The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 25

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2006 SAUNA JOURNAL a look at books Kansas books music of note iTunes wins misc. eyents Wichita string quartet LU h- LU UJ i LU LU CO UJ i The Associated Press Michael Arden (on the moon), and Charlie Hodges appear in a scene from the newTwyla Dylan musical "The Times Are A- show opens Oct. 26 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in New York City. "THE STRANGE CASE OF HELLISH NELL," by Mna Shandler The book, out next month, tells a riveting, cinematic tale from British history. "Hellish Nell" was Helen Duncan, Britain's most controversial psychic.

She was convicted of witchcraft during World War II. Duncan, who supported her six children by holding stances, might have escaped prosecution had she not revealed the sinking of two British battleships, the Barham and the Hood, in 1941. If she had not gotten those two strategic secrets right, I don't think the government would have prosecuted her," author Nina Shandler said. Shandler, a family therapist in Western Massachusetts, does not analyze Duncan's psychology in the book, but she has strong opinions. "I think she was very psychologically damaged," she said, noting that Duncan exhibited signs of what used to be called multiple personality disorder.

In London, the College of Psychic Studies, where Duncan held seances, remains open for business. The Boston Globe Artifact photos by TOM DORSEY Salina Journal This plank, on view at the Smoky Hiil IWuseum, was part of a structure people used to cross the Saline River on their way to the Colorado gold rush. Coi. William Phillips was co-founder of Salina and was the first to bring equipmet for milling to town. This large millstone was used to grind wheat into meal and flour at the beginning of the industry.

Flour milling became a huge industry in Salina by the early 1900s. Learning about Salina's In the 1920s, Salina became the third-largest flour-producing city in the world, producing as much as 1.5 million pounds a day By GARY DEMUTH Salina Journal It might look like a ordinary wooden plank, but in 1859 it was worth its weight in gold, or at least cash, to a couple of enterprising brothers. The 12-foot-long plank, now under glass at the Smoky Hill Museum, 211 W. Iron, was part of a 12- by 10-foot platform built at the Saline River by Gotthart and John Schippel, who for a fee ferried travelers across the river The German immigrants had arrived in Saline County in 1856, settling on a piece of land three miles northeast of present-day Salina. Within three years, civilians and army units wishing to cross the river along the brothers' land had become so plentiful that the brothers began a ferrying venture.

They built a platform with planks taken from a washed-out government bridge at the Saline River. During the Colorado gold rush of 1859, the brothers might make 200 or more trips across the river in a day. Their daily receipts might total an astronomic $400. A small comrnunity, called Schippel's Ferry, soon grew up around the G. Schippel river.

After the Civil War and gold rush came to a halt, so did that town. But the plank remains, and today helps bridge the past to the present as an artifact at the Smoky Hill Museum. It is among the items that, though seemingly obscure, have special significance to Salina. It is a must-see item at the museum, and visitors will have an opportunity to see it during the museum's Santa Fe Day festival, set for Sept. 23.

There are more prized items that are historically significant to Salina, according to collections registrar Dorothy Boyle. Grist mill Salina's first industry began in 1858 when a grist mill was brought in a wagon of supplies by Salina cofounder Col. William Phillips, an immigrant from Scotland. The iron, tabletop, hand-cranked mill turned corn and wheat into meal and flour. It was a precursor to the 1861 establishment of a grist mill at the Smoky Hill River.

At the mill, wheat was ground into flour between two huge round millstones, one of which is on display at tlie museum, next to a grist mill. "It was a crude method of production, but that's how grain was ground into a usable product in those days," Boyle said. "It was the beginning of the flour industry, which became a big industry in Salina." Flour production grew in Salina, and in the 1920s, the town became the third-largest flour-producing city in the world, producing as much as 1.5 million pounds a day, Boyle said. By the 1970s, it was less expensive to move raw wheat than flour, and the industry declined in Salina. The Western Star Flour at Ash and Third streets continues flour production, but the once-mighty mills such as Lee-Warren, Shellabarger, Gooch and Robinson no longer exist.

"(But) their contributions to the growth of Salina was important," Boyle said. A colonel's desk Much of the land that became Salina was deeded from the top of a large, 1860 oak desk with a black oilcloth surface that was owned by Col. Phillips. He and Alexander C. Spilman, A.M.

Campbell, James Muir and David L. Phillips founded the Salina Town Company in 1858. Phillips and Campbell, who married PhUlips' sister, Christina, co- owned the first mercantile store and post office in Salina, at Santa Fe and Iron streets. See SALINA, Page D7 SANTA FE DAY Here are some of the day's events on Sept. 23; 7 a.m.

registration Santa Fe Day Fun Run from Ash to South. Run begins at 8 a.m. 7 a.m. Pancake feed at Martinelli's, Santa Fe and Walnut. 10 a.m.

Santa Fe Day Parade, Santa Fe from Elm to the Masonic Center at South. 10:45 a.m. Performance by classic rock band The Blades, Campbell Plaza. 11 a.m. Historic Auto Jamboree, vintage and current automobiles, near the Smoky Hill Museum on Iron.

Noon Salina Journal Chili Cook-Off, across the street from the museum on Iron. Noon Everette DeVan Little Big Band plays big band music from the 1920s and '30s in front of the museum. 2:15 p.m. Wild Voodoo performs songs of the 1960s and '70s in front of the museum. There also will be children's activities and food booths available.

The museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Santa Fe Day For more information, call 309-5776. A colorful Shellabarger flour sack (from left) Is from one of many flour mills In Salina; Oscar Seitz established the first pharmacy in Salina and used this motar and pestle; and a land deed signed by Col. William Phillips sits on his desk, once located at the First Mercantile Store at Santa Fe and Iron.

1 4 SUGGESTIONS? CALL BEN WEARING, DEPUTY EDITOR, AT 822-1421 OR 1-800-827-6363 OR E-MAIL AT saljournal.com.