30 Years Ago – April 22, 1983
At the continuation of the liquor license hearing for Marko Lah, the application was unanimously approved by the Black Hawk City Council.
The Register-Call’s third annual short story contest was entered by 65 students. This year’s theme was “Magic.” For the First and Second Grade entries, Daniel Bartelll won First Place; in Third and Fourth Grades, Cory Lockhart (more…)
30 Years Ago – April 15, 1983
The Gilpin County jail, although not ideal, is adequate for what it is used for – a holding facility for prisoners awaiting trial and sentencing. That is the opinion of Magistrate Donald E. Abram of the U.S. District Court. Abram (more…)
Gilpin History presents Quirky Tales of Gilpin County
By David Josselyn
On Saturday, April 6th, Gilpin History (formerly Gilpin County Historical Society) brought us back to the 1860’s as they presented Quirky Tales of Gilpin County at St. James Methodist Church. Quirky Tales was performed as an (more…)
30 Years Ago – April 8, 1983
Tom Brokaw, NBC Nightly News anchor, said Tuesday evening that Wondervu had received 40 inches of new snow since Sunday. (more…)
30 Years Ago – April 1-1983
In a very close decision, the Gilpin County RE-1 School Board voted 3-2 to bring a bond election to the voters to build a four-classroom addition, plus minimal library or multi-purpose space, to the new school building on (more…)
30 Years Ago – March 25, 1983
If the U. S. Congress enacts the Assets Management Program and President Reagan signs it into law, over 19,887 acres of national forest land in Gilpin County could be sold. The Clear Creek District includes the southern part of (more…)
Selections from “Of Mines & Beer!”
By Dave Thomas
Estimates of the number of non-Native Americans living in Gilpin County within a few months following Gregory’s discovery of gold vary widely from 5,000 to as many as 30,000 in 1860. Enumeration of the number of Native (more…)
30 Years Ago – March 11, 1983
Steven Lee Bradley, whose real name is Steven James Earl Kemp, 28, was arrested in Springfield, MO, and charged with first degree robbery and armed criminal action for allegedly robbing a restaurant there. Bradley, who had (more…)
Gilpin students join Masons for “sweet” history lesson
By Patty Unruh
We all know that George Washington was “the father of our country.” But how much do we really know about him? For instance, how old was he when he had his teeth pulled? What was his middle name? And what color was his (more…)
30 Years Ago – March 4, 1983
Arvey Drown, who this week is on trial for fraud charges in U.S. District Court in Denver, showed up at the Gilpin County Courthouse last Friday for a court date with Harold Caldwell. Caldwell, trustee for the Chain O’Mines (more…)
30 Years Ago – February 25, 1983
The old barn on the Eureka Valley Ranch, owned by Louis A. Morrone, along the King Flats Road, finally relented to the winds early this year after leaning dangerously over the road for close to a year. The structure is thought to (more…)
Ladies, there’s nothing like a good meal to win a man
By Linda Jones
She was an ‘old maid’ by the standards of society in her day. He was literally tall, dark, handsome, and single, and she wasted no time in encouraging his interest in her. Their love story winds throughout early Central City and MiddlePark history and is still resonating.
Mary was the first white woman to permanently live in Central City. She was born in Ireland, but had lived for a time in England because her father was a gardener in the Queen’s garden, but as soon as her parents had saved the money for passage, the family sailed to Canada. One parent died aboard ship and the other soon after arriving, leaving the 13-year old Mary to care for her brother, six years younger. Mary brought them both to America and began working as a maid in households where he would be welcome. When the time came for her brother to strike out on his own, she was employed by the McGee family in Baltimore. When Mr. McGee decided to join the gold rush to western Kansas, the couple invited Mary to join them and the spinster, now in her late twenties, accepted.
But the defenseless woman overheard a chilling conversation one evening while she was strolling along Clear Creek after cleaning up from the evening supper. When Mrs. McGee asked her husband what his financial plan might be since he wasn’t cut out for common labor, he replied that there would be thousands of lonely men in the gold camps and few women and he planned to sell Mary’s services. Hearing this, the proper young woman immediately fled. Fortunately for history, the next camp along the creek was that of William Greene Russell, discoverer of gold in Denver and an honorable Southern gentleman. Russell offered Mary a job cooking for his large group of men and promised that not one of them would harm a hair of her head or they’d answer to him! He also promised that before he and his men left the gold diggings in the fall, they would construct a boarding house for her to run for a living.
In 1860 a stranger looking for clean lodging knocked on the door of her boarding house. When she opened it and saw William Zane Cozens, Mary seized the opportunity. She told him that what he had heard was true, she did keep the cleanest lodging in the area, but she had no rooms to let. However, she added that she also set the tastiest table in the area and would expect him back for supper at 6 p.m. and then shut the door before he could refuse. He came that evening – and every evening after that.
Billy had been born the same year as Mary, 1830, but he hailed from upstate New York, where he had trained as a carpenter. Knowing his skills would be in high demand on the frontier, he came west by stage. Arriving in The Richest Square Mile on Earth, the young carpenter immediately found a job bartending for Jack Kehler. Soon Kehler was hired as the first lawman in this part of western Kansas Territory and he deputized Billy.
Mary’s pluck and cooking kept the newcomer returning for supper night after night. When Billy heard Father Machebeuf would be coming for a special Mass in the new town in December 1860, he asked Mary to be his wife. Everyone rejoiced at this first wedding in the booming community because it signified permanence for the town, and the arrival of their oldest son was the first birth in Central City.
When Gilpin County was created on February 28, 1861, Kehler and Billy were selected as the Sheriff and Deputy. Kehler soon resigned and Cozens became the Sheriff, a lawman whose common sense and courage are the basis of many books and campfire tales. Mary’s brave sheriff-husband created the “line in the sand” incident that led to Colorado’s first legal execution. William Van Horn murdered Josiah Copeland on October 17, 1863. Fearing the killer would be let off with no punishment, the usual outcome of crimes in those early Territorial years, Copeland’s friends crowded Eureka Street around the new Gilpin County Courthouse – built by Billy – and demanded the keys to the jail. Sheriff Cozens refused, actually drawing a line in the street with his toe and vowing he would kill the first man to cross it. No one doubted him. No one crossed it. In 1873 Billy was named a U.S. Marshall for the Second Judicial District.
Billy was an accomplished carpenter and three of his frame structures are listed today on the National Register of Historic Sites. Two are in Central City. Washington Hall, the original Gilpin County Courthouse (1862), is the oldest public building in Colorado. The house he built behind it for Mary and their children, William, Mary and Sarah, still stands and is owned by the City of Central. (A fourth baby, Alexis, is buried in the Central City Masonic Cemetery.) The third of Billy’s surviving buildings is near Fraser.
The Cozens family moved to Middle Park in 1876, supposedly because Mary considered Central City too wicked a place to bring up children anymore. Billy built the first guest ranch in that area and also the original Fraser Post Office; their homestead in Middle Park is now a museum. Billy died first, in 1904, and Mary, in 1909; they are buried along with their three children in the cemetery now called the Maryville Cemetery which they created on their ranch land.
Central City’s Knights of Pythias Cemetery
By Linda Jones
Fred Rowe was buried in the Knights of Pythias Cemetery above Central City in 1914 with an elegant stone memorial to mark his grave, but Fred’s stone traveled to the ‘big city.’ Thanks to an alert recycler, the errant tombstone has been returned to Central City, and the Gilpin Historical Society will return it to its rightful location next summer.
John Hatfield picks up asphalt, wood and concrete to be recycled by Oxford Recycling. On that eventful day he had already dumped two loads without checking their contents, but on his third trip, he felt compelled to check on the load before he drove “up the hill” and dumped it, where it would be immediately crushed. When he looked in the load, he spied the corner of the tombstone. Hatfield has always been a collector who values the rich history of our state, so he talked a friend into helping him move the 250 pound stone to his pickup.
After the stone was safely stored in his yard, John called his friend Art Hill, who located information on Fred Rowe on the internet and learned where the stone belonged. He then called Colleen Stewart, Gilpin County Clerk & Recorder, and told her they planned to leave the stone at the entrance gate to the Pythias Cemetery. She thought that the stone left unprotected through the winter would probably ‘walk’ again and a meeting and transfer was arranged for Sunday, February 10, at Washington Hall, where the Gilpin Historical Society can safeguard it until it is relocated.
Dave Main is a close friend of John and Art – in fact, the three graduated together from Littleton High School – and they are all descendants of pioneer Colorado families; they all proudly sport ‘Pioneer’ plates on their vehicles. They met a welcoming committee of six in front of Washington Hall: Maggie Demers, the guide at Washington Hall that day, Gail and Mike Keeler, Colleen and Jimmy Stewart and this author. All the locals were awed by the pristine condition of the stone. Other than a chip off each top corner, the stone looks untouched by weather or humans. The carvings on this lovely tombstone are more readable than any of the other stones a century old in the county, which leads to a theory that this stone was ‘robbed’ from the gravesite about the middle of the 20th century. The stone gives Fred’s birth year as 1869, although the internet site ‘USGenWeb Archives’ gives it as 1860. The stone gives his death year as 1914, which would make him 44 years old, and apparently he was a single miner.
The Knights of Pythias Lodge was established in America in 1864 and is an international, non-sectarian organization. Their principles are Friendship, Charity and Benevolence, thus explaining the large letters F, C and B on the engraved stone, which also has flowers and a lovely gate etched into it.
The Central City community thanks the three men for their stewardship of this gravestone. The cemeteries surrounding the early gold towns in Gilpin County have suffered from countless acts of destruction through the years, and everyone involved is grateful that John, Art and Dave chose to do the right thing.
Photo: (L-R) Art Hill, John Hatfield, rescuer of the stone, and Dave Main.
30 Years Ago – February 18, 1983
A volcano, a steam engine, an automatic dog feeder and “Herman,” a large poster displaying the human skeleton, were just a few of the projects displayed at the Re-1 Science Fair last week.
Sometime between midnight Thursday and early Monday morning, the second floor offices of the Weekly Register-Call (the old print shop) were burglarized. Janet Davis, editor, discovered the break-in about 9:30 Monday morning and reported the incident to the publisher, William C. Russell, Jr. and the Central City Police Department. Russell compiled a list of missing items for the police department and has offered a $500 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the culprits.
A Boulder man was killed February 12 in a plane crash on the Grand County side of Rollins Pass, about a mile south of the major trestle. The man’s 14-year-old son was found wandering around about a mile from the crash site by the sheriff’s Search and Rescue Department and volunteers from the Winter Park ski area. He sustained minor injuries.
The results of the survey concerning the possibility of a four-day school week during the 1983-84 school year at Gilpin County School were released this week. 104 questionnaires were completed and returned. Under the preference of schedule, 24 favored the Tuesday through Friday week, 65 favored the Monday through Thursday week and 15 were in favor of keeping the 5-day week.
The crew putting in the city water line placed a fire hydrant at the west corner of the museum building on East Third High Street the week past. They placed two posts in position to protect the hydrant and on the tops, the year on one and on the other, their initials, K.W., E.M. and R.J. for Ken Wolfe, Ernie Marquez and Robert Judd.
The lady conducting tours at the Teller House is Char Kidd.
Deputy Steve Foellmer investigated a report of shots being fired and striking the ground near three horseback riders in Lake Gulch.
Queen Marnie Collins and King Rich Ihme reigned at the Gilpin County School homecoming dance which was held February 12 at the Central City Elks Lodge.
This is the time of year when Christmas is over every shoulder and summer way off on the distant horizon.
60 Years Ago – February 13, 1953
A dozen or so injections of Penicillin in the warm, pink and pure flesh of his basement, is making it necessary for Rae Laird to sleep on his stomach and write his articles standing up. But he’s back, a little weak in the pins, a tremble of the hands, and a voice like a rasp filing over a piece of steel.
The Central Hotel, owned and operated by Mr. Earl Person, has been renovated, cleaned and each room newly papered and decorated. New mattresses, springs and beds have been installed, and it is now one of the finest small hotels in Colorado.
Barbara Galbraith, County Clerk & Recorder, states that all Automobile license plate numbers uncalled for will be sold after February 10th.
Funeral services were held here Wednesday afternoon from the Methodist church for Dr. Aych Becker, who died last week in Boulder. Dr. Becker has been a resident of Central City for the past ten years, after retiring from his profession in Denver. He was 79 years of age, and is survived by his wife and one son. Interment was in Bald Mountain cemetery.
Joe Ress, of Russell Gulch, writes that his ship U.S.S. Heed will stop at Gibraltar, the first stopping place on the Mediterranean cruise. They have encountered considerable rough weather, so the voyage is a lively one.
Work is to begin as quickly as possible on the erection of the Central City Milling and Mining Corporation’s 50 ton selective flotation process mill to handle the ore from the Essex extension of the Eureka vein.
The 6 cent per gallon state gas tax can be deducted by Colorado motorists when they file their federal income tax returns, the Rocky Mountain AAA Club announces.
Wanted: Builder to remodel the old Morgan house on Spring Street.
The recent importation of Spanish red-legged partridges from Spain by the Colorado Game and Fish department through the assistance of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has resulted in a language problem for the department. All information concerning the capture and shipment of the birds was in Castilian Spanish, which varies from the Spanish generally spoken here. The department has obtained a translator and 100 of the birds were released in Las Animas county while others are being cared for at the department bird farm in Colorado Springs.
House for Sale in Black Hawk: 1-story, frame, 4 rooms, full basement, 1-car garage. Ten years old. All utilities included. Full price, $3,600, $400 down. Or make offer.
If we don’t print the scandals, people tell us our paper is minus features and interesting up-to-date news, and call us lazy. If we print the scandals (and by the way, there is sure plenty of it), people tell us we are vile and untruthful. If business is bad, it’s because the editor wants too much money for his advertising space. If business is good, advertising hasn’t anything to do with it, but conditions are right. If we print what pleases people, that is our duty and we deserve no credit. If we print what is displeasing, we are a grouch and a crepehanger and don’t deserve the patronage of the public. If we print the news as it is actually, people call us over the phone and tell us to stop their paper. If we print the mining news, people tell us that we have no business with their affairs and to leave these things alone until they give us permission. If we don’t print the mining news, people tell us we are dead and don’t know how to run a newspaper to boost the camp. If subscribers want to bawl out anybody – the editor’s the goat. Oh, editing a newspaper is sure a pleasant business, is it not?
90 Years Ago – February 16, 1923
At the regular monthly meeting of the Central City council, City Marshal and street and water commissioner reported the fixing of basketball room, other city matters in good shape, and a plentiful supply of water.
Complaints having been made that the Rocky Mountain Mine building was in bad shape, it was generally discussed and the Central City council condemned its condition. The owner will be notified to repair or remove it within 90 days.
The Cold Spring, one of the most famous of the tungsten mines of the Nederland District, is to be opened in March. Manager William Loach of the Wolfe Tongue Company, which owns the mine is now in the east.
The powder puff is a mighty weapon when two women are at war with each other.
Charles Ray in “Midnight Bell,” in six reels, will be the picture at the opera house on Saturday evening.
About six inches of snow fell in Apex on Monday and the wind of Tuesday drifted the snow in the county road. Mr. Robbins had to leave his auto about two miles below Apex, and carry the mail to its destination.
News from Russell Gulch is that Frank Vivian and partner are shipping ore from their lease on the Two Forty mine to Idaho Springs this week. Chris Plint and two Pallaro boys have a lease on the Morning Star mine and started work on Wednesday. The Crown Point Mine is equipped with electrical machinery and work will commence shortly.
Five years have been added to our expectation of life since 1901, according to the life-tables for 1920 which have just been compiled. A child born in 1901 was likely to live to be only 49.2 years old, a child born in 1910 could expect to live to be 51.5. Today the newborn baby will probably live to be at least 54.3 years old.
Honest people should welcome an investigating committee. It removes any doubt that might lurk in their own minds.
Hereafter, if the City of Central supplies water to the City of Black Hawk, the same shall be paid for in cash, instead of registered warrants.
The practice of running water at night to prevent freezing was condemned by the Central City council.
The dance given by the Neighbors of Woodcraft on Saturday evening in Black Hawk was the event of the season and everybody in attendance enjoyed themselves to the limit.
Tuesday morning at the recess hour at the Black Hawk School, Mr. McNeil’s boy and a son of Mrs. Cassagranda, lads about 10 years of age, were fighting on the school grounds, and Professor St. John, the principal of the school, was called to quell the disturbance. He took the lads in the school building, and with a small switch gave them a mild punishment, and they were sent home. Reports are that when the Cassagranda lad arrived home his mother boxed his ears for fighting and made him go back to school. When the McNeil lad arrived home and told his father that the professor had licked him, Mr. McNeil mounted his fiery Pegasus and lost no time in getting to the school room. When he entered the Professor’s room, Mr. St. John was filling several ink bottles from a quart bottle, and with a remark by McNeil of whether “this was a slaughter house,” he grabbed St. John, and in the tussle which followed the contents of the ink bottle were scattered over both contestants, many of the scholars, and desks and floor. Mr. St. John was thrown down between the seats with McNeil on top of him. The children were frightened and ran from the room to the street asking for help. Marshal Klais responded and placed McNeil under arrest. Justice Kruse found McNeil guilty of the charge of assault and battery and fined him $20 and costs.
120 Years Ago – February 17, 1893
Last Monday night between 10 and 11 o’clock, Frank Mativi, an Austrian miner about 20 years of age, was seriously injured while working in one of the back-stopes of the Fiske Mine. It seems that he had drilled a hole and was in the act of charging it with high explosives, and was using a tamping-bar to seat the charge in the bottom of the hole. All of a sudden there was an explosion, Mativi receiving a large portion of the charge in his face and on his hands and arms. He was taken to the shaft put in a bucket and raised to the surface. Dr. Davidson was summoned, who found his face badly lacerated, both eyes and his hands injured. Although he could distinguish objects, his vision was somewhat dimmed. The doctor thinks he will be able to save his eyesight. The injured man is being cared for by his brother who resides in Chase Gulch. There is no blame attached to anyone for the accident, except Mativi.
A musician never knows how much his playing is not appreciated until the folks in the next house complain of it.
Tuesday morning between 1 and 2 o’clock, a bright flame was seen issuing from the shaft-house of the Ivanhoe mine, Nevada District. Mr. Charles E. Stevens, the general manager, was among the first on the ground, but the fire had got such headway before being discovered that it was impossible to quench the flames. It is the impression of Mr. Stevens that the fire caught from the inside, without anybody’s aid, from unknown causes. The building was entirely destroyed and the machinery injured. The loss entailed is $3,000, upon which there was an insurance of $1,500.
Last Thursday evening General Eugene K. Stimson’s case which was on trial in Denver on a charge of forgery, closed, the jury brining in a verdict of “not guilty,” after being out less than five hours. The General’s many friends in Gilpin County extend congratulations to him. There was a little spite work in this case.
Cholera and crinoline appear to be the evils of which the world is most afraid. It is difficult to choose between them.
Denver dealers are claiming that the high price of lard is affecting the price of butter. There is nothing said about the scarcity of water affecting the price of milk.
The grand masquerade ball of the Black Hawk Silver Cornet Band, given at Sons of America Hall in the Quartz Mill city, was one of the most successful affairs, both socially and financially, that has occurred in that city for many a day. In the grand march there were over fifty couples en masque, and it was with great difficulty that the prompter, Mr. John Cronin, could keep the maskers in proper line. The grand parade en masque through the streets of Black Hawk, Central and Nevadaville, was a great event and drew crowds of spectators along the streets paraded. The Jerusalem ponies ridden by the maskers caught the attention of the school boys and girls.
A 20-stamp custom mill formerly run at Idaho Springs has been taken down and removed to the head of Cumberland gulch on the southerly slope of Yankee Hill and will be erected at once. This was the great detriment of the mine owners of that section. Heretofore they have been dependent upon the Black Hawk and Idaho Springs custom mills. The cost of transportation of ore was great, that of from $30 to $40 per cord, which proved a serious drawback in opening up the recently discovered gold-bearing veins. The site of the new mill could not have been better, as it is a downhill haul to it from a large proportion of the veins that have been opened.
Died: In Black Hawk, February 13, 1893, Thomas Osborne, aged 67 years.
Died: In Russell Gulch, William, son of William Mellow, Sr., aged 10 years.
A big strike of smelting ore has been made in the Gold Rock Company’s Springdale Mine in Russell District. Mr. J. Ben Lewis, superintendent of the mine, reports “We have struck it at last in the 360 foot level east. Have driven through rock harder than the rock of ages for a long distance, and now have over 3 feet of smelting ore; the biggest body of ore I have ever seen in the Springdale.”
135 Years Ago – February 9, 1878
The First National Bank today ships a gold brick weighing 1,205.75 ounces, valued at $24,000, from the Boston & Colorado Company’s works.
John Morrissey is reported out of danger. His wife cured him by administering to him a decoction of watermelon seeds.
30 Years Ago – February 4, 1983
Gilpin County has again made national news – in the Wall Street Journal, no less – but this time it isn’t a gold mine, or an opera, or Lou Bunch Day, or the tourists that have caused the attention. It’s Gilpin’s own residents. According to the article in the January 25, 1983 edition, Gilpin County has the third highest incidence of alcohol-related deaths in the nation. The information was taken from a study done by researchers at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Researchers looked at death certificates and averaged the information over a three-year period. The age group involved was limited to 15-74 year-olds and place of residence was used vs. the location where an individual died.
Gilpin RE-1 School Board’s Four-Day School Week committee visited Strasburg and Westcliff in January and found that both schools showed improved attendance for both students and teachers, and both schools showed an annual savings of over $10,000. The longer school days cut the time working parents were forced to have their kids at a sitter and older students were available for sitting services on the day the school was not in session. Certain school clubs used the day for field trips. School Board Chairman Jim Peyrouse stressed that the main purpose of the proposal is to save money – mainly from having less transportation costs since busing would be for one less day a week. The committee recommended handing out a questionnaire about the four-day week at the upcoming Science Fair.
Fire totally destroyed the home of Bob and Virginia Callister and their children, Tuesday, leaving only a charred foundation in its wake. Despite the fact that the response time for the nearby Colorado Sierra Volunteer Fire Department was only 11 minutes, the firemen were unable to save the house. It was completely engulfed in flames when they arrived. About ten people from Colorado Sierra, three people from Central City and three from High Country fire departments helped out. They had several problems with the fire. Colorado Sierra fire chief, Steve Hogan, said they were able to get an outside propane tank covered with snow and water, but there were two large oxygen cylinder tanks in Mrs. Callister’s workroom, which she used to blow glass, that exploded. The explosions were not dramatic, Hogan said. Also, about two dozen shotgun and .22 rifle shells went off in one corner of the house while the firemen were cleaning up. No one was hurt.
Gilpin County Search and Rescue, High Country Fire Department and the Flight-for-Life helicopter were all called out Sunday, January 23, to remove an injured cross country skier from Jenny Lind Gulch. The victim, a Denver man, had fallen about 30 feet down off the trail into the woods and had broken his thigh bone. The injury occurred about three and a half miles in from Tolland, over a 1,000 foot rise in elevation. A friend had made his way to Rollinsville and called for help. Bill Ward, vice commander of Search and Rescue and training officer, Peter Downie, started up the trail on skis pulling a covered fiberglass toboggan, but were later pulled by a snowmobile driven by Roger Durham, the chief of High Country FPD. About 12 people on skis assisted in bringing the man down the trail to Tolland and the waiting ambulance. From Rollinsville, he was transported by helicopter to St. Anthony’s Central Hospital in Denver.
Gilpin RE-1 School District’s funds come from several sources, including on the local level, $510,265 from property taxes, $30,615 from specific ownership taxes and $65,000 from sources such as interest on investments. $522,811 comes in from state sources. Federal money is channeled through the state. The largest expenditure in the 1983 budget is $639,172 for salaries. An additional $146,523 will be spent on benefits. The starting salary for teachers with a degree, but no experience, is $12,800 per year. The superintendent’s salary is $29,920 per year and the principal’s salary is $25,316. Statewide, the average superintendent salary is $32,000 per year and $23,000 is the average annual salary for principals.
The Fifth Annual Lace House Ball was held last Saturday, January 29, in the Grand Ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel of Denver. About 150 couples attended the period event held to make money for the ongoing restoration and upkeep of the Lace House in Black Hawk. About 20 of the people were from Gilpin. It is estimated that they raised $7,000-$10,000 from the combined ticket sales and auction.
Betty Sienko has sold out the Gilded Garter to Bob Brusco and Jay Katz of the Glory Hole.
Even though the weather has not been severe, the constant cold and almost daily light snow has made driving conditions extremely hazardous.
Work continues on the Golden Rose, Bank Building and Teller House, the first receiving insulation, while at the latter, a plusher style of chair was being considered for the Little Kingdom Lounge.
Alterations are occurring at Chicago’s Restaurant, including refurbishment and a change of name to reflect its operation by Gene Carelli.
Lori and Kevin Wright, of Black Hawk, are the proud parents of a baby girl, Lindsey Rebecca, born January 28, 1983.
Fr. Reginald Rodman has left St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Central City. Bishop William Frey has appointed Fr. Cyril Coverley as supply priest for the present time.
Ad: Volunteers Needed: Contact GILPIN MILITIA – “in vino veritas.”
60 Years Ago – February 6, 1953
Editing a newspaper is a pleasing business – if you can stand it.
Looks like Ike intends to fight fire with fire, by withdrawing the 7th Fleet from the Formosa Strait.
Funny world. Prices sky-high and we gripe, we moan, but we pay. Prices decline slightly, like meat prices at the moment, and we begin to worry. Is this the recession the experts have predicted?
During Editor Rae Laird’s absence from duties here, the Register-Call still went to press under the guiding hand of George McClure, who has less than two years’ experience in make-up and cylinder feeding. Extended in this column is a vote of thanks for his ingenuity and ability. He has those many essentials that he has graduated now from a “Printer’s Devil” to a real full-fledged printer.
From beginning to end, President Eisenhower’s inaugural address expressed strong and courageous views and was a stirring message and an historic one. Its tone and content clearly showed that the U.S. is ready to take her rightful place in world affairs.
You can’t eat taxes. But you must pay more for taxes than you do for food and clothing combined! We have reached the point where the tax burden is the largest single item of expense to millions of American families. It is generally believed that the danger point to a nation’s strength and vigor is reached when taxes accounting for 25 percent of the national income goes for taxes.
Dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhausts, home space heaters, or defective chimney connections are back again with winter.
A Day’s Work – ever since I graduated from the 4th grade in school, I have noticed that each year I have had to work harder and got less than the year before. Now I have found out the cause of this hard- work- for- less, as follows:
Population of the U.S. ……………………. 150,000,000
People 65 years or older……………….….. 52,000,000
Balance left to work…………………………..98,000,000
People 21 years or younger……………….54,000,000
People working for the government.…21,000,000
Balance left to work……………………….23,000,000
People in armed forces…………………….10,000,000
Balance left to work………………………….13,000,000
People in state and city government…12,800,000
Balance left to work……………………………….200,000
People in hospitals, asylums, etc……………..26,000
Balance left to work…………………………………74,000
Bums and others refusing to work……………62,000
Balance left to work…………………………………12,000
Persons in jail……………………………………….….11,908
Balance left to work………………………………….……..2
Two? Just two. You and I – and you’d better get a wiggle on – I’m tired of doing all the work alone.
90 Years Ago – February 2, 1923
Rubye De Remer in “Pilgrims of the Night,” in six reels will be the picture at the opera house on Saturday evening.
Matrimony is presumed to pay good dividends, but often it doesn’t even cough up the interest.
If German marks keep on going down they will soon make an awful hole in the ground – or perhaps strike oil.
Mining appears to be picking up all over the country, due to increase in prices of copper, lead and zinc, and it looks as though the turning point has been reached for better times.
Get busy and provide yourself with a good income for 1923. The income tax collector wants it, and you should not disappoint him.
The county road from Apex to Elk Park has been shoveled out, and now teams can go through to American City. This is the first time the road has been open since November 4, 1922.
Died: In Central City, January 29, 1923, William Dickerson, aged 61 years.
Carload shipments of ore were made this week by leasers on the Druid Mine to the smelter at Leadville, loaded on the cars at Central City, a car from the Jupiter-St. Clair Mine, loaded at Black Hawk, for shipment to the same place, a car from the Wain Mine to the concentrator at Idaho Springs, and a carload from the Rara Avis property, also loaded at Black Hawk, for the smelter at Leadville.
Several members of the Thomas family, residing in Chase Gulch, are down with pneumonia.
In the two games of basketball, played last Saturday evening at the school gymnasium, between the local team and a team from Idaho Springs and the corresponding teams of the Gilpin County and the Idaho Springs high schools, both games were won by the Gilpin County teams.
Four inches of snow fell last Friday in Apex and the high wind of Saturday drifted the road so that it had be shoveled out. On Monday and Tuesday, the mail came through by auto.
120 Years Ago-February 3, 1893
Silver = 83 7/8; Lead = $3.80
A few days ago the water in the main shaft of the Buell Mine was lowered to a point below the 400 foot level and the debris at that level is now being removed.
January is invariably considered the dullest month of the year not only with the business men but also with the mill men. A trip through the stamp mills made this week convinced the reporter that the mining industry is far from being on the wane. The mills running all seemed to be pretty well supplied with ore, the only complaint met with being that of scarcity of water.
Last week, Mr. A. G. Elliott reached the 110 foot levels in the Harkaway Mine. The east level which is in 80 feet was badly caved in places, and it will require considerable time and outlay of money to clean it of the debris and retimber it. The level opposite is in the 110 feet level and shows a strong body of mill dirt and ore that is said to have yielded 3 ounces gold per cord when worked by the Valley View Mining Company.
The Corydon is turning out enough stamp mill ore daily to keep 25 stamps dropping. From Mr. Daniel Procunier, one of the oldest and most continuous residents of Hawkeye District, who was in from Wide Awake on Saturday, we learn that he has interested a number of Denver gentlemen with him in the Procunier Lode, which in an early day was known as the Wide Awake Lode, and relocated by him several years ago.
Mr. Sisty and a pool of men have a lease and bond on the Dew Drop and Mountain Chief mines on Tip Top Mountain. Development work on both properties will henceforth go forward more rapidly than ever.
Next to a funeral the saddest sight is to see an Italian eating macaroni, and ill-bred women eating grapes at a table d’hote.
The people of Clear Creek County have taken action on the proposed forest reserve, and have circulated petitions protesting against the establishment of such a reserve as proposed by Mr. Edgar T. Ensign.
Senator Henry C. Bolsinger came up from Denver Saturday evening and spent Sunday with his family in Nevadaville, returning in time to take his seat in the senate on Monday.
A Washington press dispatch under date of January 28, says: The small Colorado colony in Washington has been temporarily increased by the presence in the city of Mr. Hal Sayr, a prominent Denver mining man. Mr. Sayr’s wife is in very bad health. She has been under the care of Dr. Hammond at his sanitarium for some weeks and it is that draws Mr. Sayr to the capital. The doctor has notified Mr. Sayre that his wife must be removed to a different climate and so he has made all arrangements to spend the remainder of the winter in Cuba. Just when he will sail has not been determined.
Old time cut-and-dried parlor proposals are out of date. An Eurkea Street maid tells how she received and accepted a proposal a short time ago while whirling around in the maze of a “two-step” waltz at a social dance.
Now is the time to begin cleaning up the alleys. Spring will soon be here and the city should be placed in proper condition. Much sickness during the coming summer can in this way be averted. It is cheaper than doctor’s bills.
“Necessity is the mother of invention.” This truism is most aptly illustrated as you watch the old bachelor run a nail through his lace fringe on the upper border of his every-day overalls to hold up his lonely suspender.
The residence of Mr. John Chapman, near Casey Avenue, just below the Truan dwelling was quarantined last Sunday morning by order of the health office of the city, against scarlet fever.
The standing price for trimming Van Dyke beards has been fixed by the barbers at 25 cents.
Steve Cronin, having served out his sentence passed upon him by Judge Becker for assault, that of fifteen days in the county jail, was let out last Sunday. Sunday night he made himself quite obnoxious to the female inmates of one of the temples of illicit love on Pine Street. He was again arrested by Marshal Kelleher on Monday and fined $10 and costs. Not having any money, he was committed to the city cooler for 17 days.
Born: In Central City, February 1, 1893, to the wife of John Kruse, a son.
Born: In Russell Gulch, January 30, 1893, to the wife of John Clemmons, a daughter.
Born: In Nevadaville, January 31, 1893, to the wife of James Taylor, a daughter.
Born In Central City, January 18, 1893, to the wife of John Hoskin, a daughter.
Deacon John Ballard has sent a challenge to city clerk Robert Haight of Central City, to skate a five-mile race at the rink on Gregory Street.
The grammar and high school departments of the school have organized into two divisions for rhetorical exercises.
The tourist rate to Colorado common points will be $25 during the World’s Fair.
Thirty-two head of beef cattle – two cars – arrived in Black Hawk this morning, consigned to William Harvey and Henry Dennis of this city. The beeves were in good condition.
There was a perfect jam at the ice skating rink last Saturday evening, 85 skaters being engaged in skating at one time.
The anchor ice is raising old Ned along North Clear Creek. On Monday men were at work in cutting a water-way in the ice just above the Polar Star Stamp Mill. The overflow of water at that point promised to inundate the track of the railroad and tramway companies.
It is preposterous to look for sentiment in people who regard buckwheat cakes a breakfast.
135 Years Ago – January 26, 1893
We learn that this morning about 9:30 o’clock, the Humestown House at Idaho Springs, which changed hands yesterday, caught fire in the third story and was soon entirely destroyed. The fire also spread to Gaw’s Brewery and the dwellings adjoining, which were quickly consumed. There was no insurance as far as we could learn on any of the property.
Electric candles are the sensation in Paris. They emit no heat or smoke whatsoever, while in brilliancy they hold the same ration to gas and oil lamps as sun to moonlight, and the cost only one-fifteenth as much as gas. It is hailed as one of the greatest discoveries of the century.
30 Years Ago – February 4, 1983
Gilpin County has again made national news – in the Wall Street Journal, no less – but this time it isn’t a gold mine, or an opera, or Lou Bunch Day, or the tourists that have caused the attention. It’s Gilpin’s own residents. According to the article in the January 25, 1983 edition, Gilpin County has the third highest incidence of alcohol-related deaths in the nation. The information was taken from a study done by researchers at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Researchers looked at death certificates and averaged the information over a three-year period. The age group involved was limited to 15-74 year-olds and place of residence was used vs. the location where an individual died.
Gilpin RE-1 School Board’s Four-Day School Week committee visited Strasburg and Westcliff in January and found that both schools showed improved attendance for both students and teachers, and both schools showed an annual savings of over $10,000. The longer school days cut the time working parents were forced to have their kids at a sitter and older students were available for sitting services on the day the school was not in session. Certain school clubs used the day for field trips. School Board Chairman Jim Peyrouse stressed that the main purpose of the proposal is to save money – mainly from having less transportation costs since busing would be for one less day a week. The committee recommended handing out a questionnaire about the four-day week at the upcoming Science Fair.
Fire totally destroyed the home of Bob and Virginia Callister and their children, Tuesday, leaving only a charred foundation in its wake. Despite the fact that the response time for the nearby Colorado Sierra Volunteer Fire Department was only 11 minutes, the firemen were unable to save the house. It was completely engulfed in flames when they arrived. About ten people from Colorado Sierra, three people from Central City and three from High Country fire departments helped out. They had several problems with the fire. Colorado Sierra fire chief, Steve Hogan, said they were able to get an outside propane tank covered with snow and water, but there were two large oxygen cylinder tanks in Mrs. Callister’s workroom, which she used to blow glass, that exploded. The explosions were not dramatic, Hogan said. Also, about two dozen shotgun and .22 rifle shells went off in one corner of the house while the firemen were cleaning up. No one was hurt.
Gilpin County Search and Rescue, High Country Fire Department and the Flight-for-Life helicopter were all called out Sunday, January 23, to remove an injured cross country skier from Jenny Lind Gulch. The victim, a Denver man, had fallen about 30 feet down off the trail into the woods and had broken his thigh bone. The injury occurred about three and a half miles in from Tolland, over a 1,000 foot rise in elevation. A friend had made his way to Rollinsville and called for help. Bill Ward, vice commander of Search and Rescue and training officer, Peter Downie, started up the trail on skis pulling a covered fiberglass toboggan, but were later pulled by a snowmobile driven by Roger Durham, the chief of High Country FPD. About 12 people on skis assisted in bringing the man down the trail to Tolland and the waiting ambulance. From Rollinsville, he was transported by helicopter to St. Anthony’s Central Hospital in Denver.
Gilpin RE-1 School District’s funds come from several sources, including on the local level, $510,265 from property taxes, $30,615 from specific ownership taxes and $65,000 from sources such as interest on investments. $522,811 comes in from state sources. Federal money is channeled through the state. The largest expenditure in the 1983 budget is $639,172 for salaries. An additional $146,523 will be spent on benefits. The starting salary for teachers with a degree, but no experience, is $12,800 per year. The superintendent’s salary is $29,920 per year and the principal’s salary is $25,316. Statewide, the average superintendent salary is $32,000 per year and $23,000 is the average annual salary for principals.
The Fifth Annual Lace House Ball was held last Saturday, January 29, in the Grand Ballroom of the Fairmont Hotel of Denver. About 150 couples attended the period event held to make money for the ongoing restoration and upkeep of the Lace House in Black Hawk. About 20 of the people were from Gilpin. It is estimated that they raised $7,000-$10,000 from the combined ticket sales and auction.
Betty Sienko has sold out the Gilded Garter to Bob Brusco and Jay Katz of the Glory Hole.
Even though the weather has not been severe, the constant cold and almost daily light snow has made driving conditions extremely hazardous.
Work continues on the Golden Rose, Bank Building and Teller House, the first receiving insulation, while at the latter, a plusher style of chair was being considered for the Little Kingdom Lounge.
Alterations are occurring at Chicago’s Restaurant, including refurbishment and a change of name to reflect its operation by Gene Carelli.
Lori and Kevin Wright, of Black Hawk, are the proud parents of a baby girl, Lindsey Rebecca, born January 28, 1983.
Fr. Reginald Rodman has left St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Central City. Bishop William Frey has appointed Fr. Cyril Coverley as supply priest for the present time.
Ad: Volunteers Needed: Contact GILPIN MILITIA – “in vino veritas.”
60 Years Ago – February 6, 1953
Editing a newspaper is a pleasing business – if you can stand it.
Looks like Ike intends to fight fire with fire, by withdrawing the 7th Fleet from the Formosa Strait.
Funny world. Prices sky-high and we gripe, we moan, but we pay. Prices decline slightly, like meat prices at the moment, and we begin to worry. Is this the recession the experts have predicted?
During Editor Rae Laird’s absence from duties here, the Register-Call still went to press under the guiding hand of George McClure, who has less than two years’ experience in make-up and cylinder feeding. Extended in this column is a vote of thanks for his ingenuity and ability. He has those many essentials that he has graduated now from a “Printer’s Devil” to a real full-fledged printer.
From beginning to end, President Eisenhower’s inaugural address expressed strong and courageous views and was a stirring message and an historic one. Its tone and content clearly showed that the U.S. is ready to take her rightful place in world affairs.
You can’t eat taxes. But you must pay more for taxes than you do for food and clothing combined! We have reached the point where the tax burden is the largest single item of expense to millions of American families. It is generally believed that the danger point to a nation’s strength and vigor is reached when taxes accounting for 25 percent of the national income goes for taxes.
Dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning from auto exhausts, home space heaters, or defective chimney connections are back again with winter.
A Day’s Work – ever since I graduated from the 4th grade in school, I have noticed that each year I have had to work harder and got less than the year before. Now I have found out the cause of this hard- work- for- less, as follows:
Population of the U.S. ……………………. 150,000,000
People 65 years or older……………….….. 52,000,000
Balance left to work…………………………..98,000,000
People 21 years or younger……………….54,000,000
People working for the government.…21,000,000
Balance left to work……………………….23,000,000
People in armed forces…………………….10,000,000
Balance left to work………………………….13,000,000
People in state and city government…12,800,000
Balance left to work……………………………….200,000
People in hospitals, asylums, etc……………..26,000
Balance left to work…………………………………74,000
Bums and others refusing to work……………62,000
Balance left to work…………………………………12,000
Persons in jail……………………………………….….11,908
Balance left to work………………………………….……..2
Two? Just two. You and I – and you’d better get a wiggle on – I’m tired of doing all the work alone.
90 Years Ago – February 2, 1923
Rubye De Remer in “Pilgrims of the Night,” in six reels will be the picture at the opera house on Saturday evening.
Matrimony is presumed to pay good dividends, but often it doesn’t even cough up the interest.
If German marks keep on going down they will soon make an awful hole in the ground – or perhaps strike oil.
Mining appears to be picking up all over the country, due to increase in prices of copper, lead and zinc, and it looks as though the turning point has been reached for better times.
Get busy and provide yourself with a good income for 1923. The income tax collector wants it, and you should not disappoint him.
The county road from Apex to Elk Park has been shoveled out, and now teams can go through to American City. This is the first time the road has been open since November 4, 1922.
Died: In Central City, January 29, 1923, William Dickerson, aged 61 years.
Carload shipments of ore were made this week by leasers on the Druid Mine to the smelter at Leadville, loaded on the cars at Central City, a car from the Jupiter-St. Clair Mine, loaded at Black Hawk, for shipment to the same place, a car from the Wain Mine to the concentrator at Idaho Springs, and a carload from the Rara Avis property, also loaded at Black Hawk, for the smelter at Leadville.
Several members of the Thomas family, residing in Chase Gulch, are down with pneumonia.
In the two games of basketball, played last Saturday evening at the school gymnasium, between the local team and a team from Idaho Springs and the corresponding teams of the Gilpin County and the Idaho Springs high schools, both games were won by the Gilpin County teams.
Four inches of snow fell last Friday in Apex and the high wind of Saturday drifted the road so that it had be shoveled out. On Monday and Tuesday, the mail came through by auto.
120 Years Ago-February 3, 1893
Silver = 83 7/8; Lead = $3.80
A few days ago the water in the main shaft of the Buell Mine was lowered to a point below the 400 foot level and the debris at that level is now being removed.
January is invariably considered the dullest month of the year not only with the business men but also with the mill men. A trip through the stamp mills made this week convinced the reporter that the mining industry is far from being on the wane. The mills running all seemed to be pretty well supplied with ore, the only complaint met with being that of scarcity of water.
Last week, Mr. A. G. Elliott reached the 110 foot levels in the Harkaway Mine. The east level which is in 80 feet was badly caved in places, and it will require considerable time and outlay of money to clean it of the debris and retimber it. The level opposite is in the 110 feet level and shows a strong body of mill dirt and ore that is said to have yielded 3 ounces gold per cord when worked by the Valley View Mining Company.
The Corydon is turning out enough stamp mill ore daily to keep 25 stamps dropping. From Mr. Daniel Procunier, one of the oldest and most continuous residents of Hawkeye District, who was in from Wide Awake on Saturday, we learn that he has interested a number of Denver gentlemen with him in the Procunier Lode, which in an early day was known as the Wide Awake Lode, and relocated by him several years ago.
Mr. Sisty and a pool of men have a lease and bond on the Dew Drop and Mountain Chief mines on Tip Top Mountain. Development work on both properties will henceforth go forward more rapidly than ever.
Next to a funeral the saddest sight is to see an Italian eating macaroni, and ill-bred women eating grapes at a table d’hote.
The people of Clear Creek County have taken action on the proposed forest reserve, and have circulated petitions protesting against the establishment of such a reserve as proposed by Mr. Edgar T. Ensign.
Senator Henry C. Bolsinger came up from Denver Saturday evening and spent Sunday with his family in Nevadaville, returning in time to take his seat in the senate on Monday.
A Washington press dispatch under date of January 28, says: The small Colorado colony in Washington has been temporarily increased by the presence in the city of Mr. Hal Sayr, a prominent Denver mining man. Mr. Sayr’s wife is in very bad health. She has been under the care of Dr. Hammond at his sanitarium for some weeks and it is that draws Mr. Sayr to the capital. The doctor has notified Mr. Sayre that his wife must be removed to a different climate and so he has made all arrangements to spend the remainder of the winter in Cuba. Just when he will sail has not been determined.
Old time cut-and-dried parlor proposals are out of date. An Eurkea Street maid tells how she received and accepted a proposal a short time ago while whirling around in the maze of a “two-step” waltz at a social dance.
Now is the time to begin cleaning up the alleys. Spring will soon be here and the city should be placed in proper condition. Much sickness during the coming summer can in this way be averted. It is cheaper than doctor’s bills.
“Necessity is the mother of invention.” This truism is most aptly illustrated as you watch the old bachelor run a nail through his lace fringe on the upper border of his every-day overalls to hold up his lonely suspender.
The residence of Mr. John Chapman, near Casey Avenue, just below the Truan dwelling was quarantined last Sunday morning by order of the health office of the city, against scarlet fever.
The standing price for trimming Van Dyke beards has been fixed by the barbers at 25 cents.
Steve Cronin, having served out his sentence passed upon him by Judge Becker for assault, that of fifteen days in the county jail, was let out last Sunday. Sunday night he made himself quite obnoxious to the female inmates of one of the temples of illicit love on Pine Street. He was again arrested by Marshal Kelleher on Monday and fined $10 and costs. Not having any money, he was committed to the city cooler for 17 days.
Born: In Central City, February 1, 1893, to the wife of John Kruse, a son.
Born: In Russell Gulch, January 30, 1893, to the wife of John Clemmons, a daughter.
Born: In Nevadaville, January 31, 1893, to the wife of James Taylor, a daughter.
Born In Central City, January 18, 1893, to the wife of John Hoskin, a daughter.
Deacon John Ballard has sent a challenge to city clerk Robert Haight of Central City, to skate a five-mile race at the rink on Gregory Street.
The grammar and high school departments of the school have organized into two divisions for rhetorical exercises.
The tourist rate to Colorado common points will be $25 during the World’s Fair.
Thirty-two head of beef cattle – two cars – arrived in Black Hawk this morning, consigned to William Harvey and Henry Dennis of this city. The beeves were in good condition.
There was a perfect jam at the ice skating rink last Saturday evening, 85 skaters being engaged in skating at one time.
The anchor ice is raising old Ned along North Clear Creek. On Monday men were at work in cutting a water-way in the ice just above the Polar Star Stamp Mill. The overflow of water at that point promised to inundate the track of the railroad and tramway companies.
It is preposterous to look for sentiment in people who regard buckwheat cakes a breakfast.
135 Years Ago – January 26, 1893
We learn that this morning about 9:30 o’clock, the Humestown House at Idaho Springs, which changed hands yesterday, caught fire in the third story and was soon entirely destroyed. The fire also spread to Gaw’s Brewery and the dwellings adjoining, which were quickly consumed. There was no insurance as far as we could learn on any of the property.
Electric candles are the sensation in Paris. They emit no heat or smoke whatsoever, while in brilliancy they hold the same ration to gas and oil lamps as sun to moonlight, and the cost only one-fifteenth as much as gas. It is hailed as one of the greatest discoveries of the century.