN BI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION, 1883.
(From the Wausau, Wis., Review, of September 9, 1883.)
"Last Saturday was a gala day for Wausau and although it was known for two weeks that our German fellow citizens would commemorate the day, on which, 200 years ago, the first German settlement was founded at Germantown, near Philadelphia, hardly any one dreamed that the celebra- tion would turn out so grand an affair as it proved. Little was known and heard of it before, except that at a meeting held for the purpose, a committee of arrangements was appointed and given carte blanche to do as they best saw fit. The committee then went to work in an unostentatious manner, and nothing more was said or heard outside of German circles, except the notices which appeared in the city journals, from time to time, showing that something was to be done. Finally a programme was published (a modest looking affair), simply stating in a few dry words that a procession would be formed at the courthouse at one o'clock, and that the three largest halls were secured for evening entertainments and that the admittance would be free to all of the halls.
"Now if we had a right at all to find fault with the committee, we would blame them for not better preparing the people for the rare treat which they
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had in store for them; but if the committee wanted to surprise the citizens, we say that in that respect, it succeeded most admirably.
"It is the unanimous voice that the street procession was the grandest ever witnessed at Wausau and would have done honor to a place ten times the population of our place.
"As it was, it proved a sublime affair and the day will long live green in the memories not only of our German fellow citizens, but of the people of other tongues, and native-born Americans as well, who were only sorry that they were quasi, only guests, and unable to more assist our German fellows, except by their presence and taking part in the general amusements.
"We will now undertake to give a description of the street parade which was the chief feature of the celebration.
ORDER OF PARADE.
"Ist. Veteran (Capt. H. Young) carrying the Stars and Stripes, and accompanied by two lancers in the costume of the sixteenth century.
"2d. A squad of twelve knights in full armour on horseback (C. Ziebell, leader ).
"3d. A squad of lancers on foot led by 'Frundsberg' (Dr. Rehm).
"4th. Schubert's Band.
"5th. Speakers' carriage, with Hon. J. Ringle, president, and Rev. F. Kern and Mr. B. J. Pink, orators of the day.
"6th. Germania Guard-Capt. C. H. Mueller commanding.
"7th. Float drawn by horses-tableau-Arminius (H. Schwanke) lead- ing the Teutons against Rome, followed by Lodge of Sons of Herman.
"8th. Turn Verein, led by Father 'Jahn.'
"gth. Float drawn by horses-twenty-four burghers in costume of six- teenth century, followed by German Sick Relief Society. (D G. K. U. V.)
"rotlı. Geier's Band.
"11th. Twenty-four Indians on horseback, followed by (German Society ) D. A. U. V.
"12th. Float drawn by horses-a batteau rigged up as Santa Maria : Columbus (E. C. Zimmermann) on his voyage discovering America.
"13th. Float drawn by horses-Columbia (Miss Libby Gritzmacher) and Indian girls of different tribes.
"14th. Float-tableau, drawn by horses; Pocahontas (Miss E. Kick- busch ) and twelve Indian maidens.
"15th. Float-tableau, The United States surmounted by Goddess of
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Liberty (Miss Mathilda Kickbusch) and thirty-eight girls representing the states.
"16th. Float drawn by horses-tableau, Germania (Miss M. Crochier) and German burghesses in costume of sixteenth century.
"17th. Float drawn by horses-tableau, Preciosa and Daughter of the Regiment, and four peasant girls in German costume.
"18th. Float-German patricians in costume of the sixteenth century.
"Then followed a long line of industrial wagons fitted up by the German business houses, each one was heartily cheered as it passed through the throng.
"Wagons representing Industry, etc .: J. Jaworth, blacksmith wagon with forge and wagon making utensils; Brick making, Garske & Goebel; Pump Works, H. Gerbsch; Shoemaking. C. Wiskow and P. Meyer; Tailoring, C. Woesner; Display of flour in sacks; Ancient wagon with German settlers ; Symbolic wagon; Upholstery Display, William Bauch; old style mode of extinguishing fires; steam fire engine and hose cart; bears recently killed suspended in wagon representing game of 1683 and 1883; Bing's clothing emporium display ; Heinemann Bros.' carpet display; cigar makers' union; J. & A. Stewart & Co.'s shingle packing; John Schneider (float) as master of the guild in costume of fifteenth century, shoeing a horse.
"The marshal of the day, Mr. J. C. Gebhard, ably supported by Messrs. J. Williams and P. A. Werich, led this colossal procession safely through the crowded streets over to the West Side, and from there out to Schubert's Park, and to his excellent management perhaps is due the fact that no accident of any serious nature took place and that the procession moved on without any delays.
"At Schubert's Park, Hon. John Ringle, after well directed remarks of the object of the celebration, introduced the speakers, Reverend Kern, Messrs. Pink and Mueller, who made each a short but telling speech, all being enthusi- astically applauded; then the official part of the celebration was declared closed by the president.
"During the afternoon, Schubert's Park was visited by thousands of merry people, and neither during the day nor at night, while the dance was in progress, was there any disturbance, but the whole festival passed off as smoothly and pleasantly as could be desired.
"In the evening there was an entertainment at Music Hall, consisting of songs and tableaux and general amusements, and short but sweet addresses in German (we know of what we speak, for we understand the language) by Messrs. H. J. Lohmar, A. Mehl, E. Schultz, Louis Schlecht, and L. Mar- chetti. Mr. M. H. Barnum was called and responded with a short, well deliv-
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ered address, and then the people started homewards or to the other halls, having spent a most pleasant evening. The tableaux, we are informed by those that know, were intended to be more in number and more carefully arranged, but the costumes not arriving before Friday night, made it impos- sible to do better, as the arrangement had to be carried out in haste and without previous trial. But we can assure the gentlemen who had the matter in charge that they ought not to give themselves any uneasiness at all on that account. These pictures could not have been better had they been studied for a whole week, and every one was finely executed and heartily cheered.
"The other two halls were also crowded to their utmost capacity, and many buildings were handsomely illuminated, chief among which were those of Capt. C. H. Mueller and George Ruder's brewery.
"Among the humoristical points in the affair, we mention the capsizing of Columbus' vessel on the corner of Third and Washington streets, at the beginning of the procession almost, and as we expressed a fear that 'Santa Maria' would be shipwrecked, a member of the committee, whose initials are L. M., assuredly but confidently and under the seal of secrecy, told us that that was a part of the programme and represented the damage done to the original at the Canary Islands. Although not a skeptic, we took this statement under much distrust, but judging from the alacrity with which the damage was repaired and the vessel afloat again, we were half way convinced and do not know which most to admire, the daring of the committee to order the undertaking, or the skill and science with which the plan was carried out by Hugh Alexander.
"Another point was made by George Ruder, whose wagon with King Gambrinus (M. Eichert) in kingly garb, carried his brewery in miniature, showing six strong developed brewers malting, and the manufacture of lager beer according to the old German fashion from nothing but barley and hops, while on the rear end he carried a 'Milwaukee brewery,' having a number of glass jars and a chemist in the costume of Mephisto, under whose direction was made beer, ready for sale, in less than no time, and by the aid of drugs, changed clear well water to Milwaukee beer, which was offered freely to the by-standers, but was not in great demand.
"It would take more space than we can spare to describe each particular business represented in the procession. It is enough to say that each one was superb and everything perfect, nothing could have been improved. We cannot close without making a special reference to the Indian girls in the parade. They were the neatest, prettiest, cosiest Indian girls ye editor ever, ever saw, and he will wager his whole printing office against a nickel that
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they can stand a comparison with the best looking white girls of the whole Northwest.
"The weather was favorable for the exercises, but it looked bad on the previous night, which retarded the preparations and made the partakers 'hustle' the more in the morning when it looked yet dubious, but it changed for the better just about two hours before the time set for the street parade.
"We do not know whom especially to credit with the arrangement of the whole affair, but we congratulate our German fellow citizens for having instituted and successfully carried out a festival the like never before had been seen in Wausau."
A STORMY SESSION OF THE COUNTY BOARD
occurred in the spring of 1885, which had its ludicrous side nevertheless. In the session of the Legislature of that year, the perennial bill to divide the county was up for action again, and the county board, or the chairman acting in behalf of the whole board, had appointed a committee to lobby against the passage, because there was a lobby from the territory proposed to be taken from Marathon county, at Madison to lobby for the measure. When the county board met in the spring of 1885 after the adjournment of the legis- lative session, a motion was made to pay the chairman of the board the sum of $114.60 for railroad and hotel expenses of the lobby which opposed the project. The claim was just for actual expenses of the committee, making no allowance for their time at all.
This motion was bitterly opposed by the members from the towns which desired to be set off into the new county. When the opponents saw that they were not strong enough to prevent its passage, they amended the motion "to pay to the towns of Spencer, Brighton and Hull the sum of $40.00 to reimburse these towns for their expenses in lobbying for the bill." That amendment increased the turmoil. In the heat of debate some member drew a parallel between this claim and the rebel debt so-called, using the words "rebels" and "secessionists," which brought on the storm. Half a dozen members or more were up at the same time, protesting, holloring, calling others to order, and for a time it looked as if a personal encounter would take place. In the midst of this tumult, while the chairman, Mr. S. Kronen- wetter, was pounding the table furiously to no effect, the member from Texas, John T. Callon, rose up, crying at the top of his somewhat squeaky voice, "Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, what are you knocking this table for? Knock them (pointing to the excited members) on the head, knock them on the
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head." This pertinent remark, more than the gavel of the chairman, brought order again, and the motion was passed without the amendment, and if the dove of peace did not spread her wings over the assemblage, order was at least restored.
SHERIFFS' ADVENTURES.
A few incidents in the life of two of the sheriffs of Marathon county are worth mentioning, as showing the value of discreet and fearless men in that office. In mentioning only two instances, it is not to be supposed that other men in the position of the two gentlemen to be mentioned might not have done similar good work, but the occasion for good service was presented to the. men to be mentioned, and when the occasion presented itself, it found proper men in the office to deal with it and to apprehend desperate men, who otherwise might have escaped.
On the 10th day of March, 1899, four yeggmen robbed the Amherst Bank. On the morning following the robbery, Sheriff Malone was tele- graphed to by a conductor of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad that two men who might be the robbers were on his train, but when the train had pulled into the depot it was found that the suspects had left the train at the junction, and this fact with other suspicious circumstances which he learned from the conductor, strengthened the sheriff's suspicion that the conductor was right, and the men would turn out to be the ones wanted for the bank robbery.
He looked carefully into the places where men of that description would try to stop, and coming to the Adams House saw two suspicious looking strangers in the bar room who somewhat nervously and hurriedly looked over a morning paper. Acting so as not to attract their suspicion, he stepped closely up to them and placed them under arrest, when the men made a move to reach for their pockets, but were immediately stopped by the command "hands up," reinforced by the pistol in the sheriff's hands. The men were easily made prisoners by the other men in the room, while the sheriff kept them covered with his revolver. When searched in the sheriff's office, they had over $3,000 on their persons, together with a kit of burglar's tools, and a pint of nitro-glycerin. Knowing then he had two of the right men, he made search for the other two. The news of the arrest spread like lightning over the city, and the sheriff kept the telephone wires warm with his inquiries for other suspicious characters, and was informed that two men, strangers, were seen going south on the railroad track towards Scholfield. Losing no time, he with his deputies hastened down, and near the railroad bridge saw
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two men going down in one of the ravines, evidently trying to evade a meet- ing. The sheriff then told his men to circle around the ground, driving the men to the Eau Claire river, and when they did so, the suspects fired on the sheriff's men who returned the fire, when the suspects fled trying to gain the woods, which they did and for a while kept under cover. But there was snow on the ground and the men could be traced. The sheriff then tele- phoned to Wausau for more men to head the men off in every direction which was done when the additional posse from Wausau arrived. He then placed the men so that the two suspects could not come out of the woods without being seen, and he, with his deputy, followed the tracks in the snow made by the men. They had tried to get out on the road which runs along the track of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway east of the place where they were first seen, but saw the road guarded and the sheriff coming up towards them and that they could not get away. Their attempt to hide or get away through the woods was frustrated by the snow on the ground, and they gave themselves up to the watchers on the road, after seeing that a battle was useless because there were too many men on their track who could or would shoot, too.
When the sheriff first tracked them through the ravine there was fast firing for a while, one of the flying missiles barely missing the under sheriff, Mr. Jerry Bradley, but the sheriff and his men kept close up to their quarry, so that they could not get away, and when the posse from Wausau arrived, there was nothing left for them but unconditional surrender. They were taken to Portage county, and being caught "with the goods on," in police parlance, they plead guilty and were sentenced to five years' confinement at Waupun. They were four of the most desperate, daring bank robbers, and William A. Pinkerton, the head of the Pinkerton detective firm, wrote Sheriff Malone a personal letter, congratulating him on the capture of the men.
Five years ago last June the most fiendish crime known to the criminal law was committed in Marathon county. A horrible murder was perpetrated upon a young girl, just blossoming into womanhood. with no trace left as to its perpetrators. The victim was on her way home on Sunday from church in Stratford, where she had been to communion, and the murder was com- mitted upon the public highway not far from her parents' place.
Late in the afternoon a farmer by the name of Rudolph Fuhlweiler, com- ing along the highway from his place, towards Stratford, found the dead body on the road and gave the alarm to the nearest neighbors. He then hastened to Stratford, from where notice reached the county authorities at about nine o'clock in the evening. The district attorney, sheriff and coroner
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took the next-the two o'clock morning-train to Stratford, and while they were there busying themselves to get a jury for the inquest and making inquiry, Sheriff Frank O'Connor, without stopping at Stratford, went at once to where lay the dead body, guarded by four neighbors. After arriving there he made some inquiries as to who gave the first alarm of the deed and was told it was Fuhlweiler, who had said that he was out for some shooting and towards evening he stumbled upon the body. When day had come an inquest was held, and at the request of the district attorney the people went into the woods to see if traces or foot tracks could be seen, and the sheriff, acquiescing in the order, although not looking for results from the nature of the ground and the rain which had fallen during the night, went also in the woods, keeping close company with Fuhlweiler, closely watching him without attracting his attention, however, when his suspicions were aroused by the curious manner of answering the innocent looking questions addressed by the sheriff to him and by his whole conduct.
During the night and before the officers had arrived at Stratford, two tramps had been arrested by the excited neighbors as the supposed criminals and before the tramps were taken to the county jail by the sheriff, Fuhlweiler had hinted that they must have met the victim, which they stoutly denied.
On Monday afternoon, Sheriff Frank O'Connor, who took the tramps to the county jail, soon satisfied himself that they were innocent, although they were still held. He took the night train again to Stratford. Previous to leaving the tramps he had made arrangements with a trusted confidential friend to get Fuhlweiler away from home, so that he would not be home when the sheriff would be at his place the next day, as contemplated, which arrangement his friend had carried out, and hustling from the jail right to Fuhlweiler's house and making Fuhlweiler's wife believe he was looking for evidence against the two tramps, he learned from her that Fuhlweiler had been away from home on Sunday all the afternoon until about 6 P. M. Hav- ing learned this he was not slow in hunting up Fuhlweiler, whom he found. and pretending to collect evidence against the two tramps, without letting him know that he had already interviewed Mrs. Fuhlweiler, the sheriff was told that he (Fuhlweiler) spent the whole afternoon at home. This false state- ment, together with the suspicious conduct of the previous day in the woods, satisfied the sheriff that he was on the track of the criminal. In the mouth of the victim was found a piece of cotton cloth with which the fiend had attempted to stop her outcries, on the piece of cloth were traces of salt, indicating that salt was carried in the cloth before it was used for its last purpose. On searching the woods all by himself, the sheriff found a deer
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lick so curiously located as to give an unobstructed view to the road from Stratford, looking through the woods, so that a person coming from there was in plain view for some distance to a person looking from the lick, and the sheriff calculated that in all probability Fuhlweiler, knowing of the girl's usual attendance at church, had been lying there in wait for his intended victim. The curious location of the salt lick, the known habit of Fuhlweiler of hunting and fishing, the cloth bearing evidence of salt, his false statement as to his whereabouts on Sunday afternoon when the crime was committed, strengthened the sheriff's suspicions, and having laid his facts before the district attorney the arrest of Fuhlweiler was determined upon, and on Wednesday following the crime he was taken into custody. Meanwhile the sheriff having ascertained that Fuhlweiler had changed his clothing since Sunday, he immediately after placing him in jail went back to Stratford, went to the prisoner's house, arriving there in the early morning, and searched the house. There hidden in the bed he found the prisoner's under clothes which he had worn Sunday, with blood on them, in the attic he found a bow net tied up with a rope exactly like the piece with which the unfortunate girl's hands were tied.
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