Janesville Daily Gazette from Janesville, Wisconsin • Page 12

1 House Moving Is Complicated But Intensely Fascinating Kessler a Vet in Field at Age 26 By GARY RUMMLER In this explosive age when people talk of traveling past the sun like it was the corner street light there is still one laboriously slow, grounded occupation which fascinates a wide segment of the American house mover. Police have to clear aside awed spectators when a lumbering 180- ton two-story brick house inches up off its foundation and begins moving across the front yard. It's a rare sidewalk superintendent who hasn't peered under the ponderous load, nudged a fellow spectator and asked a dozen questions. To answer these questions, Clarence Kessler, 26-year-old head of Janesville's Ernest R. Kessler and Sons house moving company was asked to divulge his trade secrets.

Kessler has helped move about everthing in the last 14 years from sprawling barns with hay still in them, to two-story brick homes. When his father died last February, he continued the family firm. hydraulic jack control panel ever made in the United States, and one of about six in use in this country. Standing at the controls, Kessler gives power to the jacks. Men are stationed at each corner.

One of these men would be Bill Gara, a 12-year house moving veteran from Milton Junction, and one of two men Kessler employs year' round. The jacks will lift a house right off its foundation. When one corner is raised a crack the man signals. Kessler stops the lifting action at that corner. Other corners are then lifted one at a time until the has broken away from the foundation and rests on the timbers which in turn are resting on the jacks.

The house is lifted higher. Wheels which have already been assembled on "running timbers" are rolled into place. For a small job 16 wheels are used. For larger buildings, 40 are attached. Kessler's four-wheel drive (ruck is attached by cable to the timbers.

And the house becomes a trailer. With Kessler or a man from EXPLAINING THE procedure for the moving of an average house, Kessler said: "First I would look under the house, go into the basement if there is one. The type of foundation is important. If it's block construction, two guys can walk around the house and, using a sledge hammer for three hours, can knock enough holes in the foundation for the timbers and still have time for a cup of coffee." "But if it's poured cement, it's different. We spent one entire week with a jack hammer breaking enough holes in one house," he said.

This hole breaking does not and out into the street. harm the house; it just ventilates the foundation. Two timbers (as big around as a healthy lumberjack) are slid into these holes and run lengthwise a lines. High power lines under the house. Jacks capable of are eilher clipped at the poles or disappear under a paint application.

One bumpy problem in a past move was the dividing strip along Highway 26 going out Milton Avenue. The house had to cross the eight-inch-high strip, so blocks of wood were placed down, first two- inch blocks, ttjen four-inch, and then six-inch. More blocks were placed on the other side. Then the truck and its outsized trailer moved across. Another problem developed in a job this past summer when Kessler moved a large two-story frame house from a point between Janesville and Beloit.

The house was on a hill, and it had to be pulled up another grassy hill and down this second rise. A caterpillar tractor pulled the house down the two trucks held on from the rear to keep the wheeled house from crashing into the "cat." HOUSE MOVING IS A big job, demanding not only experience in knowing just how much stress a building will take, but also in figuring costs. Kessler explained that if you want to move your home to another lot, he realizes his price must be lower than the value of the building, or Kessler House Movers is out of work. "I charge plot to plot with the owner supplying the right of way," he said. This means the owner pays for power lines which need clipping, and also for the power crews.

The owner also must have a foundation prepared to give Kessler a target. A track of boards Is laid on this and the house is moved over the foundation. Wood cribbing is inserted and holds the READY TO BE RELOCATED This roof at the old Milwaukee Road depot on Centerway in Janesville, was cut from the main structure a few weeks ago and readied for moving by Ernest Kessler and Sons, Janesville house moving firm, now operated by Clarence Kessler. In the background to the left is the hydraulic jack control panel from which the jacks located on the cribbing under the roof are operated. RELOCATED NEAR MILTON Perched on its new supports, the old Milwaukee Road depot roof, now minus the Janesville sign, is being used by Frank Brothers of Milton as the roof for a storage building.

CLARENCE KESSLER the power company perched on the i roof, the house moves off the lot If tree limbs are in the way they are sawed off. Telephone lines are lifted up if there is enough line sag. So are small volt- lifting 17 tons each are placed under these timbers at both ends. Then, Kessler explained, smaller timbers (about half the size of telephone poles) are run crossways over the larger timbers and jacks are placed under these, also. Shingles are inserted between these cross timbers and the house center beam to make up for the sag which will develop when the leisurely walk, house is "picked." How much Slight bumps can be major shingle to use is one of the trade problems, since Kessler carries secrets which Kessler preferred no insurance on the house be- remain secret.

cause of high premiums, and his past work must speak for itself. IT IS NOW THAT Kessler's new- He can't afford wall cracks big- est equipment is only 1 ger than hair lines which, he says, the power is turned off. MOVEMENT IS SLOW. The truck, usually driven by Kenneth Clouse, Janesville, an employe for 15 years, has 10 gears with the use of the two-speed axle. It can be wound up tight in low gear, and still not move faster than a Twister Is Thrown Out Of Lebanon for Waltzing By ART BUCHWALD I in Beirut at the Kit Kat Club.

She had to happen soon- had appeared in Beirut many er or was thrown out of a country for doing the house slightly above the founda-1 The cou wag LebanQn tion to allow a final row of bricks 1 to be inserted. Costs vary with the size of the house. The most inexpensive move would probably involve a one-story frame house with modern construction (less than 15 years old). The most expensive would be an old. solid two-story brick building.

Kessler must also take into account the type of foundation, whether a fireplace and a garage are involved, and how far the move is. "No two houses are the same," he said, indicating why he enjoys his work, "and there is no limit to what can be moved with the proper equipment." "Our jacks are rated at 15 to 17 tons. But we could use 50-ton jacks as well," he said. "And by inserting "Y's" in the hoses, we could add more jacks, too. So if there is a limit, I don't know what it is." With this limitless horizon, Kessler is certain he is operating one of the most interesting businesses in the world.

He was recently elected vice president of the newly organized Wisconsin Building Movers Association. Kessler lives with his wife, Bar- and the someone was the American singer Nancy Holloway, who has been living in Paris for the I last six years. Miss Holloway was signed for a month's appearance bara, and two children, Tommy, 4, and Jodi, 2, at 2017 Wood St. He graduated from Janesville High School in 1953 and attended a machinist apprenticeship school in Waynesboro, before deciding he would rather be a house mover. CONTRACT BRIDGE By B.

Jay Becker (Top Record-Holder, in Masters, individual Championship Play) MAKE WAY FOR THE MOVER This two-story frame house in Kenosha was moved by the Kessler firm in October to a new location. Main problem during this move was a tight squeeze between two buildings which left less than one inch clearance on both sides. STRICTLY PERSONAL North dealer. Both sides vulnerable. NORTH 5 3 A 3 2 7 3 A 10 9 6 WEST EAST A A 9 7 2 A 8 6 4 9 6 4 10 8 6 5 2 4 5 4 SOUTH 10 10 7 5 A 9 8 3 2 The bidding: North East South West 1 Pass 1 Pass 2 Pass 4 Opening lead jack of diamonds.

This hand occurred in a pair game many years ago. At most tables the contract was four hearts and the usual result was that South was defeated a trick. West invariably led a diamond and the play that followed was the same at practically every table. South won with the ace and led the queen of hearts. West payed the king and declarer took the ace and returned a heart.

When East followed with the six, South won with the ten, but declarer then went down one because he had to lose two spades, a heart and a club. At one table declarer made four hearts. He did not lose a trump trick. He picked up the entire suit without loss. Of course, this is not difficult to do if you see the oppon- that the government was Art Buchwald taking a serious view of the Twist and Miss Holloway was warned that instead of Twisting it would be better if she did a slow twirl.

The next night she was told she could sing Twist songs as long as she didn't move her body at all. "This was impossible," Miss told us, "especially with the lyrics of the Twist songs. Since you're not saying anything, you've got to move. Besides I Twist pretty good, but I'm not vulgar about it." ON THE FOLLOWING evening, the authorities couldn't take ister said he thought people should stop at the Cha-Cha-Cha. times before i out incident, but that was before the Twist came into fashion.

A few days dance, as opposed to other dances after she start-' where you held each other tightly ed, the rumors together. In deference to the min- were flying They Watch Television During School Hours By JOHN CROSBY It was shortly after 10 a.m. in the 4th grade classroom at Valley Stream Elementary School in MICO A Lon I sI and, when the children MISS HOLLOWAY continued her story. "I sang six songs and! turned their t0 the rear t0 then for my last one I said that face the television set there. A I agreed with the minister that; smiling woman appeared on the the Twist was much too sexy a 21-inch screen and said: "Bonjour, mes enfants." The moppets chanted back: "Bonjour, Madame Slack" and "Parlons Francais," a televised French course was on its way.

Madame Anne Slack kept saying: "Ecoute" (listen) and then, after an exploration of the weather or a recitation of numbers, 'Repite" (re- waltz in his ister I would sing a honor. "Then I sang: 'Let's waltz together like we did last summer, 'Waltz again like we did last year. 'Do you remember when things were really hummin'? 'Yeh, let's waltz time is While Miss Holloway was singing, the most amazing thing happened. Several young people in the audience got up and started to Twist. Carried away, she started Twisting herself, and the minister sat there glum-faced while Miss Holloway's boss kept trying to get here eye.

A FEW DAYS LATER Miss Hol- peat). The children diligently repeated the numbers, weather, in fine style. "Quel age a vous?" Madame Slack asked a puppet, one of the John Crosby many prepared for this film by Bil and Cora I like learning this way. After all; to be offered nationally, and is you don't know what it sounds like now used by many school sys- in a book." terns throughout the country and Heath-deRochemont (a combi- on many educational TV stations, nation of the publisher and the Madame Slack explained that moviemaker) distributes "Par- she uses the audio-lingual meth- Ions Francais." In New York, It's od of instruction because the first estimated that 30,000 school chil- emphasis in effective learning of dren are taking the course in another tongue must be on school and perhaps twice that I skills of listening and speaking, many freeloaders taking it at and these are precisely the home. It's also seen in Boston, that can most easily be acquired where it's estimated 48 000 school by the flexible and uninhibited children take the course.

"PARLONS FRANCAIS" was younger child. William Van Ness, who is part of the administrative team of thf originally created by the Modern Valley Stream school Language Project in Boston with grants from the Ford Foundation and the New Educational Media said: "Kids used to laugh at you if you tried to get them to tate a strange sound. Now they it any longer and they put out an, informed it would be Baird chiUren were delight- better for everyone if her contract was terminated and she left the country as soon as possible. for the way you do the waltz." Miss Holloway said: "I guess I wouldn't have minded so much ex- official order banning the Twist in night clubs and public places as being too sensual. To see that the ban was put into effect they sent uniformed policemen to the various clubs.

"The trouble was that the policemen didn't know what the Twist was," Miss Holloway said, "and they didn't know what they were supposed to be looking for. As long as I didn't say the word Twist, they didn't seem to think we were doing it." But then Miss Holloway was asked to sing at the opening of a new Pan American Airways hotel in Beirut at an official gala. In the audience was the minister in charge of banning the Twist, who made a speech defending his position. He said the Twist was corrupting the youth of Lebanon and, although he was as much for gaiety Twist dies down I might take up as the next person, he thought one belly dancing and make a come- had to stop somewhere. The min- It's been done there before." KEEP IN TRIM ed.

"Ou est ton livre?" she asked the puppet. The puppet told where his livre was and then it was the Program of the U. S. Office of! don't. American kids of this Education.

Heath deRochemont i do remarkably well in languages? claims it's the first and only in- because they have a wonderful school course of instruction ever'ear." JANESVILLE DAILY GAZETTES WEDNESDAY, JAN. 17, 1962 Page 12 "Am I being thrown out for do- children's turn. They triumphant- ing the Twist?" she sno wed their books and you're being thrown out swe red. EVERY Toward the end, Madame Slack began a song and the children joined in. About 10 minutes after cept that on the same program tne program began, they started with me was a belly dancer and; to twist and crane their necks, nobody said anything about what Stephen J.

Feit, audiovisual con she was doing, "Apparently belly dancing is considered folklore, but Twisting is considered obscene. But I noticed the cops who came down to sultant to the school, explained that educators only plan television instruction up to 15 or at most 20 minutes. "The begin to get restless after about 12 min- ANN LANDERS watch us got their kicks out of. utes Twenty minutes is tops even the belly dancing and were bored stiff when the kids were Twisting, so where does that leave me?" with the help of a specialist." THE PROGRAM WENT off and "Apparently banned from Bei- the teacher fook up the i esson rut," we said "I'm not too sure. When the Waist Measure Depends on Individual Build By IDA JEAN KAIN There are measurement charts that figure to the last notch the perfect waist circumference for IU uu yuu sec nit uppun- ents' cards but'he did it without height Such charts are ems Ldrus, uui uc ui but real lgures Antics With Semantics By SYDNEY J.

HARRIS I am an optimist; you are starry-eyed; he is wildly Utopian. I am diplomatic; you are smooth-tongued; he is two-faced. I believe in intelligent self-interest; you are looking for the main chance; he is always out for No. 1. I try to watch my health; you are a bit of a hypochondriac; he is a walking medicine cabinet.

I "resigned because of policy you were "squeezed out in a management he "got the boot." I make prompt decisions; you are a trifle impulsive; he flies off the handle. My people came from honest country stock, but your people were ignorant peasants. When somebody says something I don't understand, he is having communication difficulty, but I am never having reception difficulty. An innocent flirtation was what I was having with another man's wife at the dance but I failed to add that it was "innocent" only because her, not because of me. I repeat a piece of information in "strict" con Syd Harris you have a loose tongue; he blabbers secrets without the slightest discretion.

An "agreeable" man is, naturally, a man who agrees with me. My child is sensitive; your is high-strung; his is disturbed. What a group calls its code of ethics is a set of statements to be publicly announced on official occasions, and privately renounced on the practical grounds that "I'd live up to it if all the others did, too." And what we call "murder" is a punishable crime in every nation on earth except when the nation as a whole engages in it. I like books that make me forget my cares; you enjoy nothing but escape literature; he is addicted to reading tripe. My income tax deductions are legitimate business expenses; yours are little masterpieces of art; his are outrageously fraudulent.

What we are fond of calling "white lies" get grayer and grayer with constant use. I have ancestors; you have forebears; he has origins. I don't believe in "standing on you have little sense of form; he is crude and tactless. I use the phrase "human nature" to excuse my most inhuman acts; but I call you an animal for behaving in the same way. that advantage.

At trick two, after he had won the diamond, South led the ten of hearts, not the queen. West covered with the king, having no choice, and declarer took it with the ace and led back a heart. East followed with the six, just as at the other tables, but South now played the seven and won the trick. As a result of the deep r'i- nesse, he avoided a trump loser and wound up making four hearts. It was not just a lucky shot Ly South.

His lead of the ten of heart rather than the queen, made all the difference in the result they are quite likely to be inches off. There is no standard waist measure for a set height. True, a slight framed girl of about 5 feet would have a neat, sweet waist at 24 inches. But it would be reaching for the'moon for a stocky girl to try to get her waist thinned down to 24 inches. The wrist is a gauge of structure and is used as a guide for streamlined proportions.

By this rule-of-the-wrist, the girl with a small wrist, inches, should have an elegantly slim waist of 241 -2 inches; the average six inch South reasoned that West would wrist allows for a 26-inch waistline, and a wrist for a 27Vi waistline. By this rule, the waist should measure a bit more than four and a fourth times the waist size. not cover the ten with the king unless the king were a singleton. Suppose, for example, that West had held K-x of hearts. He would not dare cover the ten with the king because his partner might hold J-x or J-x-x, and covering the ten would cost his side a trick in either case.

The same reasoning would apply if West had started with K-x-x of hearts. On this basis, therefore, South decided that East's original holding was 9-8-6-4, and the finesse of the seven became the indicated play. Tomorrow: Insuring the contract. Again, it's fine in theory. But with all these careful calculations, something has been overlooked, and that is the space between the waist and the top of the hipbone.

Short-wasisted women are not built for slender waistlines. You are short-waisted if there are barely a couple of inches between the top of the hip bone and the natural line of the waist. Height is not the determining Slimming factor. While many tall girls are long-waistcd, some tall girls are surprisingly short-waisted. Short women are apt to be on the short- waisted side, but some of them are fairly long-waisted.

The solution for those of us who are in the short-waisted fix is to pull the waist out of the hips and make a practice of standing and sitting with no wrinkle at 'he waist. In other words, erfect posture is essential, with the up-pull through the midriff. We can also do the waist a good turn with exercise that wards off waistline bulk. It's easy to see that the less the space, the more the bulk shows up. Here is an exercise to pull the waist out of the dumps: POSITION: Sit on floor, legs wide apart, arms arched hands together.

Keep back perfectly straight, and pull up slim through the midriff. ACTION: Bend the upper part of the body sidewards, holding the "Ou est ton livre?" she asked a youngster. He looked temporarily baffled, then produced his book. Each small one has his chance to ask or answer a question. The pronunciation is excellent because Madame Slack is French and kids of this age have excellent ears and marvelous gift for mimicry.

After the class the kids stayed behind for some questions. Did they think it strange to be taught by television? "Oh, no," piped one. "We've had television for a few years now. Last year we had science." Did they like French better than science? No hesitation. They adored Madame Slack and felt they knew her very well.

What didn't they like about television teaching? "I didn't like science because it was baby science," said one child. "We nil knew more than the teacher." Another chimed in: "The pictures change too fast." Another said: "Sometimes the sound jets behind her mouth." WHAT DID THEY LIKE about it? A small boy spoke up: "Last year I turned on the television and saw somebody speaking a different language. I didn't know what it meant so I turned it off. Now I'm learning what it means. up-and-in-stretch, then come up to sitting position.

Now bend forward, girdle muscles come back to sitting posture. Then bend toward the other side. With arms arched overhead, the shoulders stay relaxed, and the up- stretch is centered in the middle of the figure. Keep supple to keep slim in the middle. Send stamped, self-addressed, long envelope for "For a Slimmer Midriff." Address request ot Ida Jean Kain care of Janesville Gazette.

Post card requests cannot be answered. Money in Bank Is Nice, But Not Essential DEAR ANN LANDERS: Please be honest. Your answer may be the most important turning point in my life. If you were 21 years of age, would you marry a young man who had no money in the bank, owed a few small debts, had a very good job with a promising future, and was brimming over with ambition and confidence? EYES I did. And it's wonderful! DEAR ANN LANDERS: I'm a working girl who saved her money and bought a new car.

My boy friend is gainfully employed but he's a "saver" not a "spender." Lowell has no car of his own (although he could afford one) but he borrows mine when he visits his mother in the suburbs. Yesterday he returned by car with a smashed grill and broken headlights. He said the brakes didn 't hold and he ran into his mother's fence. We went to the garage together, and the estimate to repair the damage was $88. My insurance doesn't cover this sort of accident.

Lowell turned to me and said, "If you think I 'm paying for this you're crazy. With those lousy brakes you're lucky I wasn't killed." The garage man Ann Landers said, "The brakes are perfectly fine." Lowell turned red and left in a huff. Today I received a check for $90 with this note: yourself a new boy friend with the change." Shall I cash the check or return it? I feel terrible. Cash the check and send Lowell $2 which is what has coming. He clearly has no sense of personal integrity and you're fortunate indeed to discover it early.

DEAR ANN LANDERS: What can I do about a neighbor who is forever borrowing my sewing machine, knife sharpener, vacuum sweeper, one cup of sugar, two eggs, laundry name it and she's borrowed it. I would not mind helping her out in an emergency, but I know she has a basement filled with appliances which don't work. She never bothers to have anything repaired. This woman rarely returns what she borrows and I find myself knocking on her door asking for MY appliances. When she is not at home I'm out of luck.

Please suggest a tactful technique for handling his annoying problem. -EASY TOUCH Why be concerned with tact when dealing with an inconsiderate, insensitive clod? In the future when she comes a-borrowing tell her that you're sorry but you will be needing the item yourself. Ann Landers will be glad to help you with your problems. Send them to her in care of the Janesville Gazette, enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope..