Portage Daily Register from Portage, Wisconsin • 2

Tales of Old Portage Commentary-at-large 1 When Portage yellow brick was king Typos are a little like planting carrots and getting thistles you never expect them and when they appear pure horror by DOROTHY MCCARTHY Daily Register Special Writer By DARYL MOEN Daily Register Editor two or three times a season It hardly seems possible that enough brick could be produced by this slow method to supply the demand even in this community In due time the brickyards as Portage knew them went out of business for several chief of which was the growing competition of the larger yards in cities which could put out thousands more brick in less time and at less expense Another reason was the dwindling supply of good clay The shallow stratified beds of clay extending inland from the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior had been tapped heavily although rich deposits along Lake Michigan still provided a good supply in 1880 Milwaukee reported an annual output of 24 million bricks The brickyards as such added ice harvesting to their services as well as fuel distribution in order to make a 12-month business possible The yellow brick homes so familiar on Portage streets many with typical Victorian trim some now weathered and soiled over the years still represent an era when brickmaking helped to boost the economy of this thriving little town Miss Rogers was winking for the third time when the life guard seized her and dragged her regularly in our bank never reget you have a piano to move take' advantage of our expert service and careful handling Kindling wood for Clairvoyant Society will not have its usual meeting this week due to unforseen Some of the above and many of the line goofs are not they are lines with double meanings had hundreds of them here at the Register but unfortunately he were so bad we even reprint them The New York Times published my favorite double entendre headline On the front page they said: FATHER OF 10 ACCIDENTALLY SHOT MISTAKEN FOR RABBIT The Monroe (Mich) Evening News head-' lined HOLY GHOST TO BUILD NEW CHURCH Wonder who He got for a tractor Headline in the Afro-AmericansWasbing-ton DC TOP ARMY BRAS DISCLOSED SERVICE CLUB SCANDALS Guess they bared that issue The United Press International wire ini our office keeps us amused and perplexed This week this came in: first satellite insured against the risks of rocket flight was jockeyed into proper orbital postion today for a push irito its final orbit above the Atlantic Friday I Everything is jn wzxwllwnr reported a spokesman i The feeling is pure horror You hurridly rap out a headline and have it set The proof reader okays it because set just as directed Inconceivably all the people who see it and should correct it are somehow struck dumb And then the paper comes out You look at the front page and the very headline you and everyone else skimmed over 20 times before the presses started smashes you right between the eyes: PRESIDENT CONFINED TO BED WITH COED That particular one was run by the Washington Post in the days of FDR The word of course should have been Fortunately FDR thought it was funny He asked the editors to send him a few souvenir copies They had a hard time They had stopped the presses and called in all the copies printed they could get their hands on No one is immune from this newspaper room monstor known as the typographical error The New York Times just recently said that a man from his $23000 a year municipal post after his grief appearance before the grand The Lansing (Mich) State Journal reported said the And the Long Island Press recently had this paragraph in their columns: country after country we find a direct and unvarying correlation between the standard of loving and the amount of garbage Oh what a difference a letter makes! A cartoonist is now syndicating typos Some of his samples: Simon spoke here to 500 reform rabbits attending the four-day It was my privilege recently to guide a small group of Madison visitors interested in old Portage homes whose architecture age preservation and restoration had attracted them here They belonged to the Tay-chopera Society of Madison a group which has been influential in saving many old buildings from destruction and in publishing a walking tour guide of famous old homes in the downtown area of Madison They heard about us and wanted to see for themselves The first comment and appreciative expression concerned the number of yellow brick homes and business structures stretching from one end of Portage to the other "Where did they get all those lovely old yellow they exclaimed The story is one which goes back to the early history of this community when clay was dug from the banks of the Wisconsin River near the present bridge and fired at kilns close by to build Ft Winnebago Although the soldiers did most of the construction of the fort and secured raw materials from many sources the contract for supplying the brick (for chimneys fireplaces etc) was let by the government to one John Arndt of Green Bay He sent James Stewart to supervise the job Stewart was assisted ny Thomas Corey a soldier at the fort Old timer reminscences written as early as 1860 call attention to the number of yellow brick homes lining the streets of this growing village Because of its unusual resistance to wear and crumble the clay in the immediate Portage area lying beneath the river sands was discovered to be excellent basic material for making brick By 1856 there were three brickyards here that were manufacturing and feeding building material into a wide open market for homes business houses and churches Portage City had been incorporated a few years earlier new-comers were arriving daily business opportunities were bright indeed Brick was convenient ancf vying of course with the easy availability of lumber but chosen as a building material for its beauty and durability Brick homes were also more prestigious Stone was available from Stone Quarry Hill about five miles east of the fort but because of the long haul and the cost of quarry- ing stone was utilized only for foundations In 1860 there were only two stone buildings in the county jail and the Reynolds Craig and Company Ft Winnebago Mill located at the junction of the canal and the Fox River (in the neighborhood of the Indian Agency House) ay this date too several well-known mercantile houses had been built the Bank Block Verandah Block the Pettibone Block and the Vandercook names which appear on present day property deeds The peculiar excellence of the brick manufactured in Portage gave the little city additional fame as one of the most important commercial and trading centers of the state In 1847 Enoch Pixley Samuel Reeder and William Armstrong burned a few brick made from the red surface clay near the Wisconsin River bridge The red brick was found to be very brittle but with further experimentation with the white clay which lay under the red by another two or three feet the brick were made strong and durable Thus the three entrepreuners became the first brickmakers in Portage The first product compared favorably in texture beauty and durability with the famous cream brick of Milwaukee To further test the white dependability a Vermonter by the name of Risdon a practical brickmaker was imported to give the clay a thorough test He came at the invitation of his friend Luther Dixon a Portage lawyer who also knew of reputation as a "born His testing method included chewing the clay by which he could determine the quality Upon finding it satisfactory the three brick manufacturers went into immediate production and the Armstrong brickyard continued in business for many years Bridal Pond was the clay pit from which he secured much of his raw material His own home a Victorian mansion at 805 Conant St built about 1850 testifies to the resilience to wear of his product Armstrong Vas one of the first aldermen in the city There followed several other brick yards: Isaac Corkerer Dwyer and Jergens Sanborn and Maloy Conrad Collipp and Herman Affeldt James Sanborn conducted the Sanborn Brick and Ice Company until he was joined by his brother Frank In those days the rail i I Brief and Light By United Press International road burned wood in their locomotives and young Frank who had been working in Michigan came to Portage where his brother had secured the contract to saw the wood to supply the two divisions on the St Paul the Lacrosse and Northern Frank supervised the sawing operations and eventually joined the brick making company Sanborn served two terms as mayor of Portage as well as being active in other civ-! ic enterprises One Sanborn cream brick home is located at 224 Pleasant St and another across the street at 229W Pleasant The clay for the Sanborn operation came from what is now Sanborn Park a filled-in area at Franklin and Sanborn Sts It was once known as fifth ward until health and sanitation laws restricted its further use for this purpose As Sanborn Park it serves as a fitting memorial to this early family of industrialists who made such a worthy contribution to this growing community A third well-known brickyard was owned by Conrad Collipp who went into business about 1850 on Silver Lake He built his home across the causeway It is a large cream brick home now owned by Mrs James A Worden He dug his clay from a hole where the Comstock home now stands Collipp Avenue kept his name alive for many years but the street was eventually renamed Silver Lake Drive Collipp built a bridge in 1859 across the neck between the two lake arms and the waters flowed freely between them1 1 The causeway was built in 1875 by the city Conrad Collipp was born in Germanybut emigrated to this country in 1843 Having been attracted to Indian lands between the Fox and Wisconsin Itivers near Lake he walked from Milwaukee to Portage He scouted the area for several weeks and finally decided to lay claim to some 160 acres on the north shore of Silver Lake by blazing his name on the trees Here he built a log cabin with his own hands After his marriage he built the large brick Victorian mansion on his lake property (1858) for his growing family Collipp served the City as a school commissioner county supervisor of the Fifth Ward as treasurer and assessor After the clay was exhausted on the Collipp property his foreman Herman Affeldt purchased land across the road and founded his own company in 1890 The Affeldt brick found a market as far away as St Paul where many downtown buildings were said to have been constructed from the Portage product It is likely the brick was shipped by barge via the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers though' by 1900 the rail roads offered stiff though' more competition to river transportation The firing process in those early days were long and tedious Wood supplied the fuel and kilns had to be stoked day and night for days at a time to keep the heat constant enough Because of this the brickmakers fired only STORAGE PROBLEM BECKLEY Va (UPI) A Beckley radio station announced Thursday that anybody with a worthy cause and a good size pickup truck can lay claim to 50000 Christmas cards WWNR received 158000 Christmas cards during a holiday campkign to bring some cheer to mental patients and other institutionalized persons The station managed to distribute two-thirds of the cards but has a storage problem with the remainder by Brickman the small society Heo-goV! What a cooumy- HAVING To ecoUoAizE- on a TWO HlMPfeP SiLLioM PoLLAfZ JUST LIKE RUGBY PARIS (UPI) like taking a pass in was Jean-Pierre comment after he caught a five-year-old boy who fell Thursday from the seventh story of a Paris apartment block Chopin a 28-year-old physical education teacher was in a building across the road when die saw Rafik Meliani-Marrouki balanced on a seventh-story balcony Chopin Ykshed down the stairs crossed the road and was just in time to catch the child Sto Inc -7 1 Out of the Past 1 PORTAGE WIS SATURDAY JANUARY 17 1970 20 YEARS AGO mmmm i I Will Nixon nominate woman for High Court? I Ask the doctor By DR THOSTESON MD Michigan and a federal official Mary Gardiner Jones of the Federal Trade Commission By JONATHAN EDWARDS Central Press Association Correspondent I II Basketball coach Chub Hatch reminded the school children today that the high school gym will be open for their use tomorrow morning from 9 to 12 noon Children from all the city schools grades 5 through 8 are invited to the gym where they will be guided by four experienced teachers in the fundamentals of basketball I I Mrs Walter Hess entertained the Hungry Eight at her home on Thursday evening" Euchre was played after which lunch was served Mrs Don Clemmons Mrk Gordon Berger and Mrs Don Wheeler won the prizes Other present were Mesdames Olga Race Harry Horton Rollie Clemmons and Ted Clemmons Sheriff Ed Manthey was re-elected treasurer of the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association at the groups annual convention in Milwaukee I WASHINGTON Will President Nixon name a woman to the United States Supreme Court? The President is known to have this under consideration and there is speculation in the capital that he may-do so Former Presi- Judge Hughes received national prominence i when she was selected by Johnson to give him thq oath of office at the Dallas Airport after the assassination of President Kennedy She and Judge Heustedler who was appointed by Johnson to the Ninth Circuit Court do so under his guidance The point is that such continuing depressions can be treated successfully even though you may (or may not!) have to do a bit of searching to find the doctor to do it Dear Dr Thosteson: I would like some information about a depressed feeling I feel like crying for no reason at all more so in the morning but lately most of the time 4 1 think this is worse than any physical sickness Would I be lacking in hormones dent Johnson had planned to make such an fit Appeals Judge Motley of the Second Judi- DAILY CROSSWORD 40 YEARS AGO ni auuB(is Dear Dr Thosteson: My daughter is getting married soon but they want to wait before starting a family Do you thinkbirth control pills would be best for her to take? If so how soon before she gets married should she Mrs has proved itself very successful for the majority of women If she decides to try it she should see her doctor a couple of months before the marriage It usually takes a cycle or so for sure effectiveness to develop appointment if he had served another term However Mr Nixon has not indicated his intentions other than that his appointee will be a conservative The vacancy tp be filled is that resulting from the resignation last year of former Justice Abe Fortas President nomination of Judge Clement Haynsworth of South Carolina to succeed him was rejected by the Senate At least three women are being considered for the court according to Attorney General John Mitchell The close advisor has not revealed their ames but they may be included among those submitted to the chief executive by various individuals and groups including the American Association of University Women and the National Organization of Women These include Federal Judges Shirley Heutedler of Los Angeles Constancy Baker cial Circuit and Congresswoman Griffiths were all named by the two groups Among the others Susan Marshall Sharp is an Associate justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina Lorna Lockwood is Vice chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Cpurt and Caroline Simon is on the New York State Court of Claims Militating against the selection of some of the women in the event the President decided to maxe such an historic appointment is the degree of their affiliation unofficial or otherwise with the Democratic party Mrs Griffiths for example is one of the most I active Democratic lawmakers in Congress' She is the sixth ranking member of jhe power-j ful House Ways and Means Committee and a top-ranking member also of the )oint Economic Committee It was considered doubt-1 ful that the President would narke sue a 8 Hire 9 party 10 Strike 14 Tolerable 16 Infrequent 19 Consonants 20 Black Sea port 21 Chin cloth 22 Openings 24 Boston team 25 26 Primary color 28 Pellet 30 Ashen 32 Apple drink 33 Hebrew month 34 Gourd-like fruit 35 Golf hazard 38 Vent 39 Army meal 41 Frozen water There was a great bustle of activity when hundreds of customers took advantage of the special bargains offered all over the store at Carroll and the beginning of the week The entire stock of merchandise Aaiww 42 and ready to wear and 44 Land measure VltO1 tiHG -I i Motley of New York and Sarah Hughes of promirient Democrat also piece goods has been placed on sale at prices which compare very favorably with those of years ago The purpose of the sale is to get rid of merchandise before remodeling the store As an added attraction on the state Sunday when will be presented on the screen at Portage Theater manager Hutchings is offering a real threat in the personal appearance of East and Du Ed and those funny boys from WGN Chicago ACROSS 1 Possession 6 Farm buildings 11 Czech statesman 12 Regional 13 Pail handle 14 Verse 15 Sprite 16 Legendary" bird 17 Apex 18 Showy 21 Spanish dance 23 Armadillo 27 Goddess of peace 28 Metal sheet 29 Foundation 30 Scarred 31 Ladderlike 33 Likely 36 Indisposed 37 Doctrine 40 Ridicule 12 Food fish 43 Swiftly 44 Conveyances 45 Elmo 46 Pauses DOWN 1- French priest 2 Close with glue 3 Cold symptom (pi) 4 Lamprey 5 Top secret (abbr) 6 Quantity 7 Dear Dr Thosteson: To settle an argument -between my dad and me can pierced ears be grown back by leaving them vacant for a Yes the hole tends to close up leaving a tiny dimple Dallas Texas State Judges Susan Marshall Sharp of North Carolina Lorpa Lockwood of Arizona and Caroline Simon of New York a member of Congress Martha Griffiths of President Johnson created an historic pr cedent! by naming a Negro 'Diurgood Mar shall to the Supreme Court will Presidcti Nixon do likewise by naming a woman' and vitamins? I am 60 I have housework to do but have the energy to do it-Mrs You mention taking this problem to your doctor but you probably should Sometimes of course this sort of feeling can be traced to anemia and that is worth checking A thyroid test is not unreasonable either But there is another possibility and one that is still much overlooked by people and that is depression in the psychological sense In years past there was little to be done about depression which occurs in varying degrees and types Little to do that is except resort to a psychiatric hospital and shock treatments if a case became so severe that there was danger of and that can be a very real danger in some types of depression However depression occurs more frequently in less severe forms These do not drive a person to self-destruction but they can make life pretty miserable In fairly recent years medical treatment for depression has become available in the form of the so-called anti-depressant or psychic energizer drugs In the beginning these were used almost exclusively by psychiatrists but in the last few years a good many other physicians not psychiatrists have begun using them with good results Whether your personal physician happens to be one of these I naturally say But why not ask him? If he does not use these drugs he may well be able to refer you to a physician who does or for that matter to a psychiatrist Because so many people still take the attitude that suggesting a psychiatrist means that they are let me say that this is NOT so A psychiatrist would be ideally equipped to determine whether your like is indeed the result of a psychological depression and in such a situation would be able to start you on suitable medication without much or conceivably he could have your own doctor the Almanac I By United Press International 1 Shingles can be a painful disease! To receive a copy of my booklet Facts About write to Dr Thosteson in care of The Portage Daily Register enclosing a long self-addressed stamped envelope and 15 cents in coin to cover cost of printing and handling Dr Thosteson welcomes all reader mail but regrets that dueCtcTthe tremendous volume received daily he is unable to answer individual letters questions are incorporated in his column whenever possible 1-17 DAILY CRYPTOQUOTE how to work it: AXTDLB AAXB Is LONGFELLOW One letter simply stands for another In this sample A is used for the three for the two etc Single letters apostrophes the length and formation of the words are all hints Each day the code letters are different Today is Saturday Jan 17 the 17th day of 1970 with 348 to follow The moon is in its first quarter The morning stars are Mercury Venus and Jupiter The evening stars are Mars and Saturn On this day in history: In 1706 American statesman and author Benjamin ranklin was born In 1806 the first baby was born in the White House He was the son of Thomas and Martha Randolph and the grandson of President Thomas Jefferson In 1950 nine bandits staged a $15 million robbery of a armored car in Boston In 1968 President Johnson delivered a State of the Union message In it he proposed a $186 billion budget a tax surcharge and- offered a conditional bombing halt in Vietnam A thought for the day: Benjamin Franklin said thou love life? Then do not squander time for that is the stuff life is made Portage Daily Regioter A Cryptogram Quotation CEY ZVIQKR PTQX CJNYM VZ XYMCYAUJX MCKRN CP IYJC CPUJX RPRCYJV f'ORGET Cryptoquote: WE EASILY FORGET CRIMES Published daily except Sunday and national holidays at 309 DeWitt St Portage Wis Matting address: PO Box 470 Portage Wis 53901 Second class postage paid at Portage Wis Single copy prices: 10c Borne deUvery in Portage and other communities in Columbia id Marquette counties: by carrier 40c weekly by tube route 5150 per mo Delivery by matt: 3 yr 91000 mos $550 THAT ARE KNOWN ONLY TO LA ROCHEFOUCAULD (O 1970 Kiss Features Syndicate Inc O' O' O' orj-a oon house a Lady Justice? Will Supreme Court Building 4 1.