Greenwood County History
- Eureka 1910-1919 - (Part 1 of 12) -
The following articles were found in The Eureka Herald staring in January of 1910.
“Basketball had started for the Eureka High boys’ and girls’ teams, with games being played in Edwards Hall. There was also interest in K.U. basketball team, as three boys were on the freshmen team. Martindell from Eureka and V. Long and brother F. Long from Madison. (This might have been a freshmen team) Fredonia girls won the game 11-6 against Eureka High girls. After this game the Eureka High boys first and second teams had an exhibition game that was called at halftime because of unnecessary roughing.
In February 1910 Eureka played El Dorado boys’ basketball team and won 30-27. It was a fast rough game full of fancy work and poor goal throwing. Unnecessary roughing was quite in evidence throughout the entire play and many fouls were called. The girls’ team was to have played at Fredonia but owing to the late trains they did not play.
The farmers’ feed yard, is being built at the corner of Oak and Third Streets, and is near completion. This new enterprise is one that is becoming popular in most wide-a-wake Kansas towns.
The feed yard is 75 by 150 feet and at the present time contains 44 stalls and will accommodate 88 horses and half as many vehicles. At the present time there is an open court in the center of the yard, but there will be a cover over the court with an umbrella roof, thus placing the entire yard under cover and doubling the capacity of the yard. Through the center of what is now the open court will be placed a row of portable stalls and mangers. These will be so arranged that on occasion they can be easily removed and the center space converted into a sale pavilion.
At the southeast corner of the yard is the office and the ladies’ waiting room. This room will be attractively finished, and furnished with tables, chairs, settee and lavatory.
July 1910: A new Missouri Pacific Depot is to be built in Eureka. The size of the building will be 122 feet long and 24 feet wide, one story high. The material will be brick, Carthage stone trim and red tile roof. The foundation and floor will be concrete. There will be a general waiting room with a retiring room for the ladies, and smoking room for the gentlemen, with toilets facilities off from each. There will be a brick platform extending from Elm to Main Street,(this was located on East Ninth Street) around the whole building. The old depot to be moved east of Main Street, to be fixed up and used for a freight depot.
September 1910: Will Dennis and C. Shook went after the pigeons that roost in the top of the court house and killed about fifty of them. They both had repeating shot guns and as they were not allowed to shoot them from the roof, they had great sport for two or three hours shooting them on the fly as they came there to roost.
October 1910: Five of the fastest teams in the state have signified their intention of coming to Eureka next week to participate in the annual Kansas State Firemen tournament. Solomon, Clay Center, Marysville, Gas City, Peabody, and Ottawa all have fast teams and have entered the races. LaHarpe, Wamego, Weir City, Beloit and others towns that usually participate in these annual tournaments, are expected to come to Eureka.
There will be races, contests and test of various sorts that will be novel and pleasing to spectators.
In October 1910 St. Paul’s Norwegian Lutheran congregation began the erection of a church edifice at the corner of First and Sycamore streets in Eureka. There are many members of this congregation and they have church buildings in the county, but as more and more retired from the farms and moved to Eureka the need of a church building has grown greater and at last a suitable structure is to be erected. Heretofore services have been held at the parsonage and at the homes of different members of the church. This will be the first church to be located west of Main Street. (The building was located on the southeast corner of First and Sycamore and is still there, although it is no longer a church. A second story has been added in the last few years to the building) The football game between Eureka and LeRoy was to start at 2:30, but did not get started until 3:00 as the LeRoy team did not have a teacher, or even a list of players certified by their principal with them. ( In the early days of high school sports, the teams had to have certified list of their players, so “ringers” could not be inserted on the team.)
The first football game of the 1910 season in Eureka took place at the Fair Grounds between Southern Kansas Academy (School located where the hospital now stands) and Humboldt High School. The game ended in a tie, 5-5. (Touchdowns were scored as five points in 1910.)
In December of 1910 cattle pens had been built along the Missouri Pacific stock yards which was north of the Greenwood Cemetery. There was a dipping tank constructed, with vat, furnace and boiler along with dehorning chute and thousands of cattle were dipped before they were to be fed for the winter.
The new yards and dipping equipment were constructed by a company of about 40 local cattlemen who are making an effort to stamp out itch which has become more or less prevalent in this county. A plot of ground adjoining the stock yards was purchased and pens 160 by 190 feet were constructed. Along the south side of the pens was erected a combination branding and dehorning chute, which leads to the dipping tank, which is concrete and sunk in the ground about eight feet and has a capacity of 900 gallons. The cattle are run through the chute and into the tank and up the incline at the southwest corner of the yards where they return to the pens.
The preparation used for dipping is Rex lime and Sulphur solution. This preparation or dip as commonly called is heated in a vat by steam from a five horse power boiler to a temperature of 104 degrees. Through this solution the cattle are run and then taken to the feed lot. In the spring they will again be dipped before they are turned on grass. Thus, the government regulations are complied with and the cattle are clean and free from mange or scab. This treatment is necessary for cattle found infected with mange and are not allowed to go to market, or if shipped must be sent as exposed cattle and sold in the quarantine division, which means a sacrifice to the cattlemen.
Those cattlemen who built the tank and pens organized the Greenwood County Dipping Association, with capital stock of $1,800. A rate for dipping cattle was fixed at 15 cents per head if brought to the pens at a time when other cattle are being dipped. The reason for this proviso is the fact that it costs the association $75 to fill the vat and tank with dip and heat up the boiler and furnace. If it becomes necessary to dip cattle at a time when either cattle are not being dipped the expense on the owner of the herd will be greater.
The Missouri Pacific depot will now provide night telegraph service. A minimum rate of 25 cents for a fifty-word message if the distance is no greater than the distance to Kansas City. This is a great thing for the business men and others who do telegraphing and no doubt they will show their appreciation by making prompt use of the cheap night rates that apply from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.”
