davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
CROWD MUNICIPAL COURT.
Seventeen Defendants Arraigned Be-
fore Judge Randall Today.

The municipal court had one of g
busiest mornings of its history this
morning for following the double holi-
day the city lookup was filed to over
flowing and the county jail was CALI
into use to take care of the overflow
Seventeen arrests for minor charges
were reported on the police bIotter and
at the jail there were a half dozen to be
added to the list. Judge Randall started
disposing of the cases early in the
morning when farmer came to his Of
fee demanding the release of his hired
man in order that he might get into the
hay field. At noon the court room vas
still crowded with defendants and their
friends. Not a single serious case was
found in the long list and most of the
men were in court on account Of too
much celebrating over the bar ON Satur-
day and Sunday.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
NICOLL sWINs TO SAFETY
Leaking Gasoline Tank Thought to
Have Caused Explosion Which Re-
suited in s'Finest Boat on the River
Being Ruined by the Flames.

| TIE good ship Wisconsin, - the
trinmest of the power boats on the Fox
river and owned by Robert Nicoll Jr., ].
M. Hansen and William Grosvenor, all
| of Kenosha, burned almost to the wa
ter's edge on Saturday afternoon and
Robert Nicoll Jr., who was navigating
her at the time Of the fire was forced to
abandon her and swim to save his life.
The financial loss to the three Kenosha-
ans as a result of the burning of the
boat is in the neighborhood of $500.
The Wisconsin, had been in dry
dock at McHenry, H., during the whit
er and she had been launched less than
three hours before she was ruined by
the fire which followed an explosion in
/ the engine pit.
| Mr.. Nicoll had launched the boat at
McHenry and was on his way to Will
mot when the fire broke out. The pet
cock on the gasoline tank had been left
open and the gasoline dripped out of
the tank and saturated the floor of the
engine pit. Nicoll at the steering wheel
had no idea of conditions and the first
I he knew that the tank was leaking was
when he heard a puffy explosion and
saw that the entire end of the boat was
in flames. The gasoline had been ig-
nited by the spark from the engine and
when the flames broke out they spead
rapidly to all parts of the craft. The
explosion occurred just after the boat
| had passed Nelson IS Rest, one of the re-
sorts on the river, and the river was
full of small craft. Nicoll made an eff
| fort to save the boat from burning, but
was greatly confused by the shouts of
people in other power boats which be-
gan to circle round. The fire extin-
guishers were under one Of the seats in
| the Wisconsin, but they could not
be reached on account Of the fact that
the flames completely encircled this
portion of the boat. Nicoll made an eff
fort to steer the boat to the beach, but
the engine had been disabled in the ex-
plosion and the burning craft drifted
aimlessly. Finding that it would be i'm
possible to save the boat, Nicoll finally
threw the life preservers and cushions
of the boat into the river and leaped
over board and swan to the river bank.
Later the burned boat was towed into
the harbor at Nelson s Rest. 1t was so
badly charred and burned that it is
| thought that it will be impossible to re-
nair tho daupaon done hv tho fro "
though Nicoll had a most strenuous
quarter of an hour, he escaped without
injury and he returned to Kenosha in
an automobile late Saturday night
The Wisconsin, was practically a
new boat. 1t was the speediest power
boat on the Fox river. There was no
insurance on the craft and the loss to
the Kenosha men will be complete
one.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
Mr.. and Mrs. III. Feldschau
Celebrated Their Silver
Wedding Saturday.
ENTERTAIN MANY FRIENDS

Twenty-Five years ago last Saturday
Miss Minnie Raddatz became the bride
of Henry Feldschau and on last Sat
urday evening notable celebration of
the silver wedding anniversary was
held ait Danish Brotherhood hall Mr..
and Mrs. Feldschau were hosts to more
than two hundred and fifty of their
friends, many guests coming from other
cities to attend the notable event.
Danish Brotherhood hall had never
been more charmingly decorated. The
walls were hung with festoons and
flowers and ferns were used to com
pletely hide the big stage on which
an orchestra discoursed music during
the evening. Dinner was served at
half past six O'Clock and the long
tables with covers for the large num-
Der of guests completely filed the big
hall. The tables were decorated with
smilax and carnations.
Before the dinner was served Mr..
and Mrs. Feldschau held an informal
reception for their friends and just
after the guests had been seated at
the tables there was a marriage cere-
mony. The Stemm orchestra played
the wedding march and Mr.. and Mrs.
Feldschau attended by the same friends
as had been with them at the original
ceremony, stood under a silver bell
while the Rev. Carl Buenger, pastor of
the German Lutheran church, read the
marriage service.
After the service of FIVE course
dinner w. d. Parr was introduced as
POSTMASTER for the evening. Toasts
were responded to by Judge G. e. Ran
dali, A. Neergaard w. T. Marlatt, K.
P. Knudsen, james johnson, Chief of
Police owen O'Hare, Peter johnson,
Andrew Anderson, Peter Turkelson
and others There were songs in Dam
ish and in English and rousing cheers
for the bride and groom. At the close
of the toasting Mr. Feldschau respond
ed to the many hearty congratulations
and introduced his wife and his mother.
A1G0T QIuH6T IuBFS Was more sing
ing and dancing, one of the features
of the dance being the ACCORDION mu-
sic played by K. P. Knudsen. Mr..
Knudsen had furnished the music at
the wedding twenty-five years ago and
it was at the urgent demand of the
bride and groom that he again took
up the squeeze box" and played for
the festivities on Saturday evening.
The silver wedding proved to be one of
the most enjoyable events ever given
among the Danish people of the city.
AS souvenirs of the event Mr.. and
Mrs. Feldschan received many hand
some gifts from their friends.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
DEMAND HIGHER STANDARDS.
One Years High School Training Re-
quired for Rural Teachers.

Fortified with the reports of inspec-
tors of the board of public affairs on
the normal school system of the state,
the board Of normal regents discussed
educational policies Of vital import
ance to the public schools, at its
annual meeting just ended The re-
gents considered the ACCESSIBILITY of
maintaining the fye-years courses in
normal schools. The drift of the dis
cussion was toward the admission Of
only high school graduates to the nor
nal schools In order that the rural
school teacher shall be well equipped
for her work, requirement. was made
that after September 10 of this year
the date of the next normal school
year, such teachers must have had at
least one year S high school training OF
its equivalent, and after next year at
least two years in high school OF
its equivalent.
The board is strongly inclined to,
wards permitting seniors in the nor
mails to serve as assistants to the room
teachers in the public schools. The
Milwaukee, Superior and River Falls
schools are already doing this, and La
Crosse has been authorized to under
take the work next September.
Hereafter no class may be formed
with less than ten students, except in
special cases considered by the board in
advance of the formation of the class
A special department in music was
established at the Milwaukee normal
school for the training of teachers and
supervisors of music in the public
schools. A similar department is con
Quoted at the university, but various
book companies maintain such school
for six weeks duration in summer at
Chicago, which furnishes most of the
music teachers for the public schools
OF Wisconsin. 1t is expected that from
fifty to one hundred students will en-
roll in the new course at Milwaukee.
There was a decided increase in the
normal school enrolment the past year,
Secretary Kittle estimating the at
tendance at at least $500, as against
3,100 the year before.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
EARNINGS INCREASE.
Report of Northwestern Ry. Shows a
Big Jump in its Earnings.

BY a remarkable increase in passen-
ger earnings on the Chicago & North
Western Railway for the year ending
today, the net total receipts of the com
pany for the twelve months will show
a material increase over the preceding
year.
Passenger earnings of the Chicago
& Northwestern system for May in
creased $128,0 and for the year they
increased $S88,000. The freight earn
ings for the year will show falling
off of 100000, but the big gain IN
passenger earnings will allow the com
pany to show net increase of $685.
900 over last year. While the official
figures for the last two weeks in june
are not all in, officials of the company
have sufficient information to enable
the foregoing statement.
The big boost in passenger earnings
of the road is the result of increase
in population and vigorous work on the
part of the passenger department in
developing new travel lanes and in the
solicitation of competitive business.
The statement shows that the passen-
ger business of railroads is coming to
be an important part of the railroad
income. As population increases pas
senger travel goes ahead and the diff
ference between the earnings of the
freight and passenger departments
narrows. On one road, the New Haven
& Hartford, passenger earnings exceed
freight receipts.
Speaking of crop prospects in the
northwest, Passenger and Traffic Man
ager johnson of the Chicago & North
Western Railway said:
/" Crop prospects on July 1st were as
nearly 100 per cent as they have ever
been. Conditions are made up of three
factors, moisture, acreage, and stage
of growth All these are at this time
in the northwest traversed by the lines
of our road as nearly 100 per cent as
ever in history
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
PINNED AGAINST 4 BOX CAR
Car Belonging to Frank Gunderson Be,
came Unmanageable and Hurdled the
Station Platform. Many Excursion
lists in Grave Danger of Injury.

William Earl, aged 81 years, son OF
George w. Earl, No. 1872 Edward Street,
met with very severe injuries in a most
unusual accident at the Chicago &
Northwestern railway station at Salem
just after seven O'Clock Saturday even
ing when he was run down by an auto
mobile and pinned between the car
and freight car which stood ON the
side track near the depot. The acct
dent was witnessed by more than hum
dred people and shortly after a report
was sent to Kenosha that Earl had been
killed. An ambulance was hurried to
Salem from Kenosha, but when it ar
rived it was found that the condition
of Earl was such that the physician in
charge feared that he would die if he
were brought to Kenosha in an ambu-
lance. He was removed to the home of
DR.. William Fletcher and on Sunday he
had sufficiently improved to be brought
to Kenosha. He is now at the Kenosha
hospital and physicians in attendance
are hopeful of his recovery.
The accident which resulted in the
injury of Earl was most unusual one.
Frank Gunderson, who resides in the
Salem neighborhood, was driving the
automobile and he lost control of the
car. In the car with him were two
women and a man and he was taking
them to the station to board the even
ing train for Kenosha. Just as the au-
tomobile rounded the curve of the road
at the station Gunderson appeared to
lose all control of it. It hurled the
platform and running wildly was head
ed for the crowd of people which lined
the station platform. The peopl5 dodg-
ed to both sides in an effort to get away
from the automobile and it seems al
most miracle that more of them were
not caught in it's sWerving course. Earl
rushed across the track in front of the
automobile, but by some strange freak
Of chance the unguided automobile
seemed to follow his Footsteps, Final
ly the car gave leaf forward and Earl
was caught between the automobile and
the feight car. AS the automobile
struck the feight car the engine in it
stopped. People rushed out and pushed
the machine back and released Earl
from his perilous position He was TN
conscious and he remained in this corr
dition for several hours. When an ex-
animation was made it was found that
the man had no broken bones, but he
had suffered internal injuries. Earl was
entirely conscious on Sunday and ne
showed considerable Improvement dur
ing the day. Gunderson was unable to
make any statement in regard to the
accident. He admitted that he was
a novice at running the car and
that it got away from him. The people
in the automobile all escaped without
injury.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
coNvIcTs EARN LARGE SUM.
$4,000 Paid by Contractors to Prison
ers Employed Under Contract System.

Over $4,000 was paid by contract
ors to prisoners in the penitentiary
at Waupun, according to a compilation
made by President Ralph E. Smith of
the state board of control, in discuss
ing the amount Of payments made in
a single year.
wisconsin has the contract system
of prison labor and it is the general
impression that the contractor receives
all the profit, = says Mr.. Smith. cit is
interesting to note, however, that for
the year ending June 80, 1913, con
victs received for overtime, paid by
the contractor, the sum of $20,25.96.
Many prisoners have made as high as
SIS to $50 a month for overtime. This
money, of course, was all assigned to
their individual account and credit
.The board Of control is now given
entire authority over the matter of
the payment of a prisoners wage and
the method of its distribution. A
resolution has been passed providing
for the payment of fifteen cents per
day to all prisoners working on state
construction, or at particularly hard
labor about the institution, such as
the engine and boiler room. A sched-
ule has been adopted for the payment
of a wage in the Irvine plant. The
amount to be paid to each prisoner
will be dependent upon the amount
of tonnage Of fiber or Irvine handled
by him.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
WARMING COMES BY MESSAGE
Woman Whose Life was Attempted by
Pretraci Appeals to the Police and
District Attorney For Protection and
Arrests May be Made in Case Today.

Little Italy furnished new sensa-
tion today when Mrs. Raffella Blast,
who was shot down by her son-in-law,
Domineck Pretraci, on the night of
June 2nd, appealed to the police de-
partment for protection. She declared
to the police that she had been threat
ened with death if she appeared in
court to push charges Of attempted
murder against Pretraci The threat
against the woman came as no surprise
to the police, as they have known
from the time of the arrest of Pretraci
that every possible thing would be done
TO save the Italian from being sent to
prison.
The story told by Mrs. Blast directly
connects relatives Of the accused man
with the threat Of death. She declared
that on Wednesday evening man came
to her home and represented himself
as having been sent by members Of the
Pretraci family and he declared that he
was to notify her that should she ap-
pear in court she would be killed. Mrs
Blast appears to be in great fear and
yet she declared to tine police that she
would not be deferred from appearing
in court against Pretraci. The woman
told the police the name of the man
who brought the death message to her,
but the name of this man has not been
made public Chief 0'Hare took up the
matter with the district attorney and
the Judge Of the municipal court today
and it is expected that arrests win be
made before the day is over. In the
meantime Mrs. Blast has been assured
that she will be given every possible
protection by the police department,
and if it becomes necessary a guard
will be stationed at her home to pre-
vent her being injured,
The officials claim that the course
that is being taken in the Pretraci case
is similar to that taken in other cases
where Italians have beer charged with
assault with intent to murder. They
assert that numerous cases among these
people have been ssfixed up either by
threatening material witnesses with
death or by providing that they get
out of the jurisdiction Of the court. 1t
is not alleged that Pretraci, the defend
ant in the case, had any knowledge ef
the threat sent to Mrs Blast, but mem
bers If his family have visited him IN
iail since he was held for trial and it
is not improbable that he had some
knowledge of what was being done in
his behalf Pretraci has admitted that
he shot his mother-in-law, but it is de-
clared that this will not prevent his
making fight for liberty when the
case comes up for trial in the circuit
court.
The police and district attorney be-
ieve that the conviction of Pretraci
is reasonably assured if the witnesses
can be secured in court, but they feel
that even a greater menace to the lives
of the Italians in the. city. is, seen IN re-
peated death warnings sent to witness
es in these cases, 1T is certain that the
police will turn every stone in an eff
fort to secure the arrest and punish
ment of every person connected with
the alleged attempt to intimidate the
witness In this case.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
RECEIPTS CLOSE TO 100000
Decrease From Last Years Receipts is
Less Than $4,000 and it is Blamed to
the General Conditions Of Business
Throughout the Country.

For the first time in many years the
report OF the Kenosha postofice for a
year shows, reduction of receipts as
compared with the preceding year
Assistant Postmaster NJ. F. Zens on
Thursday sent his annual report to the
department and for the first time since
he had been in charge Of this work he
was forced to show decrease. It was
not large decrease and not nearly
as big a one as had been shown in
many cities Of the country due to the
present business depression.
The. total receipts for the year just
closed, and this includes only postal
receipts, were $93, 1884. 1t is inter
esting to note that the last three
months with receipts Of $24,475.36
have been the best quarter in the year
and the men at the postofice are
hopeful that this means that business
is picking up again and that before
the end Of another year the receipts
Of the Office will show big jump.
The receipts for the previous year
were $95, 340.79. This was high rec
ord for the Kenosha postoffice and it
showed an increaes of more than ten
thousand dollars for the year.
"Of course we regret that the Of
fee has not shown an increase during
the past twelve months, said Mr..
Gems this morning, but it can be said
that the same condition prevails all
over the country. 1t is due to a gen
eral stagnation of some lines of bust
ness. Kenosha has not been hit any
harder than any of the other larger
cities of this part of the country and
our record for the year is one of
which we are proud. just as soon as
the manufacturers begin to retrench
the retrenchment is reflected in the
postal receipts Of all manufacturing
towns. It will be noticed that the
decrease in receipts in Kenosha is
small as compared with the total
amount Of money received and ex-
pended,
The report shows that the Kenosha
office has been profitable one for the
department and besides meeting all
the expenses of the office there has
been a surplus of $4s,244.54 turned
over to the Milwaukee office to be
tranmitted to the department. This
shows that the cost Of maintaining
the Kenosha Office has been considera-
bly, less than fifty per cent of the
amount taken in at the stamp win
dows. The cost Of the city delivery Of
mail during the year is. placed at
500, 324.50, the clerical expense at
19,779.22, and the cost Of railway mail
service for the Kenosha office was
$5,178.94. To these expenses are add
ed an item of general expense amount
ing to $266.34.
The very large amount RENTED from
the Kenosha office to the general de-
partment shows that this city is in
line for additions to the service. The
Kenosha office has always been a good
contributor to the general fund for
the maintenance of the department
and for this reason the officials have
been kindly disposed toward all plans
for the extension of service in the city.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
DEATH OF JOHN PIRscH.
Former Kenosha Merchant Died at
Sioux Falls, S. D., Aged SO Years

Letters received in Kenosha this
morning announce the death of John
Pirsch, a brother of the late Nicholas
Pirsch, and one Of the merchants of
other days in Kenoska, which occurred
week ago at Sioux Falls, North Da-
kOta. Mr.. Pirsch was sixty-nine years
of age and he had been in failing
health for some time. The deceased
was one of the pioneer residents Of Ke-
nosha and was in business here with
Paul sauber for number of years.
He removed to North Dakota thirty
seven years ago, but had made many
visits to the city in recent years. He
is survived by his widow, two daugh-
ters and one son.
T Funeral services were held at Sioux
all on June oath.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1914-07-09
SCHOOL FACILITIES NEEDED
School Census in the Newly Annexed
Territory Will Not Be Taken Unless
City Must Provide For the Education
of the Children in the District.

The city of Kenosha bumped into
the big issue Of what is to be done
for the new neighbors taken in under
the recent annexation ordinance this
morning when the school officials APP
piled to the city attorney for a de-
cision as to what should be done in
regard to providing school facilities
for the children in the new territory.
The question became pertinent at this
time on account Of the fact that the
school census is now being taken and
if the children in the new territory
are subject to the rule of the board
of education they must be enumerat-
ed at this time. The census is being
taken by Lawrence Eastman and it
is decidedly important that every
child of school age be placed on the
list as the state pays to the city a
certain amount for each child SO
enumerated.
For each child in this new territory
the city will be entitled to receive a
dollar and a half from the state for
the school fund if the city is liable
for the education of the children.
There is a difference Of opinion.
Some of the officials hold that the city
is not liable for the education of these
children until after the parents of
them have paid taxes. Others hold and
this seems to be the law, that the ter
ritory is now part of the city OF
Kenosha and regardless Of where the
taxes are paid the children will have a
right to demand educational facilities
from the schools Of the city.
The city has no place to put the
three or four hundred children which
are to be brought in, but if the city
attorney holds that they must be
enumerated by the census taker then
the school board will seek to find
some way to furnish rooms to take
care of them when the school term
opens. It is expected that the census
will show total of 5000 children Of
school age. =
Under the law the census figures
must be completed by the 10Th of
July and this will give the board mem
bers considerable time to map out
a program to provide room for the
new corners. People in the annexed
territory are planning to demand that
their children be admitted to the
schools OH the city and they are ex-
pecting to send them without tuition
charges. The towns of Pleasant Prai-
RE and Somers will collect the school
taxes for this territory next year and
it is just possible that they will be
willing, in all fairness, to turn a pro-
portionate amount of these taxes over
to the city treasurer to be used by the
board of education.
The settlement of the right of the
people in the annexed territory to send
the children to the city schools will
undoubtedly serve as a precedent in
making decision on other questions
Of the expenditure of public monies
in the new territory. For this reason
the outcome of the investigation is
proving of greatest interest to the
people In the territory.