Douglas County Past: Solon Springs postmaster marks 50 years; Superior boy bandits jailed

Apr. 30—April 26, 1939

Three students winners in city poster contest

Winners in three divisions of the American Dental Association's annual poster contest in Superior were announced Wednesday by a panel of three judges.

First-place awards went to Joyce Anderson, Ericsson school fifth grader, in class two; to Clarence Jones, North junior high seventh grader, in class three; and Dorothy Frederick, Central high school junior, in class four. The first three winners in each division will compete in the state contest at Madison and the state winners will compete in the national event. In 1938 Superior took five out of 12 awards in the state competition.

Three more champions in marble tourneys picked

Three more school championships were decided in the fourth annual Evening Telegram marbles championship, when the St. Adalbert's, St. Francis and Central high tournaments were completed.

William Ruhnke, 1938 city and northern Wisconsin champion, won the Central high event by defeating Sigfried Groven, 1936 city champion and 1937 northern Wisconsin champion, in the finals.

Two brothers fought it out for the St. Francis school championship with Floren McConnell defeating his brother Richard in the final match.

At the St. Adalbert's parochial school, Eddie Kossak bested Clarence Milanoski in the championship match.

The 12 preliminary tournaments drew an entry of 293 players. Nine more tournaments scheduled for the St. Stanislaus, St. Louis, St. Patrick's, St. Margaret's, Itasca, McCaskill, Cathedral, Cooper and Bryant schools will be completed Wednesday afternoon.

The grand city championship will be held at the Blaine playground Saturday, April 29, starting at 9:30 a.m.

April 28, 1924

Local quartet in cyclonic motor journey from coast

A cyclonic trans-continental drive from Los Angeles to Superior was completed last Friday afternoon by four Superior young men in what is believed to be one of the fastest trips ever made over the route they took.

The men, Louis Peters, who owned the car in which they made the drive, Al Setterstrom, Thorwald Oyaae and Donald White, all of Superior, made the trip in actual running time of less than 130 hours, covering in that time 2,700 miles.

The start was made on Thursday morning, April 17, from the City of the Angels and after eight days the quartet brought up at Superior. Two stops of one day each were made at Mason City, Iowa and Minneapolis, where minor repairs were made to the machine.

The average time, running, was almost 21 miles to the hour, which is extraordinarily fast for such a trip.

Prompt action of Y.M.C.A. night clerk prevents conflagration

Prompt action by Arthur La Blanc, night clerk, saved one man from burns and checked what might have been a serious fire when the bedding in a dormitory room of the Y.M.C.A. became ignited from a cigarette late Sunday night, according to C.A. Manning, general secretary.

La Blanc, smelling smoke while working on the first floor, ran to the second floor and saw the smoke slowly drifting from the narrow space at the threshold. Entering the room, he awakened Theodore Thompson, who had fallen asleep while smoking. He smothered the smoldering remnants of a burned blanket.

Returning to the Y.M.C.A. at midnight after lunch, he again was attracted by the smell of smoke. The occupant had been transferred elsewhere but La Blanc, upon entering the damaged room found the mattress and pad on the bed in flames. Once again he extinguished them after raising the window.

April 29, 1924

Jail for nine boy bandits

Sentences ranging from 1 to 2 1/2 years confinement in state penal institutes were pronounced by Judge Archibald McKay of superior court this morning over nine of the 12 youthful confessed bandits arrested by Superior police recently following depredations in all parts of the city.

Characterizing the offense as very grave, Lon Stigney, age 16, "boy gunman," was given a term of 2 1/2 years in the state prison at Waupun by the judge. Stigney had confessed to holding up Sam Wah, Chinese laundryman, at the point of a gun in his shop while Stigney's companions rifled the cash register.

Five members of what police term the "Twenty-first street gang" were given terms of 19 months each in the state reformatory at Green Bay, Harold Tracy, age 17; Clarence Rehl, age 19; Andrew Brown, age 20; Henry Hammer, age 19, and Birton Bingham, age 18, are the culprits.

These boys, together with Stigney, alleged leader of the gang, had confessed to breaking in and robbing 11 stores located in various parts of the city, among them the May furniture company, W. Samuelson Barber shop, Alec Nelson Barber shop, Louis Larson shoe repair shop, Same Lee Confectionary store, G. Darwin store, East Fifth Street Market Basket store, Palace market, Central Park Grocery store and Sam Wah laundry.

Ray Lams, age 17; Arthur Kurtz, age 17, and Austin Franey, age 18, residents of Allouez who confessed to breaking in and robbing the H. Kaner Confectionery store, were sentenced to terms of one year each in the Green Bay institution.

Eddie Olson, age 15, member of the Twenty-first street gang, and John Kubelak, age 17, and Henry Flemming, age 17, were remanded to the custody of Sheriff William A. Hargreen until this afternoon when their cases will be disposed of by the court.

April 29, 1939

Nick Lucius to mark 50th year as Solon postmaster

SOLON SPRINGS — Fifty years in the postal service of Upper Wisconsin during which time he watched the development of the money order system, special delivery and insured mail, parcel post and air mail, besides the appearance of concrete roads, will be marked on May 1 by Nicholas Lucius, postmaster of Solon Springs.

Starting as an assistant to Postmaster Peter Waterbury on May 1, 1889, Mr. Lucius was appointed to the postmastership four years later by President Grover Cleveland. He was reappointed successively by presidents Harrison, McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt.

Born in Delphos, Ohio in 1865, Mr. Lucius came to Solon Springs, then known as White Birch, in 1886 when the post office was located in a small log building situated on the site of the present Flammang garage. Later the office was moved to a small frame building which today is included in the present post office.

Pine forests which covered the Lake St. Croix section when he first came to White Birch began disappearing rapidly when hundreds of lumberjacks were put to work by logging companies, Lucius recalls.

There were no roads in many sections, many poor ones in others which are now covered with concrete. The village of White Birch is now Solon Springs, one of the most popular amusement and resort centers of the northern part of the state.

Mr. Lucius is considered an authority on wildlife of the area and has been active in conservation activities. At his farm at Spring Bank, he conducts an extensive trout hatchery.

Articles and pictures courtesy of retired librarian Judy Aunet with Superior Public Library.