The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-05-05
THE VENGEANCE OF
IRONWOOD.

since the first prospecJor in the Go
gebic country gazed at the sparkling
black lump of mineral he had picked
up, and with the prophetic eye of sci
ence discovered the millions of dol
lars under his feet, the town hac
grown darker of reputation as II haC
grown larger. But at certain point
in its growth the social and religious
instinct began to be felt. That was
the beginning of the end of lawless
ness, the last outbreak of which is
the subject of this bit of incidental
history.
Ironwood, iu It's regenerated char
acter, had its antithesis in Hurley
inst across the Montreal river, which
at that point is on the boundary line
between Michigan and Wisconsin
Hurley was, durirg the eighties, the
toughest town III the United States
Its dance halls were the vilest, its
gambling dens the crookedest, its
traffic of vice the most glaring. and
It's bad characters the most danger
Gus in the west. 1t was Hurley that
fOstered the stockades, where kidnap
ped women were fenced within a
large inclosure ana guarded with
rifles and bloodhounds against chance
CT escape by the masters who made
an Infamous living from their slavery.
A crusade started in Chicago tore
down the stockades, liberated the
women. and forever put an end to the
fCnlest blot on the history of the de
veloping northwest. perhaps the foul
est In all American history 1t was
not done without bloodshed. The
men who conducted that unhoIy bust
ness. desperate characters all, were
not driven from the country. They
became the divekeepers and black
legs of Hurley and Ironwood.
| As the two towns grew the baser
element collected more and more in
Hurley. Even there it was held in
subjectlon. Men were not shot ID the
streets, nor was open crime counte-
nanced, but vice in its various forins
hourished unrestricted. Painted
women piled their calling in the va
riety halls, and there was not a square
gambling place running. Partly be
| cause of its better character, partly
because there were bigger mining IN
terests on its side of the river, Iron
wood outstripped its neighbor, and
when IN the spring of 1893 it elected
the captain of the Norrie mine mayor,
it was the bigger place by several
thousand, and the better place by a
still larger majority, its citizens boast
4 al r., E., ~
expression of none too fair repute i'll
IrOnwoOd
W. B. Winthrop had achieved the
| uDenviable reputation of spending
| too much of his time over the river.
In the case of another man, greater
offense might have been less remark
ed. But Winthrop was, in sense,
a public character, a superintendent
of the company which furnished Ir-
onwood with water from its reservoir,
a short distance up the river on the
Hurley side. 1t was whispered that
| his dissipaGons were interfering with
| his attention to business. On such a
| point Ironwood, in it's new conscious
ness of virtue, was touchy Win
thropp was criticised; but he had
many friends who stood up stoutly
for him. He was big, bluff, hearty,
easy going sort of a man; the kind
that maks friends easily. Moreover,
there was no specific allegation
against his professional capacity.
The water works company of which
he was superintendent was private
corporation, but Ironwood regarded
the plant with complacent civic pride
| Hurley had no water works worthy of
the name. By the contract with the
city the intake was to be up the river
we'll beyond point opposite mine
| locations, as the settlement around
the locations drained their sewerage
in open cutters into the river. Win
thropp had mapped out the pumping
station, the reservoir and the intake
He declared that when spring came
lronwood should have as good water
as any place could boast of. Spring
came late that year When the break
up came. in the last of March, Iron
wood, built on marsh, was one huge
swamp. With the coming of April
tuel = "dS Sltdt uedI vi lltldIld dlll
some cases of typhoid. The doctors
said it was due to the swampy nature
Of the ground. The people shifted
cautiously at their drinking water and
wondered if the doctors were sure.
One man, a hardware merchant
named Prentice, filtered the water
He found the residuum inhabited by
small reptiles of uncouth design. and
characterized by faint but undesir
able odor. What he had discovered
he mentioned abroad. Some said
that it was worth consideration. 9th
ers said that the doctors knew what
they were talking about Merchant
Prentice found himself achieving un
desirable notoriety as kicker" and
said no more. but his household from
that time drank no water that was not
boiled and filtered 1t may be appro-
priately stated here that all the Prem
tice family were alive at last accounts
Other persons began to talk about the
| appearance aud bad taste of the wat
er. Some of the doctors gave way a
little and admitted that the water
| ullSut LOU be lulte up 10 Slanuafu
but after the snow melted off it would
be better. Anyway. there was no
more sickness than there had been
every year. On the whole, however,
it would be just as we'll to boil all wat
er before drinking at present That
advice received such attention as all
nalf hearted counsel receives: that is
none at all Wnrth mantipninp
On the morning of April the 1Osh
Rome Baker, supply cle:k for the
Aurora mine. was in his office when be
saw eight sturdy Swedish miners
come up from under ground, whore
they should have been working.
What's the matter with you. men p
"Ay tank | not woke today said 6
big fellow. 'Ay tank / got pretty baG
back"