The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1914-04-02
WISCONSIN TOWN
WAKES UP FAMOUS.
Womdn's Activities Provided
Paved Streets and Bridge.
HOW SHE AROUSED THE MEN
Raised Money For Town improvement
by Giving Parties Proceeds Devoted
to Cleaning Up Place and Paving the
Main Street.

A woman has put Waukau on the
map. Waukau is In Wisconsin. 1t has
a population of less than 500, but be-
cause of the woman the less than 500
have a $1,000 bridge and sidewalk.
Mrs. Peter Macdougall first awoke to
the fact that the one bridge over Wau-
kau's one street wasn't more than half
a bridge after forty-fve years Of wear
and tear and that the street wasn't
more than half street because there
was nothing much but Wisconsin clay
to walk on. The day she took this in
with that new sense of civic response
bility that is developing in women ev-
erywhere was the day she began to
act. Stepping into Bagley's. she talk
ed with the general store man about
the probable cost and ways and means
of raising the money. He said it
would cost more than she could ever
get, but she tackled up subscription
paper in the store. and the work of
bridge building and sidewalk building
had begun.
You may not know Waukau, but you
probably know some place not unlike
Waukau, so you know just how hard
it was to start something in Waukau.
The first thing on the program was
box social. A box social is a party to
which every girl takes lunch in a
box, and the boxes are auctioned off
to the men. The box social netted $25.
Summer came, and ice cream s0cials
got popular. Meantime the sidewalk
had been started. and by autumn the
street between Bagley's and the depot,
q stretch 3.4O0 feet long, was paved,
and there was $500 on hand, with
deficit of $50 to be made up. BY now
nearly everybody in Waukau was as
full of fried chicken, deviled eggs,
cake and ice cream as the law allowed,
and the winters program had to show
change. Mrs. Macdougall got slight
variation with chicken pie social that
brought in $32. Then she got the
schoolteachers to make up among them
a purse of $25. Then she had an old
folks dance that was SO popular that
even violent storm could not keep
people away. Net result, SAT-
Then she got the ladies of the Won
ans Christian Temperance union to
have sale of fancy articles and a
ten cent supper, and that meant S37
more. Then she had another old folks
dance. Life in Waukau had become
just one long gay whirl; but. what with
the entertainments and private sub
and donations of things for
Mrs. Macdougall to sell. $3.50 had
been contributed, and Waukau had a
stone bridge and cement sidewalk
from the depot to the bridge. More
over, the bridge has gas pipe railing.
and the total cost of bridge and railing
was $345.
The people over in Canada" the part
If Waukau north Of the bridge. came
% Mrs. Macdougall for help. They
wanted sidewalk too They needed
t more than the other half because the
ay of their land was lower. Mrs. Mac
lougall began all over again. Again
The fed Waukauans on chicken pie and
ce cream. Again Waukau whirled in
he dance. When she had got together
1850 the Canada sidewalk was begun.
t isn't finished, and the money is not
n hand to pay for all Of it. Mrs. Mac
lougall says that about $500 more is
needed. She says getting money out of
Vaukau now is like getting blood out |
# turnip.
OF course the men voters Of Waukau |
lelped Mrs. Macdougall materially in |
II this. One gave her SIS. one gave
Ter So, an Omro merchant gave her Is |
ents. two of them gave her the gravel
eeded. musician played at one of her |
ances for nothing. great many gave
romises, and any number gave advice.
ot forgetting Tom Malady. now Of
llk River. Ida. but once OF Waukau.
lie sent check for sos.
If any other woman who has ever
aced and solved a civic problem of
his constructive nature knows of any
ew ways of raising money that might
7ork in jaded Waukau. Mrs. Macdou-
all would like to. get into immediate
with her.