The Mail-Journal, Volume 7, Number 50, Milford, Kosciusko County, 13 January 1971 — Page 12

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THE MAIL-JOURNAL —Wed., Jan. 13, 1971

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around The accompanying photo is of the block in Syracuse known now as the Pickwick Block: taken sometime after 1933. A 1933 Ford appears on the i»ght side of the photo. Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Pensinger of 719 South Lake street, remember' when William Beckman, father of Vernon Beckman, operated a furniture store in the middle building and C. C. Bachman operated The Big Store on the corner. They handled groceries and dry goods. The Pensingers said they moved to Dixon. 111., and returned to Syracuse*for a visit in August 1926 Mrs Pensinger said it was then that the block burned The Pensingers remember Maggie and Henry Sloan, brother and sister, operating the Holton Hotel in the block, and the KP lodge hating its meeting rooms over The Big Store. Pensinger said his father, the late “Shaly” Pensinger, had a barber shop in the basement of the block ♦ Old issues of the Syracuse Journal, however, on file in the public library, dispute the year of the fire. Children's librarian. Mrs. Oscar Bjella. found an August 20, 1925 issue of the Journal which cites a fire in that block on the previous Tuesday which completely destroyed the Oakland Theater, owned by E. E. Holloway. It states nightwatchman Ocal ('raft, making the rounds at midnight, discovered' smoke pouring from the theater’s ticket office. The paper stated fire ate through the ceiling to the second floor, housing furniture fbom the Beckman furniture store, and adding fuel to the flames, and within a few minutes the whole interior of the building was a roaring furnace.

Fire walls kept fire from other buildings — the Gibson Variety store and the C. C. Bachman

Yesterday, we were WAWASEE MARINA, INC. Today, we’re part of Max’s World. Where on earth doyouwanttogo? Max Cttn talia a Subsidiary of W. R. Grace & Co. WAWASEE MARINA, INC. Just Off

store which received only smoke damage. The fire caused a loss of from $6,000 to SB,OOO and fire departments from Warsaw. Winona Lake, Goshen and Elkhart assisted. The theater was operated by J. E. Swain of Bremen with the cause of the fire being unknown. Art Wa terson, brother of Dick Waterson of S & IM Plumbing and Heating, returned home Monday. Dec. 28, from two years in Korea, hoping to go into business with his brother and dad. then came the January’ 1 fire. He decided to hang in there, and he has joined the firm, we’re told. Meanwhile. Doc’s Shoe Repair Shop has moved into Wawasee Village, in the room which formerly housed Oakes Accounting Service. He’ll be ready for business soon. Budget Investments were able to savg their records A handle wasaoken on the safe that fell into the basement. It is not known if an air pocket inside may have saved records and other contents, it was said. Vnsung in the whole thing were Civil Defense members who stood guard around the clock to prevent looting. Salvagable merchandise was moved out of the W. R Thomas building and is being taken to Chicago for resale. From fire chief Tom Strickler: “We’re sure of several things: There was no fire in the basement of the Thomas store: there was no arson: and the fire was not caused by an r’ectrical defect.” He did say the dep a* unent and fire marshal would come up with the real cause of the fire “if it takes forever ” The Pickwick Block fire brought to mind another tragic fire in the Syracuse area — Wawasee Plata Case,, located on the southeast shores of Lake Wawasee. burned to the ground on January 25. 1963. Damage: $50,060. Speaking of fires, it is known now that Petro's Restaurant in Warsaw will not rebuild. However. Mr and Mrs John Fisher, owners of the property, are keeping their three-way license renewed A popular area emporium

plans to open a secluded cocktail nook, with one ample but well clad waitress. Some WHS basketball fans were surprised Saturday night to see former SHS star Tom Firestone turning up as coach of the visiting Bremen basketball team. Tom was a SHS graduate in 1961. receiving his BS at Indiana Central. Indianapolis, in 1965. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Firestone. A nice new hanger can be seen at the local airport with room for five airplanes. An eye-catching window display is the Byland Jeweler’s Main street window and Fred informs us this is handy-work of his wife, helper, errand runner and etc. Clever! Outdoor enthusiasts have been taking advantage of the winter weather conditions for ice fishing and snowmobiles with five to seven snowmobilers on Syracuse Lake. The last was seen one evening near midnight. An airplane was also seen last week circling low and wing dipping but no one has yet been able to determine whether he was attempting to land or what he had in mindL a foot off the ice at times. The south Main street n ailroad crossing is still a bad one! An interesting letter in the mail from Mrs. Gerald Bushong of Syracuse provides us with more information regarding the old cement plant and railroad at Syracuse. Her letter goes as follows: My husband and I have been interested in the bits of remembrances of the old Cement Plant and Railroad, and since the subject w'as brought up again a couple weeks ago, I thought perhaps you would be interested in a few more facts about it from some one who lived right beside the track and across the road from the slip and played on the scows and the tub boats and knew many of the men who worked there We Kved in the white house (is it still white?) just east of Greer’s Sale Bam. My father’s farm of 80 acres extended south and west and the strip east clear out to the

lake edge. So the track cut thru the entire farm. It was in 1904 that we came to this farm. Then there were no buildings except,our own, bams, sheds etc. and also, there was much more to the house, summer kitchen, woodshed and porches. No road 13 either. I was a very small girl when the first tracks were laid past our house. This was part of the proposed railroad from Goshen to points south. It seems the contract called for a train to be run over the track by a certain date and an engine was sent out. I remember seeing the noisy black monster emerging from the trees and was so frightened ran to hide my head in grandmother’s lap. My husband recalls that the engine went as far as Nath Webster, where it remained for years, the “company” having absconded with the money and the dream of a railroad faded. To go back a bit, the Cement Plant in Syracuse, a branch of the Sandusky, Ohio cement plant was started here around the 1900’s and marl was dredged first out of Syracuse Lake. After a few years the marl beds were being depleted and the marl became of poor quality. And when the dredge sank in the lake, just east of Hoy’s Landing, the work was abandoned there. A diver was called and parts of the dredge were hauled up. The remains of it were still visible thru the ice years later. The diver’s suit was displayed for a while in one of the business places up town. .After this the marl dredging was moved to Wawasee Lake, and a cement block storage was put up. Same is the main building atXlacy’s Slip. * The slip itself was made then. W’e children watched the great pile-drivers pounding the huge planks into the sofe marshy ground and the area inside was dredged out. J. P. Dolan was one of the men who came to see us about purchasing land fa a right-of-way thru our farm extending the railroad left there earlier, and continuing on west to Waubee Lake, where there was another dredging operation. At first there were two engines, smaller than ordinary locomotives, later a third, larger than the first two, but still smalL was added. The cars, up to 20 in one string were like square boxes, holding six cubic yards. Other equipment included several scows, large, flat shallow boats; and a tug-boat to haul die scows out to the dredge and back again when they were full. At first the marl was stored in a great “silo” or bin in the cement building and deposited in the mud cars thru a great pipe extending out of the side of the building and ova the cars. As the engine moved them along the man in attendance opened and closed the pipe. Later a crane was built over the west end of the slip, and a man in the “rigging” opaated a shovel which scooped up the marl /from the scows and deposited it in the cars, two at a time. We children were not permitted to go down to the slip during waking hours but after the men were gone and our chores were done, we often went to fish from the piling a the scows and to talk to the night watchman. He explained everything to us including the tug boat which was quite facinating to us. * He was John Lecount, father of Harold Lecount. lately deceased and he lived where the Dan

Hatfield home is now. My father kept a small herd of dairy cows, and to supplement the pasture we children were commissioned, two at a time, to take them out along the roadsides where grass was good an hour or so morning and evening, alternating the areas so the grass had a chance to grow again. The railroad right-of-way was a favorite feeding ground. We knew the train schedules quite well, bus once in a while we miscalculated a a train was late, and here we were with cows along side the tracks. We were never troubled, however, for we knew the friendly engineers too well. I can still see Fred’s smiling face as he slowed his engine to a crawl, leaning out of his cab to talk to us. Once when my sista and I were walking hone from school '(Syracuse high school) it was raining and just as we crossed the tracks at the Turtle Bay caner, the last engine of the day started out. Fred called to us to get aboard. We vaulted the fence separating road from railroad and rode home in style, being set down almost at our own front gate. This was Fred (Shorty) Searfoss who lived just east of the entrance to Pickwick Park. He was the father of Mrs. Daothy Ritter of Tippecanoe Lake. Hie other regular engineer was Judd Searfoss, brotha of-Fred. ’ The plant gave employment to many of the local men who were able to>make enough thru the summer and fall months to keep their families thru the winter. One spring snow had been deep, and still filled the cut just east of where the railroad crossed the North Webster road. The snow was packed hard so they put a flat-car ahead of a small engine and ti?e large engine behind the two and rammed the snow bank. The snow did not yield, but the small engine buckled and jumped the track, and the larger engine behind rammed the boiler. The escaping steam fatally burned the man acting as engineer of the small engine, Frank Harsh. He was the father of Mrs. Bertha Nicolai (Mrs. Alva), and the late Mertie Rex. By this time more and more people were spending their summers at the lakes and fishing was a very important pasttime They thought that the dredging operations were destroying their fishing grounds and eventually around 1920 their influence prevailed to put a stop to the entire project. It came to an abrupt end and most of the machinery was moved away. , “A free press stands as one of the great interpreters between government and the people. To allow it to be fettered is to fetter ourselves.” — Justice George Sutherland. Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Simmons spent a week vacationing in Florida.

SYRACUSE fcS ■ ■ W ■ * SYRACUSE 457 35 ■ ■ SUPER MARKET W R ° te 3 EVERYDAY LOW PRICES SALE; JAN. 14 THRU JAN. 18 INCLUSIVE QUALITY MEATS | c -»- 1 pork loin BUTTER / X ICE TQC sale £ mCREAM4LT WHOLE 59( U, COKE 0 < Michigan a a «.«•. s »s.,.c. Potatoes JV* cSy ro Tomato IQC .aSe 59t* Sauce laL Eckrich —1 Lb. Pkg. Star-KUt — 9>/ 4 Oz. Can DRINK < ghss2ms3Ss Uanne Sunday Mon. - Thura. Friday Saturday Store Hours: 9a.m..lpan. 9 am.-7 p.m. 9 a.m.-8 p.m. 8 a.m.-8 p.m. We Reserve The Right To Limit Quantities

LIGONIER NEWS By Rose Cunningharp Master-Sargeant Peter Furkis Receives Cluster Master Sergeant Peter J. Furkis, hospital clinic administrata, Chanute AFB, 111., recently received the first oak leaf cluster to the air force commendation medal for meritorious service as noncommissioned officer in charge of the hospital registrar’s office and as the Sergeant Major Os the 854th Medical Group. Malmstrom air face base, Montana, from June 13, 1966 to June 30, 1970. The presentation was made by Maja General James B. Knapp. Commander, Chanute Technical Trainning Center. Sergeant Furkis, a 15-year careerman, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Furkis, 407 McLean St., Ligonier. He and his family reside at 14348 Raitb Dr., Rantoul. Science Fair Coordinators Are Chosen The Noble county coordinators fa the local Science Fairs have been chosen and will be working with the director of the 1971 Northeast Indiana Tri-State Regional Science Fair. -This includes Daniel Replogle. Central Noble high; Richard Lay mon,. Central Noble junior high; Daniel Replogle, Albion elementary; Leo Pippenger. Wolf Lake elementary; John Ritchey. York Center elementary; Jack Young. Kendallville junior high and elementary; Mary Bond, Avilla junior high; Donald Goings. Rome City junior high; Constance Crooks, LaOtto elementary; Milo Troyer, West Noble schools; Sister M. Laurine, Saint Mary. Perry Horhemakers Hold Meeting The Perry Townships Homemakers Demonstration club met Wednesday afternoon at the Eagles Hall. The business meeting was conducted by Mrs. Russell W’allace, president. Devotions were by Mrs. Arthur Couts. Response to roll call was “A new idea I used in holiday entertaining.”. Mrs. Robert Duesler gave the 1970 financial report. A health repat on “Coronary Attacks” was given by Mrs. Harold Simmons and a safety report by Mrs. Ruth Smith. The project lesson on “Consumer Education” was given by Mrs. Richard Fisel.

The group voted to contribute to the Noble County Association fa Retarded Citizens, Inc. Twelve members were presented perfect attendance pins by Mrs. Robert Duesler. Mrs. John Todd has a perfect attendance recad for 20 years. The doa prize went to Mrs. Marie Chiddister. Hostesses were Mrs. Dean Hite and Mrs. Tom Hite. Mrs. Lou Ellen Patrick Services were held Sunday in the Ligonier funeral home for Mrs. Lou Ellen Patrick, 83, who died Thursday in the Silver Cross hospital, Joliet, 111., after an illness of three weeks. Mrs. Patrick was a native of Kentucky but had lived in Ligonier since 1943. Her husband, Greene, died in 1942. Survivors include four sons. Grover and Lloyd, Ligonier, Leonard, Scranton, Ky., and Orville, Joliet; two daughters, Mrs. Lillian Sandahi, Joliet and Mrs. Ted Mynhier, Franklin, Ohio, 26 grandchildren. 35 greatgrandchildren, one brother, Elbert Reed, Morehead, Ky.; and a sister, Mrs. Adah Rollins. Cromwell. Mrs. Patrick was a member of the Ligonier Church of Christ. Rev. Donald Poyser was in charge of the services and burial was in Sparta cemetery at Kimmell. WEB WELLS OBSERVE 25TH ANNIVERSARY Mr. and Mrs. Web Wells. 506 2nd St., celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary Sunday with a family dinner at the home of their son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Gary Wells, in Fort Wayne. They were married January 5, 1946 at Reed City, Mich; Mr. and Mrs. Wells have resided in Ligonier since 1960. They are parents of three sons. Eugene, a student at Indiana university, Bloomington; Gary, a student at Indiana university regional. Fort Wayne; Dean at home; and a daughter Christine, also at home.

CALL US Before You Sell Your Hogs WE BUY HOfiS DAILY MAX M. KYLER Phone: 839-2108 A Sidney, Ind. P. B. Stewart & Co. 2100 DURBIN ST. WARSAW, IND. PHONE: 267-6054

JOSEPH MILLER FAMILY CELEBRATES The children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Joseph Miller, united in a family celebration of his 89th birthday anniversary Sunday. Those attending the carry-in dinner were Mr. and Mrs. I. F. Schatgen, Ashley; Mr. and Mrs. MichaelShoudel. Wolcottville; Mr. .and Mrs. Andrew Szemen and daughter, Hamilton; Mrs. William McGuin, Ligonier; Mrs. Joseph William, Kendallville; Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose Milla and children, Waterloo; Mrs. Paul Collins and children, Butler; Mr. and Mrs. Donald Szeman and children. Angola; Mr. and Mrs. Fritz Schatgen, Hicksville, O.; Mrs. Irene Fee and children, Hamilton; Mrs. Wayne Maurier and children, Garrett; John Shoudel and Goshen; and Mr. and Mrs. Earl Lawrence and daughter, Kendallville. Four of Mr. Miller’s grandchildren are now serving in the U. S. Army. COMMUNITY NEWS State Representative and Mrs. , Ellsworth Peterson have returned from Clearwater, Fla., where they spent several days after driving Mrs. Petason’s mother, Mrs. Gladys Yoder of Topeka, to t’lqrida. Mrs. Yoder will spent the winta months with Mrs. Lulu Neuffer in Clearwater. Richard Neuhouser, son of Max Neuhouser r 1, Ligonier was promoted to marine lance corporal Recently at Marine Barracks, Fallbrook, Calif. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Kile have returned from a trip to Florida and Texas. They visited their daughter. ■ Mrs. Jody Bailey, in v Texas. _ Rev. Len Phelps, Mrs. Phelps, Terry Moore, Pat Moore, and Chris Schlemmer, from the Ligonier Presbyterian church, attended the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship Missionary Convention last week at the University of Illinois. Mr. and-Mrs. John Eytcheson and family have returned to their home in San Antonio, Texas, after spending the holidays with his mother. Mrs. Leona Eytcheson. and other relatives. ; Ronald Epert of Ligonier, returned to Texas with them.