25 years ago: March 29, 2000

Shades of the past came back last week when the panels above the front of the new Bichelmeyer’s Steakhouse came down. Matt Bichelmeyer, owner of the building, said the restaurant will open mid-April. Bichelmeyer plans to keep the old Zoellner’s dry goods sign on the building and to install green canvas awnings below that along the south and east sides.

Since the beginning of the Fourth street renovation project, the memory of a cavern beneath the street had been on my mind. Then I began to question myself. Was it really there? Was it as large as I remembered from a child’s perspective? During the 1950s and 1960s my grandmother, Mabel Garner, owned Valley Laundry, which was at the lower end of Fourth Street. My brother and I were there often, playing amidst the piles of barber towels to be laundered, scampering under a businessman’s white starched shirts that gramma had laundered, dipped in liquid starch, ironed until they were crisp and neat, and then hung neatly in a row. It was during the threat of a spring storm that we first saw the underside of Tonganoxie. Gramma pushed aside the wooden table that sat over a huge trap door. A bare light bulb illuminated the basement.

The basement was typical of older basements of the day, except there was a door at one end that led under the sidewalks of Tonganoxie. It was there that we would be safe from the storm. Safe? To a small child already afraid of storms, I didn’t know which was worse – the impending storm or the safety of our shelter. I don’t recall being there again, and over the years forgot about it until the progress of 2000 in Tonganoxie. The day after the workers had removed the sidewalk, we walked down the hill to what was once gramma’s laundry and, to my relief, it was there – the door opening from the building to under the sidewalk. Terylan Walker is office manager for the Mirror.

50 years ago: April 3, 1975

Lee Mark was re-elected to his fourth term as Mayor of Tonganoxie by a substantial margin. Mark amassed a 268 vote margin over his opponent Pat Sparks. Darrel Pearce received more votes than any city candidate. His final total was 452. Besides Pearce, Laurent Stoner and Bill McGee were the only present councilmen re-elected. Incumbent candidate Connie Putthoff failed in her re-election bid as Alvin Shilling and Dave Nolan filled the remaining positions.

Two out of three incumbents were defeated in the school board election. Maxine Laming, Mildred McMillon and Ronald Sample will become new members of the board. Bob Soetaert was re-elected. Kenneth Mahoney, Harold Denholm, and Dick Chapman are also members of the school board.

Bicentennial committee chairman Russ Kimberlin has received word from the Kansas American Revolution Bicentennial Commission’s Executive Director, John Taylor, that the City of Tonganoxie has been granted $1500 for the town’s Chief Tonganoxie Memorial Site project.

The Truitt Nursing Home may be closed by the end of April. To comply with a Title 19 Certification Program, the nursing home would have to install an elevator that would run from the first to the second floor and reduce the number of patients in two rooms. The nursing home is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Truitt. The loss of Title 19 certification would cut off funds that support 26 of the 30 patients now housed in the nursing home. The nursing home has remodeled in the past to meet rising fire codes. Bob Truitt purchased the home in 1955. The facility has been kept up to standards and additions and remodeling has taken place. The Truitt’s had a payroll of $67,000 in 1974. This is a considerable sum that would not be earned in wages if the home is forced to close, and it would be a disaster for the residents.

Miss Kay Emery, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Emery, is among a total of 71 top junior and senior students elected to membership for the 1975-76 academic year in the Scholastic Honor Society of Kansas State College of Pittsburg.

75 years ago: March 30, 1950

We’ve all heard the adage about March coming in like a lion or lamb, but this past Sunday may have been one for the records. As the day unfolded, the winds roared and sent out gusts of 70-80 mph reminding us of the Dust Bowl Days. Plowed fields were stirred and dirt particles filled the air. A large Western Kansas haze covered the sky and blocked the sun. Many homes reported roof damage, and several grass fires began. Hopefully, we will see more of the lamb as this month departs.

The Walter Denholm family has found a way to keep their egg production up-way up. Earlier in the fall they purchased a chicken water warmer and weren’t sure it would do the trick. Much to their surprise this product has more than paid for itself.  Many eggs are gathered from their laying hens each and every day and the cost to operate has been nominal. Only $0.25 per month for the electric bill.  

Another egg producer, Mr. Martin Herrstrom near the State Lake has some special tricks to get the most out of his egg laying hens. He usually purchases 400 good grade chicks every year and says he sees the benefit as they begin laying. He also buys a good mash, keeps plenty of light on the flock and keeps the area dry. Dampness promotes disease and his method keeps the hen house clean and dry. He says that cleanliness is next to Godliness when raising baby chicks. He doesn’t believe that low eggs prices are a problem as he says a good hen will lay 120 eggs per year.  

100 years ago: April 2, 1925

Last Friday afternoon about 3:15 the fire alarm sounded, and the fire truck was quickly run out to the Musil Bakery, where a small out-building had caught fire from some rubbish that was being burned and a sudden swirl of wind put it beyond control. The fire was soon extinguished with very little damage.

O. Davis, who recently acquired possession of the east room of his building which had formerly been occupied by A. Conley’s barber shop, has now added it to his Coffee Shop. Work on remodeling it has been under way for some time, and it is now completed. He removed the partition and refinished the walls to match the original Coffee Shop walls, and has also matched the floor covering, and added several additional tables and they are now able to serve about thirty persons at one time.

A plate glass mirror nine feet and four inches in length and thirty-two inches in width adorns the east wall. Mr. Davis has also treated the outside of the building to a new coat of paint. Mr. Davis deserves commendation for the clean, up-to-date methods in which he conducts his business and will get a good share of the patronage which he justly merits. This is one of the places which makes a good reputation for the hometown.

125 years ago: March 29, 1900

The Tonganoxie literary Society will have no meeting tomorrow evening. The programme has been postponed for a week. The regular monthly business meeting of the Library Association will be held in the library room next Tuesday, at 2 o’clock.

Some of the farmers report that most of the spring calves are males, an unfortunate circumstance for this milk producing region.

I want a lot of farms to sell at two and one-half per cent commission. List your farms with me and I will give you satisfaction. Lemuel Evans

Trustee Ward, of Stranger township, marketed seven hogs in Tonganoxie Saturday that averaged in weight 261 pounds. They were only six months and eighteen days old, all of one litter and were all males.

A.J. White, census supervisor for the first congressional district was in Leavenworth Tuesday, to consult the politicians about appointing enumerators. The only applicants from this township are W.W. Wise for the country district and R. Cadwallader for the city. As long as there are no other applicants these parties will get the appointments.