Langlade County, Wisconsin - Chapter 32, 1922

Chapter 32

The Volunteer and Paid Fire Departments - Telephone Industry - Old Bowman Central Station of 1883 - Progress - Antigo Telephone Corporatinn - Antigc Electric Light Systems - The City Hall - Antigo Water Company - Police Department - City Finances.

When the first settlers of Antigo were in peril of fire the "bucket brigade" was adopted, being the first system of fire protection in the village. When the early residents desired pure drinking water open wells, wooden and other pumps were sunk, this being the first "water system" of the little hamlet. When they wished to communicate with a neighbor a distance away they did not telephone, but hitched up old "Dobbin" and made the call. They carried an oil lantern to the barn instead of turning on an electric light switch and milking the cows by a Mazda light. They read the late arriving papers and magazines by the light of oil burning lamps that partially illuminated their homes. The "city fathers" or town officials met at Niels Anderson's log cabin and later at Spencer's Hall instead of holding conferences in the sanctum of a modern city hall. These hardy folk paved the way and suffered inconveniences that this generation and posterity might profit because of their faith.

From the story of the muricipal and public utilities as presented the reader will notice an improvement and wonderful progress since the coming of the first white settlers into the land dubbed "Deleglise's Dream."

The paid Antigo Fire Department was organized in 1903 and G. 0. Palmiter was chosen first chief. Previously equipment and organization consisted of a Hose Company, Hook and Ladder Company, and an Engine Company of volunteers. The first fire apparatus was a hand suction pump called "the man killer." The pump was first used the afternoon after its arrival in a fire at the Herman, Becklinger & Herman mill.

One of the first acts of the city, when incorporated, was to secure a second hand fire "steamer" from the city of Appleton. This was used at the Clithero & Strong mill fire for the first time and proved satisfactory. The steamer, called "The Ben Jones," was of a type such as the fire department owns today, but was smaller and of less power.

In 1885 and for a time later, the city did not own a fire team. When the alarm was sounded whoever came with a team first would hitch onto the apparatus and proceed to the conflagration. In the absence of a team, the hose cart, engine and truck and ladder were "man pulled" to the fire. The sons of Mr. and Mrs. H. Berner lived close to the fire department headquarters and were usually first to "hitch on."

W. Lynch, April 20, 1885, were: First Ward, W. F. Bowman and Thomas Sanvidge; Second Ward, T. D. Kellogg and B. F. Dorr; Third Ward, E. Meaghers and C. F. Dallman; Fourth Ward, E. R. Van Buran and Charles Thompson.

June 10, 1885, Alderman George Clithero introduced a resolution, which pass«d, instructing the fire department committee to lease a lot on "main street" near the Lewis corner on which to erect an engine house 24x40 feet and 12 feet high with "double front doors."

The first fire apparatus purchased by the city was June 7, 1885, when, at a special meeting of the city council, an engine, hose cart, and a hose and hook and ladder truck were purchased "from Gleason & Bailey." July 7, 1886, $900 was appropriated for purchasing fire hose from the Hamilton Rubber Company and Louis Novotny was engaged at a $100 a year salary to act as steam fire engineer.

August 8, 1886, all fire companies and the hook and ladder company were dissolved, shortly after F. M. Sherman had resigned as volunteer chief.

August 11, 1886, the fire department was reorganized with the following officers: C. S. Leykom, Chief; W. F. White, Assistant; A. D. Rice, Secretary. February 7, 1888, members of Rescue Hose Company No. 1, Volunteers, resigned. On February 21, 1888, the citizens were called upon to organize a hose, hook and ladder, and engine company pursuant to section 3, chapter 173 of the laws of 1887. The apparatus in possession of the resigned companies was collected by the City Marshal with authority of the city council.

It was not long before Antigo had a new fire fighting unit. May 6, 1888, a new constitution and new bylaws of the Antigo Engine Company were formed and accepted by the city council as follows :

Antigo Engine Company

Preamble: "The undersigned citizens of the city of Antigo hereby agree to associate 'ourselves' together for the purpose of forming an engine company to form a part of the Antigo Fire Department and request the common council to accept us as such; to have the custody, care and control of the two fire engines in said city." As such company the citizens organized themselves under an entirely new set of rulings.

Rescue Hose Co. No. 1

1 was organized and accepted by the city council. The petition for acceptance was signed by E. B. Kennedy, Casper Peck, John Tobin, A. L. Ross, A. Novotny, Wm. Mader, Peter Becker, W. H. Dawley, Gabe Kaplanek, E. McKenna, C. Druesen, M. R. McCann, W. B. Johns, F. J. Finucane, G. E. Keen, S. Buerger, John Mader, Wm. Berner, Louis Berner, John Reide, Fred Myer, H. L. Furgeson, and L. Wahl.

Alert Hook & Ladder Co. No. L.

The constitution and preamble of the Alert Hook & Ladder Co. No. 1 was signed by the following: H. A. Kohl, J. C. Lewis, N. J. Boll, John Beadle, J. B. Loomis, G. Costley, Fred W. Kiefer, W. L. Crocker, J. Dunn, Thomas Smith, B. Hoffman, E. Meaghers, W. Bacon, 0. Heller, and A. Boll.

The Present Headquarters

The Antigo Fire Department occupies the north part of the city hall building. Sleeping apartments are located on the second floor east of the council chambers. There are now nine members of the department as follows: Chief, Elwin Billings; Assistant Chief, Guy Rice; Pipemen, Chester Hugunin, Louis Maybee, Edward Rynders, and Ben Joyce; Driver, Ernest Frisch; Extra Driver, George Case; Engineer, John Bowens.

The city equipped the department with an eighty horsepower Seagrave motor truck in 1916. The American La France steamer, now used, was purchased in 1911. It is capable of pumping 750 gallons of water per minute and has saved thousands of dollars worth of property.

Chiefs of the volunteer departments were W. L. Crocker, William Johns, Frank M. Sherman, H. A. Kohl, G. 0. Palmiter, and Warren Hill. Chiefs of the Paid Antigo Fire Department have been G. O. Palmiter, Dan Leonard, Fred Ebert, Emil Panoush, and Elwin Billings, present chief.

The Telephone Industry

Pioneers, who have passed to their reward, would be amazed to know that instead of sending a courier on horseback or afoot they could today pick up a receiver and in a few minutes talk to a physician at Shawano, Clintonville or Wausau, nearest settlements to the Langlade County wilderness of 1880. Such has been the wonderful change resulting from the invention of the late Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.

The first telephone system in Antigo was owned by the Wisconsin Telephone Company. Poles were erected in November, 1883. In December, 1883, the first telephones were put in business and residential places. Central office was located where the Masonic Temple now stands, in a gun shop owned by W. F. Bowman, who was the first manager.

Peter O'Connor in an early day operated a private telephone system with a few subscribers. In November, 1896, I. F. Strasser of Ripon, Wis., secured' a franchise to operate a private telephone company in

Antigo. The office was moved from the Bowman location to the Spencer drug store location, now the A. A. Lueck Drug Store. Richard Koebke managed the system and later became its owner. A new exchange was instituted in 1900. June 1, 1902, W. L. Elliott took over the Antigo Telephone Company. Two hundred and fifty subscribers used the service then. The same year the Wisconsin Telephone Company supplied Antigo with long distance connections.

T. W. Hogan, J. C. Lewis, Edward Cleary, L. L. Gibbs, and W. H. Brown purchased the Antigo telephone system from W. L. Elliott and improved the service during their years of ownership. In 1916 the stock was sold to E. A. Zundel and others of Sheboygan, Wis. Since, it has been known as The Antigo Telephone Corporation. Offices of W. J. Gallon, General Manager, are in the Ullman building, Superior Street. Central offices are located in the Cleary building. Other officers are President, E. A. Zundel; Vice President, J. E. Collins; Secretary-Treasurer, W. J. Gallon, and Ben Snyder, Assistant Manager. Directories are issued semi-annually.

Antigo'S Electric Systems

The Antigo electric plant was established in 1888 by Louis K. Lusk, J. H. Trever, and C. S. Leykom. It was called the Antigo Edison Electric Light Co. The concern operated in the location of the present plant until September, 1897, when the original owners sold to W. L. Elliott, who made many improvements in the industry.

Mr. Elliott died on January 2, 1904, and John Wright of Chicago took over the plant. (Deal was made before Elliott's death). The electric light plant was destroyed by fire one day before Mr. Wright signed the legal papers. Mr. Wright completely remodeled his new plant and operated with success until 1909 when the present owners purchased it. Purchasers from Mr. Wright were John Manser, F. A. Hecker, D. J. Murray, John Anderson, F. J. Boyce, and C. M. Cleveland of Wausau. Antigo men became interested financially since then. The company reorganized irl August, 1909, electing the following officers: President, John Manser; Vice President, F. J. Boyce, and Secretary-Treasurer, F. A. Hecker. Mr. Manser is now active manager of the plant. The present owners have made great advances and have practically a new A. C. plant. J. J. Healy is chief engineer and Walter Vaughn is chief of the linemen.

Before July, 1891, Antigo citizens did not have the conveniences of waterworks as enjoyed today. Antigo was then dependent on wells, cisterns, pumps, and bubbling springs for water supply. But a growing community is bound to attract capital, labor, and progressive citizens. W. G. Maxcy, his brother, and two other parties organized the original Antigo Water Company in 1891. A complete plant, pump house, and reserve tank were erected at the present water-

The city of Antigo purchased the Antigo Waterworks in 1914 at a cost of $148,507.13. The affairs of the plant are in charge of Frank Dvorak, Treasurer and Manager, and Harry Jackson, Superintendent, and Miss Grace Dessureau, department clerk, who have offices in the city hall. Other officers are Mayor, who is Chairman of the board of directors, and Secretary, who is the City Clerk, now G. O. Palmiter.

The water plant is equipped with two tubular boilers of 125 horsepower each. A steel stand pipe 100 feet high has a capacity of 150,400 gallons. The total amount of water pumped in 1921 was 291,355,930 gal-

The City Hall

When the city was incorporated in 1885, the old skating rink, property of T. H. Robbins, was purchased and made over into quarters for city officials and the fire department. The large frame structure was

The Antigo

Ions. The range of ordinary pressure on water mains is between 30 and 43 pounds, while fire pressure ranges from 100 to 125 pounds. At the close of business in 1921, 98,813 feet of mains served as distributors to all sections of the city. Two shallow wells with capacities of 750,000 and 800,000 gallons each, constitute a part of the system. These wells are 25 and 30 feet in depth respectively. All Antigo Water Department bonds mature in 1934. Operating expenses at the close of June, 1915, were $9,996.84.

City Hall

Bids for erecting the new city hall were opened October 17, 1899, and the contract awarded to C. F. Dallman for $9,250.00. The building committee selected by Mayor I. D. Steffen consisted of John Kestly, N. R. Babcock, and J. W. Allerton. The city hall was completed in December, 1900, and final payments were made to contractor C. F. Dallman in January, 1901. Van Ryan & De Gelleke of Milwaukee were the architects.

The city hall is the home of Antigo's official body. It contains offices of the Mayor, City Clerk, Commissioners, Treasurer, Council Chambers, Water Department, Engineer, Fire and Police Departments, and department firemen sleeping quarters.

Sewerage disposal land was purchased in October, 1910. John Brogan was the sewerage disposal contractor. Bonds for the erection of the plant were issued June 15, 1911, to the extent of $50,000.

The old stone crusher cost $1,185 and was erected in 1907. The crusher was to the rear of the J. W. Otis building. The second crusher was purchased from the Austin-Western Road Machine Co. in 1913 for $1,541.60. A stone crusher was purchased in 1896 for $1,000. In May, 1922, a new stone crusher was purchased from the Austin-Western Road Machinery Co., Chicago, 111.

The first cemetery association was organized in Antigo by Jackson Tibbets, W. L. Crocker, Gus Lind, Hon. F. A. Deleglise, J. E. Martin, B. F. Dorr. L. Mendlik, L. W. Bliss, and George Ratcliffe. It was organized October 24, 1882. The Catholic Cemetery Association was organized in July, 1914. Leaders in the movement were J. J. Laughlin, Edward Cleary, A. J. Nowotny, Thomas W. Hogan, Fred W. Kiefer, Frank Riendl, Leonard Freiburger, and Thomas Morrissey.

The Antigo Cemetery Association controlled the Protestant and Catholic cemeteries until two distinct associations were formed - one Catholic and one Protestant. The Protestant continued as the old organization. Their cemetery, adjoining the Catholic cemetery on Aurora Street, is called the Antigo Cemetery.

8, 1905, eighty acres of land were purchased by the city and set aside for cemetery purposes. The cemetery is called "Elmwood." The Antigo Cemetery and Park Boards were consolidated in 1922.

The City Park was given to the city of Antigo by Mrs. Mary Deleglise in January, 1905. The deed was turned over to the city by Morrissey & Leslie. The park is situated between Eighth and Ninth Avenues east of Watson Street.

First City Ordinance

The first ordinance of the city was adopted April 16, 1885, after presentation by Mayor Thomas W. Lynch. The ordinance prescribed the manner of building wooden sidewalks and the width of same. The second ordinance fixed the regular meetings of the city council and was passed April 18, 1885. Both ordinances were repassed and published September 19, 1890, when Dr. I. D. Steffen was Mayor.

The first act of Mayor Thomas W. Lynch in 1885 was to sign a resolution declaring the city of Antigo duly created in accordance with chapter 79 of the laws of 1885.

City Finances

THE .-WTIGO PAID FIRE DEI'.-\RT MEXT This jjictiire was taken liy A. J. Kingsbury before the Seagrave truck was purchased. Left to right the lirciiien are: Chester llngnnin; El win I'.illings. Chief; Guy Rice. .Xssistant Chief; Ernest Frisch; Thomas