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mm 'prMMAVifjfmw \\ y»*•^1 * , <•* •• 4w*W./»S<' ••'»<iny \»^»... irrtiiti nUii -i :,?P ®1&* X .' --^?•" ?v tk-fWI "•N. •;..? ."V,. _ t 4^ V***:.. r '-JS|.*$-4t~iw '• ' ' • i» •. •••= "• * '<!•-• . ' - ' • • - T - - , -*- • • „ • A '^-3----- - '4'JiS .. ' ?» Volume 64 , ILUN0I5, THURSDAY, JULY 7, 1938 N o , 7 • „ ; -ft m DY LOCAL DAM HOLDS BRIDGES OUT, NO TRAIN ^ SERVICE r ^torrential rains fell over sections if Lake, Cook, McHenry and Walworth counties Thursday and Friday of last week, inundating thousands 01 acres of land and causing damage estimated in excess of $3,000,000. Rain began falling steadily Thursday y noon x-«nd increased in intensity until it reached cloudburst proportions . late Thursday evening. It was the heaviest fall of the year and the damage done is reported Worse than that caused by the Tain and wind of a year ago jf C. L. Tyron, county highway superintendent, made a tour of the county Friday and discovered that thirteen bridges had been either completely demolished or seriously damaged. Greenwood was highest with the number four. Alden, Hebron and Button townships each had two and McHenry and Dunham one each. ~ o No Train Service Here No trains passed through McHenry, and Chicago trains ran only as far as Crystal Lake. Railroad traffic between Woodstock and Harvard was at a standstill because of a washout southvast of Harvard, and it was reported * McHENRY FLOOD SCENES NO. 1 FAIRWAY 0 Aview the No. 1 fairway taken July 4th, showing the water reaching (rdm the road to the opposite side of the fairway. MUENRrS NEW PHONE SYSTEM NEIGHBORHOOD HIGH WATER VIEWS1 CHANGE OVER WAS MADE THURSDAY LastThursday at 3:80 p. m. all McHenry telephones were chfcnged to the new method of operation, in which the user signals the operator by merely lifting the telephone receiver instead of turning a crank, as was formerly the case New central office equipment, of the most modern design and engineered to meet the requirements of McHenry for many years to come, has been installed in the new building on Park street, north of Elm street. The business office, where bills may be paid and all matters regarding service handled for customers, has also been waved to the above address. ? McHenry citiiens can w«8 be pro of this new brick building, which i one of the finest and most modern business establishments in the city. It is much superior td the former of* fice on Green street, because of expert planning to make it more compact. In the old office the equipment was not arranged conveniently. Therefore activity could not be centralised, which nulde for a less degree of efficiency. Now, however, the situation has been remedied. The commercial depart- ! ment is located in the* front of the building and the plant department in 1 the rear. Latest Equipment - 1 Tllte office aftd plant contain the very latest equipment and furnishings, j Everything is run by electricity, with the exception of the gas steam radi- RAII PARK FIonnFn Iators in every room. The walls are BALL PARK. FLOODED (painted ivory and the floors are of a This picture was takps Fliday morning at. the McHenry. Ball Park. The brown and ivory inlaid blocked com CLOUDBURST ON -. i- ' DAM AT WONDER LAK& STANDS STRAIN; THE MILL POND AT RICHMOND The above is a picture of the mill pond at Richmond, went out last Thursday night. The picture shows the water . wh*re the dam was on tile extreme left of the picture. another took place neaf Chemung. At ^ Spring Grove the swirling waters undermined sections of the railroad bed of the C. M. & St. P., leaving holes J large enough for a man to crawl through. , i % Basements, gardens and streets were covered with the muddy flood waters and much damage was report-j «d from various parts of the city. Probably the heaviest damage is re- • , -ported from Greenwood township, poles are suplWrtPW^bhe backstop. Water covers the entirediaraondand Position.There are Venetian blindson where the main bridge over the creek j one w<mld almost imagine the mill pond was back again. t a e wi ows throughout the buildwas completely washed out and the lAacktop road on both sides of the bridge seriously damaged. Old timers around Greenwood avowed the increase in the sise of the creek from flood waters to be unprecedented. Raging waters tore the bridge to bits during the night and Friday the high water treathened to ruin the blacktop road. I Also in Greenwood township is the report that the bridge near the John Chivers farm is completely out and the bridge near the. Ray Beard farm badly damaged. Farmers in parts of Greenwood. township were unable to deliver their w milk because of deep washouts in the gravel country roads. J I In Alden township, according to Sii- j pervisor N. B. Clawson, the main, bridge near the railroad tracks was washed out. He also reported the] bridge near the SSftckett farm, one-half mile north of Alden, to have been destroyed by the rains. The DeMarms bridge in Alden township was reported badly damaged. The large bridge near the Lorden A McHENRY HOME ling and electric fans and r clocks in •very room. A modern electric water cooler stands in the plant department. I The lounge, a small room for the opjerators, is attractively furnished in I dark maple, Early American style. I The drapes, studio couch and table mats are made of matching Montery I cloth, in a peasant weave of cream and rust. An upholstered pull-up chair {and a gate-leg table with two matchting chairs are placed in various parts of the room. A floor lamp of match* ing wood with a cocoa colored shade stands near one of the chairs. A broadioom rug in an Early American design of cream, blue and rust covers the floor. In one Corner is a white cabinet sink containing dishes and a small electric stove. The operators are permitted to make light lunches if they so wish. The plant department contains principally the distribution rack and ! switchboard. The distribution rack i distributes lines to the switchboard " and there makes cross connection for 'every line in the city. The home of Mrs. Amelia Temple on Court street, north of St. Patrick's Storage batteries are located in the SL'SS'K to'^'ch°reh- «»;-- • he*ht " «"~4' ** •"* St*"diW °.uSn'.«ic ham township. The bridge over the'"1 the water areFrank Weingart, daughter, Evelyn, and Dolores Rosing, chines for the switchboard in that de- Nippersink creek in Burton township ; neighbors. was reported damaged. The city of McHenry was also af- the two bridges. It was interesting fo .CHARLES MELLIO fected by the devastating rains."? Tn see the birds, who" had made their Mrs. Amelia Temple's home on Court nests in the wild rice growing on these street thie water raised several inches bogs, fly to safety when they sensed above the main floor inside her home, danger. Motorists Stalled | The McHenry dam is in fine shape Over a dozen motorists were trap- in jipite of the force and great amount ped by the flooded highway because of of water which rushed over its top . a drowned ignition wires hear the Fox during the recent rains. The dam at Pavilion on 111. Route 31. Early Fri- Wilmot, Wis., broke Saturday morning day morning at about 1:30 a. m. an and caused the Fox River to rise tWo automobile carrying five passengers, | feet that day. three women and two men, stalled in j Flood waters Receding the midst of this flooded area. A lo-| Floodwaters in northern Illinois rivcal garage man, learning their plight, ers and creeks were receding Monday went to their assistance, but was un-jand Tuesday, and so far there have £ble to reach them with his car be-ibeen no indications of'further rains to cause of the depth of the water. A1 harass the countryside. The waterstate truck encountered the same dif-; soaked fields, homes and gardens in ficulty. The occupants were finally | McHenry county are drying out from forced to leave their automobile and the warm sun. Just how much dam- ANNOUNCES SALE OF POW WOW, NO 2 age was done to crops in the county is not known as yet. The heavy storms of last year played havoc in the county with bridges wade through four feet of flood water. They spent the night at a hotel, leaving in the morning when their clothes dried. r~"r"1 Boone Creek, normally a small' and farm roads. It caused a handicap stream running through the center of in finances, making it necessary for the city, overflowed its banks until it (the county .board to issue tax anticiparsached the size of a river. The water, tion warrants on 1938 taxes to carry rose rapidly and had already reached ( the county through until the 1938 tax the water mains early Friday morn- money was collected. Ing. | The heavy rains of last spring and Greens one, two, seventeen and eight the last month, together with the sev and part of number nine fairway and ere storm last Thursday has caused gvecn of the country club were under considerable damage to farm crops Water, spoiling much of the weekend. C. A. Hughes, Cook county farm business. {adviser, estimated that the rainfall The football field near the high caused damage of $1,000,000 to standschool snd the ball park were com-!ing crops on Cook county farms, plietely under water. It looked as' H. C. Gilkerson, Lake county, farm though the old mill pond which was'agent, estimated the damage in-Lake drained about ten years ago had made' and McHenry counties at $725,000. its appearance. jThis was based on a 25 per cent crop ; The Fox River also went on a ram- loss on small grains and hay, and a page. High water covered the piers ioss of one-fifth of the corn crop. and lawns on both sides. Huge bogs! ; or "islands" held together by grass | George Kauss of Chicago was a roots floated down the river, breaking guest in the Harry Durland home-Son-1 oniy wlwu they kit tits abutments efday and partment. One runs off electric ligllt current and the other off the storage* .batteries. The latter are used in the ; event the electricity is turned olfr However, one is always running. Change Made Thursday • j The inauguration of the new system Charles Mellio wishes to announce took place Thursday afternoon, June that he has sold the Pow Wow No. 2 30, at 3:30 p. m. At that time, all the| to Theodore Brown and William Palko. jacks (holes in the switchboard into | He will return to his cafe, the Pow- which the plugs are inserted) were, Wow No. 1, at Franklin Park. > filled with little black pegs withi Mr. Mellio deeply appreciates the strings attached to them. At exactly J courtesies extended him by the people 3:30, men standing near the switch- •Stories that the dam at Wondier Lake was about ready to break and that it had been washed away created considerable excitement Saturday night in northern Illinois. Many of these stories were very much overplayed and reports Hi Chicago newspapers on Sunday were also highly exaggerated as to the true condition of facts in regard to the dam. It is true that the rains of last week sent the lake to a new high water mark. It was reported that the water rose sixty-six inches above its normal level with a backwash of thirty feel dam in some places. This naturally sent through water over the dam in such a manner that there was some fear as. to washouts on the dirt dikes on both sides of the concrete wall of the dam. As the result of vast amounts of water going over the dam a gang of some seventy-five or one hundred men were put to work, placing sand bags alongside the concrete wall to help strengthen the dam. Most of the help at the dam' was volunteered from cottage owners around the lake. Everything was peaceful and quiet on the south end of the lake and a visitor there [ Saturday night would never know tKat anything was wrong at all at the north end of the lake. It is said that one camera man for a Chicago newspaper became angry when he was stopped from taking a fake picture of the men working at the dam and sent a story to his paper that the dam was breaking. Subdivision owners around the lake are more proud than ever over the way the dam held up during the whole situation. It is evident, one prominent subdivision owner said, that Wonder Lake dam has been built to stay for all time and that it will stand up un- BRIDGE OUT AT GREENWOOD > , { f- der most anything after the way It ." j£b , stood up under the high waters of the The above picture shows Plaindealer readers the bridge at (jgjpcnwood past wee|[. over the Nippersink creek after it went out during the night from %tursdsy! McHenry county is proud of Wonder to Friday. The raging waters of the creek which had swollen to the «ize of ^a^e- 14 is one of the fastest growi\g ' . summer resorts in these parts. It a full grown river, had torn out the north abutment, lettteg one end of the wouid have been a shame had anything steel structure fall ino the water. The blacktop highway which crosses this happened to the dam to mar the progress of the development of this lake last Saturday. | Work will be continued at the dam I until the damage. done by the high ! waters is not only repaired but also to make the dam safer for the future agpinst any such storms as last week should appear again. I Special police were placed on guard [ Sunday to keep out all people from around the dam. Saturday night people swarmed to the dam and even hindered the work of the men in repairing the damage done by the water. | However, just below the dam near Barnard's Mill the swollen Nippersink Creek left its banks and flooded the countryside. The black turbulent I waters, one-fourth mile wide, raced {across the lowland, destroying crops, uprooting trees and causing much damage. Farmers living in that locality caimed they had never before seen the like. ar** ' 11 £.\»W. bridge is aL|d honeycombed and washed away in places. of McHenry and cordially thanks them for their patronage. Mr. Mellio is not responsible for •any debts contracted in the past nor for any future obligations incurred. Select your lingerie at Rosa's Style Shop, West McHenry. 7-fp board pulled these pffgs from the holes. Lights started flashing and calls came in on the new board. All this was handled expertly without any interruption to telephone service whatsoever. There are five positions on the switchboard ahd this is enough to McHenry's New Telephone Building Richmond Dam Breaks ^ The dam in Richmond broke Friday sometime between midnight and 7 a. m. This dam was repaired last year, (but could not hold back the force of' the raging water and gave way. G. F. Strand's beautiful terraced garden was completely ruined by the flood waters which came up to his back door. People living along the lower bank of the Nippersink creek in Richmond found their lawns covered with water. Just in what manner the county can finance the rebuilding of these bridges is not known. It may mean a bond issue or a government loan. Supt. Tryon looked up the law in regard to this The above is a scene hear Wonder Lake and shows the jush water matter Saturday morning while await- * . _ • „ ,. _ . ' ing the arrival of the road and bridge over the roads, fences and fields at Barnard's Mill. committee of the county board. The BARNARD'S MILL handle almost any kind of traffic. Five operators can work at the board at one time, and each is able to reach all numbers. All the numbers are marked with member that under the new system a committee includes L^ Av Stockwell. party is disconnected when thefoceiv- B- S?cCo.n"f11' ^ er is placed down.' " ! Wn«h|'S- H- Freund N- B-. There are thirty-sik toll lines. son The committee made an mspec- Among them are se\en to Chicago, tion Saturday of the bridges damaged. Lake, four to Richmond, ^ « Lake rebuilding and repairing nine bndges Geneva, one to Hebron, *N* t§ High- damaged by floods and rains. It is land Park and one to 909* City. 1 expected it will take between $80,000 The company em ors, who are as foil Johnsburg numbers are distinguished by yellow squares and Pistakee Bay with white squares. * Fire Alarm Signal A" fire alarm which controls the siren is conveniently located ° near the( switchboard. The operator sounds this (shall, chief operator, alarm as soon His a fire is report- ing, Clara Miller, ed to her. There is also a night othy Matthews, •larm oh the board which rings in Emily Stoffel and case the night operator falls asteejrand does not see the light flash when a call comes through. A crank is used for ringing in the event the elecricity is shut off. There are one, two, *oar and eight party lines in the teleph<^ne system. Lights flash on the switchboard when a receiver is raised snd a supervisor no ^ r needed. It is well to re the commercial mon and Wm. La then operat-' to $100,000 to repair the damage done Mar-!>n the past few days. The board wilf n Still- j meet next Tuesday to decide upon a ... Dor-j government loan or bond issue to eais* rty,'th& necessary funds. in! Mr. Tryon said• there may be moro „ ' Si..damage done that has pot been rej ported and that more may follow if the rains dp not cease. The latest in fish stories"t?6a»s fromj -- Rofland Ensign. While delivering. Miss ^rence Knox is aUM«ng papers by boat during th«r high waters ! summer school at DePtttT Uaiveraisj, at Pistakee Bay Sundfty istn&tg, a Chicago. <* , two-pound bass jum^e<tboat, " ^ . . consequently the Ensign family enjoy- ,v Alterations free at Xoa»* «yie ed s fish dinner. Shop, West McHenry. t-fp J: K *V J - *1