1920 to 1925 Pages 571 to 667
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571 1920 TO 1925 Pages 571 TO 667 County didn't Roar in the Roaring Twenties 572 The Roaring Twenties and the Al. Ringling Theatre 575 Eliza Morris and the Morris Hotel 579 The Goldilocks Burglars of 1920 583 The Min-ne-wau-kan of the Class of 1921 585 1921 Commission Fires Chief of Police 589 Extortionist Arrested, and a Pullman Car 592 Booze and School Bonds in the Same Election 595 Early Days at Ochsner Park 599 Did Boston Blackie get his Start in Baraboo? 601 An Author is Without Honor in his Home Town 605 Horrendous 1922 Murders Remain Unsolved 609 Dr. O' Rourke and His Kissel Car 611 Kissel Car Story Won't go Away 614 When the Chautauqua came to Baraboo 618 Mary Rountree-A Park and an Unfilled Promise 621 Yeggs in the Bank, and the Doldrums 623 Affluent Ringlings and Private Varnish 627 Two Similar Tales of Ringling Terra Cotta 631 The Opulent Ringling Homes, 632 The Opulent Ringling Homes-Sarasota 636 Charles Ringling's Grand Florida Home 640 Which town Deserves Title "Circus City" 645 Circus City USA--Baraboo or Sarasota? 648 John and Mable Ringling's Ca 'd Zan 652 Ringling Landmarks and a Cinderella Ball 656 Cinderella has a Great Time at the Ball 658 Famous Attorney Darrow Defended Case in Baraboo 662 Olympia Canby Kitchen Location is a Puzzle 664 Olympia Candy Kitchen and Hoppe Clothing 666 572 year in honor of the anniversary of County Didn't Roar in Prohibition, you can bet that every government official, clergyman, and the Roaring Twenties school administrator and teacher made m;a:Ies of ~arlter 11.Baps their attendance known. On January 18, 1926 such a scene occurred at the By Bob Dewel Presbyterian Church, and "King Alcohol" was vigorously assailed by all present. It Like most wars, WWI produced its was announced that Wisconsin had only sequela of changing mores, and life in 17 federal officers to enforce the law Baraboo, indeed in the whole county, statewide! was no exception. The song "How're It was also noted that the going to keep 'em down on the farm, vacated saloon locations had been after they've seen Paree" says it all, in a quickly filled with more savory way. After a short recession, the stock occupants, keeping business alive in the market had soared in the 20's, as did community. All was not perfect, most people's standard of living, all to however, for some of those locations be brought down in 1929. now housed pool halls, and the city Baraboo and the county did not council moved to regulate loitering share completely in those happy days. there by underage boys. On the some Two big industries, the Gollmar and day as the WCTU reception, on Ringling Circuses, were abruptly gone, ordinance was published fining an the latter in 1918. Adding insult to injury owner $25 for the offence of to! erating was the gradual and by now serious loss minors in his pool hall. For the second of the division point of the railroad, offense, he could lose his license. For some reason, loitering on the new a~sorbed into Madison as are so many things. Goe, in "Many a Fine Harvest" Broadway Bridge was also prohibited. reports Baraboo's population dropped A Six Cent Verdict from 6324 in 1910 to 5538 in 1920, and In a curious lawsuit, Judge Ray only gained seven additional souls by Stevens awarded only 6 cents damages 1930. The county lost 584 persons during to Louis Klagus because stones from a that time. city quarry blast landed in his fields. He We've already written of the had claimed $250, and declined a battle of the bridge locations, settlement from the City for $200. culminating in a bridge, for the first time, Undaunted, however, Klagus took the on Broadway in Baraboo. A perusal of matter to the State Supreme Court. Here the Virgil Cady scrapbooks of city affairs he was vindicated, for the city was in this decade did not reveal stories of enjoined from "casting more stones" on great interest, though the lighting and the Klagus property. The quarry was on sewer-ing of the city seems to have Quarry Street, and can still be seen. been a high priority. Cady had a nice Dance Hall Regulation sense of the extra-ordinarf, however, Not only pool halls, as mentioned and included many unusual clippings, above, but dance halls came under the none of which deserve a full article. scrutiny of the council. The matter was Instead we will mention a few, to give a first presented as a local option in flavor of life as lived by our grandfathers Wisconsin, under the name Terpsichore, referring to the dance Muse of early in those somewhat muted halcyon days. So, here are some vignettes. Greek mythology. In an exceptionally WCTU and 18th Amendment long ordinance possessed in 1924, In 1926 the WCTU was a new severe regulations were placed on such political power to be reckoned with, so halls. The $10 license fee was significant when they announced a reception that in those days, when reluctant males 573 Above: An unusual view of The High Bridge and McArthur Dam Left: A portion of a Very large picture Showing hundreds of KKK members In a Madison Convention 574 paid l O cents to awkwardly ask a girl to Bridges were a big c1v1c dance with them. You could not be improvement then. with replacement of present at a dance under the age of 16. the Walnut and Second Avenue Bridges unless chaperoned. Dance halls had to a priority. At the same, time, totally new close before midnight on Saturday bridges were built on Broadway and evenings, and by l A.M. on other nights, from Island Court to Lyons (West though they could reopen at 8 A.M. Baraboo), none having been there The Ku Klux Klan in Baraboo before. Soon to be built, in 1937, was The references are rare, but the the West Baraboo highway bridge, KKK had a presence in Baraboo, or at bypassing Baraboo and the new least in Sauk County, in the l 920's. In a Broadway Bridge altogether. Like all of previous article. (2003. page 74) we the others built in the 20's and 30's, the published a picture of a huge Klan 1937 bridge on Highway 12 has been gathering in Madison. purportedly replaced recently. including Baraboo men among those in So much replacement of short sheets and pointed hats. lived bridges, yet a stone bridge In Spain In an undated clipping on the is still in use. It was built by the Romans! Cady papers, in the 1924 section, a KKK So much for our vaunted civilization, at cross was burned in Baraboo. The short least as far as bridges are concerned. article was headlined "Flaming Cross Now another bypass is proposed. to Looms in West", reporting that the cross speed visitors even more rapidly past was placed on a high point of land Baraboo and funnel them into the "near the vicinity of the bridge over the already congested Highway 12 "strip" to railroad near the Excelsior Creamery" our North! Baraboo was denied an This is probably near the Deppe Street in interstate exit on County A in the l 960's, Baraboo today. Railroad men but are being allowed all of two exits responded, thinking it was a telephone from the newest Highway 12 bypass, if it pole ablaze. is constructed. The newspaper reported that the So there you have a glimpse of cross was still standing the following the l 920's in Baraboo. as the city morning, and had apparently been recovered from its loss of two major wound with rags and soaked with industries. the circus and the railroad- kerosene to ignite it. It disappeared the scrapbook can be seen at the later, but was believed to signify that a Historical Society. Residents still loved new chapter of KKK had been formed in their city, however, as evidenced by the the city. This was verified by the fact will of Edward Farley. He left $7000, a that literature had been circulated very neat sum in 1924, for the erection of throughout the city the previous week, a water fountain in the Courthouse Park. asking residents to take membership. It served for many years. Baraboo and The paper casually mentioned the county slowly drifted into the Great that other crosses were burned Depression, followed by the euphoria of throughout the city the same night. In a the Powder Plant and WWII. You can't later brief mention, $85.90 taxes on the keep a good town down. KKK were refunded, as fraternal orders were not to be taxed. During an election in the mid-twenties, Ernest C, Mueller sued L.H. Guhl for slander, asserting that Guhl claimed Mueller was a KKK member. Both were running for sheriff! Bridges, Replacements, and Bypasses 575 on a scale unequaled except in the The Roaring Twenties and major cities in the nation. the Al. Ringling Theatre 1921 Yesteryear Revisited In 1921, some 65 stage performances were listed in the By Bob Dewel Wilkinson scrapbooks, mentioned in the previous article. In addition, city and When the Al. Ringling Theatre county school commencements entered the roaring twenties, it already occupied the stage. Benefit had established itself as a legitimate performances were freely given by the theatre with nationwide recognition. The Al., a privately owned business, for the previous article illustrated its frequent starving Armenians or other worthy and varied stage presentations, but the causes.