USA > Wisconsin > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Wisconsin, past and present : including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county [microform] > Part 17
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
rifle contests would be held upon this ground instead of at Camp Perry. Ohio, where these contests had been held for several Years.
And the reasons for asking for these appropriations were sub- mitted to congress by the Secretary of War and originally made to the secretary by J. B. Aleshire, quartermaster general of the United States army, and in a part of his recommendation with regard to military posts, has found the following, which is an extract from the same: "Target range, Sparta, Wisconsin : For the construction and equipment of a target range for the field firing of the artillery, cavalry and infantry branches of the United States army and for machine guns, including the con- struction of a concrete store house, portable railroad and im- provements on camp sites for water and sanitation on land authorized to be acquired near Sparta, Monroe county, Wis., as a site for target range, and for all other absolutely necessary ex- penses in connection herewith. to be immediately available, $40.000." (Note-The foregoing estimate is submitted in view of a report made thereon by Col. R. K. Evans, Twenty-eighth infantry, United States army, which reads in part as follows :)
"Advisability of establishing a range for field-firing on the Sparta reservation for the three arms-artillery, cavalry and in- fantry-and machine guns: This reservation, on account of its size, 14,000 acres, and the character of the terrain, offers excel- lent facilities for field firing, in which the fire of artillery and small arms can be worked in combination against moving and disappearing targets at unknown ranges. This kind of field firing is the most advanced stage in the training of modern armies for battle. So far we have not fully equipped a single range for this kind of work, while the other great powers have been busy in this direction for years. Our Small Arms Firing Manual, 1909. contemplates this kind of practice, but there is only one range in the United States where it is at all practicable to put it into execution oven for rifle and machine gun fire, viz., the one near Monterey, California, used by the School of Musketry. More- over, as this range is not owned by the government it is not advisable to spend anything on permanent or extensive improve- ments or appliances.
"If we are to keep abreast of the standard of progress set by other nations we should equip and use other field ranges as soon as possible. The Sparta range has a decided advantage over the one in California in that it is accessible to a much larger popula- tion. It might be valuable for the troops in the Department of
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the Lakes and Dakotas, and for the militia of four or five popu- lous states. In view of the fact that the most important feature of the practical training of modern troops for battle consists in practicing the combined and supporting fire of infantry and artillery directed against a common objective, it is recommended that an ordinary, standard known-distance target range be estab- lished on the Sparta reservation, and also that the necessary appliances be provided for firing at moving and disappearing targets, the most important of the moving and disappearing targets to be arranged to run on light movable railway tracks.
"Light portable railroads are now a recognized part of the necessary transportation equipment of modern armies for war. The leading military powers kept more or less material of this kind in store for war purposes. The Japanese used such roads extensively in Manchuria. Kuroki's march from the Yalu to Mukden would not have been practicable without the DeCauville railroad. We read and talk much about the use and value of DeCauville roads in war, but none of our officers have seen one in operation in our territory or know its practical uses and lim- itations from actual experience.
"It is believed that this range offers an excellent opportunity for acquiring necessary experience in deciding on a type for such railroads, which up to this time is not definitely decided. Should an emergency arise requiring the use of such roads the material on hand at the Sparta range could be immediately shipped to the point required. In order not to lose a year it is necessary that some funds be made available for commencing im- provements on this reservation before the adjournment of the present congress. It is believed that at least $40,000 should be appropriated for this purpose. With this sum it is estimated that known-distance range could be equipped with 100 targets, $12,000; a storehouse of concrete built, $8,000; and the remainder spent on the portable railroad and on improvements on the camp sites for water and sanitation generally.
"The construction and equipment of this range was under consideration by the department prior to the submission of the regular annual estimate for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1911. but the necessary data for the preparation of this estimate was not at hand in time to permit of its inelusion in the regular esti- mates. The submission of this supplemental estimate is deemed imperatively necessary in order that funds may be provided for the commencement of this work at the earliest possible date." The foregoing extract from the report of the quartermaster gen-
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eral of the army outlines the course which is to be pursued in the future in the development of all arms of the service in the army with the exception of the coast artillery; and insures the extensive use to which this big reservation will be put in the future, and that for the field work of an army corps.
On May 3, 1910. the War Department issued order No. 79. providing for the military work on the range for the summer. including maneuvers on an extended scale. Early in June Bat- tery F' from Fort Sheridan. Battery E from Fort Snelling. and Battery D from Fort Leavenworth arrived at the reservation in advance of other troops and engaged in long-distance firing until the beginning of maneuver field instructions of state troops dur- ing August. These batteries are all a part of the Fifth Field Artillery, and in addition to them the headquarters field staff and band of the Medical Battalion was also ordered into camp.
Under order 79. above referred to, the following troops were designated to attend the maneuvers, and arrived about the 1st of August. to-wit: Three troops of the Fourth Cavalry From Fort Snelling; three troops of the Fifteenth Cavalry from Fort Sheridan: headquarters and one battery Fifth Artillery from Fort Sheridan; one battery Fifth Artillery from Fort Sheridan : one battery Fifth Artillery from Fort Leavenworth : headquar- ters and eleven companies of the Twenty-seventh Infantry from Fort Sheridan: headquarters and eleven companies of the Twenty-eighth Infantry from Fort Snelling: one-half of Com- pany A. of the Hospital Corps, from Fort Russell. Wyoming.
This order required that all infantry troops must march at least 200 miles in reaching the city of Sparta or returning to their station, while the cavalry and the artillery were required to march 250 miles. In addition to the above troops from the regu- lar army there were ordered to the reservation for artillery prac- tice National Guard batteries from different states as follows : Ohio seven batteries. Indiana three batteries, Michigan one bat- tery. Illinois three batteries, lowa one battery. Minnesota one battery. Wisconsin one: all of light artillery. None of these organizations brought their own equipments, but for the purposes of instruction they were required to handle the regular army equipments of the batteries above designated. This order also provided that to participate in maneuvers several regiments of infantry were ordered to the reservation and arrived at different times during the month of August: Wisconsin sent the First Regiment and the Tenth Battalion, making sixteen companies : Towa one brigade and three regiments. Minnesota one regiment.
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North Dakota twelve companies. South Dakota twelve companies. so that the troops which participated in the maneuvers during this month numbered abont 10,000.
The scheme of instruction resembled nearly as possible the conditions to be encountered in aetnal warfare, the object being to promote the field training of the troops. Accurate topograph- ical maps of the entire reservation had been previously made by the engineering department, and each day during the stay of the troops problems of varied characters were proposed and the sohi- tion of them wrought out on the field. Ceremonies were ent down to the lowest limit and the actual practice work was pursued with vigor and great benefit to the troops engaged in this maneuver.
This encampment was under the command of Brig. Gen. Walter Howe, and in honor of Capt. Bruce E. McCoy. of Sparta. who with his son, Colonel MeCoy, had been so instrumental in establishing the reservation, General Howe on the Ist day of August issued an order naming the camp "Camp Bruce E. McCoy." Captain MeCoy was a captain in the Civil War, and for years was the owner of the old Lafayette mill property and of the land on which the maneuver camp itself was located. The following named officers were detailed for service at this camp : Maj. Samuel D. Sturgis, General Staff Corps; Maj. Walter H. Gorton, Inspector general: Capt. Douglas Settle, commissary ; Lient. Col. William B. Bannister, Medical Corps : Maj. Thomas (. Goodman, paymaster: Capt. Charles W. Castle, paymaster : Capt. Dana T. Merrill, Twenty-eighth Infantry.
During the month of August the range was visited by Gen. Robert Shaw Oliver, Assistant Secretary of War, who gave it a thorough inspection. Governor Carroll, of Iowa. also visited the maneuver camp on the 19th of August and reviewed the Iowa Brigade on the afternoon of the 19th. The maneuvers of 1910 were very successful and demonstrated beyond question that this big reservation was well adapted for the purpose. as the range used by the troops around the maneuver camp did not extend more than four miles, so that there is ample room for the camping of several brigades on different portions of the reservation wherever water may be provided. And the best of water is ob- tained by sinking artesian wells, from which a flow of water is obtained at a very moderate depth and easily carried to any distance by piping.
Early in 1910 Lieutenant Gilmore of the regular service was detailed as constructing quartermaster and moved to Sparta with his family, where he remained during 1910 and up until about
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August, 1911. Ile had full charge of the constructing of the rifle range of the reservation, for which an appropriation of $40,000 had been made by congress. The work was very thor- oughly done and there is now constructed riffe pits built of con- erete with ample store rooms sunk into the embankment of hills, targets and various supplies, and the range is equipped with something like two hundred of the most modern targets to be pro- cured. A large concrete office building and storehouse has been constructed. and the grading and seeding of the firing points completed.
An effort was made to secure the national rifle competition of this range in 1911, and the War Department was entirely friendly toward the proposition providing the range was in condition for holding such a contest, and a board of officers were ordered here early in the summer for the purpose of inspecting and looking the range over thoroughly. They finally decided it would be best not to attempt to hold the competition on the range that year in order to allow the seeding to take root and be in good shape another year.
Through the efforts of Colonel MeCoy the town board of Angelo during the month of January and after considerable contest have laid out a road through the town of Angelo to the range, which will shorten the distance from this city considerably, and that road will, undoubtedly, be completed and in good shape for travel by the time this history is published. The only disadvan- tages have been the poor roads, as they go through sandy country, but with that remedied the great benefit which will be received to the citizens of Sparta and the city of Tomah and vicinity, through the purchase of needed supplies, cannot be very well esti- mated, as the benefit will, undoubtedly, grow greater as the equipment on the reservation is perfected. The railroad facilities are now very ample as the North Western railway has con- structed a spur track leading directly to the rifle range, and there is also placed a track constructed by the St. Paul company to the same place, and ample sidetrack facilities are in existence at the point where the main storehouse is located. The St. Paul company has constructed a new station known as " McCoy, " and built a tasty little depot not far from the artillery camp. The North Western company has also erected a small depot on the line of the Milwaukee. Sparta & North Western Railway Company so that during the existence of maneuvers railroad facilities are now provided for.
This chapter would not be complete withont mentioning the
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indefatigable work of Col. R. B. McCoy, which has been mainly instrumental in the establishment of this great enterprise. While interested somewhat personally in some of the land which was bought by the government, vet in addition to that, Colonel McCoy spent a large amount of his time in acquiring options on the entire traet, using a diplomacy and patience which was indeed remarkable, and bringing to a successful conclusion a task which looked almost impossible. His energy and perseverance have brought great results, such as only a man of his ability can bring about.
CHAPTER XIX.
CIRCUIT JUDGES.
JOSEPH M. MORROW.
Fitting indeed it is to spread upon these pages the tributes of respect and affection from his brothers of the legal profession, to the memory of "Joe" Morrow; for "Joe" he was. The name was used not in the sense of familiarity, but in that sense which so strongly indicates the friendly respect which a good-hearted man receives from his fellows. Uniformly kind, courteous and gentlemanly, mild of manner and speech. vet his personality was one which attracted attention wherever he went. His strong face, full of character. his straightforward method of dealing with the matter in hand, commanded attention and gave weight to those things which in others might have seemed commonplace. Always kind and helpful to the younger members of the bar. a generous opponent in any case. he held the friendship of his fellow attorneys to the end.
On the 10th of October, 1899. at the fall term of the Cirenit Court. Judge O. B. Wyman presiding. memorial exercises were held and the court adjourned for that day as a mark of respect. A resolution signed by the members of the bar of Monroe county was introduced and adopted as follows :
"On motion of the bar of Monroe county, the Circuit Court of this county has set apart this day to be devoted to memorial exercises in honor of our deceased brother, Hon. J. M. Morrow, formerly JJudge of this Cirenit.
" In his death the members of this bar share with the bar of the state of Wisconsin a loss that is great. but to us the com- panions of his daily life, his death was a shock and a loss that was irreparable. Stricken down in the ripe vigor of his intelleetnal manhood in the noon of his professional activity, and at a time when his moral influence with us, his associates, was most potent for good, for us his place cannot be filled and our sorrow is daily renewed.
"We his brothers of the bar of Monroe county, desire to place
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permanently upon the records of this court and to have it entered as a part of the proceedings of this term the following :
"We admire in him the industry, learning, wisdom and ability that placed him in the front rank of lawyers of this state. We honor in him as a lawyer and hold up for emulation to those who come after him, an integrity, zeal and devotion to his client's interests that made his good faith beyond suspicion, a professional honor that made his word and his implied obligations better than written stipulations, a courtesy to his associates and antagonists alike that softened any asperities of legal conflict, a sunny temper and genial humor that robbed defeat of its sting and bound closer in friendship his antagonists, and above all, that delicate sense of personal integrity that kept his professional zeal within those limits that hold the gentleman.
"We reverence in his career on the bench in an eminent degree, the qualities that have adorned the judicial office of this circuit since its organization, reinforced. ripened and broadened by an experience at the bar exceptional in its scope. As an official he brought to the discharge of his duties the same great zeal and ability that marked his professional life. As a citizen he had the respect and esteem of all, and his advice was sought in all important affairs. As a man we loved him. Geo. Graham, C. M. Masters, Sev. Button, D. F. Jones, H. C. Spaulding, R. B. Graves. Chris. Maxwell. Wm. B. Naylor, Jr .. R. A. Richards, R. B. McCoy. H. C. Altizer, H. B. Clark."
The remarks were made by several members of the bar from different counties as follows :
11. W. Barney. of Mauston, said-"May it please the Court : I have no set speech to make. . Brother Ihughes and myself come here to represent Juneau county-one of the counties in the judi- cial circuit over which Judge Morrow presided-at this me- morial service. I am here to say that the people and bar of Juneau county entertained the greatest respect for Judge Morrow as a lawyer, a judge and a man. Ile had an extensive practice in our county and for more than thirty years he attended nearly, if not all, our terms of the Circuit Court. He attended many cases there in justices' courts. The day before he died, July 27th last, I met him in Elroy, where we adjourned several cases over into September-engagements that death prevented him from fulfilling. It seems to us that he belonged to our county as much as he did to this county.
"When our court meets in November he will be missed as much or more than any of our resident attorneys, and the loss
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will be felt in Junean county as keenly as in any locality in the stato. Juneau county seconds the adoption of memorial pre- sented and endorses all that has been said here today in eulogy of Judge Morrow."
Remarks of A. E. Bleekman, of LaCrosse-"May it please the Court : I have not come with a prepared speech for this occa- sion. Yet if I do not respond to these resolutions and speak somewhat of my feelings, I shall be derelict in my duty to the deceased.
"I knew our brother, and I knew him well. 1 first became acquainted with him thirty years ago the coming winter, at the office of the Hon. George Graham, of this bar, where I was then a student. He came to Tomah in the interest of a client. Mr. John Maxwell, one of the oldest settlers of the county. I remem- ber that meeting as well as if it were yesterday, even the clothes he wore, for he was not a man of the passing hour, but made an impression upon those he met. He was then the same mild, gentlemanly, even-tempered man he always was. I next heard of him at Tunnel City in his professional duties, where, when presented with a decision of our own Supreme Court, exactly opposite the position he was contending for, he arose and gravely asked the court if he was going to make a fool of himself because the Supreme Court had-and won his case.
"As the years pased on and our business relations extended. we met oftener in the trial of causes and our acquaintance ripened into strong personal friendship. He was the soul of honor, above envy and jealousy, one of the few who possess the ability-almost a genius-to surpass and subdue and not have to look down upon the hate of those below. For over eleven years we practiced side by side without a writing between us. all the interests of our clients and our individual interests resting upon the word of each. In all that time he never hesitated-he never forgot his word. When he said he would do so and so at such a time, that was the end of it, and he did it without having to be reminded of his agreement. Ile loved his profession and he cher- ished his honor. Hle was genial and happy in the labors of that profession and in his intercourse with his fellowmen.
"At his office he was industrious, studious and thoughtful in his work : plain, kind, just and conscientious with his clients, and at the bar a strong. able, sagacions, courteous and eloquent advo- cate. I sometimes thought he did not grasp legal propositions as easily and clearly as some, but required more study and deeper thought to arrive at correct conclusions, which he usually did.
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but in the gathering, accumulating, selection and presentation of facts he was a master. He despised technicalities and went to the very merit and root of his cause. As a lawyer he seemed to be a connecting link between the old and the new, possessing the honor, the integrity and the love of the profession which marked the old school lawyer, and he regarded the commercialism, as I have often heard him call it, that seemed to be usurping and taking the place of these high ideas in the new, with disfavor. In his social life he thoroughly believed in a part of that counsel of Polonius to Laertes, 'The friends thou hast and their adoption tried grapple them to thee with hoops of steel.' but he east to the wind the remainder of that counsel. 'but do not stop to dull thy pahn with each new-hatched unfledged comrade,' and few men were nearer and warmer to so many people as he. I know of no other attorney at the bar in this state who, going where he might. alighting from the train where he would, would meet so many warm hearts and have his hand clasped by so many warm hands in kindness, in friendship and in respect as he. And yet all was not sunshine with him. He had his gloomy hours as well as others. I remember well of a time when he and I took the train at the depot here in the morning, went to Kendall, tried a law suit all day and into the night, returning early the next morning to Nor- walk, then going by team to Ontario and trying a lawsuit all that day and into the night. When he retired we occupied the same room, with separate beds. In the morning as we were preparing for breakfast he turned to me and said: 'This is a hard life; is it worth living?' And yet no one thought more of his life. en- joyed it or desired to continue it than he.
"I was with him in that memorable contest of Judge Newman's for the Supreme Bench. both before Judge Newman became a candidate and subsequently. I had an opportunity to test his loyalty, fidelity and breadth of mind. He was no mere partisan. although a Democrat. He was as attentive and watchful of the interests of his friends as of his own. There are none of us but know how faithful and attentive he was to those dear ones at home, and how, during the later years of his life, he managed his business affairs when away to reach home as speedily as possible We know full well how attentively and affectionately he watched over them. and how solicitous he was for their welfare.
"The bar of this state has lost one of its strongest members. Especially is this true of the bar of this district, and at his home, the place where he lived, for he was indeed a loyal Spartan. His death caused ns universal sorrow. A half century will not pro-
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duce another who will fill the place he filled. Some of the bright- est and the happiest hours of my life have been spent in converse with him. As the years roll on and time dims this hour, I expect to live over these hours I passed with him, and say as Burns said :
.. . Still o'er these scenes my memory wakes. And fondly broods with miser care, Time but the impression deeper makes, As streams their channels deeper wear.' "
Remarks of Wyatt H. Graves. of LaCrosse county-"May it please the Court : The enstom in accordance with which we are today assembled, is appropriately and worthily observed. only when the surviving associates of the one whose virtues are to be commemorated, in a spirit if candor and truth record their testi- mony to his worth. It is with feelings of sincere sadness that I come on this occasion to pay humble tribute to the memory of the lamented dead. To me it is a sad and sacred pleasure, but the burden of the duty is made lighter by the consciousness that it can be best discharged by simple, truthful reference to the char- acter of him in whose honor I would speak. It seems fitting that we should turn from active duties of the hour and pause during the all-absorbing cares of life to pay our respects to one who honored us by his presence as a member of this bar and won our respect and admiration by his noble life.
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