125 YEARS AGO

St. Ignace News

November 4, 1884

Owing to the inconvenient location of the telegraph office, the Western Union Company are very generously opening an office in the City Hall building to-day, which will be kept running until to-morrow night, where all election returns will be received.

•••

We make a specialty of all kinds of job printing. Our motto is style, neatness, cheapness and dispatch. Bring your orders to the News office.

•••

While David Murray Jr. was in Caskey's lumber yard yesterday morning in charge of a team of horses with a load of shingles, the team ran away, capsized the load and dragged Mr. Murray quite a distance. His injuries are painful though not severe. The horses were caught near Highstone's store.

•••

This is a rough day for election work, which will account for a number of candidates getting left.

•••

When Mayor Foley was driving home to dinner yesterday, accompanied by his daughter, Mrs. S. A. Wilson and child, a Frenchman's rig ran foul of his in front of Highstone's store and tipped it over. Mrs. Wilson and child escaped unhurt, but the Mayor was severely injured, breaking his arm below the shoulder joint and the shoulder bone is badly shattered. To-day, Mr. Foley feels as comfortable as could be expected and we hope to soon have the pleasure of announcing his recovery.

•••

We delayed this issue hoping to secure some definite election returns tonight, but have failed. Our Friday issue will contain full particulars.

•••

Joe Lafayve, the 3rd ward constable, was arrested last night for attempting to shoot Bob Metevier. It appears that Mr. Metevier refused to give him liquor at his saloon yesterday afternoon and Lafayve went home, returning with a revolver.

•••

Angus J. Campbell has purchased material with which to build a covered skating rink and will commence work this week. He is trying to lease the water front opposite McNally's meat market for this purpose. If this location cannot be secured at a reasonable figure, he will go a little further up street. Persons wishing to encourage this worthy enterprise should enroll their names for season ticket without delay, so that Mr. Campbell may know just how much he can afford to spend on the work and not be out of pocket.

•••

125 vnew volumes were added to the Public Library last week.

•••

The steamer Algomah went to the mill dock yesterday, where she is being placed in the city dock to receive her winter wheel. She will be off her route about 10 days and the Str. R. J. Gordon will run in her place.

•••

[Taxidermist] Chas Londraville is engaged putting up a whole deer. It will be a nice job when completed.

125 YEARS AGO

St. Ignace News

November 7, 1884

The Rev Ferries did not leave for the Soo last Monday as stated in our last, owng to the Van Roalte not putting in an appearance. It is reported that this boat is undergoing repairs at Cheboygan and will not be on her route until some time next week.

•••

A. J. Campbell commenced work towards the erection of his covered skating rink yesterday. The building will be 40x100 feet, with a waiting room 12 feet square in one corner. The location, opposite McNally's meat market, is a good one and we hope the enterprise will meet with good success. The rink will be completed next week and ice formed therein as soon as possible.

•••

The City of Cleveland has not been here this week. On her last trip up she turned back at Alpena so as to enable her to get on time again.

•••

On Wednesday evening as the accommodation train was coming in, brakeman Fred Hill was standing on top of a freight car, when he was caught by the telegraph wire where it crosses the track to run down into the City Hall. He was knocked down, but did not fall off the car. His mouth was cut badly by the wire.

•••

The young people turned out in large numbers to the party at Miss Grace Biddle's house last evening. During the evening a young gentleman made a wager with a young lady that she could not mesmerize him. Her method of experimenting caused much merriment, but of course she failed in her task. We could refer our readers to a certain young man for particulars, but won't give him away.

•••

We are sorry to learn that our esteemed townsman, Ronald Rankin, is soon to close up his boat building business here and move to Washington Territory. He is not leaving here because of any lack of patronage. From letters received from friends at Seattle, he believes that he can establish a much larger business there and his future prospects would be better in various ways. He will start about the 15th of the present month, with the best wishes of a large circle of friends.

•••

At the close of the polls in this city last Tuesday the vote stood, Democrats, 216; Republicans, 174.

It is at present impossible to give complete returns of the county vote, as a number of the back townships are yet to be heard from, but it is generally conceded that the following persons have been elected:

Jude of Porbate P. N. Packard, D. Sheriff P. A. Paquin, R. Clerk John Biddle, D. Treasurer O. W. Johnson, R. Register of Deeds M. Hoban, D. Pros. Attorney H. Hoffman, R. Circuit Court Com'r Jay Bassett, D. Surveyor B. E. Cubley, D.

Fish Inspector J. Goudreau, D.

Coroners F. Cadieux and W. H. Boucha, D.

90 YEARS AGO

The St. Ignace Enterprise

November 6, 1919

The Masonic brotherhood of St. Ignace are elated over the prospets of soon owning a temple of their own.

Fred. H. Johnson as a committee of one recently visited Mrs. Monroe at her home in lower Michigan and from her secured a thiry day option on the Monroe block, state street, now occupied by John Valier as a billard parlor.

•••

A deal that has been under consideration for the past few weeks was concluded Monday an Geo. H Wickman ame into possession of the Rhoades property, between Do's store and the railroad right of way on State Street. It is Mr. Wickman's intention to improve the property and make it among the most attractive in the city. A plate glass front and other improgments will be made, and will be ocupied by Wickman's studio and curio store.

•••

There is a general feeling among the sportsmen of Michigan that this fall will be the last deer hunting season or some years to come, a feeling, it is believed, that is responsible for the large influx of hunters a week in advance of the opening. This year will probably break all records in regards to numbers. It is declared to be the purpose of the legislature to propose at the next session a closed season on deer for a period of ten years. Deer are being steadily exterminated in the woods of northern Michigan, and if allowed to continued the sport will soon be a thing of the past.

•••

Lumber camps are being constructed between the Pine and Carp rivers by Alpena parties, who have bought a large tract in that section. Their cut we understand, is to be taken to the Jamieson mill for cutting.

•••

Unless all signs fail the approaching winter will be a hard one.

For weeks the beaver dams have been winter proof and the food supplies were in. The ams this year are larger than formerly.

Bruin's coat is as glossy now as in mid-January. This means a cold winter, sure, old trappers say.

Immense flocks of geese have gon south. The north was deserted by them weeks ago.

Tree "cooties" are scares and are nearer the ground than usual. Moss is heavier, bark is thicker, buds of swamp trees are warmly encased.

Deer are herding early and all fur bearing animals are a month nearer "prime."

•••

From all over the Great Lakes fishing grounds come reports to the effect that the past season has been one of the poorest in a number of years. A number of fishermen making their headquarters at this port have not paid expenses and several left for other places before the season was half over after suffering heavy losses. The Lake Superior fisheries have been no better.

•••

From Brevort: After driving the Ford truck all summer 'Jack,' stage chauffeur, says he can't get ust' the team of horses in front of 'im, and from force of habit reached for the horn, upset a bucket of eggs and broke all of them but the nest egg which belonged to the hen. And, on the same trip mind ye, he stopped down at "Mikes" carried a bucked for gasoline to the shed when he should have gone to the barn for oats.

He can't think "get ep" any more but reaches out for the crank, and now when he goes near their heads the horses start to "run off," and then he grabs for the steering wheel instead of the lines, and -- - Jack, you'l have to study the book of rules.

•••

From Brevort: The hallow-eve-party at the school house was an enjoyable event. The school children made the entertainment which was unusually good. There was lunch and music.

•••

In recent years several kinds of fur formerly of so little value as to offer n inducement to the trapper have been raised in price, and consequently collecting them has been made profitable. Rabbit pelts, which are extensively used by hat makers, are among these products. One eastern concern has announced that it will need 10,000,000 rabbit skins during 1919 and 1920, and it desires as far as possible to secure them from American sources.

•••

Emmet county supervisor have voted unanimously to do away with the State Constabulary and copies of the resolution issued in this connection have been forwarded to every other county in the state. . . .

The trouble seems to have arisen when a detachment of state troops were on duty in Emmet county recently.

A portion of the resolution adopted reads as follows:

"It appears to the members of this board from their own personal observation as well as from communications from law-abiding and well-intentioned residents of this locality, that the members of said detachment which has been located in this county are unduly conscious of their distinction as such members over-zealous in the exercise of authority so committed to them, and particularly aggravating in the matter of discharging the functions conceived by them to be the reason for their existence, namely, the enforcement of the motor vehicle law."

The resolution goes on to say that "this county is a part of a democratic state, rather than a province under an autocratic government." Charges are also made that the expense of maintaining such a force is far greater than the benefits derived therefrom.

The Emmet county board asks all other boards to take similar action and endeavor to have their representatives in the state legislature vote to abolish the state troops.

50 YEARS AGO

November 5, 1959

The Republican-News

and St. Ignace Enterprise

Bishop Marshall R. Reid of Detroit, speaking at the cornerstone laying ceremony at the new Methodist churc here, dealt with the meaning of a cornerstone, asserting such "ties the whole thing together."

Placed in the bgox for posterity were the following:

The Bible, the Medodist discipline, Methodist hymnal, deed to the new church site, names of the building committee and contributors to the building fund, names of official board commissions, history of the church and of Mackinac county and copies of the church Messenger, Sunday school class rolls, two issues of The Republican- News, Youth Fellowship and church rolls, W. S. C. S. membership and Methodist men's rolls; Mich. Christian Advocate and The Methodist Women publications.

•••

Donald H. Wachter, principal of LaSalle high school, was appointed last week to the Upper Peninsula Educational Planning council by Dr. Lynn M. Bartlett, superintendent of public instruction.

•••

Herman D. Ellis, public information executive of the Mackinac Bridge Authority, presented his film-lecture "Michigan's Mighty Mackinac the Vacationland Bridge" to a capacity audience at the Academy of Science and Arts of Pittsburgh, October 22.

Attendance of over 1,800 persons at the Ellis lecture provides continuing evidence of the interest the Mackinac Bridge and upper Michigan inspires in other parts of the United States.

•••

Traffic across the Mackinac Bridge during the month of October was down 165,648 vehicles form the figure for the same month last year. . . .

Observers feel that the traffic figures reflect the effects of the steel strike on the nation's economy

•••

City officials last week had the parking meters removed from state St. Also moved was the hugh chunk of St. Anthony's rock which had broken off and fallen in the alley which runs behind the main street. City Engineer [C. P.] Becker had two big units in operation to bowl the boulder to a position out of the way and nearer the main rock. It was preserved so that interested sight-seers might examine at close hand the structure of the rock.

•••

The "City of Cheboygan," a former Straits of Mackinac carferry, began a new career Saturday as the Great Lakes' largest potato boat.

The boat was sold by the Michigan Highway Department of Edward H. Anderson, Franklin Park, Ill., potato processor, for $25,000.

For many months Les Cheneaux people, as well as visiting vacationers, have been asking about the bridge to No 8 island that will make many new building sites available in the near future.

This project is under way and has been for the past few weeks. The corps of engineers approved the plans for the bridge which will consist mainly of two causeway approaches with large cribs in each approach. These will be protected by piling and heavy cables and will be filled with gravel. The length of the span itself will be 25 feet and the bridge deck is to have 12 feet clearance above low water. The bridge will be about 250 feet from shore to shore connecting No. 8 island with Hill's Island. The bridge will be 26 feet in width.

The bridge is being built by Guy Hamel, realtor in Les Cheneaux. He undertook this project some time ago and it was not until recently that he received the go sign from the Corps of Engineers.

••• W. S. Woodfill, chairman of the Mackinac Island Park commission, recently received a letter which outlines the co-ordinated thinking of the Michilimackinac Historical society concerning the site of historic Fort deBuade.

The park commission proposes to reconstruct the ancient fort as a tourist attraction and is considering sites near the Mackinac Bridge. Consideration is being given a site on the bluff overlooking the bridge approach and the Straits.

"The question whether the fort was on high or low ground is not the only consideration in making a history presentation. The fort faced Lake Huron, not Lake Michigan. It seems we should exercise due care in placing it at a locality alien to its original location. . . .

"The suggested location on an elevation above the bridge approach on the east side as the traveler goes north fits the requirements as closely as can be done, providing better accessibility to the traveler and eliminate the unseemly pedestrian overpass as well as providing parking," concluded the statement.

•••

"The new arithmetic program to be used in S. Ignace elementary schools this year emphasizes mathematical ideas that will carry over to high school and college," E. J. Ossmann, superintendent of schools, said today.

"The most interesting difference from older methods of teaching arithmetic," Mr. Ossmann explained, "is that the new program helps children to see the "whys' behind ther ules." Thus, youngsters will learn the foundations of mathematics that can be applied successfully to high school and college courses." . . .

"We know that our children are capable and that our elementary schools are sending good students to high school," he remarked. "But our country depends more and more on science, and science, in turn, depends upon mathematics. . . . "

"One of the major advantages of the new method is that children are sure to become better problem-solvers" he declared. "The main accomplishment of older programs was to teach children how to compute," Mr. Ossmann explained, "but this is no longer a satisfactory goal." . . .

Mr. Ossmann gave this illustration of the difference between computation and problem solving:

"Ask nearly any third-grade child, 'How much is 3 times 4?' and the chances are he'll give you the correct answer right away. He and his classmates have been drilled in the multiplication facts. But many of them will have difficulty solving this problem: (Mary opened some packages of doughnuts. There were eight in each package. When she counted the doughnuts, she found she had 24. How any packages had she opened?)

"Unless the child's lessons have emphasized problem solving, he may not be sure whether he should add, subtract, multiply, or divide. He may not even now if he has the necessary information to solve the problem. And many adults carry a problem-solving weakness all through their lives. They learned computation when they were in school but they didn't grasp the basic principles that are applied to problem situations."

•••

A memorial wreath honoring the men who lost their lives during the construction of the Mackinac Bridge was tossed from the bridge to the traits waters on Sunday afternoon.

It was the second annual such ceremony. This year the wreath was blessed by Father Bernard A. Karol. Participating in the ceremony was Mayor Raymond J. France.

30 YEARS AGO

The St. Ignace News

November 8, 1979

Arson is suspected in a fire Wednesday morning, October 31, that damaged the half-million-dollar museum building under construction at the Father Marquette Memorial Park in St. Ignace.

The State Fire Marshall is investigating the fire at the museum building being constructed by the Omega Construction company of Grandville, Michigan, and a fire the same morning at an Omega Construction project in Marquette.

••• After several years of lying dormant the question of fluoridating the water in St. Ignace has re-surfaced with offering of project grants by the Center of Disease Control. . . .

The grant offer provides the city with an avenue of following through an advisory vote of the St. Ignace residents in the Fall of 1970. St. Ignace voters at the August 4, 1970 primary voted 257 for and 92 against a proposal to add fluoride to the water system servicing the city. At that time the water system was owned by Edison Sault Electric Company.

Councilman Roy Carlson said the city council at that time did not follow through on the advisory vote because of negative responses from other areas to fluoride programs and because of costs for providing a fluoridation program in the water supply.

•••

In a light turnout incumbents Mayor Sarah H. Tamlyn and Councilmen John G. LaChapelle, John "Ollie" Boynton and Roy A. Carlson were easily re-elected to another term on the City Council in the November 6 city general election.

•••

Dr. Peter Kwok, new physician to be added to the Mackinac County Doctor's cliic, arrived with his family and personal belongs mOnday, November 5 . . .

30 YEARS AGO

The Weekly Wave

November 8, 1979

The Upper Peninsula's tourist industry must concentrate its promotion and advertising on the 25 million persons within a one-day drive of the UlP. To recoup losses from the summer energy scare, Len Barnes said Saturday, November 3. Barnes is a Michigan Travel Commission member and its immediate past chairman.

In remarks prepared for the annual meeting of the Newberry Area Chamber of Commerce, Barnes, who also is editor of Automobile Club of Michigan's Michigan Living/Motor News Magazine, reviewed the impact of unfounded gas shortage fears.

Compared with 1978, Auto Club routing requests to the Upper Peninsula were down 50 percent at one point and were down 20 percent for the summer season, he said.

"Big Mac Bridge crossings are off 11 percent for t year. State park attendance in Michigan is down 20 percent, he said, "and business at tourist attractions and souvenir shops in the U.P. Is down 20 to 25 percent."

Barnes said local and regional business groups must "motivate the Detroit auto worker to go more than one tank of gas from home into the Upper Peninsula.

"The key is promotion money. A big step would be having the U.P. Business sector increase its tourism funding," he said, "to match that of the state's over the past decade." In the past 10 years, he said, state funding has increased 125 percent while the private sector increased funding only 75 percent.

•••

The Department of Natural Resources Resource Recovery division is again pressuring Clark Township to resolve its solid waste disposal problem, but township officials are still reluctant to select an alternative to the township's illegal dump.

The dump has been ruled to be illegal under state sanitary landfill definitions because of its pollutive nature and, in July an order to close the dump was forwarded to the DNR Director Howard Tanner by the Resource Recovery Division.

. . . Clark Township officials have elected to present the issue to township voters, to let them decide whether the township should construct and maintain a sanitary landfill that meets state and federal environmental standards, whether the township should operate a collection site and have the waste transferred to a sanitary landfill elsewhere, or whether a private collection service should be brought in to collect refuge from individuals and take it to a landfill site elsewhere.

But the failure of the township to obtain cost estimates for the three proposals have bogged down their efforts to put the question on a special election ballot.

•••

Members of Bethel Lutheran Church will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the organization of the congregation with a special worship service on Sunday, November 11, t 11 a.m. , followed by a potluck in the Parish Hall.

•••

Former Cleveland businessman Jerry Labinski, wife Laura, Jill, 10, and Steven, 9, arried last week as yeararound residents of Hill Island and new owners of the 11-unit Hills Point Resort.

Former owners of the resort, Leonard Baran, and later his son, Len Baran, have operated the resort overlooking Big LaSalle Island, Government and Cedarville Bays for the past 11 years.