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THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 32, Number 42 Thursday, October 27, 2016 BATMAN VS SUPERMAN HALLOWEEN STYLE THE Page 2 October 27, 2016 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 In Case Of Emergency, Dial e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] email: Classifieds - [email protected] http://www.thebeacher.com/ PRINTED WITH Published and Printed by TM Trademark of American Soybean Association THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden 911 Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. Fact vs Fiction The Beacher’s William Halliar Sifts Through Local Urban Legends by William Halliar Everyone likes a good story. Tales passed down and half-remembered anecdotes, magnifi ed and through the years take on a color and fl avor each exaggerated by time and retelling. time they are recounted from the storyteller to As the seasons change, the days shorten and the listener. Like ghosts from the past, these sto- Halloween approaches, it is a time of spooky sto- ries are repeated, speculation woven with fact un- ries and unsolved legends. Now, we slow down a til no one knows for sure what is fact and what is bit to spend a little more time in the dark contem- fi ction. plating these tales that swirl in our minds and The many folks who have lived their lives in knock furtively on the doors of our memories. and around the dunes and swales of Lake Michi- We decided to look into a few of them and de- gan have added their own voices to these collected termine whether they have a kernel of truth, are tales. Legends born of fact, but nurtured in the mostly myth or if there is something of substance imaginations of average folks have been part of that has kept them alive all these years. I am Michigan City lore almost since its founding. relatively new to the community, so each of these A legend is more than just a good story. It is an stories was news to me. My interest, if possible, accumulation of facts, mingled with speculations was to uncover the truth behind them. Urban Legend 1: Was Michigan City a Potential Site for a University Instead of a Prison? The fi rst legend gan City? George, involves business Lucius, Frank, Ed- wheeling and deal- mund and William ing in high places. It Ball were born of is said by some that Lucius, a farmer and Michigan City once merchant, and Ma- was a potential site ria, a former school for Ball State Uni- teacher, during the versity, which today early 1800s. After exists in Muncie, Ind. marrying in 1846, Michael Gresham, the Balls settled in founder of the mes- upstate New York sage board cityby- and raised a family thelake.org, has long of eight children: six been curious about boys (one of whom this tale and spent died in infancy) and some time research- two girls. ing it. He shared his The brothers were fi ndings on his mes- close and began sage board. manufacturing glass Who were the in Buffalo, N.Y., in Ball brothers, and 1880, but moved the why would they family business to care about Michi- Muncie in 1888. THE October 27, 2016 Page 3 Michiana Humane Society’s 13th Annual HARVEST HOME TOUR Saturday, November 5 Tour: 12pm–5pm EDT | Wrap Up Party: 4pm–7pm EDT The Ball brothers. In 1876, coal miners were drilling in Eaton, Ind., searching for coal deposits. At one such boring site, an underground chamber was breached and a foul- smelling gas emitted. The miners feared they had “breached the ceiling of hell” and quickly plugged the bore hole. In 1888, natural gas was discovered in Ohio, and the Indiana miners realized the sig- nifi cance of their earlier discovery, returning to the original dig sit to take advantage of the newly dis- covered fuel source. Celebrate the Harvest Season and visit As it turns out, Trenton Gas Field, which spans seven beautifully appointed homes throughout central Indiana and Ohio, was the largest source of Harbor Country®. Tickets are $60 in natural gas discovered to date. Many manufactur- advance and $75 on the day ers, including the Ball brothers, decided to make of the tour. For tickets and information visit central Indiana their home because of this ready source of natural gas, a commodity vital to their www.michianahumanesociety.org glass-making process. or call 219-872-4499. The Ball brothers were an industrious and gener- ous family. Known for their philanthropy, they sup- Tickets available now ported many projects in their community, including at the following locations: the founding of a university that eventually bore s blais their family name. s Brandt’s Old Fashion Emporium Did the Ball brothers originally consider Michi- s Chesterton Feed & Garden Center gan City for the location of their university, as leg- s Darling Boutique end has it? s Frecklefarm Gresham’s research might shed some light into s It’s A Breeze the dark corners of this persistent legend. He wrote s Michiana Humane Society to a BSU history professor, who referred him to cu- s The Villager rators at Minnestrista, a cultural center established by the Balls in Muncie. Minnestrista contains many Sponsored by: papers from the Ball brothers and an extensive his- tory of the company. Gresham’s letter read, in part, “As you may, or may not, know, Michigan City is home to a very large state prison which was opened in 1860. The legend goes that the family behind the Coldwell Banker Ball Company was interested in purchasing the Harbor Country land which eventually became the prison. For some Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 October 27, 2016 Fact vs Fiction Continued from Page 3 reason, the owner of the land became upset and in- stead sold it to the state of Indiana, which wanted to use it for the prison location.” Those familiar with the Ball history at the Min- nestrista Cultural Center had never heard of such a story and could fi nd no foundation for the legend in their records. Minnestrista archivist Susan Smith wrote back to Michael’s inquiry, “This legend ap- pears to be just that...I have never seen anything re- motely resembling this story.” Susan stated she had worked with the family and the company archival materials for many years. An interesting aside to this story is the color of Ball canning jars manufactured in Muncie over the next 30 years. Ball became quite famous for its “Ball Blue” canning jar. Ball did not have exclusive rights The famous Ball jars. to the color, but it seems to have been a natural oc- In an article published by The Society for His- currence in the manufacture of glass made from the torical Archeology titled “Bottle/Glass Colors,” it sand of Michigan City’s Hoosier Slide. No additives is noted, “Aqua glass is a natural result of the iron were added to the natural sand, but the glass after impurities found in most sands. It is very rare that cooling turned a shade of aquamarine that became sand does not contain some traces of iron. Sand de- Ball’s trademark color. Sand from the Hoosier Slide posits with very low iron content are highly valued was completely consumed by 1936 and after that commodities. Aqua glass is the result of sand which Ball began making clear glass jars. is relatively low in the amount of iron.” Urban Legend 2: Is This Relic a Submerged Train? Down a gravel road, just they played, or those passed to the north of Striebel Pond down by their parents, cre- and into the thicket of a ated a legend around the long-forgotten forest track, rusted relic of bygone days. sits the remains of yet an- But what is it? Where did it other urban legend. come from? Who left it there Tucked away on the for- to rust? est fl oor, amid the ruins of I searched for what I was a structure surrounded by told was a well-worn trail a tangle of rotting railroad into the woods. I passed ties and twisted rebar, lies it several times as I drove the remains of what appears down a gravel road in a to be an ancient boiler. fairly well-developed area Legend has it this rusted of the city. I was looking hulk is all that remains of for that well-worn trail so a steam engine that must many children mentioned. have pulled freight or pas- Sure I was in the right area, sengers through Michigan I drove back and forth, ac- City many years ago. The tually following several heavy iron structure is rust- traces into the woods that ed to the point that each appeared promising, only separate piece has melted to fi nd tangles of ancient into the other, becoming a railroad ties and bits and sculpture of red abandon pieces of broken concrete and wonder. sticking out of the ground A trail worn in the woods in a haphazard array that leads through gullies and around trees and broken resembled sad, broken teeth...but no boiler. concrete walls to the derelict buried half its diam- One last time, I stopped and pushed my way into eter in the earth. Over the years, many children the woods.