125 YEARS AGO: 1896
A couple of fakirs wearing plug hats are holding forth on the streets and selling patent medicines. They are a fraud and a nuisance and the Leader emphatically protests against their being allowed to occupy the streets for a paltry $10 per week license fee or for any other sum of money. Hutchinson has no use for these fellows.
Two tramps underwent a fearful ordeal in the Hutchinson engine house. About 20 citizens whose names are more or less public secrets, sawed off the bar on the cage door, took the tramps out and covered them with pine tar and then doused them with feathers. They begged for mercy, but the murder of Joe Rogers was fresh in the minds of the crowd and mercy was at a discount. At about 3 p.m. the tramps stopped at the John Austin home and demanded a dinner of boiled eggs. Mr. Austin told them he was not in the business of cooking eggs and one of the tramps swore at him. When John replied, the other took a swipe at him with a cane. In the meantime, Mrs. Austin came around the house with a hoe for her husband to use as a weapon and was greeted with a volley of vile and filthy oaths. Austin had Constable Martin Darrum and a neighbor help him round up the pair that landed them in the Hutchinson lockup.
The Leader has this to say: The people of Hutchinson condemn the brutal treatment of these tramps, but we are surprised that they are not, as they should be enthusiastic nor emphatic in doing so. They cannot afford to give the endorsement to violence in any form, for the victims of it have within their power means of revenge, which are fearful to contemplate. If Hutchinson proposes to mob innocent men, innocent men may in the darkness of the night visit their revenge upon Hutchinson. The murder of Sheriff Rogers by tramps should be atoned by men whose hands are stained with his blood. It cannot be atoned for by indiscriminate mobbing of tramps and the people of McLeod County are not asking for administration of justice in that way.
100 YEARS AGO: 1921
The tallest corn it has been the privilege of the Leader man to see this season, and there are acres and acres of corn in McLeod County as far along now as the crop usually is in the middle of July, was a sample stalk brought to the Leader by M.P. Jorgenson, living on Bear Lake Road. This stalk measured between 7 and 8 feet in height and was from a field of an acre or so where there had been a straw stack. This corn was planted May 15, was frozen down once, and as stated above, when pulled June 25 was more than 7-feet tall, a growth of approximately 2 inches per day since the seed was planted in the ground.
75 YEARS AGO: 1946
The first stalk of tall corn to appear at the Leader office was one tended by Eugene DeMenge of Cedar Lake, which his father, William DeMenge, brought in with a smile. "This corn is certainly knee high by the Fourth," he added. And it was almost up to Paul Bunyan's knee, measuring 5 1/2 feet.
50 YEARS AGO: 1971
Shoulder high corn, like that brought in by George Betker of Hutchinson, can be found in the area this Fourth of July, when corn is supposed to be "knee high" according to a saying. Warm, humid weather has resulted in higher than normal corn this year. The specimen displayed by Betker came from a 15-acre field of his son-in-law Alden Enger, who lives 4 miles east of Silver Lake. It was planted May 10 and the stand in the field is pretty even, says Betker.
25 YEARS AGO: 1996
At the Hutchinson Planning Commission meeting, architect Tim Parsons detailed Bethany Baptist's plans for a new church at 850 School Road S., just north of where Word of Life Outreach Center is planning a church/school facility. Bethany Baptist is seeking a conditional-use permit for the project.
When Joanne Willmert orders new business cards and stationary for her store, she will only have to change one digit in the address. The Village Shop has moved up the street from it's long-time home at 134 Main St. S. to just a few doors away at the former site of Alrick's Clothing at 114 Main St. S. "We had decided we needed a bigger space," Willmert said. "This is 5 feet wider and a lot deeper."
After 12 years in the hairstyling business, Bob McCarthy recognized an opportunity to open his own salon. Robert Michael's Hair Salon opened at 140 Main St. S. Robert and Michael are McCarthy's first and middle names. "I've always wanted to have my own shop and I decided it was a good time to try it," McCarthy said.
