Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1900-05-01
THE HALL FLOOR SINKS.
Excitement Caused By Slight Ac-
cident at Whitewater.
CITY HALL IS OPENED.
Many Guests Attend an Elaborate
Banquet-Interestin2 Pro-
xramme of Toasts.

Whitewater, Wis, April 2S.-[Spe
cial. l-Considerable excitement was
caused at the dedication of the city hall
last evening by the sudden sinking Of the
floor of the courtroom in the second
story. The crowd had just gathered, and
Mayor Wilkinson was making the open
ing address, describing the beauty and
convenience Of the building, when the
breaking of one Of the iron orders below
was heard, and the floor went down
about three inches. The large courtroom
is just above the engine and hose room,
and is supported by Orders, SO as to have
no columns TO Interfere with the move
ment of the fire apparatus. The sinking
was due to a flaw in the iron.
Order was soon restored however, and
the exercises proceeded. After the open
ing address by the mayor Prof. III. G..
Buell. of the high school spoke Of the l.
Drary, which occupies an important part
in the new building. He was followed
by ex-Gov. Peck, who spoke of his days
III Whitewater. He said that he was
one OF the printers who printed the first
labels for the library when it was started
and that he now has in his possession Il
book belonging to the library which he
forgot to return, with one of those same
labels in it. He said there was not
back yard in Whitewater that he had not
played in when boy, and that it was
here where he first experienced the de-
light of taking a girl home from Il revival
meeting. The delight was changed to a
different feeling, however, when it came
to going home in the dark himself, and
the girl had to get her father up to take
him back with a lantern. EX-Gov
Hoard followed. He spoke of the enter
prise and spirit which public buildings
show.
Banquet at Hotel Wa1worth.
The exercises at the hall were short
and informal, to allow time for the ban
quet at Hotel Walworth, which began at
$50 o clock and continued until nearly .
O'clock. There were about $50 present.
The tables were decorated with carna-
tons and ferns, and music was furnished
by the orchestra. After an elaborate re-
past of eight courses was served. T.. u.
Coe assumed the duties of POSTMASTER.
The first to be introduced was Prof A
j. Hutton, who responded to the toast of
What Next?" Mayor W. c.. Leitsch of
Columbus. the youngest mayor of the
state, spoke of the help which cities may
be to each other, and devoted much of
his time to a plea for the municipal own
ership Of light and water plants. Ex-
Gov. Peck again entertained the COM
pany with stories of his boyhood life
here. The programme IN full was as
follows:
Prof A. J. Hutton, "What Next" Rev.
F. V. Stevens whitewater as New
conner Sees sit it." Mayor W. c. Leitseh, Co,
lumbus, The Brotherhood of Cities. {"
President Albert Salisbury The Growth of
Institutions in Whitewater" James G..
G. NJ. Blackman, Our Library Prof.
Robert Rienow. The Citys Charities"
George W. Peck. Milwaukee, Before and
After" Prof. H. c. Buell., '.As a school
master Sees Things Rev F. 2. Reilly.
.,Municipai Patriotism.r d. S; Cook, ON
Hall Open to Public.
The hall was thrown open to the public
at in the afternoon, and from that un-
til . O'Clock 1t was crowded with the
people of Whitewater and neighboring
cities. On going in at the main entrance
one is Confronted by wide oak stair
case leading to the second story, to the
side of which is a marble slab bearing
the name Of the mayor, IL. j. Wilkinson;
the city clerk. L. G. Holmes. and the
members of the common council, L. K.
SpoOner. Elias Bennett, Jr.. l.. G. Baker,
w. f. SpoOner E. f. Donnelly and NJ
Messerschmidt. To this might be added
the name of Fire Chief III. S. Salisbury,
with whom originated the idea of city
hall, and who has had IA large share in
pushing forward the project to successful
completion. At the left of the entrance
is the semi-circular library and reading
room, furnished in the most modern style
with elegant oak furnishings. To the
right of the entrance is the large room
for fire apparatus, and beyond it the office
of the city marshal back of which is
the lookup. On the second floor are the
council chamber, offices for mayor and
city clerk courtroom. firepr0of vault, fire.
mems room, and storage room for the
city relief committee. In the basement
a room is provided for tramps. The
building is about ready to pass out of
the hands of the contractor, and will be
accepted from him by the city in a few