Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1920-12-09
Earl Winter of Pittsburgh Contri-
butes $500 to Use in Beautify-
ing Site of the Quarry
FEELS DEEP INTEREST
TN PUBLIC FAIRGROUNDS
Says 1t VIII Cost Much More to
Establish New Quarry Than
State Paid for the Property

atorv. For a number of years an eff
fort has been made to purchase the
land where the American Refractor-
les company is located at Devils Lake
State park. One of the chief owners
of the business is Emil Winter of
Pittsburgh and in writing to c.. L.
Harrington, member of, the State Con
seryation Commission, Madison, says.
Emil Winter,
Pittsburgh, Pa, December 2, 1875
Mr.. C. l.. Harrington, Commissioner,
State Conservation Commission,
Madison, Wisconsin.
MY dear Mr. Harrington
On my return to the city have
yours of the 18th, enclosing clipping
from the "Baraboo Daily News" and
/ wish to thank you for remembering
me-
AS we are now in possession Of deeds
from the State of Wisconsin for the
property decided to US by the state,
and the state has received from US
deeds to our Devils Lake quarry
thus closing the matter, I now take
the opportunity for thanking Governor
Philip and yourself for the manner
in which this matter was finally han
died, and feel that the State of Wis
cOnsin should be very proud to have
two officials who look after the inter
ests Of the state and at the same time
try to be absolutely fair in the han
ding of state matters.
Abandoned One Quarry
1t will probably interest you and
some Of the citizens Of your state to
know that when we located at the
Devils Lake quarry, there was n
state park, and that the first quarry
opened by our company was located
some distance away from the lake.
We spent considerable money on this
quarry but found the rock bad and
had to abandon the same. We were
the pioneers in developing silica brick
works in the west. Before we built
the works at Joliet, H., all silica
brick was manufactured in Pennsvl
vania and shipped to the west. We
have very large plants at Joliet and
Danville, where we are using the rock
from the DEVILS Lake quarry. We en-
ploy a great many men at these plants
and it is only fair to say on behalf OF
our company that any manufacturing
plant, quarry, mining operation devel
opment of business of any kind is to
the interest of the state and COM
munity, and should be encouraged by
the community as well as the state.
At times we have felt that we were
not being treated ina spirit of fairness
in the matter Of the quarry; however,
/ can say to you now as l have told
you personally, that / am firm be-
liever in public parks throughout the
country, as they are a great asset to
the state and community, and should
be placed throughout the state where
ever locations can be secured in order
that the people may go and enjoy the
beauties of nature and derive the bene-
fits in health from the surroundings.
Good in Parks
/ have lived abroad great many
years and have seen the wonderful
good that such parks and recreation
places have done in foreign countries
and it has also been my pleasure dur
ing the past four years to live in the
Adirondack mountains in the state Of
New York, and l have taken the
trouble to investigate and see how
from year to year the number of
people has increased who have taken
the advantage to visit these wonder
full mountains and forests and camp
in the same for weeks at a time.
People arrive in automobiles, camp
during the night, spend part of day
and move on. The state has provided
places throughout the park where
people can drive in the woods and park
their cars, erect their tents and they
have made provisions for them to
build fires so there is no danger OF
fire to the woods. This is all free and
is certainly doing a lot of good for
the people in return for the taxes they
are paying and l DIDO hope that under
the efficient management of your Con-
Servation Committee you will not stop
at DEVILS Lake park, but that you
will buy lands throughout the state,
which can now be bought cheap, re-
forest the same and make beauty spots
for generations to come. These lands,
when once in parks should not be per-
mitted to be sold, but should forever
remain the property of the state and
community.
To Get Out as Soon as Possible
To go back to our business / as
sure you that we are going to get out
of the quarry as soon as possible We
have been compelled to buy a great