East Alton, Illinois, Newspaper Clippings
Madison County ILGenWeb Coordinator - Beverly Bauser
EARLY HISTORY OF EAST ALTON [Also called Alton Junction; Emerald; or Wann Junction]
BOLD ROBBERIES AT THE ALTON JUNCTION (EAST ALTON)
Source:
Alton Daily Telegraph, September 28, 1868
For the last two or
three weeks past, goods shipped on the Alton and Terre Haute
Railroad, and directed to our merchants, have been missed, until
suspicion was excited and efforts were made to detect the
robbers. After considerable investigation, it was pretty well
ascertained that the thefts were perpetrated on the cars
detached from the general freight trains at night, left on the
switch at the Junction [East Alton], on the Alton and Terre
Haute Road, about four miles from Alton, to be brought to Alton
in the morning. During this time, the following named firms in
Alton had missed goods: Messrs. J. W. & H. Schweppe, Mr. P. B.
Whipple, Messrs. Blair & Atwood, and Messrs. Joesting & Co.,
clothiers.
From the information obtained, locating the
depredations at the above-named point, Mr. Snowball, section
boss on the railroad, and Mr. Everinham, telegraph operator,
determined to watch. On Friday night they discovered some men
carrying off some goods, and on demanding of them to halt, one
of the desperadoes wheeled and fired upon Mr. Snowball, striking
him in the arm and making a serious flesh wound. But owing to
the fact that he stood directly between Mr. Everinham, the
latter was prevented, through fear of injuring him, from firing,
and the robbers made their escape. Afterwards, in examining the
cars, a number of bags stuffed with goods was found, which they
had failed to get off. Dr. Williams of Alton was called out and
dressed the wound of Mr. Snowball, and it’s hoped he will
recover without any serious injury.
On Saturday morning a
search warrant was issued, and Marshal Young repaired to the
Junction and commenced the search. In examining the house of Mr.
H. K. Smith, about a quarter of a mile from where the cars were
switched off, he came across quite a quantity of the goods
secreted in his house, store and stable, and immediately
arrested Mr. Smith, his father, a German, a barkeeper for Mr.
Smith, and two others, the names of whom we have not obtained.
They were brought to Alton and safely lodged in the calaboose.
Their trial will not, however, take place until tomorrow. It is
thought that there are several other parties implicated in these
crimes, but we shall say no more about that at present.
Yesterday, still further search for goods were made, when a case
of ladies and misses goods, which belonged to Mr. P. B. Whipple,
was found in a cornfield.
The arrest of these men will no
doubt break up a foul den of thieves. That vicinity has long
been suspected of not being what it ought to be, but nothing
positive could ever before be brought against them. Their plan
was not to steal all that was in a box, but to break it open,
take out a portion of the goods, and close the box again. A
large iron was found on Mr. Smith’s premises, evidently made for
the purpose of prying open the cars and boxes. We will give
further particulars tomorrow, after the trial takes place.
NOTES:
An examination of evidence was quickly held, and
Henry Gruering turned State’s evidence against H. K. Smith, who
was held over for trial, with his father being released. Louis
Froyster, Henry Gruerning, and Michael Grimm were bound over for
the next term of the county court, with bail being $1,500 each.
In default of bail, the parties were committed to jail in
Edwardsville. Philip Ritter, another member of the gang of
thieves, was still at large on October 1, 1868. I could find no
further information.
DRIVING PARK AT ALTON JUNCTION
Source: Alton Telegraph,
January 19, 1872
E. Nevill & Co. have always on hand at their
sample rooms in Edwardsville and at the Wood River Driving Park
Hotel, a choice selection of genuine imported wines and liquors.
They will give due notice of all races at the Driving Park.
EXCITING HORSE RACE AT WOOD RIVER DRIVING PARK
Source:
Alton Telegraph, March 29, 1872
Considering the state of the
track through the heavy fall of snow on Friday last, one of the
best quarter races ever ran was at the Wood River Driving Park
[in East Alton] last Saturday. A short time ago, Mr. Ed Nevill,
the proprietor of the hotel and park, purchased the celebrated
race horse “Blind Weasel," and immediately matched her against
Mr. Hastings "Fleet Foot," the race to come off on March 23,
independent of the weather. The horses were brought on the track
promptly, when a hitch arose as to the choice of track, but Mr.
Nevill finally consented to Mr. Hasting’s terms. The horses were
taken to the Quarter Pole, and after a little delay in starting,
the word was given to go. The grey got the start by 3 feet, but
in six jumps she got up to him. They ran neck and neck until
passing the grandstand, when the mare shot away from the grey,
and after a most exciting contest, the Weasel won the race by
five feet. So even was the race thought to be, that what betting
took place was even.
HORSE SHOW AND RACES AT THE WOOD RIVER DRIVING PARK
Source: Alton Telegraph, April 26, 1872
The great horse show
and races to take place at the Wood River Driving Park on
Saturday, April 27. In addition to the other features, premiums
will be given to first- and second-best roadster horses. Another
match has been made between Ed Nevill’s horse, “Blind Weazel,”
and P. Bradley’s “Dodger” – quarter mile heats, best two in
three – May 11.
EAST ALTON ENGINE HOUSE DESTROYED BY FIRE
Source: Alton
Telegraph, February 14, 1873
The engine house and water tank,
belonging to the Terre Haute Railroad at Alton Junction [East
Alton], took fire Thursday night in some unexplained way, and
was consumed. The engineer in charge, Mr. Easley, states that
after filling the tank, and seeing that the furnace fire was all
safe, he left the building at the usual time, and has no idea
how the fire originated. The Junction engine now takes water at
the Chicago & Alton tank in Alton.
ROEPNER & CO. FIRE BRICK FACTORY NEAR EAST ALTON
Source:
Alton Telegraph, June 13, 1873
Among the enterprises recently
inaugurated in this vicinity, is the fire brick factory of
Messrs. Roepner & Co. of St. Louis, situated about two miles
northeast of Alton Junction [East Alton], where is found an
excellent quality of clay, suitable for the purpose. The company
have extensive works erected, and employ a force of from 25 to
30 hands. The bank of clay is found at the base of a steep hill,
and is mined from a shaft. After being dug, the clay is conveyed
to the works on a tramway, and is first ground fine in a huge
“coffee mill,” as it is termed, then moistened and moulded in
the usual manner. The brick are then “sun dried,” and afterwards
“kiln dried,” and finally burned. The works turn out above five
thousand brick per day, in favorable weather, though in time it
is anticipated the capacity will be largely increased. Mr. Frank
Backof, one of the proprietors, is in charge. The office of the
company is in St. Louis.
ALTON JUNCTION DEPOT DESTROYED BY FIRE
Source: Alton
Telegraph, April 17, 1874
On Sunday night, the depot and
water tank of the Terre Haute Road, at Alton Junction [East
Alton], together with the saloon and restaurant adjoining, were
totally destroyed by fire. The fire originated in the saloon,
which was owned and occupied by John Yunck, and spread to the
railroad buildings. The depot buildings were probably worth
about $1,000, and the saloon $200. Loss was totally.
WOOD RIVER DRIVING PARK AT ALTON JUNCTION BURNED
Source:
Alton Weekly Telegraph, February 4, 1875
The young men, James
Smith and William Clayton, committed by Squire Benbow on two
charges of arson, have been transferred to the county jail to
await their trial, Judge Baker having refused to grant the writ
of habeas corpus sworn out in their behalf. The arrest of these
young men, the circumstances of which we have narrated, is
regarded as of great importance. The charges upon which they
were committed are for burning the Wood River Driving Park
Hotel, and for attempting to burn the residence of Jacob Koch.
But it is believed that they are connected with several other
mysterious incendiary fires that have occurred in the same
vicinity the past year. So bold have been these incendiary
operations that a perfect reign of terror has existed for months
in the neighborhood of Alton Junction, no man knowing when his
property would share the same fate. There seems to have been a
gang of desperate men in the vicinity who avenged private
grudges by destroying the property of those against whom they
had conceived a dislike. Among the supposed incendiary fires we
recall in this connection are: Depot buildings at the Junction,
burned on the 12th of last April; residence of George Smith
(father of one of the prisoners), burned the same month; Driving
Park Hotel, burned May 4th; residence of John Cook, burned in
same month; Brushy Point school house, burned Dec. 25th. There
is also the attempt to burn the residence of Jacob Koch. In
addition, a stable and one or two straw stacks have been fired
by unknown parties. It is believed that the arrest of Smith and
Clayton will lead to important developments in regard to these
other fires. It is certainly to be hoped that the guilty parties
have, at length, been caught, and that the citizens of that
locality will, in future, have more security for their property.
One thing that has a bad look for the defendants is the fact
that several important witnesses for the prosecution have been
mysteriously spirited away since the arrest, and cannot be
found. The credit for swearing out the warrant in this case is
due to Major Roper, and his action in the matter is justified by
the decision of the court in committing the prisoners for trial.
[Note: On February 25, 1875, James Smith and William Clayton
were taken to Belleville for a hearing for their crime. I could
not find if they were convicted of arson.]
EAST ALTON ARSONISTS ARRESTED
Source: Alton Telegraph,
February 4, 1875
James Smith and William Clayton, committed
by Squire Benbow on two charges of arson, have been transferred
to the county jail to await their trial. The arrest of these
young men is regarded as of great importance. The charges upon
which they were committed are for burning the Wood River Driving
Park Hotel, and for attempting to burn the residence of Jacob
Koch. But it is believed that they are connected with several
other mysterious incendiary fires in the same vicinity the past
year. So bold have been these incendiary operations, that a
perfect reign of terror has existed for months in the
neighborhood of Alton Junction [East Alton]. There seems to have
been a gang of desperate men who avenged private grudges by
destroying the property of those whom they had conceived a
dislike. Among the supposed incendiary fires are: depot
buildings at the Alton Junction, burned on April 12; residence
of George Smith (father of one of the prisoners), burned the
same month; the Driving Park Hotel, burned May 4; residence of
John Cook, burned in the same month; Brushy Point schoolhouse,
burned December 25. There is also the attempt to burn the
residence of Jacob Koch.
It is believed the arrest of
Smith and Clayton will lead to important developments in regard
to these other fires. One thing that has a bad look for the
defendants, is the fact that several important witnesses for the
prosecution have been mysteriously spirited away since the
arrest, and cannot be found. The credit for swearing out the
warrant in this case is due to Major Roper, and his action in
the matter is justified by the decision of the court in
committing the prisoners for trial.
STORMS CAUSE THE WOOD RIVER TO GO ON RAMPAGE
Source: Alton
Telegraph, August 5, 1875
(From the Daily of July 29) – On
Tuesday evening, the greatest storm of the present rainy reason
commenced, and continued with slight intermissions for
thirty-six hours. The rainfall was something almost
unprecedented – creeks and water courses quickly overflowed
their banks, ponds and lakes were raised to a height never
reached before. In the city, the damage to streets, drains, and
culverts is very heavy, and will require a heavy outlay to
repair it. A number of houses up the creek, at the corner of
Sixth and Alby Streets, and on other low grounds, were flooded,
and considerable damage done.
The greatest destruction
in this vicinity was in the Wood River Bottom, in the vicinity
of the Junction [East Alton]. Both forks of the Wood River
overflowed their banks yesterday afternoon, and swept in a
resistless torrent across the bottom. The stream was four feet
higher than any point reached in the last forty years, which
gives some idea of the height attached by the flood.
At
Upper Alton Station, on the Rock Island Railroad, the west fork
of the Wood River flooded all the lowlands in the valley. The
depot was entirely surrounded by water, but the bridge, although
under water, was not swept away. Up to this morning, the flood
was still so high that crossing at that point was impossible.
All the farms on that lowland between Upper Alton Station and
the Junction were overflowed. Fences, grain and hay were swept
away. The standing corn was prostrated, and root crops badly
injured. Two bridges on the Rock Island Road, one of them at
Woods Station, were also carried away, while the track was
washed out and badly damaged. Below the junction of the east and
west forks, the river became a resistless torrent, and poured a
flood of water directly across the Driving Park, carrying away
the east and part of the north fence. The flood followed the
line of the wagon road pas the Thre Miles House, and broke
through the embankment on the Terre Haute Railroad, at the
crossing of the Edwardsville wagon road, and overflowed the
lowlands below for several miles. At twelve o’clock today, the
wagon road to St. Louis was still two or three feet under water
as far as the eye could trace it, from the railroad crossing
beyond the Three Mile House. The break in the Terre Haute Road
at that point is a serious one, but will probably be repaired by
tomorrow, so that trains can pass. On the Chicago track, a bad
break occurred at a point about a mile south of the Milton
Bridge, but the damage was so promptly repaired that trains
crossed before 10 o’clock this morning. The St. Louis passengers
from Chicago this morning, by the lightning express train, were
transferred to the packet.
Although the river rose to
the planking of the three bridges at Milton, still they appear
to be in good condition. The most serious damage to the Terre
Haute Road was between the bridge and the Junction, at the point
where the flood swept across through the Driving Park. Two
serious breaks, each several rods long, occurred at this point,
and it will be some time before they can be repaired. In the
meantime, the passengers from Alton for the East, will have to
be transferred at the bridge, unless the “plug train” makes
connection by running to Edwardsville Crossing [Hartford area]
on the Chicago & Alton track.
On the Rock Island Road,
the condition of affairs is still worse. Two bridges are gone,
and the track badly damaged. No trains have passed over the road
between the Junction and Brighton since yesterday morning. Until
the damage is repaired, the only outlet for this road will be
over the Chicago & Alton from Brighton to St. Louis. We presume
trains will take this route.
The loss to the farmers on
the bottom by this overflow will be heavy. In many cornfields,
we noticed the water this morning standing two or three feet
deep, and as there was no current, it will evidently remain
there until removed by the slow process of absorption. The path
of the main torrent presents a curious spectacle – rails,
fencing, trees, and debris of every description are seen on
every hand. Just above Milton, the heavy timbers of a large
bridge are stranded on the bank. On the east fork of the Wood
River, one county bridge is swept away, and also the timbers for
a new one, which Judge Stocker had the contract for building.
The details we have given of the flood are meager, but all that
a hasty drive to the scene of disaster enabled us to collect.
Enough is known to show that the flood is the most disastrous
that has occurred in that section for many years.
WOOD RIVER DRIVING PARK (EAST ALTON)
Source: Alton
Telegraph, August 16, 1877
Quite a large company of ladies
and gentlemen from Alton, Edwardsville, and other places,
assembled at this favorite place of public resort on Saturday
afternoon, where a number of trials of speed in trotting took
place. Edwardsville horses carried off the honors – the first
prize, a $5 whip, was won by Hon. G. B. Burnett; the second
prize, a $3 whip, was carried off by Mr. Judy, both of
Edwardsville. Some Alton horses made good time in both races,
but were not quite equal on that occasion to their competitors
from the county seat.
NEWS FROM EAST ALTON
Job’s Stables Destroyed by Fire
Source: Alton Telegraph, August 11, 1881
Mr. Zephaniah B.
Job’s stables near the race track, a few miles below the city,
caught fire about noon Friday, and were totally consumed in a
few minutes. The structure consisted of a large range of wooden
buildings, and had lately been used to shelter teams used in
constructing the Chicago & Alton Railroad cut-off. There was a
lot of loose straw about the place, and it is supposed that the
fire was caused by sparks from an engine, as a train had just
passed. Dr. Guelich and Mr. J. Kuhn, who were near the place at
the time, state that they first saw a little smoke, and in an
inconceivably short space of time, the whole building was
enveloped in flames and was destroyed so quick that nothing
could have been done to save it, even had the appliances for the
purpose been on hand.
NEWS FROM EAST ALTON
Source: Alton Telegraph, November 10,
1881
“Wann Station” is the new name given to Alton Junction
by the I. & St. Louis authorities in their new time card, issued
yesterday.
BEAVERS BUILD DAM NEAR ALTON JUNCTION
Source: Alton
Telegraph, December 15, 1881
During their geological
exploration last week near Alton Junction [East Alton],
Professor Marsh and Hon. William McAdams were much interested in
a beaver dam across the Wood River, a short distance from the I.
& St. Louis Railroad bridge. The dam extends entirely across the
stream, and is very ingeniously constructed. It raises the water
about three feet. The gentlemen were much surprised at the
discovery, as they supposed the beaver had long since deserted
this part of the country. They had both often seen beaver dams
in the far West, but did not expect to find one in the Wood
River, within three miles of a busy town, and near where a
hundred men are at work on the cut-off. The residents on the
Wood River regard the dam as a great curiosity, and would visit
dire revenge on anyone who molested the ingenious little
builders.
GRUESOME DISCOVERY AT ALTON JUNCTION
Source: Alton Daily
Telegraph, January 12, 1882
Alton Junction [East Alton] seems
bent on furnishing its quota of exciting incidents. While
excavating for earth to be hauled onto the Chicago & Alton
cut-off near the Edwardsville wagon road at the lower end of
town, today the workmen were greatly surprised at finding the
skeleton of a human being that had been buried there some years
in the past. The strange unlikeliness of the situation, for so
sacred a duty, caused them to wonder greatly, but it was
increased to astonishment when the discovery was made that the
back part of the skull had been driven in by some blunt
instrument, probably at the time its owner came to his death.
The skull, which is now in the hands of a villager, yet retains
a slight portion of the hair. Among other things exhumed was a
brass kettle, a silver half-moon shaped plate, which bore the
engraving of an opossum, a silk ribbon, on which were several
silver buckles, and quite a number of beads. The poor fellow’s
remains, we understand, and regret to state, were hauled up onto
the “cut,” and dumped in with other earth.
The situation
of the unknown’s grave, and the disreputable fame associated
with the locality in years gone by, cause one to speculate with
a feeling of horror as to the manner of the death. At this
instant, might not a loving wife be looking with that
never-failing trust for the morrow that would bring that loved
form and gladness to her heart, and might not the cheering
thoughts of that far-away fireside and loved friends have been
occupying his thoughts when the assassin’s blow felled him to
the earth?
A conviction for murder has been the outcome
of following circumstances less manifest than those already
developed in this affair, and some amateur detective has a fair
opportunity of pitting his keenness against probably villainy.
HOTEL WANN DESTROYED BY FIRE
Source: Alton Telegraph,
January 14, 1886
The Hotel Wann, at Alton Junction [East
Alton], owned by Mr. George Y. Smith, caught fire Friday
afternoon, and was totally destroyed. Some of the household
furniture and goods were saved. The flames originated from the
flue, communicating to the woodwork just under the roof. The
house was a two story, brick and frame. The building and
contents were insured for about $3,200. This will not quite
cover the loss. In the effort to extinguish the flames, some
persons had their hands frozen.
STEAM ENGINE BOILER EXPLODES ON JOB FARM
Source: Alton
Telegraph, July 15, 1886
Late Monday afternoon, the boiler of
a steam engine, used in threshing wheat on a farm near Alton
Junction [East Alton], belonging to Hon. Zephaniah B. Job,
rented by Mr. A. Mathias, exploded and scattered fragments of
iron and clouds of steam in every direction. Fortunately,
operations had ceased for the time being, and those engaged in
the work had separated to some extent, otherwise the
consequences might have been much more serious. As it was, three
men, William Diamond, William Baily, and Charles Neimeyer were
considerably injured and disabled. They were taken care of by
Mr. Mathias and others, placed in a wagon, and carefully
conveyed to Alton. Baily and Neimeyer were placed in charge of
the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Hospital. William Diamond was
removed to his residence on Belle Street, near Fifteenth Street.
He had a severe cut, four inches in length, in the right jaw,
and a wound, made with a nail or other missile, just back of the
right ear. He was not scalded. He was conscious, but unable to
swallow anything except liquids, owing to the swollen condition
of his neck. All the men were doing well today, with prospects
of speedy recovery. Two wagons, a lot of wheat, and straw were
destroyed by the explosion, and two horses were killed.
TILE WORKS AT ALTON JUNCTION DESTROYED BY FIRE
[East
Alton]
Source: Alton Daily Telegraph, January 18, 1887
A
costly fire occurred at Alton Junction this morning, by which
the Tile Works at that place was totally destroyed, including
all the machinery and fixtures. The flames were first discovered
near the boilers, and with such fury did they rage that in
thirty minutes, the whole building, or mass of buildings, was a
pile of ashes. There were no appliances for a crisis like this,
hence nothing effective could be done towards extinguishing the
flames. The main building was 72x144 feet, two stories high. One
wing was 30x200 feet; the other to the rear, 30x100 feet. There
were 15,000 feet of steam pipe in the establishment; three
drying floors; the engine was 45-horsepower; and steam cylinder.
There were 2 tile machines, 1 elevator, 2 clay crushers, 2 brick
machines, a 5-pump doctor, an iron lathe, and other
appurtenances. All of these were destroyed or badly damaged.
From 40 to 45 men have been employed at the Works. The
members of the firm are: M. H. Boals, John Cook, A. F. Foster,
W. W. Stickney.
ATTACK CAUSED BY BAD WHISKEY
Source: Alton Daily
Telegraph, January 18, 1892
Details reached the city today of
an affray which took place near Alton Junction [East Alton] last
evening, and which rivals in its ghastliness some of the
dime-novel border stories. The affair happened on one of Mr. Z.
B. Job’s farm – the one usually termed Job’s ranch. In the
farmhouse lived a man named Gardner and his family, Willie
Davis, William O’Neill, Patrick O’Brien, and John Williams.
Yesterday morning a quarrel started between Davis and O’Neill
about who should feed the cows. O’Neill drew a knife and
threatened to cut Davis. The latter picked up a piece of brick,
but bystanders brought about peace. Davis then went to Alton
Junction, thinking he would thus avoid any trouble. Williams
afterwards told O’Neill that he (O’Neill) was in the wrong.
Everyone except O’Neill let the matter drop there. He, however,
got his revolver and loaded it to kill. Gardner found the
revolver where O’Neill had put it, and hid it. O’Neill and
Williams, who had been the best of friends, then started to the
Junction. There, O’Neill filled up on whiskey in some of the
“closed” saloons. Williams returned to the ranch at about 8 p.m.
On the road to Alton Junction, O’Neill had told Williams that he
intended to kill O’Brien. Williams told O’Brien to be on his
guard, that O’Neill had said O’Brien’s time had come. All the
men got home before O’Neill. O’Brien went to bed upstairs, and
Williams laid on a bench thinking to quiet O’Neill when he came
home. But he fell asleep, and his good intentions may be the
indirect cause of his death. The men had been out late and
retired early on that account. At 8 o’clock, they were sleeping
soundly.
O’Neill had been bloodthirsty all day. The
whisky he had imbibed made him a demon. When he came in the
house, he saw Williams on the bench. Here was a victim. He got
an ax that had been used for cutting meat, and struck Williams
on the side of the face, cutting a gash from the chin to the
ear, and breaking the jawbone. Williams fell to the floor, when
O’Neill rained blows on his body. When Williams groaned, he
cried, “I’ll cut your legs off!” On Williams’ head, body and
legs came the blows from the ax, and in the din O’Brien waked
up. He came to the stairway and O’Neill came toward him,
threatening to kill him. Just then, Williams moaned again, and
the brute, O’Neill, said, “Ain’t you dead yet?” With this, he
rushed to Williams. He aimed a blow at his head, but it missed
and struck Williams in the breast. Again, he tried to strike the
prostrate man, but O’Brien had come up behind him, and giving
him a shove sent him sprawling to the floor. Here, he held him
until Gardner could arrive, and together they tied him hand and
foot. When the wretch was secured, a telephone message was sent
to Alton, and Deputy Sheriff Volbracht brought him here, where
he placed him in the city jail.
This morning O’Neill was
given a preliminary examination before Squire Brandeweide, who
fixed his bond at $1,000. O’Neill would convict himself on his
own story.
Dr. W. Fisher attended poor Williams. The man
is fearfully cut and hacked. Besides the gash on the cheek, he
has both eyes closed, his mouth cut and mashed, a big cut on the
leg, another on the breast, and numerous bruises on the body and
internal injuries. The blows on the head caused concussion of
the brain. There is little hope of Williams’ recovering. O’Neill
is in jail. He couldn’t get bonds for any amount, and if
Williams dies, he will be a candidate for hanging.
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 23, 1892
Patrick
O’Brien, one of the men living on the Job ranch, stated to a
representative of the Telegraph yesterday, that he was the man
with whom O’Neal, who used an ax on Williams last Sunday, had
the misunderstanding early in the morning; that he (O’Brien)
left the ranch and went to the Junction to avoid trouble that
O’Neal told Williams (the wounded man) that Sunday would be
O’Brien’s last day; that all the men were sober; that Williams
stayed downstairs in order to pacify O’Neal; that he (O’Brien)
was waked out of a sound sleep by the butchery going on
downstairs, and came down in time to save Williams’ life; that
he threw O’Neal down, held him there until a rope was procured,
and then tied him; that O’Neal had threatened the lives of
several of the party. O’Brien says he served nearly five years
in the army during the Rebellion [Civil War], and has just
applied for a pension and feels very thankful that O’Neal’s axe
did not fall on him, as he believes was intended; that he wants
to live to enjoy his pension for some time yet.
Source:
Alton Daily Telegraph, January 19, 1892
There is but little
change in the condition of Williams, the man who was so
unmercifully chopped with an axe on Sunday by the drunken brute,
O’Neill. Dr. W. Fisher is hopeful of Williams’ ultimate
recovery.
Source: Alton Daily Telegraph, December 20,
1892
We are informed that all of the trouble about the
Williams – O’Neill imbroglio has not been published. There are
always two sides to every story, and there seems to be no
exception to the rule in this case. Williams, so the other story
has it, had whipped O’Neill twice during Sunday. That when
O’Neill returned from Alton Junction, the men were not asleep as
reported. That Williams again set on O’Neill with the result
know. It seems that jealousies have existed between the men for
some time past, which was fanned into flames by the connivance
of one of the men on the ranch.
ALTON JUNCTION - ASSAULT WITH AN AXE
Source: Edwardsville
Intelligencer, Wednesday, January 20, 1892
An assault
occurred near Alton Junction on one of the farms of Z. B. Job,
Sunday, in which William O'Neil hacked John Williams while
asleep with a meat ax. The farm house was occupied by John
Gardner and family, Willis Davis, Patrick O'Brien, William
O'Neil and John Williams. Sunday morning a quarrel took place
between Davis and O'Neil about the feeding of the cows. O'Neil
drew a knife and threatened David. Bystanders interfered and
Davis, to avoid trouble, went to Alton Junction. Williams
afterwards told O'Neil that he was in the wrong. Everyone let
the matter drop with this except O'Neil. He got a revolver and
loaded it. Gardner found the weapon and hid it. O'Neil and
Williams then started for the Junction. There O'Neil drank
freely. Williams returned home about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
On the road to the Junction O'Neil told Williams that he
intended killing O'Brien. Williams on his return told O'Brien to
be on his guard. All the men got home before O'Neil. O'Brien
went to bed and Williams laid on a bench, thinking to quiet
O'Neil when the latter returned. He fell asleep and when O'Neil
returned was sleeping soundly. O'Neil was blood thirsty and when
he saw Williams became enraged. He went to the kitchen, got an
ax that had been used for cutting meat, returned to where
Williams was sleeping, and without warning struck Williams
across the face, cutting a huge gash from the eat to the chin
and breaking the jaw bone. Williams fell to the floor, when
O'Neil struck him several more times. When Williams groaned the
infuriated man cried, "Now, I'll cut your legs off." On
Williams' head, body and legs the ax did its dreadful work. The
noise awakened O'Brien. He came to the stairway and O'Neil came
towards him and threatened to kill him. Just then Williams
moaned again and O'Neill, with the exclamation, "Ain't you dead
yet," rushed to Williams. He again struck him and attempted to
repeat the blow when O'Brien came up from behind and shoved him
sprawling on the floor. Here O'Brien held him until Gardner came
up and together they tied him. A telephone message was sent to
Alton, and Deputy Sheriff Ferd Vollbracht went after him. He was
taken to Alton and bad a preliminary hearing Monday. His bond
was fixed at $1,000, in default of which he was brought to the
county jail. Dr. W. Fisher attended Williams, whose injuries
left little hope of saving his life. He presented a horrible
sight. If Williams dies, as seems probable, another will be
added to the list of murders in the county.
ALTON JUNCTION BURGLARY - SAFE BLOWN OPEN
Source: Alton
Daily Telegraph, April 4, 1893
Mr. William Henry's store at
Alton Junction [East Alton] was ransacked last night by
professional thieves and safe-crackers and $400 in money stolen.
Mr. Henry, upon arising this morning, was astonished to find the
things scattered over the store, the doors wide open and his
safe missing. An investigation revealed the fact that his store
had been entered by thieves. The safe stood in a corner of the
store room, some distance from the door. The burglars took a
pile of jeans pants from a shelf and carefully laid them on the
floor from the safe to the door. Ropes were attached to the safe
and it was drawn to the entrance. So carefully was this done
that the family overhead was not aroused. The safe was a very
small one and weighed but a hundred pounds. It was but little
trouble to drag it a distance of a hundred feet to the rear of
the stable, drill a hole near the lock and blow it up with
dynamite. The money was mostly paper, there being about $330,
the balance being in silver. The books, insurance policies, and
other papers belonging to Mr. Henry were strewn about the
ground. A dog belonging to Marian Chirak, living on the opposite
side of the street made an uproar during the night. A member of
the family got up and looked about, but was unable to see
anything unusual. Shortly after a shot was fired which must have
been the blowing of the safe. This occurred at 2 a.m. Mr. Henry
has wired the surrounding towns to be on the lookout. He thinks
that a pair of suspicious looking characters who watched him
open the safe the morning before, after purchasing several
articles, are the ones responsible for the robbery.
WANN JUNCTION
Source: Alton Telegraph, May 18, 1893
Mr.
Marion Squires, while ploughing in a field near Wann yesterday,
found a silver souvenir medal that had evidently lain in the
ground for several years, as it was quite black. The medal is
commemorative of the unveiling of Gen. Frank P. Blair's statue
in Forest Park, St. Louis, in 1885.
EAST ALTON - POWDER PLANT EXPLOSION
Source: Auburn, New
York Argus, 1895
Five thousand pounds of giant powder
exploded at the Equitable Powder Mills, Alton, Illinois. Thomas
Keff, Henry Ragus, and William Roetgess were killed.
RAILROAD CHANGES NAME OF WANN TO EAST ALTON
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, March 21, 1895
On March 24th, the Big Four
[Railroad] will change their station name here to East Alton
instead of Wann. This change will make everything straight East
Alton, and does away with the two or three different names for
the village.
[NOTE: The Big Four Railroad was the
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad. The Wann
Station was originally called Alton Junction, and existed as
early as 1864 in the town of Emerald (later named East Alton).
There was a hotel at Alton Junction called Hotel Wann, and I
believe this is where the name of Wann Junction came from. Hotel
Wann, a 2-story brick and frame building, was owned by George Y.
Smith, and was destroyed by fire in January 1886.]
WRECK ON THE CHICAGO & ALTON RAILROAD - FIVE MEN KILLED
60
Men Dumped into the Wood River
Source: Alton Evening
Telegraph, April 5, 1895
At 4:15 o'clock this morning, a
southbound Chicago & Alton freight train, on the cut-off between
Godfrey and Wann [East Alton], went over the Wood River bridge
and was converted into kindling wood, causing death to five men
and badly injuring fourteen others. The dead are:
David
Hefty, Watertown, Wisconsin, aged 25 years, mangled.
Frank
Harreman, Philadelphia, aged 30 years; head crushed.
Unknown
man, died on relief train from internal injuries.
Unknown
man, a laborer, who has until recently been employed at Sag
Bridge, Illinois.
Unknown man, body not recovered from the
wreck in Wood River.
The fatally injured are:
Edward
Albursched, a Prussian laborer, head crushed, back injured,
internal injuries.
Otto Schmidt, home unknown, internal
injuries.
C. W. Schroeder, Argentine, Kansas, right arm
broken, legs mashed, internal injuries, back hurt.
Thomas
Cote, chest and side injured, head badly cut, right arm broken,
internal injuries.
John Moran, Massachusetts, side and back
crushed, internal injuries.
Henry Glass, Pennsylvania,
shoulder, jaw and collarbone broken; head injured.
Others injured:
Willis Willets, Dallas, Texas; head and
shoulder cut.
James Hart, no settled home, cigar maker,
head, legs and back cut and bruised.
Charles Custer, Lima,
Ohio; hip crushed, back injured.
Robert Seal, New York,
ankle crushed, kneecap broken.
Martin Pickens, 368 West
Madison Street, Chicago, back injured, head cut.
John Carr,
Cincinnati, Ohio; head cut, slight injuries.
Harry Williams,
Toledo, Ohio; ankle crushed.
Theodore Hunt, no settled home,
foot crushed to pieces.
The accident was caused by an
old flat car and the use of the air brakes. The train of
eighteen cars was running at a high rate of speed, and at the
Wood River bridge, the air brakes were applied. The front end of
the train was light, the rear end heavy, and the momentum caused
the flat car to collapse. The entire train, with the exception
of the engine and three cars, went over the twenty-foot
embankment. The middle of the train fairly raised, and then
pitched to either side of the track into the river below and to
the foot of the embankment. There were, it is stated, about
sixty men on the train, mostly workmen from the Chicago drainage
canal, and tramps. A box car with eighteen men on the inside
fell to the bottom of the ditch, and nearly every man was
injured. It was like a flash of lightning. Two cars went into
the Wood River, and one car remained suspended to the bridge by
the trucks. Not a member of the train crew sustained injuries.
The members of the train crew commenced the work of rescue.
The men were pulled out from among the wreckage, and a relief
train was dispatched for. The train left Alton and returned with
the wounded men about 10 o'clock, making the trip via Godfrey.
The train was boarded above the city by a representative of the
Telegraph. Fourteen mangled, cut and bleeding men were in the
car. They tossed about, moaning and calling for water. One of
the number died on the way to Alton.
Edward Albusched,
one of the fatally injured, presented a sickening sight. The
left side of his head was crushed, and the blood fairly oozed
through his hair. His left hand was smashed, the flesh being
nearly all torn off. He tried to ease the pain in his head with
the shattered member, while he constantly uttered in broken
English, "Please give me water."
One of the injured gave
a graphic description of the suddenness of the accident. He had
been asleep, and awoke first at one end of the car and then at
the other, striking men and splinters in his flight. One of the
men was standing on the rear end of the train, when the break
came. He went off like a rubber ball and was tossed thirty feet,
alighting on the ground.
Upon the arrival of the relief
train, the injured men were removed to St. Joseph's Hospital,
where the work of attending their injuries commenced under the
supervision of Dr. W. Fisher, the railroad’s local physician.
The body of Frank Harreman was brought to the police station
here [Alton]. The unknown man who died on the relief train is at
the hospital. Arrangements were made for the interment of the
other two at the scene of the wreck.
The wreck was not as
costly to the Chicago & Alton as the appearance would indicate.
About five of the box cars were all that were entirely
destroyed, and every one of these were empties. Several cars
containing merchandise were damaged, but the contents were not
materially affected. The total damage will probably not exceed
$5,000. A wrecking crew with track clearers were put at work and
the track was cleared at once.
POWDER MILL EXPLOSION - THREE MEN KILLED
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, September 1, 1896
About eight o'clock this
morning, two distinct and severe concussions were felt by the
people of Alton. Some imagined that it was an earthquake, but
the general opinion was that an explosion had occurred at the
powder works at East Alton. This was soon verified by telephone
reports, indicating that two of the houses had been blown up,
and three men killed in the explosion. The first explosion
occurred in what is called the press mill, where the men killed
were at work. A few seconds afterwards the corning mill
exploded. The fire and smoke ascended into the air at least
several hundred feet and were seen plainly in Alton, the smoke
remaining in the air for ten or fifteen minutes. The shock was
felt for miles around. Telephone messages were received from
East St. Louis, Edwardsville, Collinsville, and other places,
inquiring if Alton had experienced an earthquake. The shock was
not felt as much at East Alton as at Upper Alton, because the
buildings are situated behind a hill, which separates the
village and the works. The Telegraph's East Alton correspondent
gives the following account of the explosion:
At 7:50
o'clock this morning, the press mill and corning mill of the
Equitable Powder Milling Company blew up, instantly killing
William Roettger, Henry Rages and Thomas Keffer, all employees.
The cause of the explosion is a mystery. The men killed all have
families. G. H. White was slightly injured and was just leaving
the press mill when the explosion occurred. Roettger and Rages
were employed in the press mill, and Keffer had gone to the mill
for something and was just in the door of the press room and
coming out when the explosion took place. Herbert White, being a
short distance ahead of Keffer, escaped any serious injury. The
remains of Rages and Roettger have not been found, nor likely
never will be. The biggest part of their remains found so far
was a thumb and a piece of flesh the size of a hand. Their
bodies were blown to fragments.
The Press mill exploded
first, and a minute later was followed by the corning mill. The
corning mill was in charge of George Scott, who made his escape
without injury. Mr. Scott saw the press room was going, and well
knowing that his mill would also go, ran for his life, and none
too soon, for in scarcely a minute from the time the press mill
went up, the corning mill did likewise. Windows were shaken,
glass broken and chimneys knocked down everywhere in the town,
and pictures shaken from the wall. The report was heard at
Bunker Hill and East St. Louis. The damage will amount to many
thousands of dollars.
The engine room was also wrecked.
The men killed had been working with the Equitable Powder Co.
ever since the mill has been here. William Roettger had made
application to the A. O. U. W. and had been examined by the
local physician, but his medical papers had not been returned
from the Grand Medical Examiner, and he was to have been
initiated Saturday evening, September 5. Mr. Olin was in St.
Louis. He was notified by wire and arrived here on the
Burlington at 9:30. An eyewitness who saw the explosion from
near Milton bridge says he saw a timber blown at least 1,000
feet in the air. A telephone message from East Alton at 3
o'clock states that up to that time a portion of the skull and a
part of the shoulder of Rages had been found. Coroner Kinder
came over from Edwardsville and held an inquest. The jury was
unable to learn the cause of the explosion, and returned a
verdict of death by explosion.
An ex-employee of the
powder works was seen this afternoon, and explained that the
press room is where the powder is pressed into cakes by
hydraulic pressure. Usually 60 kegs or 1410 pounds are here at a
time. Being so compact is what produced the terrible concussion
of the first report. The powder which filtered out of the
buildings settled on the ground, and this explains how the
corning room exploded. The latter is 100 yards away, and here is
where the cakes are cut into the sized grain desired. This
powder being in grains did not make such a report. This
informant states that the two magazines have a capacity of
60,000 kegs.
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, September
2, 1896
No further fragments of the bodies of Henry Rages and
William Roettgers, who were blown to pieces by the powder mill
explosion yesterday morning, have been found, and all that
remained of the men was a few pieces of flesh, picked up in
different places. The funeral of Thomas Keffer, whose body was
not badly mutilated, took place in Upper Alton today. The
funeral of William Roettger took place at Brighton today, and
the remains interred there. The funeral of Henry Rages will take
place tomorrow afternoon at 2 o'clock from the Baptist Church in
East Alton.
WESTERN CARTRIDGE FACTORY BURNS
Source: Alton Evening
Telegraph, January 18, 1899
The entire plant of the Western
Cartridge Company at East Alton was destroyed by fire Tuesday
evening, shortly after the men had stopped work for the night.
The buildings destroyed are the main building where cartridges
are loaded, a structure about 40x60 feet and two stories high in
places, also the blacksmith shop and the old stable building, at
the time used as a powder store house. While the buildings
themselves were not a very heavy loss, the machinery and other
contents of the building were quite expensive and are ruined.
One cartridge machine recently installed cost $8,000, and three
other machines were valued at about $2,500 each. Beside this
loss, the cartridges and powder in the buildings together with
the buildings themselves will aggregate $2,500.
It was
stated today by a representative of Mr. Olin that no one but Mr.
Olin, who is absent and will return tonight, could state the
amount of damage, as he alone knows the cost of the machinery.
The insurance was $5,200 with companies represented by G. H.
Smiley, and $3,000 by Edward Yager.
The fire was
discovered at 6 o'clock when the flames burst from the roof. All
hands at the cartridge factory had stopped work at 5:30 p.m.,
and there was then no sign of fire about the place. All
employees are ordered from the building at the closing hour, and
the doors securely locked. The first flames seen were leaping
from the roof of the main building, and before many minutes the
entire building was wrapped in flames. The fire soon spread to
the blacksmith shop and the old stable used as a storeroom. In
the stable were two reservoirs for powder which contained seven
or eight kegs of powder at the time. The powder exploded, but
did no damage as the reservoirs and buildings are loosely
constructed in anticipation of just such occurrences. The
explosion of powder was distinctly felt in Alton in two sharp
shocks that were the first intimation received here that
anything was wrong at the powder works.
It has become an
established rule that whenever earthquake-like shocks rock the
earth from the direction of East Alton, everyone jumps to the
conclusion it is the East Alton powder works going off, if it is
nothing else. In the main building was fully fifty cases of
cartridges, and these added to the uproar and confusion.
The fire is supposed to have been started by electric light
wires. The plant is lighted with electricity supplied by an
independent dynamo. No other theory can be given than that the
wires in the roof set fire to the woodwork a short time before
the closing hour. By chance it happened that there had been
quite a demand for cartridges, and most of the stock had been
shipped out so that the loss was comparatively light in that
respect. The buildings of the Equitable Powder Company were too
far distant from the fire to be affected, and no damage was done
to them.
NOTES:
The Western Cartridge Company in East
Alton was founded in 1898 by Franklin W. Olin. Nearby was the
Equitable Powder Manufacturing Company, founded by Olin in 1892.
The Western was the forerunner of the Olin Corporation, formed
in 1944. Olin rebuilt the Western following the 1899 fire.
WESTERN CARTRIDGE CO. BUILDING NEW FACTORY
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, March 1, 1900
The Western Cartridge Co. is
pushing work on its new factory for the making of shells used in
the manufacture of cartridges. It is said the company is putting
in the finest machinery at its new factory at a great expense,
and that the factory will be one of the finest equipped in the
country. When the Western Cartridge Company has finished its
improvements, it will be an active competitor for the cartridge
and shell business of the country.
BIG FIRE AT EAST ALTON
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph,
April 2, 1900
East Alton had a close call from being wiped
from the face of the earth by fire early Sunday morning. The
fire originated in a double store and dwelling house of J. B.
Vanpreter, and spread to the double store and dwelling house of
William Clarke, thence to two dwellings in the rear owned by A.
E. Benbow, and from there across the road to William Henry's
saloon building, a barber shop, and a shed where farm machinery
was kept. All of these buildings were destroyed, and only the
heroic efforts of the East Alton people saved the fine building
of William Henry, from which the fire could easily have spread
and destroyed the entire village. Several hundred people worked
for hours passing buckets of water to be poured on blankets
which were spread over the threatened side and roof of the Henry
grocery and saved the building. Three times the side next to the
burning saloon caught fire and was extinguished by the
villagers. The Wood River saved the town. Usually no water is
nearer than the river, but a large pool was left in the rear of
the Henry property when the flood in Wood River subsided, and
from this pool water was carried to keep the blankets wet and to
keep the clothes of the firemen from burning.
In the
Vanpreter building was J. W. Robinson's grocery store and Joseph
Cooper's saloon, and upstairs lived J. B. Vanpreter and Neil
Shannahan with their families. In the Clarke building was
Clarke's Drugstore and the post office, David Ellman's Dry Goods
Store, and upstairs lived the Clarke's, Ellman's, and J. A.
Hamilton's families. In the two dwellings of A. E. Benbow, the
families of Ralph Douglas and Joseph Cooper lived, and all of
these lost everything in the houses, escaping in some instances
only partly dressed.
The crackling of flames awakened
Neil Shannahan who was asleep in his home with his two young
children. Mrs. Shannahan was not home. He caught up his two
children and rushed from the house just in time. The flames were
burning fiercely from the outside, and the breaking of a window
caused him to awaken. He saved none of his clothing and all of
his wife's clothing was destroyed. The fire spread to the Clarke
building and the inmates had but short time to leave their
burning homes with what little clothes they could hurriedly
gather up. The entire grocery stock of J. W. Robinson was
destroyed, and there is little insurance. The contents of the
drugstore were destroyed, and also of the Ellman dry goods
store. Mr. Clarke estimates his loss at $6,000 and insurance at
$4,500. Mr. Ellman's stock of dry goods valued at $1,500 is a
total loss with no insurance, and the same is true of the saloon
fixtures of Joseph Cooper. The loss in the Benbow dwellings with
the furniture, and to the families living over the burned
stores, is almost total, as fire insurance rates in the village
are high because of their being no fire protection, and as a
result but little insurance was carried by property owners. Mr.
Vanpreter estimates his loss at $3,000, and says he could have
sold for that amount a short time ago.
Across the road
was a vacant barbershop building that was set afire by the
intense heat, although the wind was blowing in the opposite
direction. From this building the flames spread to a storehouse
which William Henry was using to store farm machinery for which
he is the agent. A binder was in the burned building and with a
lot of extra supplies was ruined. From this building the flames
leaped to the Henry saloon building which was owned by Zephaniah
B. Job Jr., and in a short time this was a complete loss. The
East Alton people thought the Henry grocery was doomed and all
of Mr. Henry's household goods and his stock of groceries was
carried to the outside and piled up in the roadway, but the
fierce fight of the amateur firemen at last conquered the
flames. Mr. Henry places his loss at $500, and Mr. J. B. Job's
loss is about the same. A new brick building in course of
erection for James Chessen was slightly damaged by fire, but was
saved by the wind. The total loss is estimated at $15,000.
ELECTION RIOTS AT EAST ALTON –
BLOODSHED IN CONTEST
BETWEEN "WETS" AND "DRYS"
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph,
April 18, 1900
East Alton had the most exciting election in
her history Tuesday. When the contest between the license and
anti-license forces took place and resulted in a barren victory
for the "drys," a riot occurred in the village hall where the
polls were located, and the injured are:
Riley P. Owen,
scalp severely cut
F. G. Brooks, badly bruised and cut
Joe
Cooper, arm broken
Sam Hunter, scalp wound
Besides
those injured many had a narrow escape from being wounded with a
double charge of shot fired by Frank Devanny from a shotgun.
Stones were hurled through windows and into the struggling mass
of men in the polling place. The trouble was brewing all day,
feeling being to the point of frenzy on both sides. The
temperance people were determined to carry the election and the
saloon people were more determined such should not be the
result. Shortly before the polls closed the clash came. Around
the polls in the city hall a crowd of workers for both sides had
gathered to watch the last few votes go in. The four saloons in
the village had been bending every energy to carry the day, and
every vote counted heavily. James H. Chessen, the village clerk,
offered to swear in five challenged votes for the "west," and
the votes were accepted. Then someone said he would not believe
Chessen under oath, and someone else silenced the doubter with a
blow, so an eyewitness says. Then the mix-up began, and the
fight was furious and bloody for a few minutes. Someone outside
hurled a stone through a $20 plate glass window in the town
hall, and F. G. Brooks ran into the room from the outside and
hurled a stone at Village Attorney for the "drys," R. P. Owen,
and struck him on the head. Mr. Owen is ordinarily quiet enough,
but frenzied with pain and blood pouring from his wounded head
he bore Brooks to the floor, and the consequences might have
been serious but for interference of the other men there. Mr.
Owen hurt Brooks badly. In the melee, Joe Cooper, father of a
candidate for trustee, suffered a broken arm, Sam Hunter
sustained a bad scalp wound, and to heighten the confusion,
Devanny fired his shotgun but no one was hurt. The total vote on
president was 114, and the total vote on the license proposition
was 92. It is said Bright, Chessen and Cooper were elected by
the biggest majorities ever given at an election in the village.
EQUITABLE POWDER COMPANY WILL MAKE EXTENSIVE ADDITIONS
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 2, 1900
The Equitable
Powder Company is preparing to make extensive additions to their
plant at East Alton. A big powder magazine will be built and
additions to the manufacturing capacity of the plant will be
made. The powder mills near East Alton are fast becoming one of
the most important industries in this vicinity, and the rapid
increase in business of the institution is an effective comment
on the push and business methods of the company.
NEW STORE – WILLIAM CLARKE OF EAST ALTON
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, June 25, 1900
The fine new store building
of William Clarke at East Alton has been completed so far as the
foundations. The building will be of stock brick and will be a
handsome structure.
FIRE AT OFFICE OF EQUITABLE POWDER WORKS AND WESTERN
CARTRIDGE COMPANY
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, September
10, 1900
The office of the Equitable Powder Company and the
Western Cartridge Company at East Alton was destroyed by fire
this morning, and little of its contents were saved. The fire
was discovered by Night Operator Robert Rodgers of the Big Four,
at 2:45 o'clock, and in a short time after the fire alarm had
been given by firing of firearms, the entire male population of
the village had turned out and was engaged doing its utmost to
prevent the flames spreading to a magazine, only a short
distance away. The office building destroyed was a two-story
frame structure, almost new, and substantially built. It
contained all the papers and books of the two companies, some of
which are very valuable. In the middle of the building was a
brick vault in which the papers were stored, and it is supposed
they are in good condition, as the brick work was standing after
the fire. The origin of the fire is not known, as no one was
near the building when it broke out. The damage was covered with
insurance.
EXPLOSION AT THE POWDER MILLS
Source: Alton Evening
Telegraph, September 13, 1900
One ton of gunpowder was
exploded last night at 9:45 o'clock in wheel houses 3, 4, and 5
at the mills of the Equitable Powder Company at East Alton.
Wheelhouse No. 3 exploded first, and the other two were set off
by detonation from the first. Not a man was hurt by the
explosion, although the force was so great it distinctly shook
buildings in Alton and was plainly heard in all parts of the
city. The shock was felt at Edwardsville also. Fred Kauffmann,
Sam Hunter and Munsey Palmer were the watchmen at the
wheelhouses last night, and their escapes were narrow. It is the
duty of the men to visit each of the six wheelhouses once every
20 minutes to keep watch on the explosive, which is being ground
under 10-ton crushers, and is kept constantly wet to prevent
heating by friction. The men had started on the rounds, and No.
1 had been entered when the explosion in No. 3 occurred. The
watchman in No. 1 lost no time in escaping, but Nos. 1, 2 and 6
did not explode. The roofs of the solid stone wheel houses were
blown to pieces, being loosely laid on to furnish no resistance.
It is not known how badly the machinery is damaged.
NEW BRICK OFFICE BUILDING AT EQUITABLE POWDER AND WESTERN
CARTRIDGE
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, October 3, 1900
The Equitable Powder Company and the Western Cartridge Company
is building a fine brick office building on the ruins of the
office that was destroyed by fire one month ago. The building is
the most substantial one in East Alton, and is a credit to the
place. The damages caused by the fire and explosion at the wheel
houses of the powder mill have been repaired and the plant is
again in running order.
TERROR IN EAST ALTON - TEN TRAMPS TAKE POSSESSION OF EAST
ALTON
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, January 17, 1901
Ten tramps who had been hanging around the railroad yards at
East Alton Wednesday, all day, started out in a bunch this
morning between 12 and 1 o'clock, and held up and robbed
everybody they met. Just how much they got is not known. Some
meetings were going on last night, and several men were abroad
at that hour. Marshal Hank Feldwisch and Ollie Harris were
hunting in the yards after the robbers had dispersed, when they
were met by a small boy who said he knew that the hold-up men
were in the Big Four sandpit camped by a fire, and that he heard
them planning the robberies. The officer and Harris slipped
quietly into the pit, covered the crowd with guns, and the
ordered them to surrender. The robbers broke away, shots were
exchanged and one of the "invincibles" fell, but got up again
and escaped with seven others. Feldwisch and Harris captured
three, and the wounded man and two others of the gang were
captured by East St. Louis officers as they emerged from a
freight car in the East St. Louis yards this morning.
People of the town (those of them who had been aroused) were
thoroughly alarmed, armed themselves hurriedly it is said, and
barricaded themselves in their houses. They tell today that
Charley Henry, the barber, was discovered this morning in his
shop, surrounded by eight revolvers and one breech loading
shotgun, defying all the thieves that ever was, and daring them
to come on and receive his treatment, which he guaranteed to
cure thieving, free of cost. The good work of Marshal Feldwisch
and Ollie Harris is evoking many works of commendation, and
increases the feeling of security people down there have had
since "Hank" put on the star.
NOTES:
Henry F. “Hank”
Feldwisch was a member of the East Alton police department for
40 years, and police chief under Mayor James Jameson. He was one
of the early settlers in East Alton, and was one of the first
employed at the Equitable Powder Company in East Alton.
Feldwisch was an eyewitness of the Wann Disaster in East Alton.
He was wounded twice in his line of duty. Feldwisch, born in
Alton, was the son of Ernest and Wilhelmina “Minnie” Vahle
Feldwisch. He worked at his father’s Alton brickyard in its
early days, where the bricks were used in building the original
St. Joseph’s Hospital. He died in March 1945, and is buried in
the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery. He left behind his wife, Anna
Bartling Holden Feldwisch, and a stepson, Roy Holden.
FIRE DESTROYS EAST ALTON BIG FOUR DEPOT
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, March 12, 1901
Fire destroyed the
passenger station of the Big Four and the C. B. & Q. at East
Alton this morning. Within one hour after the fire was
discovered in the shingles of the roof, the building was level
with the ground and only heaps of charred wood remained. The
loss was not heavy, as the building was lightly constructed and
all the valuable papers in it were saved by the office men when
the fire broke out. At 10 o'clock the flames were discovered in
the roof, and an effort was made to extinguish the fire after
valuable books and papers had been removed to places of safety.
The water supply at East Alton would have been sufficient to
have saved the building, but no ladder to reach the roof could
be found and the pressure was not sufficient to throw water up
there. The building was old and dry and made quick fuel for the
flames. Temporary accommodations for the office force and
passengers will be provided, and the Big Four will at once build
a new and better depot.
SKULL OF MASSIVE MAN FOUND AT EAST ALTON
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, March 14, 1901
East Alton has again got
the wonders, and the village is guessing what sort of a man wore
on his shoulders the skull found yesterday afternoon on Job's
ranch, just east of the town. Mr. Job had a force of men engaged
in leveling down a hill near the old ranch house, and one of the
scrapers brought out with its load of dirt the skull of a man.
Investigation unearthed the rest of the skeleton, but it
speedily crumbled into dust. The skull, however, was made of
sterner stuff and is still intact. The jawbones are massive and
the teeth are formidable looking masticators, and if the rest of
the owner was formed in proportion, he must have been a giant in
stature. Mr. Job has owned that place for 60 years or more, and
he does not know of any man having been buried there. In fact,
he gave the Milton Cemetery to the public for burial purposes,
and in earlier days Milton was the place where all deceased
persons were laid to rest. Mr. Job inclines to the belief that
an Indian wore the skull and appurtenances and this appears
reasonable. He brought the skull to Alton and says he will give
it to Dr. W. Fisher to put in his cabinet. Charles Henry, the
East Alton barber who is an archaeological crank, a pre-historic
Pundit, and an antediluvian Mahatma, says the find is the face
of an ape, but he does not explain how the Simian got there or
how he buried himself that far down in the ground.
MURDER AT EAST ALTON
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, July
5, 1901
A man, who appears to be James Rayburn of St. Louis,
aged about 34, was found dying in a boxcar this morning at East
Alton, his head crushed in by blows from a piece of heavy iron
and his body covered with bruises and with blood. The body was
found by a harvest hand named Lou Barber, who was passing the
car in the Big Four yards and heard the dying man's groans.
Making an investigation, he discovered the body in the car
covered over with straw. Rayburn lived one hour after being
carried to the town hall at East Alton, and died at 7 o'clock.
He did not regain consciousness, and the identification was by
means of papers in his pocket. The head of the man was beaten
almost into a shapeless mass. On the back of the head was a big
hole and the skull above the left eye was crushed in. The ear
was knocked off and a hole made in the bone. On top of the head
was a hole and a heavy blow had been struck over the mouth,
knocking out Rayburn's teeth. All but one of the pockets in
Rayburn's clothes were turned inside out, and the motive of the
murder was apparently robbery. In the one pocket that had not
been searched by the murderers were three silver dollars, and in
his sock was a paper dollar bill. Rayburn's clothes were of good
texture and his body was clean. He wore silk underclothes, a
stiff hat, blue check suit of clothes, blue tie, blue shirt and
tan shoes. In the clothes was a check for baggage, and he was
evidently going from East St. Louis to Kansas City and was
beating his way. It is said at East Alton that two suspicious
characters boarded a freight train for St. Louis at 5:30 o'clock
this morning. The murder was probably committed at 5 o'clock, as
the blood on him was still fresh and the wounds were new. No one
knows how the murdered man happened to be at East Alton, nor had
anyone seen him there before. Deputy Coroner Streeper held the
inquest this morning and a verdict was found that Rayburn came
to his death by blows inflicted by unknown persons.
NEW SALOON NOW OPEN
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph,
December 2, 1901
William Henry and James Chessen Sr. have
opened a new saloon at East Alton, and are moving the saloon
building to the west side of the Henry store.
PLANS FOR EAST ALTON DEPOT ACCEPTED
Source: Alton
Telegraph, April 17, 1902
Plans for the Big Four East Alton
Depot have been accepted by the Big Four, and it is said that
work of construction will be started soon. The plans adopted
show a neat little structure, which will be both convenient and
comfortable, and will furnish cozy quarters for Agent R. D.
Patton and is East Alton office force. The baggage room will be
detached from the main building, and will be connected by a
shed. The Big Four is now relaying the tracks in its East Alton
yards, preparatory to installing a complete new interlocking
plant there. An electric power plant is being built now, which
will furnish power to operate the electric systems controlling
the interlocking plant from East Alton to Venice, along the
double track system.
THE WOOD RIVER FLOODS –
DEVASTATES TEN THOUSAND ACRES OF
LAND
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, June 30, 1902
The
Wood River's work on June 29, 1902, will long be remembered as
the worst rampage that stream ever went upon. It is estimated
that ten thousand acres of land on both sides of the river,
covering a strip a mile or more in width on each bank, was laid
waste. Thousands of acres were denuded of their wheat crops. The
wheat was standing in the fields after the harvest and the
shocks fell easy prey to the torrent that was sweeping down the
Wood River valley.
The Wood River, ordinarily a peaceful
stream, converted into a destroying torrent by the thirty-six
hours continual downpour of rain, rose out of its banks Saturday
night, spread over the rich low-lying farms and rose eighteen
inches higher than ever before known. Water stood in East Alton
avenue eighteen inches deeper than ever before known, and three
feet of sand was deposited in the main street by the flood.
Barns and other buildings were washed away. At one time the men
of the village went out to the Big Four embankment, south of the
town, and cut it through to allow the water to escape. A trestle
formerly allowed the water to flow off there, but the railroads
put in two 30-inch drain tiles and supposed that would carry the
water. The drains did not work fast enough, and East Alton
people will sue the Big Four for obstructing a water course and
backing the water into their village.
At Chessen's,
Clark's and other stores in the vicinity of East Alton Avenue,
water stood in buildings at a depth of two feet, and people
carried their goods from the buildings. A barn belonging to
William Henry was floated off, and in it were three tramps who
had taken refuge there from the storm. The barn was carried down
in the whirl of waters, finally lodging down the river. The
tramps screamed for help, but none could be given them and they
stayed in the barn until the flood subsided.
The Big
Four, Chicago and Alton, Bluff Line and Illinois Terminal
suffered heavily. The damage of the Big Four was the worst.
Three miles of track was washed out, bridges were wrecked and
the road was impassable. Orders were sent out for every section
man west of Terre Haute to go to East Alton and assist in
repairing the track. Four work trains were put to work and 500
men. Both main line and branch were washed out, and not a train
passed over the Big Four Sunday. At the Job farm, four horses
and 20 head of cattle were drowned, and five horses escaping
from the torrent were mired in quicksands. The five horses were
rescued about noon after hard work by a big party of men who
gathered to help them.
The powder works was inundated
and much damage was done there. In some of the new buildings
constructed there, the floors were forced up by the water, and
the floors were flooded to a depth of three feet. The watchmen
were penned up in the second stories of the buildings and had to
stay there until the water subsided.
The plant of the
Stoneware Pipe Company at East Alton was destroyed by fire as
the direct result of the flood. The loss is $40,000 on this
building alone. The plant consisted of a three-story brick
building, 80x120 feet, which was surrounded by large kilns, ten
of them, for burning tile. These kilns were in operation and in
No. 4 the last heat was being put on to glaze the pipe. At that
time, the Wood River came up and flooded the place. Water filled
the underground cut leading from the kiln to the chimney and cut
off the escape of vapor in the kiln. Steam generated by the
water coming in contact with the hot kiln filled the place, and
an explosion occurred which drove flames out of the kiln and set
fire to the main building. The machinery and building are
totally destroyed. The loss is covered by insurance.
The
C. B. & Q. station was carried away, switch-stands were snapped
off and buildings overturned by the swirl of waters in the mad
torrent. The flood subsided about noon Sunday and the farmers
began counting up their losses. Charley Ferguson, East Alton's
postmaster, lost everything in his fields. Joshua Frankfort also
suffered total loss. Wheat from all the fields choked the
natural water courses and dammed up the water worse than it
would have been. Wheat was carried down the Mississippi to St.
Louis, and the surface of the river there was covered with
floating sheaves. The Reuter brothers lost about $9,000 worth of
wheat and many others lost nearly as heavily. Along the Wood
River Bottoms, there will be great losses resulting from
destruction of corn and the wetting of wheat not carried off by
the flood. One tinner says he got 45 different telephone calls
Sunday to repair leaky roofs. Other tinners got numerous calls
also. The village of Wanda is under water, and hundreds of acres
of growing melons and other garden truck are covered with water
and mud.
EAST ALTON - POSSE CHASES ROBBERS
Source: Auburn, New York
Weekly Bulletin, April 21, 1903
Edwardsville, IllInois, April
21. - Rural telephone service made It possible for two farmers
to call an armed posse in a short time to hunt down thieves who
had plundered their farmhouses, and after a chase two suspects
were overtaken in a buggy. In the fight that followed Frank
Charles of Mobile, Alabama, one of the supposed robbers, was
fatally wounded by Charles Glass, a farmer. The other man left
the buggy when his companion was shot and escaped after the
posse had followed him three miles. Charles Glass and Henry
Hendricks were the men whose houses had been entered. When they
discovered their loss, they immediately notified the nearest
constable and their neighbors, who responded at once, all
heavily armed. Among the things stolen was a tent. It was known
the raiders had escaped in a buggy, and the trail was a hot one.
The posse overtook a buggy, on the outside of which a tent was
strapped. There were two men in the vehicle. They were ordered
to surrender, but laughingly refused to do so. Glass removed a
shotgun from the buggy and one of the pair drew a revolver and
fired at Constable L. J. Lawrence of East Alton, who returned
the fire. Neither shot was effective. Glass then fired the
shotgun and struck the man in the buggy in the jaw. The other
man then escaped.
Alton Evening Telegraph, April 21, 1903
In speaking of the robber wounded by Constable Jack Lawrence of
East Alton, near Wanda Sunday, and who was taken to the county
hospital at Edwardsville for treatment, the Intelligencer of
that place says: "The greater part of his lower jaw was carried
away cleanly by the charge of shot and the throat was torn.
There is scarcely and support for the tongue, and the man's
condition is regarded as dangerous. That view of it is not taken
by him, however. At 10 o'clock this morning he surprised
Superintendent John Ost by demanding the morning papers. Then he
got out of bed and rolled a cigarette, and although he has
scarcely enough of a mouth to handle the latter, seemed to get
some enjoyment out of it. He is described as the gamest patient
in the hospital. The man's identity is not clear. Last night
when he could not talk, he replied to questions as to who he was
by scrawling on a sheet of paper, "Frank Charles, Mobile, Ala.,
age 19 years." Later he told the doctor his name was James
Edward, but the initials tattooed on his arm are "J. I. B."
Alton Evening Telegraph, April 24, 1903
Frank Charles,
the robber dangerously wounded last Sunday by Constable Jack
Lawrence of East Alton, is recovering at the county hospital and
Sheriff Crowe will remove him to the sick ward in the county
jail. The wounded man says his name is not "Charles," but that
no one will ever know his real name. He says he is a "black
sheep," and that his family will never know how black.
[NOTES: Charles Glass and Henry Hendricks were well-known
farmers who lived south of East Alton, off of the Old St. Louis
Road. The robbers fled south, and were overtaken near Wanda, in
the Hartford area. I could find no further information on Frank
Charles, the robber who was shot, or on the robber that got
away. He was probably never caught.]
NEW ADDITION TO EAST ALTON - NIAGARA
Source: Alton Evening
Telegraph, September 16, 1904
Messrs. Long and Swift have
just surveyed and platted for Hon. Zephaniah B. Job another
addition to East Alton, which Mr. Job has christened Niagara, in
honor of the falls in Wood River over the powder mills dam. The
addition is directly east of the Wood River bridge on the Milton
Road, and extends eastward two blocks. There are 35 lots in the
tract.
NEW SHOVEL FACTORY AT EAST ALTON
Source: Alton Evening
Telegraph, September 27, 1904
The construction of the Charles
Beall Shovel factory at East Alton is progressing rapidly and
another whistle of industry will be soon calling men to work in
this vicinity.
THREE EAST ALTONIANS BADLY FRIGHTENED BY PANTHER
Source:
Alton Evening Telegraph, November 12, 1904
Friday night
Herman Schultze, John Farris, and Dan Scott, three well known
residents of East Alton, went on a possum hunt in the Wood River
Bottoms, and the hunt was pretty much like other hunts of that
kind until about 1 o'clock this morning. They were in Bradley's
woods, back of the powder mills, when they were startled at
first and then panic stricken by a series of yells that came
apparently, now from above their heads, now from the underbrush
beside them, and occasionally from the path in front. The
screams and cries are described as being of the most blood
curdling character, and at first the men thought some woman was
being killed, as the voice sounded like that of a woman in the
greatest of agony. Then it dawned upon them that the noise was
caused by a panther or a wild cat, as did the fact that the
animal, or whatever it was, was approaching them and they
stampeded. They did not know which way was safety; they only
knew they wanted to get away from those cries and they ran in
any direction. They became separated from each other in their
flight, and each lost his way. Just how many miles they ran
during the hours between the beginning of their panic and
daylight cannot be estimated they say, but they are satisfied
that if daylight had postponed its coming a little longer, they
would have made a century run. As soon as it became light enough
to see, the frightened men found their way out of the woods and
returned to their homes in an exhausted condition. A party will
be formed and a hunt made for the sound maker, which is believed
to be either a wild cat or the Indian Creek panther.
NEW HOUSE IN SILVER RIDGE
[SILVER RIDGE WAS A SUBURB OF
EAST ALTON, AND WAS FOUNDED BY Z. SILVER.]
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, November 26, 1909
O. W. Foster is moving
into his newly completed residence in Silver Ridge.
BUILDING BOOM IN SILVER RIDGE ADDITION
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, December 2, 1909
Silver Ridge addition to
East Alton is in the midst of quite a building boom, and bids to
be the most thickly populated part of East Alton within a few
years. Houses are now being built for Charles Chessen, Ed Doerr,
Ed Walls, Frank Eudy, and Jesse Jones. Houses have just been
completed for Lee Bracken and Ed Doerr in that addition. Mr.
Doerr has finished three houses.
RECORD FILED FOR THE NEW TOWN OF BLINN (Suburb of East Alton,
founded by H. J. Bowman)
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph,
January 25, 1910
The record for the new town of Blinn, east
of Silver Ridge addition to East Alton, was filed with the
county clerk yesterday, and the lots in the new place will be
put on the market at once. The property is part of the Job
estate, and will be in charge of Joseph Heins, who will act as
agent. One house has been started there by Charles Glass, the
ground being broken yesterday, and others will be started within
a few weeks. The lots are 50 feet by 130 deep, and are all
fronted with a four foot concrete walk.
SILVER RIDGE MAY BE ANNEXED TO EAST ALTON
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, March 23, 1910
There is considerable talk
of the annexation of Silver Ridge addition to East Alton. It is
known that East Alton and the residents of the addition are
willing for the annexation, and it is probably that petitions
for the annexation will be circulated soon.
NEW HOUSE IN BLINN
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April
18, 1910
Charles Glass has started the construction of a new
house in his property in Blinn. This is the fourth house to be
started in Blinn.
MINING TOOL FACTORY DESTROYED BY FIRE
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, April 29, 1910
The Beall Bros. Mining Tool
Factory at East Alton was completely destroyed by fire this
afternoon. The fire started at 3 o'clock and within a half hour
the entire plant was destroyed. It was said that the fire got
out from under the furnace and mounted up to the roof. With
inadequate firefighting equipment, the plant was soon destroyed.
James Gleason was badly hurt by the roof falling on him. The
destruction of the plant by fire is the second heavy loss the
firm has suffered in the past six months. The loss may be near
to $75,000. At the late hour the fire was discovered it was
impossible to ascertain about the insurance.
The whole
of East Alton was turned out to fight the fire, but could do
little. The plant employed about 75 men, and was rushed with
orders. The destroyed plant was a large frame building, and an
addition to it was just about finished. The destruction was
quick. The buildings housed costly machinery, all of which will
be badly damaged. Mayor Beall said this afternoon that he did
not know of the fire until it was over, as he was at a barber
shop being shaved. He estimated that $75,000 would not cover the
loss if the destruction was as complete as he was told.
NOTES:
In 1872, Edmond Beall and his brother, Charles,
founded Beall Brothers Mining Tool Company in Alton, to
manufacture mining tools. With continued expansion, the company
was incorporated in 1900, with Charles Beall as president. In
1904, Charles Beall founded his own company in East Alton, C. L.
Beall Manufacturing Company, which produced a variety of tools.
The plant was destroyed by fire in 1910, and rebuilt. This
company was sold in 1917 to Hubbard & Co. of Pittsburgh. The
company was sold to Mark D. Speciale in 1984, and was then named
Beall Manufacturing Inc.
EXPLOSION AT EQUITABLE POWDER COMPANY
HENRY MILLER'S BODY
FOUND IN PIECES
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, March 19,
1914
The glazing mill at the plant of the Equitable Powder
Co. at East Alton exploded Wednesday evening about 6:20 o'clock,
with a shock that was felt for one hundred miles. Within a
distance of fifteen to twenty miles the shock was so violent
that in many places in the eastern part of Madison county it was
believed that the explosion was close at hand. In East Alton
there was a general smashing of glass windows and there was wild
consternation when the mill went off. The violence of the
explosion indicated at once that it was the "glaze" mill that
had gone off. The glaze mill consists of ten huge barrels in
which powder is polished, the final process of preparing it for
market. These barrels have a capacity of about 1,500 pounds of
powder each, and there are ten of them. The whole battery of
barrels exploded. The system of polishing powder is regarded as
rather dangerous, though every precaution is taken. The friction
that would be caused that might produce an explosion is
minimized by the use of graphite which is poured into the powder
and is afterward sifted out when it has served its purpose. It
was in this department that the explosion occurred. The building
was about 25x80 feet, constructed of wood with sheet iron
covering and resting on concrete foundations. The night
inspector, Henry Miller, aged 56, had just started on his
rounds. He had reached the glaze mill, lantern in hand, and it
is supposed he had just entered the door to investigate the
temperature of the bearings on the machines, when the explosion
occurred. Search was immediately made for Miller, but no vestige
of him could be found, and it was concluded that he had been
blown to pieces. The building containing the machinery had been
blown to the winds, and even the concrete foundations were
wrecked by the discharge of near eight tons of high efficiency
powder. The jar was plainly felt all over Alton, and everywhere
inhabitants of Alton thought that there had been a sudden jar
very close to them. Down on Second street a policeman and a gang
of men made a rush for the site of the destroyed Stanard-Tilton
elevator, thinking that it had taken place there. The echo
rebounding from the tall grain tanks had given the effect of a
local blast being fired. In East Alton there was general terror.
The crashing of falling glass made the first impression in the
minds of those nearby, that a terrific earthquake was on. Large
plate glass windows in the village of East Alton were smashed,
though the glaze mill is almost two miles from the village, and
is close to the eastern line of the insane hospital site. After
the explosion a search was undertaken to find the missing
attendant who had been blow up. Though a search was continued
until late into the night for fragments of his body, none could
be found. Fragments of the body of Miller were found scattered
all over the vicinity of the exploded glaze mill. The fragments
were collected and a coroner's inquest was held this morning. It
was officially stated today by Powder Co. that the loss to the
company, exclusive of the powder, which was not counted, would
be in the neighborhood of $5,000. The pieces of the building and
machinery, almost all of them small, were ______ 900 to 1,000
feet.
The explosion will cause no interruption of the
manufacture of powder, as the company keeps duplicate
departments and when one shuts down the other is started up.
This morning at daybreak the searchers for the remains of the
missing body, among whom was Harry Hatton, succeeded in finding
small pieces of the arm bones 200 feet away from the mill.
Scattered fragments of the body were found at distances from a
quarter to a half mile away, and it was said that some of the
clothing was picked up on the James Ferguson farm, over across
the Big Four railroad track. Coroner's Undertaker, John Berner,
went out this ...[unreadable] -tended the picking up of the
remains which he deposited in a sack and put in his undertaking
wagon. An inquest will be held. This morning a committee of Ed
James and Mr. Berner went around in East Alton, stopping at
every place to see what windows were broken and offered to
replace the windows. About one fourth of the windows in East
Alton were broken, and some large plate glass windows in
business houses. The death of Mr. Miller reveals the fact,
according to an intimate acquaintance, that Miller and his wife
Alice had been separated and divorced, but that for convenience
sake both had been living in the Miller home, but not as husband
and wife. The wife, it is said, had been working at the
Cartridge works and the husband at the powder mill. They have
three children, two married daughters who married a year ago at
the same time to husbands who boarded at the Miller home, and a
son about sixteen years of age. Miller filed the divorce suit in
the Circuit court about 9 months ago, and is understood to have
secured a divorce. It is believed that the husband and wife
would shortly have compromised their troubles. Mrs. Rebecca
English, 74 years old, of Worden, Ill., about 30 miles east of
Alton, dropped dead when the force of the powder explosion shook
the home. She was a widow, living with her daughter and
son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. George Chapman, in Worden, and had been
in feeble health for some time. She was alone in the sitting
room when the explosion shook the house. When other members of
the family who had left her for a moment immediately went into
the sitting room, ... [unreadable].
FIVE MEN DIE WHEN PRESS BLOWS UP AT POWDER WORKS
Source:
Alton Evening Telegraph, April 1, 1915
James Colburn, Louis
Murphy, Elmer Kortkamp, Gus Volz and Clyde Davis were killed
instantly at nine o'clock this morning when the press house at
the Equitable Powder Co. at East Alton exploded from a cause
which at present is entirely unknown. The shock was felt at
Mattoon, 100 miles away, and hundreds of windows in East Alton
were shattered by the explosion. The five men who were at work
in the place at the time of the accident were blown into many
pieces, and their bodies were scattered for a distance of
several hundred yards about the place. According to the
officials of the company, this is the first time in the
twenty-four years of the company's history that the press house
has been destroyed. The men in the house went to work as usual
at seven o'clock this morning and everything was running
smoothly as ever. Some of the men in the employ of the company
who were in the building but a few minutes before the explosion
reported at the office shortly after that everything was running
in perfect condition when they left the building. It is likely
that the cause of the accident will never be known. The press
house is a frame building fifty by twenty-five feet containing a
single hydraulic press, which is used in the manufacture of
blasting powder. The grain powder is placed between the leaves
of the press where it is put under several tons of pressure and
pressed into blocks twenty-four by twenty-four inches, and one
inch thick. At this time of the year the hydraulic press is
operated with oil instead of water, and this burning oil was
scattered over the grounds, causing small fires among the leaves
in various sections. Orders were given to all the employees at
once to keep outsiders out of the yards. Hardly had the sound of
the explosion and the smoke died away before hundreds of people
from East Alton, who had relatives at work in the plant, rushed
to the gates to find out what had become of them. Some of these
people when they were refused admittance walked nervously up and
down the track looking for a chance to get into the grounds, but
they found none. It soon became generally known on the outside
of the plant which of the buildings had been destroyed, and as
fast as this became known the people acquainted with the
workings of the plant knew what men had gone to work there at
seven o'clock this morning and therefore who had been killed.
After the explosion and the small fires had been
extinguished, a party of men were put to work searching for
parts of the bodies of the men who had been injured in the
accident. A trunk and head of a man which was later identified
as that of Colburn was found across the Wood River several
hundred yards from the explosion where it had been thrown. One
arm was still on the trunk of the body, although all the
clothing had been torn off. The body was identified by a stiff
finger. This is the first explosion which has occurred at the
plant since the state insane hospital at Alton was started, and
there was some interest as to how this would be affected. A
report from the hospital this morning indicated that no damage
whatever had been done there. Officials in charge said that the
shock had been felt, but not a window had been broken and no
damage had been done. Windows in nearly every third house in
East Alton were broken. All the windows in the powder works
hotel were broken out and one of the front walls in the Beall
factory at East Alton was damaged.
Clyde Davis is 22
years of age and unmarried. He boarded at the home of Mrs.
William Crawford on Church Street in East Alton. Louis Murphy is
28 years of age, is married and has two small children. He lives
in East Alton. Mrs. Murphy rushed to the powder works on hearing
of the explosion and fainted on the grounds and had to be
brought back in an automobile and put under the care of a
physician. Elmer Kortkamp is 23 years of age. He is single and
has been living with his widowed mother, Mrs. John Kortkamp in
East Alton, and is her sole support. Gus Volz is __ years of
age, and has a wife and one child. He is said to be known as
Miller, and came in East Alton from Ohio. J. A. Colburn,
superintendent, is about 50 years of age. He came to East Alton
about seven years ago from Connecticut, and is a high salaried,
first class powder expert. He has been in that business all his
life. He made a high salary and lived in a handsome home in
Blinn, which he and his wife had built about a year ago. They
have one grown son, Nordell Colburn, who is a telegraph operator
at Alexandria, L.
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, April
2, 1915
Nine persons, it is said, have been killed in the
Equitable Powder works at East Alton since it was built about
twenty-five years ago. The number is small considering the
hazard of the occupation. Two were killed in the Western
Cartridge works in the fulminite department. Yesterday's
explosion was the worst for the number of men killed. On one
other time, three were killed at once, and that was in 1892 when
William Rodgers, Thomas Keffer, and Henry Ragus were killed in
the press. Yesterday's explosion was the second explosion in the
press. Later on, John Voss and George Scott were killed together
in the corning mill, then Frank Newhause was killed in the
wheelhouse, Charles McGinnis in the glaze room, Jeff Bright,
East Alton councilman, in the corning mill, and Henry Miller in
the glaze room. Harry Mills was the first killed in the
fulminating department, and Mr. Beachey was the second killed
there.
WAR HORSE STAMPEDE DUE TO STORM
Source: Alton Evening
Telegraph, June 11, 1915
It was a wild night after the storm
in the vicinity of the Bowman stockyards near East Alton, where
7,200 horses belonging to the British Commission, bought for use
in the army in France, escaped from the stockyards Thursday
night before midnight. The horses romped over the whole country,
terrifying people, delaying trains, and in at least one case,
caused personal injuries. Herman Wuestenfeldt, who was returning
home from Alton after being out on the Elks excursion, sustained
fractures of three ribs when the horses coming down the road
encountered the automobile in which Wuestenfeldt was carrying
Nola, William, Gussie and Loretto Carstens. Eight of the horses
were killed by a fast freight train on the Chicago & Alton, two
were shot to admit of the Midnight Special passing on, after a
delay of more than one hour. Hundreds of the horses were penned
up by property owners who will have damage claims against the
stock. Some of the stock was recaptured during the night, but
the most of them were not found until during the day. The cause
of the stampede is not quite certain. It was said at the
stockyards this morning that nothing definite was known about
it, and that an investigation would be made.
The village
of Wood River suffered heavily from damage done to young trees
which were set out last year along the streets. The horses,
after escaping from the corral, did not run very far. They are
all well broken animals, and tractable, and after the first
burst of speed on regaining freedom, the animals settled down to
grazing along the roads, on lawns, in fields and many of them
took to the railroad tracks. The whole country was overrun with
animals that are destined for slaughter on the battlefields of
Europe.
APPRAISEMENT OF DAMAGES FROM STAMPEDE FINISHED
Source:
Alton Evening Telegraph, June 23, 1915
The commissions which
made the tour settling claims filed by landowners and tenants
for damage to crops after the stampede of the horses from the
stockyard on the Bowman farm near East Alton, have completed
their work and they have settled with all but one claimant, it
is said. That one claimant was offered $65 for his loss, and he
demanded $500. The difference was so great that no settlement
was made with him. Some of the farmers, the Telegraph is
informed, are preparing to file additional claims against the
keepers of the stock on the grounds, they claim, that the
shipping fever from which the horses suffered was spread about
among the livestock on the farms where the stampeded horses took
refuge. Whether or not a suit could be maintained against anyone
whose horses gave a sickness to the horses of the claimant is a
question of doubt. If there is any precedent for such a claim,
it would probably be hard to find, it is believed by
stock-raisers. It is cited that no one can sue for damages if he
contracts a disease from another person. It is therefore
believed by some horse owners that if there is any instances of
the shipping fever being spread in the country, it would be hard
to get such a claim established.
The stampede which
occurred at the Bowman horse farm east of the city some time
ago, will not affect the number of horses which are to be kept
at the barns there, according to information received by the
Telegraph. Plans are under way at present for increasing the
yards and making a roof to care for many more horses. A gang of
one hundred men have been put to work on the farm, building more
fences and new runs for the horses. The barns which have been
erected will serve the purpose of caring for the extra horses
which are to be kept at the farm, because the weather will be
warm enough for some time to make shelter unnecessary. How much
it has cost to secure the return of the horses and how much
money they have paid out in damages will probably never be
known. It is understood that the sum was enormous, but the
officers at the farm are making efforts to keep it from being
made public. Rewards were paid for the return of many of the
horses. All but six horses have been accounted for. A
compilation of the sums of horses brought in after the recent
stampede at the corral because of the lightning storm of ten
days ago, shows that only thirty-two are yet out. Of this sum,
25 were killed by trains or died from over eating. One of the
missing horses is now in the Gus Burjes pasture in Moro. Mr.
Burjes found the horse in the pasture yesterday when he went out
to look at his stock, and promptly notified the barn. The work
of the cowboy riders has been completed, and most of them have
gone back to the East St. Louis stockyards. They did good work,
and proved very effective rounders of horses, doing much better
work than the inexperienced men who were assigned to the job.
WILL REOPEN STOCK YARDS FOR ARMY USE
Source: Alton Evening
Telegraph, September 28, 1917
The East Alton stockyards will
come back again in full swing. Preparations are now being made
for the care of more horses than ever at the East Alton
stockyards for the French and English. The stockyards have been
practically deserted for the past year, and only a few of the
horses which were left ill at the time of the last shipment out
was made, have been at the stockyards. The rest of the ground
was rented out to R. J. Hoeckstra, a farmer, who has been living
there and has been tilling the land. Hoeckstra has received
notice to cut his corn and stop his fall sowing and vacate as
soon as possible. This is worrying Hoeckstra to some extent, as
he says he has no place to go, but he must obey the orders to
make way for improvements. The fences are being rebuilt and many
of the sheds on which the roofs were worn are being recovered.
Next Monday a shipment of several hundred horses is expected
over the Big Four. Orders have been given that all trains routed
to East Alton with horses should reach East Alton by daylight,
so that they may be unloaded in the daytime. On account of the
many accidents to horses which happened when unloading was done
in the night. This possibility will be avoided under the new
ruling and much better care will be taken of the horses.
Probably five or ten thousand horses will be accommodated at the
stock yards this winter, and all the pens and buildings are
being enlarged for this purpose. Dr. Ed Enos has been in charge
since the British and French officers left about a year ago, and
he will probably continue in some official capacity at the
stockyards. Orders have been given for the employment of a large
number of men for caring for the horses.
24 HOURS OF RAIN CAUSES LEVEE TO BREAK –
THE WOOD RIVER
FLOODS EAST ALTON
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, August 21,
1915
The Wood River's very worst rampage was the one that
followed and attended a rain of 24 hours duration, and reached
its climax Friday afternoon about 4 o'clock. The breaking of the
costly drainage district levee that cost over $100,000 so far,
was the most disastrous feature of the flood. The levee system
worked fine up to and far beyond a stage of water ever know in
the Wood River valley before, but the effectiveness of the levee
system ended.
Down at the lower end the channel of Wood
River has not been straightened out. The water still piled up in
the huge reverse bends of the stream that winds like a huge
snakelike scar through the earth, making a tortuous channel
which delays and holds back and piles up the water, destroying
the efficiency of the straightened channel farther up. It was
only when the volume of water racing down the channel became
more than the winding channel below could take care of, that the
flood piled up, leaped through the levee of the drainage
district and then came disaster.
The plants of the
Western Cartridge Company and the Equitable Powder Company were
put out of business. Men fled for their lives before a tidal
wave of water that swept out of the dammed-up course of the Wood
River, and poured down into the lower lands the levee had been
built to protect. About 4 o'clock the girls working in the
Cartridge Plant were told to go home, as it was feared that the
water would come over the levee, and that there would be great
difficulty in getting so many people out. The men who were
willing to stay were told to do so and aid in getting property
up where it could not be wet. The gang of men were working hard
and doing good work when the factory whistle was sounded as the
warning for everybody to run, and they ran. They got out in time
to save themselves.
When the water poured through the
first break in the levee, it came as a huge wall which broke
against the high board fence surrounding the grounds. The fence
went down, the wall of water rolled over and, in a tumbling,
destroying torrent, filled up the lower lands where was situated
the factories of the Western Cartridge Company, and flooded the
office building. The loss entailed by the water going into the
Cartridge Plant will be immense. The waters seized upon large
quantities of materials and carried them off with a rush down
toward the river. Lying loose in the yards were hundreds of the
great glass carnoys in which sulphuris acid is contained, and
there were piles of lumber and much other material, all of which
was borne on the crest of the flood in a mighty jam that went
off downstream. The current was terrific. No skiff could be
driven against that stream at its full. Power boats would have
been in danger in the boiling, surging torrent that piled down
toward the Mississippi, destroying all in its path. The stream
took its course through the village of East Alton, spreading out
to Benbow City on the one side, and as far as East End place in
Alton on the other.
Much railroad track was washed out.
Not a line was left intact across the Wood River district, and
Alton was entirely cut off from railroad communication to the
south. The last train that went over the c. & A. tracks was the
Prairie State Express, which went down at 5:30 p.m. The last
train on the Big Four was the plug, which came in about 6
o'clock. Then the tracks were covered, the bridges over the Wood
River were menaced, the chances appeared too great for a train
to cross. Then the track began washing out. The interurban cars
were shut off at 6 o'clock, and all service annulled. The Big
Four annulled its trains on the old main line this side of
Hillsboro because of the flood. The Flyer tried to get through,
but failed. It got as far as East Alton and went over to the
station. Then it was to have backed down to a cross over and go
on to the C. & A. tracks and take the cutoff route to Godfrey,
and thence to Alton, as the earlier C. & A. did, arriving here
after 7 o'clock. However, while the Flyer was at East Alton, the
track washed out behind her and was already washed out in front,
and there the train had to stick. The passengers were given
lodging in East Alton homes and at the village hall.
The
seventy-five Altonians who spent the night on the Big Four Flyer
kept things interesting. When some of the members of the party
were certain that all of the ladies aboard the train had been
cared for in the hotels of East Alton, and there were no
prospects of rest on the Flyer on account of the uncomfortable
sleeping accommodations, they proceeded to enjoy the night. Many
played cards, but the majority spent the time singing sons.
there was little sleep on the train. This morning the party left
the train and were rowed to C. & A. cutoff in skiffs, and then
walked to a street car in Upper Alton.
In East Alton was
the center of excitement during the flood of Wood River. Mayor
Henry Eckhardt became alarmed about 4 o'clock, and he telephoned
his daughter, Miss Elinore Eckhardt, to go and warn the people
in the threatened district that the levee was about to break.
She did so, and the people were ready for it when the
catastrophe did occur. Some families did not get out of their
houses in time in the levee district at East Alton, and had to
be assisted out. Telephone messages were sent for skiffs and
proper boats, but the boats that were available were snapped up
quickly for rescue work.
The water, when it overflowed
and went into the Cartridge Works grounds, got into the
buildings to a depth of three or four feet, according to their
elevation. The basement and first floor of the office building
were flooded too. All night F. W. Olin and his sons, John and
Franklin, were on the ground, and they returned home this
morning. Skiffs had been rushed out from Alton to do what could
be done, but it was little. The water had effectually damaged
everything it touched, and naturally there is much of the
company's stock that is subject to water damage.
The
water ran down through East Alton and got into the grounds of
the Standard Oil Company Refinery, and there it stood at such a
depth that it was necessary to shut down the whole plant, the
fires being put out in the stills and passage about the grounds
being impossible because of the depth of water covering the
grounds.
There was great fear in East Alton that some of
the buildings in the worst flooded part would be collapsed by
the water undermining the foundations, as it did ten years ago
when Wood River went on her last destructive rampage. The people
in the houses which were threatened were taken in by their more
fortunate neighbors, and everybody was doing what could be done
to relieve distress. On every side in East Alton was the wild
tumbling waste of water that had a menacing look for everything
that it came in contact with. The Beall plant was not caught in
the flood, and the men were saved from being driven from their
work.
At the Cartridge Works, only one person, George
Eckhardt, a son of Mayor Eckhardt, was left through a
misunderstanding, and he climbed on top of the concrete roof of
the machine shop and called for help. Efforts to rescue him
could not be made immediately because there were no boats to be
secured. The only boat known was a steel boat which was locked
up in one of the sheds at the Cartridge Plant and could not be
got. Finally, E. Hill, an East Alton boy, came forward and
offered a small, unstable canvass boat. It served the purpose in
a pinch, however, and in this boat, men rowed to the Western
Cartridge plant and got out the large steel boat. Eckhardt's son
was then rescued, and the rescue work was carried further to the
Powder Works Hotel, where the Apple family marooned by the water
were taken out and brought to town. Then the Russell family in
the lowland near the C. B. & Q. station were rescued and several
other families.
George Barber was the only man employed
on the construction gang at the new State Hospital who was able
to return to his family in Alton last night. The other fifty
workmen remained at the farm and spent the night. When they went
to work yesterday morning the stream was little more than a foot
in depth and was very meek looking. By evening, the stream had
covered the railroad tracks and tipped the track on one of the
bridges on end. Barber held onto the higher end of this track
with an iron hook, and walked on the lower rail. Several times
his head went under in the swift current, and the men watching
him believed that he would be drowned, but each time he
recovered and continued on his trip over the mad stream.
Shortly before midnight last night, an appeal came to the police
station for help in the eastern part of the city. Two skiffs
were placed on a stake wagon and hurried to that section at
once. Night Captain John Nixon and E. L. Rose took charge of the
rescue work. Here the police found that one family containing a
woman and her four children were in the attic of their home with
the water threatening them every minute. These were quickly
taken to safety. Another case faced the police. In this home was
a family with the smallpox. They demanded to be taken from the
home. After looking over the situation, the night captain
decided that it would be safe to allow the family to remain in
the house if the water did not come up over 18 inches more. Two
men were left in charge of the skiff with the orders that the
family with the smallpox be rescued if the water rose eighteen
inches more. The water did not rise this much, however, and the
family was left in their home.
After passing through the
yards of the Powder Mill, the water rushed through the streets
of East Alton at the depth varying from five to seven feet, and
thence down the St. Louis Road to Benbow City, which was also
submerged, and then the river joined the waters of the
Mississippi. Many of the people left their homes and places of
business last evening, fearing that they would be washed away by
the waters. According to measurements made by some of the
residents of East Alton, the water was forty inches deeper than
it was in the flood of 1903. The East Alton wagon bridge, and
the three C. B. & Q. railroad bridges in the vicinity of East
Alton were down. East Alton was shut off this morning without
any break or meat. They are supplied from Alton, and none of the
Alton merchants were able to get these supplies to the city this
morning.
The Kulp (Culp) levee was the first to give
away. This levee which has been constructed in the vicinity of
Bethalto gave away yesterday afternoon at two o'clock. Word was
sent at once to the Cartridge Plant that this levee had broken.
It was then that the men in charge realized they had little
chance of saving the East Alton levee. All of the girls and
women were sent home, and the men were put to work moving goods
from the flood. In the loading room of the Cartridge Plant, all
of the machinery with the exception of a single motor was saved.
The men carried all of the machinery to the third floor of the
building, and some of them had to wade out when the water was
over waist deep about the yard. All of the other buildings,
including the storage room and the metallic department, were
covered to the depth of three or four feet by the flood. In the
metallic department a large part of the machinery will be
seriously damaged by the flood.
With the seven hundred
employees of the Western Cartridge Company not working, and the
hundreds of spectators from this vicinity who made the trip to
see the flood, the streets of East Alton were crowded this
morning. The water, still to the depth of several feet, under
the viaduct and along the St. Louis road, but there was no
current and the sidewalks were cleared. The damage to the Jones
and the Clow grocery store had been figured and they were again
open for business. The demand for bread was heavy, and this
afternoon the A., B. & C. Company of Alton sent a truck load
with a skiff for the city still marooned. The truck carried the
bread and skiff as far as the water, and then the skiff was used
to take the bread into the town.
Ed Hauser had a trying
experience this morning while driving the Central Brewing wagon
from Wood River to East Alton. His horses became mired in the
water and mud south of East Alton, and for a time it looked as
if they would be lost. Several kegs of beer rolled from the
wagon, but the outfit was rescued by the men standing about the
streets. Hy. Hines was caught in the same place and came near
losing his life. People standing on the main streets saw two men
attempt to go under the viaduct on horseback. The horse with the
man in the lead encountered a step-off that was several feet
deep, and both horse and rider were forced to swim to safety.
The other rider turned back.
The flood was subsiding
rather slower today than was hoped for. Such a tremendous volume
of water had to come down, that while Wood River went down
considerably, it did not leave the streets of East Alton nor
drain the territory between there and the village of Wood River
as fast as would have been satisfactory to everybody.
The
East Alton wagon bridge was badly damaged, and a number of the
planks and some of the woodwork has been torn away. The C. B. &
Q. bridge at East Alton has been twisted around so that it will
be impossible for a passenger train to make the trip over it.
Two other bridges on the C. B. & Q. are washed out between East
Alton and Woods Station.
Sidewalks were torn up, a part
of the C. B. & Q. platform was washed away, some of the smaller
buildings in the Cartridge Plant were turned around on their
foundations, and a number of others were washed away entirely.
The Big Four track suffered greatly from the flood. Every few
feet the roadbed is washed away so that four or five ties were
without support, and at places there are stretches of track
three hundred feet in length which have been washed away. The
Parks buildings damaged and the harness shop of H. H. Wenges
suffered greatly from the flood.
Extra freight train
number 364 of the Big Four railroad went into a ditch in the
vicinity of Wann. The train was composed of an engine and five
cars. When it was seen that it would be impossible to go father
and the water was threatening them, they left the train before
it tipped over.
Offers of work were made this afternoon
by the officials of the Cartridge Company. All of their
employees who desire to do laboring work can start tomorrow
morning, helping to clear up the wreckage and get the plant back
in operating condition.
ANOTHER EXPLOSION AT THE POWDER MILL
Source: Poughkeepsie,
New York Daily Eagle, November 25, 1915
Two wheelhouses at
the plant of the Equitable Powder Company, East Alton, blew up
this afternoon. No one was hurt. The concussion was felt for 27
miles. Eight thousand pounds of powder were in the building. The
cause of the explosion is not known. The Equitable Powder
Company is making war supplies for the allies.
NEW ADDITION WILL BE CALLED BEN COOPER'S ADDITION
Source:
Alton Evening Telegraph, September 18, 1916
The new addition
which will be subdivided and sold in lots on the
Alton-Edwardsville Road will be known as the Ben Cooper
addition. The property was purchased last week by Mr. Cooper,
who says he will market it himself. Sixteen lots have already
been sold, most of which are for building purposes. The property
was formerly a part of the Fox farm.
JAMES CHESSEN BUYS V. F. WALDSCHMIDT STORE IN EAST ALTON
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, March 3, 1917
The Landau
Company of Alton, trustee for the creditors of the V. F.
Waldschmidt store in East Alton, is rapidly selling out the
stock and will soon vacate the building. They will turn the
building over to its owner, James H. Chessen, who announces that
it is for rent. The closing of the store marks the closing of
the old stand which James H. Chessen conducted for many years
and made a handsome profit out of it. Since Chessen left the
place, it has changed hands frequently. The Clow Company held it
the longest and for a while made money, but at last they too
were obliged to give up the business and sell out. Waldschmidt
took it from the last Clow proprietor, Jesse Clow, in exchange
for a farm at Peoria, Illinois. Waldschmidt told people in East
Alton he was beaten in the deal, and as he had gotten his Peoria
farm off of his hands, he would move to another farm he owned in
Wisconsin. He and his family have been gone for some time, and
it is supposed that he is in Wisconsin, leaving his creditors to
handle the business affairs alone.
SKELETON UNEARTHED IN OLD FIELD IN EAST ALTON
Source:
Alton Evening Telegraph, November 20, 1917
The finding of a
human skeleton in the ground that is being plowed up for lots in
the Cooper and Hoehn addition to East Alton has aroused
considerable interest in East Alton and vicinity. A few days
ago, while Joseph Heins and Robert Kennedy were engaged in
plowing up the ground to level it off for lots in the new
addition, the plow share turned up the skull of a human being.
The skull was perfect and gave indications of having lain only a
few years. They dug farther down into the ground and found all
the rest of the bones, which put together would make a perfect
skeleton. The bones appear to be those of a woman, although that
point is not positively established. Considerable speculation is
rue as to how the skeleton got there. Whether it is the skeleton
of someone murdered by his fellow man, or by the Indians who
once tramped over the county, there is probably no way of
finding out. The nearest cemetery is the Milton Cemetery, a mile
away, and it is hardly probable that the skeleton could be that
of a person buried in the Milton Cemetery.
TRENCH MORTAR PLANT BURNS AT WESTERN –
SHELLS FOR ALLIES
BURN UP
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, August 8, 1918
The dry weather and a minor explosion at the Western Cartridge
Co. caused a fire which resulted in the complete destruction of
the trench mortar shell department at the Western Cartridge Co.
this afternoon. The damage will run over $100,000, although a
complete valuation of the property destroyed had not been made
at a late hour this afternoon. Six frame buildings burned. There
were five explosions, none of them large, and any one of which
would have been of no consequence if it had occurred by itself.
The department destroyed was originally the shotgun shell
department. Recently it has been turned over to be used as the
trench mortar shell department.
The Allies are badly in
need of these shells, and orders were given to rush the work in
this department. Fifty men and girls were working at the loading
machines when one of the machines clogged. Half a second later
there was an explosion. This was quickly followed by the fire
which spread through the building so fast that the people fled
without taking with them their coats or hats. Six buildings
arranged in a semi-circle in the rear of the old office caught
fire one at a time. The buildings that burned were the loading
room, 125 by 40 feet; the box department, small; the box storage
department, 75 by 50 feet; the paper box manufacturing
department, small; the wad building and all of the stables; two
powder magazines filled with powder. The heaviest loss was the
eleven machines in the loading department. These are all there
at the plant for the manufacture of the trench mortar shells. It
will take considerable time to replace them. One hundred and
fifty thousand mortar shells which had been accepted and passed
and were to have been shipped to the Allied armies today were in
the fire.
The employees of the plant turned out with
buckets and hose to fight the fire. When it was seen that there
was danger of the flames spreading to other departments, the
Alton fire company was called out. Fire companies 1 and 3 were
sent to East Alton and Chief William Feldwisch directed the
efforts of the firefighters. Lieut. Jules Arturo and Lieut.
Glastino, of the Italian army, helped with the firefighting.
Arturo mounted one of the warehouses and with a handkerchief
over his face he held the hose and fought off the flames until
the Alton fire department arrived. He saved several thousands of
dollars’ worth of explosives. The wind blew the fire away from
the main part of the cartridge factory. It also scattered the
fire into the outlying parts of the plants and small groups of
men were kept busy fighting this with buckets of water.
Officials of the company said this afternoon that the explosion
which caused the fire was of little consequence and nothing
would have been thought of it had it not caused the fire. They
said that this was the first time in the history of the plant
that such an explosion had been the cause of a fire. They were
inclined to believe that the hot weather and the dry conditions
of the buildings were the cause of the fire. Officials refused
to make any estimate of the damage, but it is understood that it
will be more than $100,000. Only a very small part of that is
covered by insurance. The wonder of the fire was that no one was
injured. A large amount of explosives went up during the
afternoon, but the fighting was conducted so that no one was
allowed to get into any unnecessary danger.
EAST ALTON/COTTAGE HILLS AREA - SKELETON FOUND IN STANLEY
FARM BY ALTON HUNTER
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph,
November 15, 1920
Frank Hamilton, while out hunting
yesterday, discovered almost buried in the sands of the Wood
River Creek bottom, about 1 1/2 miles southeast of the state
hospital, the skeleton of a woman which he reported and the
skeleton was taken in charge by Deputy Coroner W. H. Bauer. The
skeleton was devoid of flesh, but clinging to it was still the
remnant of some clothing, including a dark colored coat, and the
shoes were those of a woman. The body had evidently been buried
in the Wasson Stanley farm long ago, and had been partially
uncovered of late. Mr. Hamilton saw the skull protruding from
the sands and made an investigation. As no one living in the
vicinity was reported to have been missing, it was supposed that
the body was that of one of the wandering patients of the Alton
State Hospital. The theory advanced, is that one of the hospital
patients, wandering at large, either deliberately or
accidentally got into the waters of Wood River when the stream
was at flood, and was deposited where found and covered by the
sands, remaining there until the flesh had decayed from the
bones. Dr. George A. Zeller was consulted and he said that over
a year ago there was one woman from Jersey county who had
disappeared from the institution and whose relatives made search
for her and she was never found. It is not positive that the
skeleton is her remains, nor is there much possibility of
effecting an identification because of the bad condition of the
garments, which have rotted and discolored until there is little
chance of knowing what the original ______ was. The bones and
fragments _____ clothes were gathered by Deputy Coroner Bauer,
who will hold them until hope of identification is given up
completely. Dr. Zeller declared that there was enough of the
garment to make it possible for a negative identification, that
is that it was not the remains of any former inmate of the State
hospital at Alton. The reason why the body was not discovered
earlier is that the land where it was found was not cultivated
last year. The assumption by some is that the body was interred
by someone where it was found, not deep in the ground, and the
mystery started by the discovery of the skeleton was deeper as
the inquiry proceeded.
CROWD ATTENDS BIG CELEBRATION
Marks Completion of
Village's 2-Mile Paving Project
Source: Alton Evening
Telegraph, August 30, 1921
East Alton celebrated the
completion of its two-mile paving project last night. Mayor
Jameson, for the village, yesterday said East Alton would be
host to the entire Alton district, and would care for the crowd,
no matter how great it might be. Two blocks of the newly-paved
street were turned over to dancers. No automobiles were
permitted to be parked in that section, and when the street was
swept and cleaned it made an admirable dancing floor. At one
time 300 couples were dancing, presenting an unusual sight. The
dancers were given full sway, no traffic being permitted in the
two blocks. Two band concerts were given, one by the White
Hussar Band and the other by the Western Cartridge Co. band.
There was a special movie show. Members of the fire department
were in charge of the refreshment stands. Cake, the product of
East Alton ovens, was the big feature. East Alton gained a
reputation for progressiveness by completing the big paving
project, but last night East Alton gained a reputation for the
cake baking ability of its housewives. Big cakes, little cakes,
white cakes, pink cakes, all kinds of cakes were for sale. And
all the cakes were good glorious examples of the pastry art. And
for ten cents a great big slice was given. The firemen, dressed
up in brand new blue shirts, with accompanying white ties, were
in charge of the refreshment stands, and sold the cakes.
Proceeds of the refreshment sales will go toward the fund to
provide a truck for the fire department. The speakers included
Mayor Jameson, former Mayor Cruse, and John D. McAdams of the
Telegraph. Mayor Jameson quit the East Alton band long enough to
make the opening speech. He welcomed everyone and urged them all
to have a good time. He was followed by former Mayor Cruse, who
thanked the members of the village council which voted with him
to launch the paving project, he thanked and congratulated Mayor
Jameson for carrying out the project and he thanked the people
of East Alton for their cooperation. Mr. McAdams congratulated
the people of East Alton upon the completion of the paved road.
"When this project was brought up in the courts for
confirmation, there was not a single objector. East Alton is to
be congratulated," Mr. McAdams said. "But East Alton has done
more than merely completed a big paving project and has done
more than complete another link in the paved road to St. Louis.
East Alton has carried out the spirit of public improvement. You
have brought contentment and joy to people, who, when they use
this road, will never know of the hardships you have endured
that it might be a reality." Mr. McAdams then traced the local
history of the automobile. "Fourteen years ago," he related,
"there were seven automobiles in Alton and two in East Alton.
John Vanpreter owned the first car in East Alton. It was a
one-lung (one cylinder) International. It did not even have a
horn, but it didn't need a horn because it made so much noise.
Then James Chessen bought a car, a two-cylinder Buick. This car
had a fine nickel-plated horn, but it is said that the horn did
no good because you couldn't hear it, either. Now, 4,000
automobiles pass over this road every day. From 2 to 4,000 in 11
years is the growth of the automobile."
MASKED BANDITS HOLD UP EAST ALTON BANK
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, November 12, 1921
Four masked bandits at
10:30 a.m. today entered the Illinois State Bank at East Alton,
tied one official and forced another to crawl under a table, and
escaped with $8,000 in cash in an automobile, held in readiness
by a fifth. H. V. Greene, cashier of the bank, estimated the
amount taken at $8,000. He said the cash had not been checked
up, and he could give no definite figure. All money in the bank,
with the exception of a small amount of silver, was taken. The
loss is covered by insurance with the Aetna Company.
The
bandits were in a green automobile. Conflicting reports were
heard as to the direction from which the men came. It was said
at first that they came from the north and later it was said
that the car was an Alton machine. The automobile came through
the streets of East Alton at a rapid clip, it stopped in front
of the bank and four men jumped out and went into the bank.
Three men then pointed _________ [unreadable] the muzzles of the
guns through the screen of the cage. One of the bandits came in
back of the counter and soon was followed by the other three.
Greene was ordered to crawl under a table. He hesitated, and was
pushed under the table by one of the bandits. Larton was told to
stand close to the wall. One of the bandits pulled the telephone
loose and bound him with the wire. One of the bandits carried a
wheat sack and in this all cash in sight was thrown. The safe
and drawers were rifled. The bandits left checks, and threw
aside some War Savings Stamps. Checks were strewn over the
floor. The bandits left the bank hurriedly, one of them keeping
the officials covered. They climbed into the automobile and sped
away.
Posses scoured the surrounding country in search of
the bandits. Police officials of surrounding towns and cities
were notified to be on the lookout for the bandits. This
afternoon no trace of the bandits had been found. The license
number of the bandit's car was Missouri 213630. The bank was
cleaned of all available funds by the bandits. A messenger was
immediately dispatched to Alton to secure funds and at 12
o'clock, an hour and a half after the holdup, the first customer
came in and the bank was again doing business. There were no
bonds of large denomination in the bank. These are kept in
vaults of Alton banks.
Mr. Greene, the cashier, was
signing a bond when the bandits entered. Mr. Greene, who is an
Alton man and who was formerly bookkeeper for the local agency
of the Anheuser Busch Brewing Co. of St. Louis, described the
holdup to a Telegraph reporter:
"I was standing right
here signing this bond," Mr. Greene said and pointed to a bond
on the counter. "One of the bandits shoved a gun at me through
the screen there," and he pointed to the spot. "Two others
covered Mr. Larton and me, while a fourth one came in back
followed by the other three. I was commanded to get under the
table and then shoved under. Mr. Larton was tied with the wire
from the telephone not far from me. Then a sack was produced and
the cash thrown into it."
The bandits left the bank, Mr.
Greene said, still covering the officials. The bandits, Mr.
Greene said, were all young men, and each, he said, seemed to
weigh about 175 to 180 pounds. He expressed the belief that the
bandits put on the masks after entering the bank and took them
off before leaving.
East Alton was stirred by the
robbery. The street in front of the bank, St. Louis Road, was
crowded and the holdup was the chief topic of conversation. Many
wild stories were in circulation, early reports having it that
the two officials of the bank were slugged with the butts of
revolvers, and that the amount stolen was $30,000, with many
bonds included. The Illinois State Bank is the same institution
at which a holdup was attempted in the summer of 1919. At that
time bandits entered the bank and ordered the cashier, E. F.
Zoernig, to throw up his hands. Zoernig, as related in the
Telegraph at that time, dropped behind the counter and came up
with a revolver in his hands. The bandits were scared off. The
Illinois State Bank has a capital stock of $50,000. John M. Olin
of the Western Cartridge Co. is president of the bank.
********
NOTE:
As far as I can tell, no one was ever
caught for robbing the East Alton bank. The Illinois State Bank
was established in 1904 as the Farmers Bank of Bethalto, and was
located on West St. Louis Avenue in East Alton. In the 1920, the
bank moved to the corner of West St. Louis Avenue and West Main
Street. In 1996, the bank was acquired by Magna Bank. Today,
Regions Bank occupies the property.
FIVE BANDITS GOT $7731 IN BANK AT EAST ALTON
Source: Alton
Evening Telegraph, November 14, 1921
Search up to noon today
had failed to reveal a trace of the five bandits who last
Saturday held up and robbed the Illinois State Bank at East
Alton. After a daring holdup of officials, the bandits made
their escape in a green Essex automobile, bearing a Missouri
license tag. The bandits' automobile was seen passing through
Wood River and was later sighted on the detour road at Mitchell,
headed in the direction of Edwardsville. Although several
posse’s prosecuted the search, and police of cities and towns
for many miles around were notified to be on the lookout, the
car was not seen after that. The bandits, H. V. Greene, the
bank's cashier, said Saturday, were young men, all of them well
built. He expressed the opinion that each weighed about 170 or
180 pounds. Four of the bandits entered the bank, and after
forcing Mr. Greene to crawl under a table, and tying M. W.
Larton, assistant cashier, with wire from a telephone which they
tore loose from the wall, placed all cash in sight in a sack,
and made their escape in the automobile held in waiting by a
fifth. The four who entered the bank were marked. It was said
today at the bank that the amount taken by the bandits was
$7,736.66. The Telegraph Saturday said the amount secured was
about $8,000, quoting Mr. Greene who said the figure at the time
would not be definitely determined. It was pointed out that
checking up might show a change in the figure. The loot of the
bandits was all cash. The bonds of the bank are kept in Alton
vaults. The bandits threw aside checks and war savings stamps.
NOTE:
The bank robbers were never captured, although
Charles Chessen and Robert Dooling were implicated for the
robbery by a private detective agency. Their case was dismissed
for lack of evidence. East Alton Mayor Jameson set out to stop
the St. Louis "crooks" who were coming into East Alton to "ply
their trade." The first order for the mayor's anti-crook
campaign was to organize a shotgun squad. The squad was composed
of ten men, all capable of handling a shotgun with "telling
effect." The mayor also arranged for the installation of a fire
and burglar alarm system in East Alton, at the home of each
member of the shotgun squad. The mayor vowed to pick up every
person who looks suspicious, and he didn't care "a rap who they
are."
BLAST AT THE EQUITABLE POWDER CO. CAUSES DEATH OF EDWARD
OWENS
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, July 21, 1922
A
blast in the corning mill at the plant of the Equitable Powder
Co. today caused the death of Edward Owens, aged 37, who was at
work in the mill alone when the explosion occurred. The mill
building was destroyed and the machinery badly damaged. The
explosion occurred just a few minutes before 7 o'clock this
morning. Owens had gone to work only a few minutes before it
happened. His duty was to feed the big cakes of powder into the
mill for them to be ground up. It is the practice in such mills
to have one man working there alone. A few months ago, a similar
blast occurred in the corning mill and the man in charge of it
was killed. The mill had been rebuilt and put into service
again. Owens was brought here from a powder plant at Marlow,
Ky., to take charge of the job. He was an experienced powder
mill hand. He leaves a wife and six children, who did not
accompany him to East Alton when he came here to take the job, a
month ago. There was in the mill at the time of the explosion
about a ton and a half of powder. The explosion shook Alton.
Immediately after the explosion, it was distinguished from the
blasts across the river which frequently rock this territory, by
the great umbrella shaped cloud of smoke which rose and hung
suspended over the powder works. The corning mill is a wooden
structure covered with sheet iron, and houses machinery in which
one of the near final steps in powder making is done. The work
is known as dangerous, yet explosions there have not been
numerous. The two which have occurred recently are the nearest
together in a long time. The one that occurred today will never
be explained, and will remain a mystery, just as the preceding
one remained. The body of Owens will be taken back to Marlow to
the family there. The wife was notified immediately of the death
of her husband, and that the body would be brought to her.