Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1911-08-08
A DESCRIPTION OF WAUSAU
IN ITS PIONEER DAYS.

| the east of this was G. Athens tailor
shop and store, then his residence and
on the corner, Judge Ringle's residence
and dance hail. 1t was IN this build
ing the WISCONSIN RIVER PILOT had
its birth with Valentine hingle as its
editor. 1t was here, also, IhaJ the
| future editor of the PILOT put III
much time at the "art preseryative
of all arts" and incidentally Smeared
himself with ink to keep up the
'devil's'' reputation. AL. Lee, an old
pilot who lost his life on the river,
| lived on the northeast corner of the
next block east, and if my memory is
not at fault still farther east on the
same side OF the street as AL. Lees
was the cottage where resided j. W.
Chubbuck, the then editorial writer
of the PILOT, who had the distinction
of having done, while plying his trade
in Milwaukee, the first colored print
| ing ever executed in the state. Mrs.
Beers, Tor was she Mrs Mead at that
time0 occupied the northeast corner
of Third and Jackson, while back of
| that was the Wolfe house that shell
tered curly headed printers devil.
| On the southeast corner of the block
to the east was Aug. Lemke's resi-
| dence. Jackson street led out across
the marsh" beyond which the hill
was heavily timbered. There was a
legend in existence in those days
that occasionally, and sometimes
semi-occasionally dark shadows would
be seen fitting through the woods
and gathering around a fire over
which good-sized kettle was boiling.
After spending few hours discussing
the contents of the kettle they de-
parted, conveying with them the
aroma of a camp fire and leaving be-
hind them large quantities of chicken
feathers and bones. | cannot youch
for the truth of this legend, but
heard that when a mans better half
informed him some morning that a
let of her chickens had disappeared
he always anxiously changed the sub
ject, for aside from the fact that he
had the campfire smell his mouth was
effectually stopped by the fact that
he himself was pGrticepS criDainiS, as
the lawyer would say, even though he
did not know where the chickens
came from until his wife declared a
vacancy in her hen coop.
West of the Forest hall was the
Winkley House where the weary trav-
eler could always get sam and heggs"
and everything else necessary to sat
isfy the cravings of the inner man.
Next door west was Mike Duffy'S
store. This calls to my mind the fact
that on one 4th of July evening four
of us lads, who believed in safe and
sane celebration and who were in
search of some new way to fire our
crackers, conceived the idea of tying
two punches to the tails of each of
the oxen that stood hitched to
wagon in front of Mike Duffy's, pa
tiently ruminating the end of con-
tentment. The idea worked even
better than we anticipated, for in the
gathering dusk, twin comets with
fiery tails, believing at every jump,
flew down Jackson, around on Main,
across the slough and falls bridge at
a speed equaled only by Halley's
comet and / heard afterward that
they were caught out near the fair
grounds. They went faster than we
could run and we lost our interest in
them after the crackers had exploded,
anyway. On the corner west of
Duffy's was Louis Halder's tailor
shop.
More than half way down the next
block stood Tom HintOn's residence
and beyond was the building after
ward known as the Hunt hotel. East
of Hinton'S was garden where, one
season at least, grew some fine water
melons, which, according to an old
custom, always tasted better if picked
at night when the owner was not
around. One day, after we fel 1t sure
that none of the Hinton family were
likely to have cholera morbus, Mrs.
Hinton called at our house and dur
ing the conversation with mother
told how her melons had disappeared.
She asserted that there was one large
one left which the boys could not get,
for she had pulled up all the vines
and covered it up and intended to
take it to the fair. | was doing some
work in the cellar, under the parlor,
and overheard the story and, from a
knowledge which comes from an inti-
mate connection with the subject, |
am able to say if that melon had
reached the fair it would have taken
first prize.
On the southwest corner of that
block stood the jolly residence, on
the brow of the hill overlooking the
McIndoe mill. Just north of the mill
on the bank of the pond, stood the
Clairmore cabin
Low and little and black and old,
With children many as il could hold"
In the springtime when the sun
drew the pitch out of the pine logs,
if one was not afraid of getting his
hands smeared, he could make many
a dime by gathering the pitch and
selling it to the old boat builder,
John Boyd, whose shop stood on the
bank of the pond at the foot of Jack
son. On the southwest corner of
Jackson and Main stood the McIndoe
and Shutter store building, then used
as a warehouse, except the corner
where the Central Wisconsin, reSur-
rected by Rob and Charley Johnson,
was published. 1t was there the
writer received his first instructions
in newspaper work.
Across the way to the east was the
Nonpareil saloon, then going east was
Mrs. James Doonan's and on the cor
ner the boarding house of Joe MOI
Seaux. Joe was small man in stature
but noisy enough to entitle him to
the name. Between Second and Third
on Jackson, stood a building occupied
by Mrs. Am. Porter as a photograph
gallery, then Al. Hinton'S black
smith shop, Charley Huckbody's home
and on the corner, Jake Paff's store
with residence above. Midway up
the block on Third was r. Bauman's
tin shop over which the Central print
ing office was located in the COS and
where the present editor of the PLoT
learned his trade. North of this was
vacant lot where Geo. Casterline
afterwards built his residence and
livery. Opposite Bauman's was Mil
Ter & Motifs store, north of which
was an old cellar, then Jake Gems
mans shoe shop, where was employed
large number of workmen before
shoe factories drove them out of busi-
ness. On the corner of Third and
Washington was Aug. Engle's watch
repairing shop and l believe Aurora
Engle Mrs. Val Ringlel had mil
linery store there also. On the north
aost Garner Of the hloeE Sfond tho