The Muscatine Journal from Muscatine, Iowa • 96

N. It TUESDAY. DEC. St. 1MY MUSCATINE (lawa) JOUKNAL Wapello Won County Seat Status in Spirited Contest With Fredonta Back in Year 1839 JMlevji 'SMirasi Across Dovca Cloven, Top Variety Honors Won by Weather Pyft ion Use Pooiriiinig; IPastt Yeair '1 Des Moines UP) Iowa's 147 weather was the year' top variety show from the opening bliz-zardy 1 January through dripping June to torrid August and -I a.

Wapello Two new bridges A 1948. When the Wapello bridge was put into service, workmen started dismantling the narrow steel span which it replaced. Three of the spans are being salvaged 'for re-erection elsewhere, one in Louisa county and two at other locations. The other three spans are being junked. Wa Fly i ng Service, ric.

Offers CHARTER SERVICE, PRIVATE INSTRUCTION Complete Gl Flying Training available for priv--ete and commercial courses at no cost to eligible veterans. BEST house was erected and used until 1852. when a new one was built. This brick building is still standing' on the east bank of th Iowa river and is maintained by the city. It was used until 1854 when a new two-story bric't building was erected at a cost of about $10,000, located on the public square facing Main street, where the present court hou.se.

now stands. The new edifice was constructed st a cost of $102,000 and was dedicated and occupied July 22. 1929. A few years later the "Air Line" railroad project, for which the people of Louisa county paid nearly $300,000 without getting the railroad, was responsible for a bank building being erected to carry on the business. This building soon became the county jail and was used until replaced by the present jail in 1937.

The first newspaper was Louisa County Times, published in Wapello Nov. 27, 1850. Three years later the name was chaneed to the Wapello Intelligencer. The Wapello Republican has been printed since 1859. I I Wapello Named in honor oi the Indian chiefs Wapello, the county seat of Louisa county, shown in the above aerial photograph, hat a history -dating back weh over a hundred years.

Wapello won county seat status in a spirited- contest with Fre-donia in. 1839 and has shown 'steady growth through the years. Development was particularly noticeable during the past year in West Wapello along" highway No. Tirst Court In 1837. Old Wapello was situated on a tract-adjoining the present city of Wapello on the south.

It w3 laid out by John S. David in 1838. A court house was built of cottonwood poles and the first court held by David Irwin, judge of the second Judicial district of the territory of Wisconsin on April 20. 1837." -First steps "toward the formal laying out of the present city of Wapello were taken by the territorial legislature when it appointed William Milligan. -Israel Clark and Wright Williams to act as a board of commissioners for- Louisa county and select" a place for a seat of justice.

The commissioners fixed the boundaries of the-new town in 1839. The first business house was erected by George S. McCleary, who put in stock of merchandise and later was for some years state- treasurer of Iowa. J. W.

nd Z. B-. soon opened a stock of general merchandise, purchased grain and packed pork for some yeprs. The first black- TO ALL OUR CUSTOMERS AND FRIENDS FOR EVERY DAY OF THE NEW YEAR drought There was dry weather with a leaf-withering. soil-cracking heat that" shriveled the state's corn crop to its smallest size since 1936.

There as wet weather with record-high flood waters doing millions of dollars of damage as they swept, through cities and inundated farm land. It blew hot and Iowans sweltered 'through the most broiling August on record. It blew cold with blizzards piling roads high with snow that kept some of them blocked- for weeks, disrupt ed communications and took Meat Prices Affected And Americans across the country are going to see some of Iowa 1947 weatner in their 1848 meat bills. For Iowa's drought, in July, the driest id many sections since 1936 and wasn't really broken i until October, meant a short corn crop which in turn meant that feed for livestock was to become scarce and high-priced. As a result fewer head of livestock will be fed.

hogs will be marketed sooner and meat will be hard to get and harder to pay for next spring. For those who do not like their weather hot, August must have been 'the longest month of the year. The average for the month, the weathei bureau reported, was 80.6 degrees, highest on record. There -were no record-breaking temperatures, but the daily readings stayed consistently and uncomfortably high. August was the driest month since 1901 with the average rainfall for the state totaling 1.49 inches, or more than two inches below It followed the dry month of July when rainfall equaled only a state average of 1.72, nearly two inches below normal.

i Continued Uatil September The by now familiar hot and dry treatment continued into September, the hottest September since 1939 and; with a rainfall average of 2.10 inches, nearly two inches" below normal. These almost daily heavy rains sent practically; every river and creek in llowa out of its banks at one time or another. The rains not only prevented Iowa farmers 'from planting their intended corn acreage, but also washed out or drowned a considerable i acreage already planted. January Was Warm. The 1947 winter started off mildly enough with January being the warmest January since 1944.

but a sign of what might be ahead came with a severe snow storm Jan! 28-30. Snows ranging from four to 20 inches blanketed the state, and several deaths were attributed to the storm. In eastern and southern Iowa freezing rain, sleet and severe no question about their direct effect on Iowa drivers themselves. It is estimated that the visi test, which requires at least 20-40 vision either with or without glasses, villresult in barring several thousand Iowans from driving. It also will necessitate thit Derhaps 25 per cent of all motorists wear glasses while behind th-j wheel.

The new responsibility lav already has swelled-the volume of fautomobile insurance business since it requires that an uninsured driver in an accident post cash or surety" sufficient to pay the evaluated property damage and personal injury involved or else file a release sigred by ti other -parties. Otherwise his drivera license and his license Jlateswill be suspended. To- Ban Careless Drivers. Officials say the responsibili y-law will rerroxe careless and financially irresponsible drivers from the roads. i Meanwhilej looking toward 1948.

the great number of changing factors in the traffic cattem including the basic human qua-1 tion which i the most unstable of all, makes authorities reluctant to give specific accident forecasts for the year. ahead. Legislation, enforcement. edu- cation, traffic engineering and al- I lied action all can help reduce the number of accidents, they nay, but the biggest single factor of all is the determination of the average Iowan to dri'-e carefully, soberly and wisely whenever he gets into his car. spanning the Iowa river, erected at a cost of more than half a million dollars, were put into service during 1947 in Louisa county "on highway No.

99 as highlights of a busy construction season on roads in the county. The bridges are located at Wapello "and at Oakville. Both were erected by the A. Olson Construction Co. of Waterloo, and replaced old bridges which had been in service for many years.

Construction work was started in 1946, with preliminary operations, including the placing of piers, well advanced by the close of that year. The Oakville span. 924 feet in length, with 'a 26 foot roadway and two foot walks at either side, Was put in use in October. The Wapello bridge, which was put into service i earlier this month, is not yet completed, minor finishing operations remaining such as painting, curbing and completion of the walks. It has a 26 foot roadway and two walks, each two feet in width.

Final work will be done early in icing conditions preceded or. accompanied -this storm i causing widespread damage to power and telegraph communications as weil as doing inestimable damage to i fruit trees and shrubs. February was the coldest since 1936 with temperatures averaging 18.3 degrees, more than five de-r grees below normal. Rail and highway transportation again were disrupted by blizzard conditions early in the month. Drifts eight to 10-feet high were reported and many secondary roads in -northern Iowa were blocked until al most the middle of February.

On 20 or more days snow was reported in the state. Srring Cool and Damp. Continuing the variety theme, March was the driest since 1941 while April proved to be the wettest since 1897. This cool damp weather delayed spring farm operations generally about three weeks with some oats not getting seeded at all. May kept in tune by providing' what the weather bureau called an "unprecedented" snow on the 28th with amounts ranging from one to five inches.

Freezing and below freezing temperatures followed except in the "extreme east and southeast resulting in heavy damage to fruits and truck crops in the northwest with spotted damage elsewhere. Despite the sopping month "of June, moisture reserves were be-, ing rapidly depleted hy the end of July with temperatures above the 100 degree mark and moderately drying winds occurring near the end of the month. Most of the rainfall came early in July. There was little or no relief in August, with rainfall very sporadic and irregular. September was hot and dry, although the drought was broken in many sec-1 tions by moderate showers on thoj ll-13th.

The dry spell ended in October. I The end of the warm and normal weather that had persisted since July came in November, the coldest November since 1926. The preliminary temperature average was 32.1 degrees or 54 degrees below normal. i Box 454 smith shop wis. run by Henry Weaver.

William -Milligan was licensed to keep a ferry in 1837 and was probably the first to engage in- that business, Other Early 1 Structures. The first dwelling- house; on the town site was erected 1835, and the 'first tavern was kept by John Drake, in 1831. John Blivens, the first! county treasurer, built' and-kept a tavern near the river and- later 'sold it to Jacob Mmtuh. It, was in the dining room of this house that ho Rev. Joseph Falkland organized the first religious society in "Wapello.

The first religious -service was held by the Baptists in-te summer of 1839 in John Drake's barn. The town was incorporated in 1856, following a special election. i Tbe bridge over the Iowa riven was built in 1873 1 at a cost $13,325 and is being torn don the new bridge is completed. In 1887 A. D.

Hurley and H. A. Plitt, in connection jwith the Masonic fraternity, erected a fin's two-story brick build jng on "the corner of second and Van fluron streets, and' that fall E. Stephens erected, another two-story brick building; Wapello at one time had a grist mill and a woolen mill. I Early Cburcaes.

I The Methodist Episcopal churchy was organized in 1839. nhe trs Presbyterian in 1857, the German Methodist in 1871. and the Church of Christ, in 1895. The German congregation finally merged witlr the English' Methodists. Other denominations now holding sen- 1 Yo Both the new spans are pai-f of" the state primary road system.

On the county's systeih-of highways, A. W. Hirdermaricounty engineer, reports that approximately miles of highway on. the farm-to-market system of roads were brought to grade in 1947, and surfacing completed on about -15 miles. i WISHES Wapello, Iowa To Everyone 5 to give you.

pello Happy New Year Ill i- -K- sv ice in Wapello are the Lutherarm, the the Church of the Nazarene and the Church oi God. The first school house in Wapello was built aboutj 1844 and was used for school until about 1853 when a brick building was constructed, which is now a par of. the -Nugent hotel. 1878, the present brick building whicn houses the lower grade'sAvas completed. The intermediate building was built in 1912; and some years.

later the high school was erected, and all are now part cf the Wapello consolidated school district, growing from th firU enrollment in the brick building of 280 to the present 650: Building Still Stands. Wapello had a 56 majority in the county seat contest of 1839 and the commissioners then received proposals for the- erection of a brick court house, 20 40 feet, and of, a jail to be of timber. Samuel M. Kirkpatrick received contracts for building the court house at a cost of $1300. and the jail for $1000.

Thj; was never built but the court Death Toll in State is High For '47 By JACK ERICKSO.V Des Moines (JP) Despite continued emphasis highway safety, along legislative action looking toward the same goal. Iowa's 1947 motor vehicle death tolL is the highest since 1941. i One reason for 1947's high cas- ualty is fairly obvious traf- fic. has been the heaviest in his tory. Iowa highway deaths reaflied an all-time high of 613 in The toll then dropped to 409 in 1942 and to a lC-year law of 312 in 1943.

Toll High War i Reduced tcavel because of tire i and gasoline rationing kept the death count low the war period but in 1946, the first post war year, the toll soared to 529. December of 1947 was only ten. days old, however, before the fatality figurel for all of 1946 had been equalled. The toll still was mounting as the year approached its end. Comparatively, however, one significant gain was recorded this The death toll was I considerably short of 194 Ts rec ord figure despite the fact that 1947 highway traffic has exceed ed that of 1941 by than four percent.

Old Cars Driven" -This immense volume of 1947 travel was achieved by. persons driving more miles in fewer and older than in many years. If they get a new car and most persons couldn't Iowans made up for it by driving HOME OPERATED Wapello 4 I I The Is Brief But It Comes From Our Hearts I And we add a cordial invitation to visit our. new show and service room their aging vehicles oftener. Iowa officials and legislators, viewing the post-war upsurge in traffic accidents, have not been complacent-.

Among the important ,1947 developments in the field of traffic control and safety education were "the following: 1. Passage of a law requiring vision tests for Iowa motorists beginning next July 5. Arrests Increase. Increased emphasis on enforcement by the Iowa highway patrol, resulting in a sharply increased number or arrests for drunken and reckless 'driving, failure to dim lights, disregard of stop signs and similar offenses. 3.

"Enactment of the new motorists financial responsibility act. 1 4. Expanded introduction cf driver training courses for both school children -and adults. 5. Decision of slate officials to set up a score of experimental speed limitation ones on stretches of major Iowa highways where statistics show the number of accidents has been ab-normaly high.

Actual establishment o' zones r. waits of metal for the necessary signs. 6. Action by the Vale highway commission calling loyt the start of a program next to widen Iowa's major paved roads froih 18 to 22 feet in the interests of greater safety and, improved traffic flow. The full impact of most of the foregoing 1947 developments as they relate to the nurhberof mishaps will not be felt for some to come.

Traffic experts agree, however, that the net effect of such actions inevitably will be to keep the number of accidents at a lower level than otherwise wculd be the case. Drivers Affected. As concerns the drivers" responsibility law which- became effective Oct. 1, and the vision test which begins next July, thee Wilson Implement Co. Who Have Given Your Loyal Patronage Anil Fine Friendship We Extend Our Sincere Ap-precialion And Our Wish For A' Happy New War! 1 Ford Trbctors Dearborn Farm Equipment On Highway 61 At Wapello -i i At Wapello Parish 'Oil FARM AND HOME SUPPLIES A Oar Most Precious Possessions Are Your Good 5 -1" Will ana Patronage.

Oijloute 61 we pledge anew to i finest WE JOIN WITH THE OTHER BUSINESS FIRMS OF OUR COMMUNITY TO WISH FOR YOU AND YOURS We've Seen Many Changes But one thinz remains unchanged OUR DETERMINATION TO LEAD THE WAY IN VALUE, GIVING. In 1948 we pledge to Maud by that custom. A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERY ONE! It is a pleasure to be "associated with a fine community and 1 we look forward to getting better acquainted with more of you in 1948. do our utmost in continuing merchandise and service. XSliBaiiDgG.

Si A HAPPY NEW YEAR! A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU HOME OWNED D. P. Gaylor, Prop. 5c to $1.00 Store Grain Flour Feed Coal Tile Fencing Wapello Wapello.