The Pine River Journal (Pine River, Minnesota), 1936-02-20

              PINE RIVER JOURNAL
VOLUME I NUMBER XXVII THE PINE RIVER JOURNAL. PINE RIVER, CASS COUNTY. MINNESOTA, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1936
SUBSCRIPTION $1.00 Per Year
Iv
k
*
(
>
NEWS BRIEFS FROM
AROUND OUR STATE
CHISEL WAY THRU 14 FEET
OF SOLID ICE   TO   WATER
Minnesota Lake—It was necessary to chop though 14 feetof
solid ice to rescue Minnesota
Lake citizens from a water short
age when the water supply tank
froze over during the cold spell.
A crew of six men work steadily
chopping and chiseling through
14 feet of solid ice, an.l continuing for almost a week water was
again made available to the town
Four other towns in northern Io
wa and southern Minnesota reported similar occurances and
the company from which the
Tank was purchased at Minnesota Lake was kept busy trying
to loosen up their water supply
pipes. Vernon Center, LeCenter
and Easton are the towns near
Minnesota Lake which related
much the same ev-teriences. with
probably hundreds more in othe-
parts of the country. This is
the first year according" to frh-'*
manufacturers of the tanks that
their tanks have ever been reported frozen over.
FAMILY   RAVED   FROM
MONOXIDE   GAS   TRAP
Grand Ramds—A narrow escape from death was chronicled
for the A. K. Seckinerer familv
when snow blown into a hard
drift over the pine which carried
off thp fumes from a gasoline en
gineand cn^h^n ntonovide eras
was forced back into the   house.
"JTlfi fsr\rn-r\,n /yn~r:a-r.~-"l i\ TlTTO'0 elpC-
tric lighting plant _nd ha^V ~>r°s
sure from rno o-vTianqt forbad out
the vavfcmv in the walls and permitted thp d«_/,r,T pas <~n s^en into the room's . Mrs. Se"Vi-qrer
and twn childrpn had retired
when thQ voixTi~ipst r\
came violent1" in    Seculn<rerre.
JUNIOR   CLASS   PLAY
The Junior class play which
was presented at the school au-
dito-ium Saturday evening was
enjoyed by a large crowd. The
characters were well cast and all
played their parts very creditably; Mildred Wymore. as Lady
Spitfire, played her part well, as
the vivacious wealthy girl who
caused most of the entangling
situations which made up the
play. Luvem Leef, charming
and lovable, the poor Bernice
King, who loved to eat and Gla-
dv? as the college snob all acted
their parts well as students of
the school. Kenneth Hutchinson
a- Tom Brown the handsome lad
•'nd Bud Jones plaved bv Chester
Martini, made a hit with every
b"ne as helpers on the campus.
G'len Leverington was the hick
constable we read about, both in
looks and manner. Durmont
Button was the handsome French gigolo, who proved to be the
viFain of the play.Douglas Erick
"on as the father.olayed the part
of a pleasant rich gentleman
"diile Marie Erickson was the
Wable owner of the school. The
play was under the direction of
Mr. Rosen.
B---tween acts the audience was
entertained by the Glee Club, under the direction of Miss McCart
and a1 so a number by the fifth
grade boys and girls dressed as
old folks and all troubled with
the "Plaguity Rheumatiz."
STORM COST STATE
ALMOST A MILLION
NEW CITY HALL PROPOSED AT BU-INESS MEETING
It has cost the state highway
department approximately $800,
000 to keep its 11,000 mile trunk
highway syf'em open to traffic
during the J.most continuous
storm conditions of the past
three and a half weeks, according to an estimate made by N. W
m-Mor be-1 Elsberg.
400 state plows and 100 rented
ahVed that ^° erah must be pre- emergency trucks have been in
sentbut could not -Meet if bv j operation practically day and
taste "or odor h-o +Vi_n nniUri open ' night since the latter part of
the windows.   Had thQ fantSv re
Eighteen members w re present at the Business Mens Giub
meeting held last Thursday even
ing in their Club rooms in the
Armory building. The meeting
was called to order by pies., D. i_
Triggs after which the minutes
of the previous meeting were
read and approved. .Reports
were then heard from thevarious
committees appointed at the last
meeting.
The principle discussion of the
evening was pertaining to proposed WPA projects for the village of Pine itiver, Arvid Lundin gave a detailed report of the
Cemetary project which includes
a vault and other necessary improvements and also stated that
the moneys for the project had j
been alloted and work would be-
started soon. The discussion for j
a city hall was then brought up.
That is a hall that would be sufficiently large to house the fire
fighting equipment and also to
take care of the rest of the vil-;
lage needs. The question was
then brought of a lot. It seems
that the village owns a lot and
then again they don't as the property in question was deeded to
Harris Zigmund   several   years
ERADELPHIAN   CLUB MET
FRIDAY,   FEBRUARY   21
The Eradelphian Club met
at the home of Mrs. Dahl last Fri
day afternoon at the usual hour.
Members responded to roll call
by naming their favorite author
of music. Esther Conzet gave an
interesting paper on the 'History
of Music,' after which Mrs. Dahl
described the Singing Tower and
told of its wondrous beauty. This
tower is located on Mountain
; Lake, in Florida. Following this
Miss McCart sang three special
numbers; in Italian, German and
French, all of which were thoroughly enjoyed.
ago together with   another   loti naturalization
LEGION FAVORS CLOSING
IMMIGRATION TEN YEARS
Closing all the immigration into the United States will have
the support of the American Legion Auxiliary when the legislation to shut the doors to immigrants comes up in Congress.The
Legion and Auxiliary recommen
ded that all immigration be stop-
ed for ten years in resolutions
adopted at their last conventions
A bill to bar immigration for
this period is now before the
committee on immigration   and
tired a few minutes   earlier,
would probablv nave   been
ed.
all
kill
January. The expense has been
a severe strain on the highway
department maintenance fund.
With all 500 units in operation
the "ost amounted to about 2,000 j pleted by June
and he has been paying taxes on
it ever since, however later on
the lot question will undoubtedly
be ironed out and we will let you
know who owns the lot. Everyone seemed to agree that a new
hall would be a good thing but
seemed a little reluctant about
expending the necessary funds
in order to sponsor the project
Harve Cromett offered the village the use of the building on
the dam for a pumping stationto
be used in conjunction with the
new hall for fire protection, at
no cost whatsoever. It seems
that a new building and the additional fire protection would be
an asset to the town and if possi
ble the village should try and
sponsor the project. Action must
be taken imm°diatelv -v^-rysa-t
of this kind as they must be com
1.   A committee
SPOT IN U. S. FOR WINTER
International ^alls—A n-rnr-ont
ly a flock of five rlwkg. of the
bluebill varietv. cannot ma* the
current weather reuor+s: pud are
making: their home in th° Rafney
River this year. Although Inter
national Falls has been set down
in reports as being the coldest
spot in the United States with
temperatures running- as low as
54 degrees below w.vo this ctoup
of bluebills mav not subscribe to
the paners and are not keening-
up with the news. The birds,
whenever a part of T?m'n""p Tate
opens up, as it frequently does
during the winter. wT flv no to
the large bodv of   onen   water.
and duriusr (""lo"  cvnn-^t —-tn—n?—i<*
tc the river just above the dam.
which never freezes over. Just
why those ducks chose Rain""
River and Rainv T^e as a winter resort has neve- b°an satis
faetorily e"XT}lainad. but it is a
fact that some of thQ n-^ds sn^n^
each winter tiwo, a<5 ^no o^ito*-
remarked, "with a pair of win^s
and a g""od sniiawV w~ wml^Vt
be hanging around t^as^ prairies
this time of the vear."
an hour. A lot of the time the
-lows have been in oeration 20
\~\,-„ a r'av and for every such
day the cost is $40,000. This cost
includes labor as well as machinery.
WAT^T?        Arr      T»RTI-TTTTT'r
AS SUPPLY TANK FREEZES
Clinton—Water sold for a nick
el a glass in Clinton last week jn
the cold weather. whpp thewate**
main burst and the citv was with
out aqua pura for a few davs
workmen labored for davs trying to find the break in the main
only to later discover that the
supply tank had frozen over.
causing too much pressure and
the resulting brpak in the main.
A crew immediately started
chopping into the top layer of ice
in the supply tank, and continued for two days before they were
able to open it up.
Trans'1 for fighting snow
in Minnesota this winter hascost
the state about $1,000,000 which
comes out of a maintenance fund
that onlv. totals $6,600,000 for
the entire year. The total cost
of removing snow all last winter
amounted to $900 000.
Although the expense   seems
tremendous, if the highways had
mot been   opened   there   would
have been a general disruptionof
busin°ss and economic life thru-
out the state. Without open high
wavs the   larger   cities   would
I have been cut   off   from   their
! milk suordv and the smaller vill-
| ages would have run out of food
and other supplies.
Tlr's pmereancv illustrates the
danger of cutting down highway
revenues below levels whichhave
taught us are safe. There must
h° a maro-jn of funds over and
ab™e tontine necessities to meet
"-un"'CTdi"tab''e emergencies such
or, winter storms and summer
floods. Any serious crirjpling of
the trunk highway svstem would
mp-in famine for hundieds of
+ho"sands of persons if continu-
•°^ for more than a few days at
a time.
Even with all that was spent
in tha --ast month, there were
still isolated cases in which communities did not get as good service as the department would
have liked to have given them.
Auxiliary women also will sup
port measures to exclude and deport aliens who are members of
any organization that proposes
to change or overthrow the United States government by force
or violence, and to deport immediately all aliens who have entered the country illegally. Bills on
these subjects also are pending
w Congress.
Withdrawal of recognition of
Soviet Russia is another measure
recommended by the Auxiliary
an Americanism move. This is
being- urged because communist
propaganda and activities emana
ting from Russia have not been
"topped as promised by the sovi-
et government but have greatly
increased. A resolution calling
■for the withdrawal of diplomatic relations with the Soviet Uni
on was introduced by Representative Tinkham of Massachusetts
during the last session   of  Con-
was appointed to investigate and
also to receive cost estimates to
be presented at the next meeting,srress and is stiJl Pending.
As yet the membership committee hadn't been out due to inclement weather, which no
doubt accounts for the smal1-
num ber present. AH members
were urged to try and be oresent
at the meetings at 8:00 P. M.
BIRD'S FEET   FREEZE   TO
PERCH ON   WELL   PIPE
Isle—when Alvin Andrews of
Onamia was doing up his chores
recently he saw a chickadee sit-
j ting on the iron pipe at the well.
D. L. Triggs. pres.'hrwOsed a i1* se€nied to be extremely   tame
luncheon to b° heH in the near
future for the n°w business men
in Pine River. Further informa
ion on this will be g'ven later.
The meeting was then adjourned.
SHIPMATES FOREVES
AT MARLOW SUN.
'Shipmates Forever' will be
shown at the Mariow Theatre on
Saturday and Sundav. Dick
Powell and Rubv Keeler nlay the
leading roles, this should need no
further intvodn^ti'iri ^ i-ow-or!-
knows wha ta g-^qt n° f-"manc-
they can expect f*-om this team
Remember—two nio-h+s ohlv oh
Saturday and Sunday and until
further notice shows will be held
on W«d. and Tb'vs ("Bank Nites)
and Saturday and Sundav. No
Matinees or familv nites until
further notice Th.p c-o»;ni 'T^.q-
ing West,' will continue on Wed.
and Thurs. TWt nrss "Shipmates Forever."
and did not move when he approached it. he then discovered
that its feet were frozen to the
pine. A little cold water loosened the bird and it fluttered away
probably wishing that Santa
Claus had left him some wool
socks and overshoes.
EDUCATIONAL RADIO PRO-
TO BE HEARD OVER WCCO
Mr. Otto Haack left on Friday
for Minneapolis to attend a meet
ing of the radio committee in
charge of education of which he
is a member. Radio programs
planned by this committee will
begin in April and will continue
indefinitely. This radio committee is the first of its kind and
the pro gam will be made up par
tly of selections rendered by
High Schools and partly of educa
tional information of interest to
the public school finance .legislation, etc. Mr. Haack, the local
Superintendent, is also a member of the publicity committee.
These programs will be broad
ast once a week over WCCO. A
regular time schedule will appear weekly in this paper—watch
for it.
WORK ON DAMS TO
BEGINFEBRUARY26
VALENTINE PARTY AT
THE LAKE REGION HOTEL
James Skinner was host to
twelve young people at a Valentine dinner party at the Lake Re
gion Hotel on Thursiav evening.
Decorations carried the valentine motif. After partaking in
a four course dinner the guests
played games and danced. Every
one reported a most enjoyable
time and a very delicious dinner.
Actual work on lakes in Cass
county on the $100,000 program
to conserve water, under plans'
drawn jointly by WPA and the
State Conservation Department,
will start February 25, it was an
nounced this week at Brainerd
by J..S. Muir, supervisor of WPA
operations. All needed materials have been ordered for the
dams at Lake Ada, Bowen and
Five Point Lakes, in Cass county and at Hubert, Clark, and
Clinker and Black Hoof, in Crow
Wing.
J. H. Downs has been appointed supervisor of the program,
acting for the Conservation Department, sponsor of the program.
NEW CONTRACTS TO
RELIEVE WPA COST
REVISED WPA AS
A JOB INSURANCE
Paul Gardner took the local
basketball quint to Brainerd on
Monday afternoon where they
did some practising in the gym
in preparation for the tournament. Coach Matson accompanied the boys.
MRS. J. W. SPRINGER ILL
J. G. HAMMER DIES
IN ST PAUL THURS.
J. G. Hammer passed away at
the N. P. hospital in St Paul on
T'hu'-sdav afternoon, February
13. after an illness of two weeks.
Ruriel was held at Walker Sunday. Mr. Hammer has been a
resident of this community for
several years having made his
home on Whitefish lake. He had
acted as station agent at various
nlaces for the M&I Railroad for
the past thirty years. Mr .Hammer was about 70 years of age
fl-t the time of his death.
Contracts for roads and other
construction, made possible thru
the operation of the PWA soon
will ease the strain on thepayroX
of the WPA. PWA work, scheduled to start in this vicinity as the most loigcal way
soon as the advept of spring permits, will give new jobs to 22 per
sons in Cass county now working
for the WPA. At present there
are 725 persons classified as employables and heretofore on the
relief rolls of the county, now
working for WPA.
PWA is the administration's
agency for recovery that Was de
signed to take up the second
phase of the ..program and is concerned with larger projects for
which much engineering had to
be done. While WPA went into
the field to prosecute the smaller
undertakings and give immediate employment to those whohad
to have work and have it quick,
PWA has been doing the prelim-
inar work that always is required before large undertakings can
begin to create a demand for labor.
Where WPA has been paying
wages somewhat higher than the
amount of the direct relief or
dole, PWA will pay established
wages. Under the terms of PW
A road contracts, the contractors
are permitted to employ 20 per
cent of the men required as they
see fit, but are obliged to take 60
per cent of their personnel from
relief rolls and through WPA organization, providing the needed
labor is available. If not, and
such will be the case in many instances, then WPA's district director will issue exemptions,
thereby opening the way to the
employment by contractors of
manv persons who have notbeen
on relief but who are in dire need
of immediate jobs. This procee-
dure will make a .start toward sol
ving the problem of what shall be
done with the so-called 'border
cases.'
When the PWA jobs start,
will depend to a great extent, on
how early the weather moderates this spring.
TRY A WANT AD
Mrs. G. E Henderson entertained four ladies at her home
Thursday at the first of a series
of teas to be given by members
of the M. E. Ladies Aid.
Mr. and Mrs. D. L. Triggs entertained several friends at a
Dollahan. arrived dinner party Saturdav evening.
Ranids, Mich., and The table was beautifully decorated to bring out the valentine
spirit. After dinner the time was
spent playing contract bridge
with Mrs. Charles Siebel and
Ernest Robideau receiving high
scores.
Mrs. J. W. Springer of  Brainerd, who has been ill   for   some
time, is improving.   Her daughter, Mrs.   L.
from Grand
is assisting in nursing her mother. Pine River folks will remem
ber Mrs. Springer, who often vis
ited her daughter, Margaret
Springer, who taught in the lo-
| cal school a few years ago.
VALENTINE PARTY HKT.D
THURSDAY   EVENING
Several young girls were hostesses to fourteen boys and girls
at a Valentine Partv Thursday
evening at Shill's Hall. Decorations were in keeping1 with St.
Valentines Day, making the hall
festive and gav appearing". Fortunes were read and stunts and
games were played. Marjorie An
derson chaperoned the young
people and served a delicious lunch at ten o'clock.
Victor Christgau, state WPA
administrator, last week ended a
project inspecting trip in district
Nos. 2 and 3. During his visit to
these areas, he made several informal addresses before large ga
tberings of WPA workers, particularly at Walker, Virginia and
Duluth. In all talks, he stressed
the following:
1. That WPA workers have
nothing to gain by interesting
themselves in agitation for a
strike, either of local or statewide proportions.
2. That a permanent public
works program is the best   and
in which
the country can. protect . itself
against periods of business' depression.
Obviously having in mind an
an effort -that is now being made
in scattered parts of the state to
induce WPA workers to strike,
Mr. Christgau cited the fact that
for the first time in government
work, the WPA set-up makes
ample consideration for the provision on the part of labors thru
the employment division.
The WPA is operating within
certain definite restrictions,
said Mr. Christau and theemplqy
ment division is made up of men
who come from the ranks of labor. They have the laboring
man's viewpoint and are in a position to act on any complaint
that may be made, providing of
course that they are within the
restrictions that congress has
placed on the program. In such
circumstances, nothing more
than this could be accomplished
through a strike. So. the net re
suit of any such drastic action
would be additional expense and
delays.
In all of his addresses, Mr.
Christgau went into the background of the WPA and proposed that serious consideration
be given to plans for apermanent
public . works program which
would provide jobs for persons
who, at the'beginning- of a business depression should find them
selves out of employment thru
no fault of their own. Such a
program, he said, would some
money but the exense would be
small in comparison with the social and economic havoc that has
followed in the wake of the depression out of which the country is just now emerging.
"Four years ago and when un-
emplovment was at its highest
point," he said, 'there were 15,
000,000 persons in the United
States who had no jobs. There
men and women found themselves without buying power; unable to pay for their food, fuel
and "lothing". The situation
grew in magnitude just as a
snow ball gathers size as it rolls
down hill. While labor sat with
idle hands, farmers soon found
themselves without a market for
their products.
"How the present administration met the situation by   adopting its recovery  policy   is   well
known.     Congress     authorized
(continued on page 4)