These century-old historical excerpts were selected from the Looking Backward feature of The Vidette-Messenger newspaper, which are part of the PoCo Muse Collection. Originally, these bits of information appeared as larger stories in the pages of Valparaiso’s Evening Messenger and Valparaiso Daily Vidette newspaper publications.
July 1, 1923
The Valparaiso Boosters defeated the Kouts All Stars yesterday afternoon at the fairgrounds by a score of 20 to 4. Buck Weaver, Booster third baseman, had four hits, including two triples. Jerry Callahan, Boosters’ second baseman, collected five hits including a home run. The Boosters had 20 hits against Chief Rainer and Babe Elkins.
Miss Frances Greeley, who for the last two years has been a student of dramatic art under the direction of Miss Edna Agar, is now playing ingenue leads with the Los Angeles Stock Company. Both press and the director of the company have highly praised Miss Greeley’s work and predict for her a bright future. Miss Greeley has received several flattering offers from large companies.
July 2, 1923
The golf course of the Valparaiso Country Club, located northeast of Valparaiso, will be formally opened on July 12 when a number of match games will be staged between club members and ladies of the auxiliary. The club now boasts of a membership of one hundred. Jack Burt, a member, recently made a hole in one on the course.
July 3, 1923
The second of Valparaiso’s new Seagrave fire trucks arrived here this morning from Columbus, Ohio. The machine is a city service truck containing the same equipment as the other truck, which was received here several weeks ago. The chassis of the truck, however, is longer. A test of the new truck will be made before it is turned over to the city.
July 4, 1923
Valparaiso Boosters defeated the Kouts All Stars at Kouts for the second time by a score of 4 to 3. The game was stopped in the sixth inning by rain. Buck Weaver’s triple and single accounted for several runs.
July 5, 1923
Valparaiso’s 17th annual chautauqua opened last evening with the presentation of the comedy play, “It Pays to Advertise,” by the Misner Players. The five days’ program, which was inaugurated last evening, is the Mutual-Morgan program. The chautauqua association was organized in 1906. The first chautauqua was held at Sager’s Lake in 1906 and has been held every year except three years during the World War period.
July 6, 1923
Ben and William Schenck and John Van Ness, of the Valparaiso Tennis Club, will represent Valparaiso in the Northern Indiana Tennis Championship to be held at Gary on July 23. The Schenck brothers will play in both the singles and doubles. They are favored to reach the semi-finals and possibly finals.
Charles Hansen, who with a companion by the name of Bower, murdered Charles Johnson, son of Mrs. Augusta Johnson, of Valparaiso, has filed a petition with the state board of pardons for clemency. The two murderers, who lived in Ohio, were members of a carnival company which visited South Bend and LaPorte. Hansen and Bower hired Johnson to drive them from South Bend to Plymouth, and near Plymouth the two men killed Johnson. They were traced by marks on a shirt laundered by a LaPorte laundry which was found near the body of the murdered man. Bower confessed to firing the shot that killed Johnson.
July 7, 1923
The referendum conducted by the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce on the new Valparaiso High School building project proved to be a fizzle. Only 175 ballots were sent back to the chamber. Of this number, 115 favored the proposition and 55 were against it. Five ballots returned were non-committal. Nearly 500 ballots were sent out throughout the city.
Kouts will soon have a lockup in which to place offenders against the law. The town board has purchased a building south of the Pan Handle Railroad tracks and the iron cages have been ordered. Kouts has been without a jail for some time and prisoners have been brought to Valparaiso for safe keeping.
July 8, 1923
Mrs. W. L. Ellis, age 50, of Lombard, Ill., injured in an accident at Wheeler Friday afternoon when an automobile was struck by a fast train on the Pennsylvania Railroad, died Saturday at Methodist Hospital in Gary. Her death brings the total to two. Mrs. William B. Randall, age 68, of Custer, Mich., was also killed. Mrs. Ellis was a sister of Mrs. Randall. The husbands of the two women were seriously injured. They are proofreaders on the Chicago Daily News.
Walter Q. Fitch, assistant county agent leader and member of the extension staff of Purdue University since his graduation in 1913, will succeed Prof. W. C. Latta, head of the Farmers’ Institute in Indiana. Mr. Fitch is a son-in-law of Judge and Mrs. H. H. Loring of Valparaiso.
July 9, 1923
G. L. Burns, formerly a member of the law firm of Burns and Powell, left today for Los Angeles, Calif., where he will locate and practice law.
July 10, 1923
L. H. Trott, who has been connected with the Parker Paint Company in Valparaiso, has severed his connection with the firm and will take a position with the New Jersey Zinc Company. Mr. Trott tendered his resignation as president of the Kiwanis Club today noon. He will leave for New York City Tuesday. His family will follow later.
July 11, 1923
P. T. Clifford & Sons, of Valparaiso, were yesterday awarded two contracts by the Nickel Plate Railroad for grading for double tracking near Cleveland, Ohio. Eleven miles will be graded in two contracts. Two steam shovels and a teaming outfit were sent to Cleveland today by the local concern to commence on the new work.
At a meeting of the boards of county commissioners and county auditors of Lake, Porter, Jasper, and Newton Counties yesterday at Water Valley, the matter of the survey of the boundary lines of the four counties, due to the recent enactment of the state legislature, was turned over to the county auditors with authority to do whatever is necessary to be done to make the proper transfers of land dis-annexed. The legislative enactment changed the boundary lines of the four counties from the Kankakee River to the center line of the Marble-Williams Ditch.
July 12, 1923
The Dunes Highway will be completed between Gary and Baillytown by August 15, opening the entire highway between Gary and Michigan City. A celebration of the opening will be made in some manner by the two cities on either end of the road. John B. Donahy, owner of the Donahy Restaurant in Gary, has purchased 5,000 feet of highway frontage at Tremont and plans to erect a summer hotel on the property. The building will contain from 75 to 100 rooms. A large dining room for the accommodation of motorists and transients will be a feature.
Contracts for the construction of the Burns Ditch, eight miles long, costing about $295,000 ($5.22M in 2023), will be let at the office of the clerk of the Porter Circuit Court on July 30. A. P. Melton, ditch commissioner, announced the news in Gary yesterday. Work on the ditch is expected to start September 1. When completed, the ditch will divert the waters from Deep River, which now flow into the Gulf of Mexico, into Lake Michigan. Twelve years ago, the first contract for the ditch was let at a cost of $227,000 ($4.01M in 2023) but was held up in the courts until a few months ago.
July 13, 1923
The Valparaiso Country Club was formally opened yesterday afternoon. The golf contests were the feature of the day. Thirty-five took part in the men’s events in which V. R. Despard was low with a 38 score. Frank Clifford was second with 43. Mrs. Thomas Benton had low score for the women with 59. Mrs. H. W. Harrold was second with 61.
Valparaiso University will not close during the month of August, nor will it close during the coming year, Dr. Horace M. Evans, president of the school, announced today. Dr. Evans’ statement was in answer to rumors going the rounds that the school would close permanently on August 14.
July 14, 1923
Lincoln Highway, from the Joliet Bridge to the Grand Trunk Railroad, will be opened for traffic by Monday, according to state officials. It was believed the stretch would be available by Sunday, but now the date has been set a day later. Porter County Road Superintendent Joseph Crowe has removed the dirt from the top of the road inside Valparaiso and the berms of the road have been built. Mr. Crowe has filled in several approaches to streets, such as Kinzie and others, to connect with the Lincoln Highway.
The Huntington Indians defeated the Valparaiso team at Huntington, 6 to 2, yesterday afternoon, registering a three-run lead in the first inning. The Valparaiso team was minus the services of its advertised 2-14 stars, Cicotte, Weaver, Felsch, and Risberg, of the Chicago Black Sox, which caused considerable embarrassment to Huntington club officials. Manager Deak Austin explained the situation by saying the four men had jumped the club.
July 15, 1923
Rev. George Schutes, of Logan, Ohio, new pastor of the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, preached his first sermon Sunday morning. Rev. Schutes was tendered the call to the local church, following the resignation of Rev. C. W. Baer, who went to Fort Wayne. A large crowd greeted him on the occasion of his first appearance in the local pulpit. Next Sunday the installation exercises for Rev. Schutes will take place. Rev. A. C. Cook, of Gary, will preach the sermon inducting the new pastor into full charge of the church affairs.
Kouts was victor in the baseball tourney held at Lowell on Sunday. Kouts defeated Lowell in a fast game by a score of 4 to 1. Chief Rainier held the hard-hitting Lowell team to three hits. Tim Murchison pitched for Lowell. In the afternoon game, Kouts beat Peotone, 5 to 3. Babe Elkins pitched for Kouts.
July 16, 1923
The old fire truck, the city’s first motorized fire apparatus, passed on today. The Seagrave Company, which took the truck in on the sale of the two new trucks, will be used in freight work in its factory at Columbus, O. R. H. McKettrick, who has been instructing firemen in the operation of the new trucks, drove the old truck to Columbus. Francis “Babe” Horn accompanied him on the journey.
July 17, 1923
All rumors to the effect that Valparaiso University will close at the end of the summer semester were put to rest following a meeting of the board of directors held yesterday afternoon. Dr. H. M. Evans, president of the school, announced that the trustees decided the school shall continue. For the past week, stories had been circulated the school would close but the directors at the meeting yesterday discredited these rumors.
July 18, 1923
Charles F. Lembke, prominent architect and builder, died this morning at his home, 304 North Morgan Boulevard. Death was due to a general breakdown suffered while in the midst of constructing the Hotel Lembke, Valparaiso’s new modern hostelry which will open in a short time. He was 56 years of age.
The Indiana State Highway Commission, at a meeting held July 10, added the road from State Road 8, two miles south of Hebron, and extending to Valparaiso, to the state road system. This was the word received today by Porter County Commissioner F. W. Alpen. The commission took no action on the Valparaiso-Chesterton Road on account of the state park not being located as yet.
July 19, 1923
Attorney W. J. Whinery, Hammond attorney, and Bailiff William Hardesty nearly engaged in fisticuffs in the Porter Superior Court yesterday. This happened during the Crumpacker-Knotts case growing out of the Mineral Springs Race Course at Porter, which was on trial before Special Judge William Isham, of Fowler. After the other lawyers had engaged in a legal battle over a transcript, Attorney Whinery said something about the handling of the 3,000-page document by Bailiff Hardesty. The latter called Whinery a liar and left the courtroom.
The Porter County Cow Testing Association, the oldest cow testing association in the state, will soon enter upon its eighth year of existence. J. A. Williams, of the dairy extension division, Purdue University, is in the county today in the interest of the association.
July 20, 1923
The American China Products Company, at Chesterton, has closed its plant for one week in order to investigate a condition in the plant wherein it is alleged certain employees are using sabotage methods to interfere in the manufacture of chinaware. It is charged that some foreign substance has been mixed with clay or applied to greenware so that a certain proportion of the product is destroyed during the manufacturing process.
Orville Irvin, former Valparaiso man, who has been connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad as brakeman and conductor for the past forty-three years, passed the final examination Monday and will be retired on a pension. Mr. Irvin was a brakeman on the old milk train back in the 1880s and 1890s, traveling between Valparaiso and Chicago.
July 21, 1923
Dr. George Keogan, former athletic mentor at Valparaiso University, and coach of the famous Valparaiso University team which held Harvard scoreless for three periods, was in Valparaiso Thursday visiting friends. Dr. Keogan is athletic director of public schools and head of public recreational parks at LaCrosse, Wis. He has received an offer to act as assistant coach at one of the largest universities in the country.
Miss Hope Drown, daughter of Clarence Drown, formerly of Valparaiso, is the star of “Hollywood,” Paramount’s big laughing comedy now showing in Chicago. A galaxy of over one-hundred stars are in the picture. Mr. Drown was manager for the Keith-Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles for a number of years.
July 22, 1923
Rumors to the effect that Valparaiso University would close August 15 were officially set to rest Saturday when Dean M. J. Bowman and Attorney Grant Crumpacker, representing the university, made full payment to J. F. Wild and Company, of Indianapolis, of a $10,000 ($176,818 in 2023) note which recently fell due. The fall quarter of the school will open on October 1, it was announced by Dr. H. M. Evans, president. Plans are being made for one of the biggest years since the war.
There was no baseball game at the fairgrounds Sunday because Manager Deak Austin, of the Valparaiso Boosters, was unable to come across the back salaries due to Buck Weaver and other players. A fair-sized crowd had gathered for the game scheduled with the Chicago Gunthers. The crowd who paid to get in received their money back.
July 23, 1923
A new baseball club was organized in Valparaiso last night at the old Elks’ Lodge rooms on West Lincolnway. William B. Forney was elected manager. A board of directors consisting of Charles L. Jeffrey, Robert Sievers, Fred Wittenberg, W. S. Lindall, Leland Benton, and Julius Albe were also named. Twenty-six fans attended the meeting. The new team will play Kouts next Sunday.
July 24, 1923
Women attorneys of the United States will congregate at Minneapolis on August 28 and 29 for the first-ever convention to be held in the United States. Mrs. Mae R. London, deputy county clerk, and Miss Anna Bushore, of the Kelly and Galvin Law Office, both members of the Porter County Bar, have received invitations to attend.
July 25, 1923
The Valparaiso Kiwanis Club, through its secretary, Fred H. Cole, today announced the opening of the Valparaiso Tourist Camp at University Ballpark. The camp was inspected yesterday by W. H. Williams, secretary of the Hoosier State Automobile Association. The camp was proposed a year ago by the Kiwanis Club and a minstrel show, tag day, and Kiwanis-Elks Baseball game were staged to raise funds. The building, used as a canteen during the World War, has been remodeled and is being used.
The Valparaiso Lodge of Elks voted last night to erect their new lodge building on West Lincolnway. A building committee of five members will be named by Exalted Ruler Reginald Felton to procure plans, specifications, and estimates of cost for remodeling the present building or erecting a new structure. The new building will be three stories.
July 26, 1923
Legal proceedings for the settlement of a dispute over the buildings and equipment of Valparaiso University, which has been brewing for some time, came to a head late yesterday with the filing of suit by Valparaiso University against the Cook Laboratories, Inc., the Valparaiso Realty Company, and H. K. Brown. The suit followed on the heels of a lease executed to the Cook Laboratories, Inc., by the Valparaiso Realty Company, leasing the university properties for a period of seven years, beginning August 20, 1923.
Mrs. Dee Helwer, of Valparaiso, is holder of the record for catching the largest black bass of the season. Last night near the channel of Long and Canada Lakes, near the Peter E. Fernekes camp, she snared a black bass weighing six pounds. It made the eleventh bass caught by Mrs. Helmer in Canada Lake since last Sunday.
July 27, 1923
At a meeting of the Merchant’s Bureau this noon, announcement was made by Mr. Williams, of Gary, an official of the Hoosier State Automobile Association, that the route of Yellowstone Trail through Valparaiso would be slightly changed. Instead of using Greenwich Street from Lincolnway to Linwood Avenue, the route will be on College Avenue. The change was made because College Avenue is bricked and wider than Greenwich Street, and a dangerous turn at Garfield is eliminated.
John W. Moreland, former registrar at Valparaiso University, has been elected president of Vincennes University. Mr. Moreland began his educational career in the district schools in Vigo County and furthered his education at the University of Indiana and Chicago University. For a number of years, he was instructor in Vincennes University and was also assistant registrar at John Hopkins University, Baltimore. A year ago, he resigned his position here to take a position of registrar of social science at Monmouth College, Monmouth, Ill.
July 28, 1923
At a meeting of the Valparaiso City Council last night, members of the police department were given a raise in pay from $15 to $25 per month ($265 to $442 in 2023). The council also purchased twelve acres of ground southwest of the city from William Hardesty to be used as a dumping ground. The city has been using the tract for dumping. It had an option to buy the tract, which expires in August.
Porter County Surveyor Floyd R. McNiece will soon begin the survey of lands north of the Marble Ditch, which will become territory of Porter County through a change of boundary line between Porter and Jasper Counties by the recent enactment of the state legislature. All land south of the Kankakee River, which was formerly the boundary line between the two counties, but which lies north of the Marble Ditch, will hereafter be in Porter County, and all land south of the ditch, but north of the old river bed, will revert to Porter County.
July 29, 1923
The Valparaiso Standards, under the management of W. B. Forney, defeated the Kouts All-Stars Sunday at the fairgrounds by a count of 2 to 1. Ray Knight pitched for the Standards and Chief Rainier for Kouts. The Standards scored in the fifth on Leland Benton’s triple and L. Block’s single. Two hits by Symons and Cashdollar tallied another run in the eight. Kouts escaped a shutout in the ninth when Babe Elkins, LaPorte pitcher, who went to right field, singled to drive in Matty, who had previously singled.
Contract for the construction of the Burns Fitch in Lake and Porter Counties was awarded here today by Col. A. P. Melton, of Gary, ditch commissioner, to the Walk Construction Company, of LaGrange, Ind., the contract price was $283,569 ($5.01M in 2023). For more than 13 years, the ditch has been bandied around the courts, injunction proceedings having stopped the former contractor, the Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, from proceeding with the work. Recently, the injunction was dismissed, and the Chicago firm secured a rescission of the contract because of the bid made in 1912 and was released. The ditch will drain 40,000 acres of land in the Calumet and Deep River basins and straighten two rivers.
July 30, 1923
Dr. Reginald L. Felton, exalted ruler of Valparaiso Lodge of Elks, announced the building committee, which will obtain plans and specifications for the new Elks’ building on Lincolnway, as follows: Charles L. Jeffrey, chairman; Harry Pagin, M. R. Lowenstine, J. A. Wise, and Reginald L. Felton. William Daly is legal adviser.
July 31, 1923
A free picnic for boys will be given at University Ballpark on Thursday, August 9. The affair is being sponsored by the Valparaiso Rotary Club. An athletic program will be the main feature. Byron Smith is in charge of the event. O. F. Helvie will act as field marshal for the day.