June 1, 1921
A big road grader, the largest ever brought to Porter County, arrived here today. It weighs four tons and carries a twelve-foot blade or scoop. It will be used on construction work for a big fill near Deep River on the old road, which was shifted 100 feet. George T. Pearce, county gravel road superintendent, and Joseph Wilgen, assistant, are in charge of the work.
June 2, 1921
The Chatfield Grain Company, of Chatfield, Ohio, which recently purchased the old Valparaiso Grain Elevator on South Washington Street, has begun work on the remodeling of the structure. An Indianapolis firm has the contract. The Chatfield Grain Company will deal in coal, cement, feeds and grains.
The directors of the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce today decided to offer R. C. Breth, of Canton, Ill., the managership of the local chamber for one year. Mr. Bret stated he would come to Valparaiso, but asked for a three-year contract. If they accept his offer he will take up his duties June 15.
June 3, 1921
Rev. Charles E. Burns, new pastor of the Christian church, arrived here yesterday with his son, Earl, and are occupying the parsonage on Franklin Avenue. Rev. Burns has been instructor of bible literature at Milligan College in Milligan, Tenn. He will preach his first sermon Sunday. He went to Chicago today to meet Mrs. Burns and six children who have been visiting there.
The Olympia Confectionery on Lincolnway in Valparaiso, owned by Peter Brown, was purchased today by Charles Thune, who will remodel the interior for a first-class drugstore. Mr. Thune has been manager of the College Pharmacy in College Hill.
June 4, 1921
Valparaiso authorities have taken a determined stand against pool room owners allowing minors to frequent their places of business. The pool room owners had a verbal agreement with the police board to keep all minors out. An affidavit was filed by Councilman B. D. McMahan, chairman of the police board, against a local pool room owner, following a raid by city police in which four minors were found in the place.
The Gary-Valparaiso Interurban is planning a one-hour service to Gary this summer for the first time in its history, President C.W. Chase announced today. The service at present is hourly on Saturday and Sunday, and two hours every other day. Last year was the first time hourly service was tried on Saturdays and Sundays.
June 5, 1921
Wheeler, in Union Township, seven miles west of Valparaiso, will soon have electric lights. A contract has been signed with the Calumet Electric Company of Hammond, which recently installed a line from Long Lake to McCool. The work of wiring homes and business houses is now going on.
A large crowd attended the services at the Christian church, Sunday to welcome Rev. C. E. Burns, the new pastor. John R. Burch announced during the morning service that the church indebtedness had been lifted. The children’s day exercises in the evening was largely attended. A free-will offering for foreign missions was double that of last year.
June 6, 1921
Fred H. Cole was re-elected superintendent of county schools by election held this morning at the office of County Auditor B. H. Kinne. Charles H. Reider, principal of the Liberty Center school, was a candidate. Each received six votes. Auditor Kinne broke the tie.
The dedicatory services commemorating the 30th anniversary of the dedication of Immanuel Lutheran Church (now Heritage Lutheran Church) was largely attended yesterday. Rev C. W. Baer, the pastor, spoke in the morning, and Rev. O. W. Linnemeyer, of Goodland, Ind., in the evening. The cornerstone of the present church was laid in June, 1891.
June 7, 1921
R. C. Breth, secretary of the chamber of commerce at Canton Ill., has accepted the offer of the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce to become manager. He will arrive here June 15.
June 8, 1921
The Monterey Light and Power Company was granted a franchise Monday night by the Kouts Town Board to build a lighting system in Kouts. The Monterey Company at present supplies the town of Hebron. Daly and Freund, of Valparaiso, and T. E. Crowe, have asked the county commissioners for permission to erect poles between Kouts and Hebron.
June 9, 1921
Wayne Lewis, who has been serving as deputy county clerk under G. E. Bornholt, will soon enter the practice of law in Valparaiso. Mr. Lewis has been admitted to the bar. He will have an office with Judge A. D. Bartholomew and J. S. Bartholomew in the Valparaiso National Bank building (later occupied by First Federal Savings & Loan before being demolished) on South Washington Street.
The forty-seventh annual commencement exercises of Purdue University were held at Fowler Hall in West Lafayette yesterday. Among the 400 students who received diplomas were Max Evans and Earl Mavity of Valparaiso.
June 10, 1921
The Valparaiso Kiwanis Club defeated the Valparaiso Rotarians in a baseball game at Brown Field by a score of 12 to 6 yesterday afternoon before a crowd of 1,000 people. The proceeds went to the Red Cross. VonDoehren, Sandy, Ealing, J. Griffin, Wilson and Blount were the batteries for Kiwanis, and Hayward, Meyers, Moreland and Siemetz were the Rotarians’ battery.
Leroy Brown, of Wheatfield, has leased the Lightcap building on College Hill, formerly the Dutch Kitchen, and will open up a restaurant. He is installing a new oven and doughnut machine.
June 11, 1921
The state convention of the Indiana Elks may meet in Valparaiso next year. Julius Albe, Charles Chester, and Glen J. Hardesty returned from Evansville, Ind., last night, where they attended the state meeting. They reported prospects for bringing the convention here next year are unusually bright. The place will be selected at a meeting of the state organization to be held soon. Mr. Albe was elected trustee of the state organization for three years.
Councilman B. D. McMahan last night filed an affidavit with Mayor P. L. Sisson asking revocation of a Lincolnway pool room. Recently the owner of the pool room pleaded guilty in Justice T. B. Louderback’s court for allowing minors to frequent his place of business.
June 12, 1921
A big baseball game will be staged at Valparaiso University’s ball park Thursday afternoon between the employees of the Lowenstine store and the Specht-Finney Service First Club. The proceeds will go to the Salvation Army. W. B. Forney and Dr. E. H. Powell will umpire.
Porter County farmers held a meeting at the office of County Agent A. Z. Arehart last night and named a committee to take charge of pooling wool. J. C. Meister was named chairman, H. I. Barnett, secretary, and William St. Clair, manager.
June 13, 1921
John W. Moreland, registrar at Valparaiso University, will leave the university in August for Monmouth, Ill., where he will act as registrar at Monmouth College. He will attend the University of Chicago this summer to obtain his degree of doctor of jurisprudence.
The contract for construction of the Grassmere Land Company Ditch in Pleasant Township was awarded Saturday at the office of county surveyor Floyd A. McNiece to Walter Hygema, of Wakarusa, Ind., for $23,365 ($348,587.53 in 2021). The construction calls for the excavation of the old Reeves Ditch south of the Panhandle Railroad in Pleasant Township and runs ten miles in a southwesterly direction, emptying into the Marble Ditch. The Reeves Ditch was built in 1880 and was the first dredge ditch built in the county.
June 14, 1921
Joseph Crowe, county highway superintendent, and a force of men commenced work today asphalting the Valparaiso-Chesterton Road. The work will begin at Chesterton and proceed to the B & O Railroad. Last year the road from the B & O bridge to Wauhob Lake was asphalted.
June 15, 1921
Clarence Burmeister, one of a gang which attempted robbery of a Grand Trunk merchandise train west of Valparaiso, was brought here and placed in county jail. He was receiving treatment in a Chicago hospital for a gunshot wound received in a gun battle with a Grand Trunk detective. He posted bond for his release. Three others are also at liberty on bonds.
June 16, 1921
Wayne A. McDaniels, who resigned his position with Lewis E. Myers and Company last week began the practice of law in Gary today. He will be associated with Thad Menczynski, who is a graduate of Valparaiso University.
The Mutual Chautauqua to be held June 17-21, will open tomorrow at Valparaiso University’s ball park. The afternoon sessions will be devoted to a junior frolic and a ticket hunt for juniors will be a feature. The tent and other equipment arrived yesterday.
Note: A chautauqua was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s and brought entertainment and culture through speakers, teachers, musicians, showmen, preachers, and specialists of the day.
June 17, 1921
Harry R. Curran, owner, and L.W. Hart, manager of Montdale Stock Farm, have returned from Springfield, Mass., where they attended the Ayrshire Breeders’ Association meeting and national sale on June 7. Mr. Curran purchased seven head of fine registered stock.
The Rev. Father Griffith, priest-in-charge of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, will begin his thirty-eighth year in the ministry today. Next Sunday being his first in the thirty-eighth year, he has invited his parishioners and friends to worship with him at 9 o’clock in the morning.
June 18, 1921
The U. S. China Company will expend nearly $100,000 ($1,491,921.79 in 2021) on its plant at Chesterton. Theodore Dittell, head of the company, is awaiting untangling of certain legal matters before awarding the contract. The present force of twenty-five workers will be increased to 300.
The drought of the past two weeks is raising havoc with the oats crop, and even with heavy rains little benefit will accrue. Small fruits are also suffering. The corn crop is still holding its own, though the rain is badly needed. The crop shows the best prospects in years, it is said.
June 19, 1921
R.C. Breth, of Canton, Ill., today assumed the secretaryship of the Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce. This week he will attend the first directors’ meeting when the active program of the community service will be outlined.
Willard Hall, located on East Monroe Street in Valparaiso and owned by Charles Hershman, is being changed from a students’ rooming house into a light housekeeping apartment.
June 20, 1921
The annual recital of music pupils of St. Paul’s Academy was given last evening at Community Hall. The pupils were assisted by an orchestra composed of Charles Coyer, E. J. Salisbury, Charles Whitehead, Richard Fabing, William Johnston, Edward Auzola, Mr. Lewis, and Bernard Finnegan.
June 21, 1921
A carload of tubercular cattle, twenty-five in number, were shipped to the Union Stockyards, Chicago, today. The cattle are reactors under a recent test for tuberculosis. They will be slaughtered under government inspection. The owners are compensated by the government and state up to $130 ($1,939.50 in 2021) and salvage for purebred and up to $65 ($969.75 in 2021) salvage for a grade.
June 22, 1921
The wool committee appointed by the Porter County Farmers’ Association has announced that enough wool has been listed to make a minimum load of 16,000 pounds. Bags will soon be distributed to the shippers.
June 23, 1921
The electric lighting equipment at the Pageant of Progress given by the American Legion at the fair grounds was put out of commission last evening at 10 o’clock when one of the transformers burned out. It was necessary to go to Michigan City for repairs. The burned transformer was one secured for Valparaiso University to provide additional light for the new vocational training students.
Funeral services for Charles F. Weiseman, of Furnessville, who died at Comercy, Grance, January 6, 1919, were held at the Lutheran Church at Porter, Sunday, in charge of the American Legion. Weiseman was born at Furnessville on December 5, 1892. Surviving are a widow, whom he married before he left for camp, one sister, and two brothers.
June 24, 1921
Valparaiso Odd Fellowship will stage a gala event here July 2 when a canton and ladies’ auxiliary will be mustered in. Valparaiso years ago had one of the largest cantons in the state. The organization finally disbanded and the members affiliated with the Gary canton. The local canton will consist of thirty members. A parade and military ball in the Valparaiso University gym will be features of the meeting.
Ben and August Koselke have leased oil rights on their farm in Jackson Township to Chicago men who will begin drilling two oil wells. Oil was struck in that vicinity several years ago. The Chicago men expect to go down 1,200 feet.
June 25, 1921
O. P. Kinsey, of Valparaiso, has made a gift of a free public library to the city of Freeport, Ohio, where he formerly lived. A property in Freeport has been purchased for a site for the library building. Mr. and Mrs. Kinsey and his sisters, Sarah and Arminda, have had in mind the building of the library in Freeport for a number of years. It is their intention to deed a home and 300 acres of land for the maintenance of a library. Large coal deposits on the farm make the land valuable.
Charles Chester, who has been assistant superintendent of the factory for the Pioneer Truck Company, has been promoted to the superintendency of the local plant. The company is expecting to reach the peak of construction of trucks inside of a few weeks. During the last two weeks many machines have been shipped to Chicago.
June 26, 1921
The state appellate court has affirmed the decision of the Lake Circuit Court in the case of Charles F. Leeks and others, of Boone Township, Porter County, against William Schleman. The plaintiffs brought suit to enjoin the defendant from building a channel from the Breyfogle Ditch to the Phillips Ditch and diverting the waters of the former ditch to the Phillips Ditch. They contend the waters from the Breyfogle Ditch would, in time, clog up the Phillips Ditch. The case has been in litigation for three years.
The Pageant of Progress given by the World’s Fair Shows under the auspices of the local American Legion post last week was a financial success. Toney Poleria, federal board student at the university, won the Ford car. Robert Louis, seven-months-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Farrington, won the baby contest. Miss Margaret Timmons was queen of the pageant.
June 27, 1921
The annual meeting of stockholders of the Altruria Dormitory Company was held last evening. The following directors were elected for the ensuing year: Peter Schuldt, E. W. Chaffee, Mrs. Anna Morony, C. W. Benton, G. M. Dodge, W. A. Hoffman and A. W. Williams. Officers named were: G. M. Dodge, president; Anna Morony, vice-president, and C. W. Benton, secretary-treasurer.
June 28, 1921
The Northwestern Indiana Telephone Company is installing one of the largest cables ever used in Valparaiso. The cable is twice as large as any heretofore used and contains 804 wires. The cable runs underground for several blocks in the business district.
June 29, 1921
Joseph Leurs, proprietor of the Kouts Department Store, yesterday sold the business to the Shutske Brothers, of Pleasant Township. The Schleman-Morton Company of Valparaiso engineered the deal, involving $30,000 ($447,576.54 in 2021). Mr. Leurs took, in part, payment of an eighty-acre farm. The deal is the third in Kouts this year, including W. S. Bush selling his hardware and lumber yard to H. G. Spencer, and J. T. Cannon and Son selling their general merchandise store to Hammond parties.
Fishing in the Kankakee River is no good, according to reports brought here by Deputy Game Wardens Gregg Stansell and J. H. Randall. Mr. Stansell, who was formerly police chief in Valparaiso, stated that the change of the river course by dredging has ruined the former abodes of fish. He said the Tippecanoe River is alive with fish at the present time.
June 30, 1921
A horseshoe court is being installed on the vacant lot just east of the city hall in downtown Valparaiso (present-day location of Aster & Gray and the MUG). Edward Cowdrey, champion of the steel company at Gary, will meet all comers. Mr. Cowdrey played a series of games yesterday at Gary and made 111 points, 105 of which were from ringers.
A Valparaiso citizen has suggested that the school board sell the Wolf property at the corner of Washington and Chicago Streets in the downtown and purchase the Porter County Fair Grounds for a building site for a new high school.