This Day in History: April 19th, 1916

This Day in History: April 19th, 1916

BOROUGH HAS TWO BRAND NEW ORGANIZATIONS

MILLTOWN, April 19. The “Willing Watchful Workers” Bible Class was organized last evening at the German Reformed Church, with a membership of twenty-three young ladies. The officers elected were Miss Mae Lins, president; Alice Heyl, vice president; Carrie Ochs, secretary; Martha Christ, treasurer. All girls are earnestly invited to come and help work. The class meets every other Tuesday evening at 7:45 p.m.

Sixteen Milltown musicians have banded themselves together under the name of the “Athlon Club,” and are receiving instructions from Professor Tougas, of New Brunswick. Their gatherings are very interesting from a social as well as educational standpoint. The present membership of the club consists of Anna Peterson, guitar; Horace Peterson, flat mandolin; Blanche Sheppard, first mandolin; Mary Kohlhepp, first mandolin; Bertha Snedeker, first mandolin; Dorothy Harkins, first mandolin; Morton Smith, guitar; Theodore Snedeker, second mandolin; Frank Hodapp, banjo; Mrs. Hodapp, first mandolin; Harold Smith, guitar; Mrs. Harold Behminger, first mandolin; Clarence Hill, guitar; Mrs. Clarence Hill, second mandolin; Mr. Joslin, violin; Mrs. Joslin, fret mandolin.

The funeral of Mrs. Charlotte Worthge was held from the home of her daughter on Richter Avenue, yesterday afternoon at two o’clock, and was largely attended. Rev. R. B. Stephenson officiated, and interment took place in Van Liew Cemetery. Undertaker Quackenboss had charge of the funeral arrangements. The grandsons, George, Walter, John Worthge, and Arthur Dickinson acted as pallbearers.

Other Town News:

Services will be held at the German Reformed Church this evening.

As announced through the first-page advertising columns of today’s Home News, the Milltown Realty Company is making a special introductory offer for building lots on the Kuhlthau Bros. Company tract, in South Milltown which section has been booming in keeping with other sections of the town during the past few years. Papers were passed yesterday for the sale of six lots on the Booraem tracts, George’s Road, two each to Isaac Britton, Charles Britton, and Frank Wehrfrits, all of New Brunswick. The sales were effected by the Milltown Realty Company.


Historic Maps

This Day in History: April, 18th 1919

This Day in History: April, 18th 1919

Oil Stove Explodes and Threatens Home

MILLTOWN, April 18 – What looked for a time as though it would spread into a dangerous fire and necessitate the calling of the fire company started yesterday morning at 10:30 a.m. at the home of Frank Reed, on Washington Avenue, when an oil stove exploded on the second floor of the building. Miss Helen Zogg, a sister of Mrs. Reed, who was in the room at the time, showed her thoughtfulness and grabbed the stove and threw it out of the open window, but in doing so the flames set fire to the weatherboards and then Miss Zogg gave the alarm. Luckily, Chester Okeson, an employee of Russell’s Card Company, and Percy Lias, chauffeur for Dr. Forney, were in front of the house at the time and they rushed to the Raritan River Railroad station, which is next to the place, and got the big fire extinguisher from the railroad and did splendid work, assisted by the Raritan River railroad employees, so the fire got no headway as only the outside boards of the house were burnt. The place is owned by Henry Kuhlthau.

Paying Taxes

Borough Tax Collector John Christ calls attention to the collection of taxes this year which is to be made by installments of two payments, in accordance with the Pierson Act. The payments are due on June 1st, and December 1st. Owing to the new law, the tax bills may be late in being sent out but as soon as the people receive their first bill they will know that it immediately becomes due, for if it is not paid by June 1st, it becomes delinquent.

Warriors Degree Ceremony Tonight

Eight candidates will be given the Warriors degree at the Improved Order of Red Men’s lodge room tonight by the warrior’s degree team, which promises to be another good night in lodge circles. Those who will receive the degree are: Oscar Christ, Frank Witkowski, George Wilson, Howard Moore, Charles Crabiel, Miles Geer, Elbwin Matlack, and George Whittle.

Personal Mention

Ground has been broken by Charles Lins on the Kuhlthau Terrace, upper Main Street, for the erection of a beautiful homestead.

Miss Dora Harkins was a Newark visitor yesterday.

Mrs. Jacob Delart, of School Street, has been called to the bedside of her aunt, Mrs. Cottrell, of Jamesburg, who is well-known here.

Mrs. Charles Lins spent Thursday with friends in Newark.


This Day in History: April 17th, 1914

Milltown Grange Recreational Group September 23 1937

Many at Spring Session of Middlesex and Somerset Pomona Granges Held Here

MILLTOWN, April 17. – A largely attended and most interesting Spring session of the Middlesex and Pomona Grange was held between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the Junior Mechanics’ Hall, Milltown, yesterday, with representatives from South Branch, New Market, Middlebush, Plainsboro, and Milltown granges present. During the morning session, simply routine business was transacted. At 12 o’clock, a delightful luncheon was served by the ladies of the Milltown Grange.

During the afternoon session, resolutions of respect were drawn and read on the death of a deceased brother, B. DeWitt Giles, of the New Market Grange. Telephone messages were sent to two brothers who were unable to attend owing to illness, namely, Master Van Nest, of the Raritan Valley Grange, of South Branch, and Prof. A.L. Clark, lecturer of the Milltown Grange.

The literary program consisted of the following:

“Corn Growing in Different States” by John B. Voorhees (Of the Experiment Station of New Brunswick)
“Corn Growing Contest to Be Run by the Middlesex Board of Agriculture in Middlesex County” by Bro. George B. Redshaw
Reading, “Take No Notice,” by Mrs. Schaffer (Of the Raritan Valley Grange, South Branch)
Essay “On Bones,” written by a schoolboy and read by Mrs. H. Kline, of the Somerset Grange, of Middlebush
“Good of the Order” by David Perrine (Of New Market Grange)
Music was furnished by the Milltown Grange Orchestra, consisting of Mrs. Cosgrove, of Weston Mills, pianist; George Redshaw, of Weston Mills, violinist; John Cruit, of New Brunswick, cornetist.

Three new applications for membership were received during the session. Tonight, at the Methodist Church, the Epworthians will hold a rally, which promises to surpass any held before, as assurances have been received from a number of neighboring leagues that they will send a delegation, especially the St. James Leaguers, of New Brunswick, who will turn out strong to hear their pastor, Rev. J.P. Carman, make the principal address of the evening. As already stated, there will also probably be something interesting heard from other visiting pastors and, in addition to the usual rally speeches, there will be refreshments served in the lecture room of the church and a general social time will be enjoyed.

Walters Guards have been granted the use of the Crescent’s reading room for their dance, which is to be held in Red Men’s Hall next Wednesday evening.

Personals and Other Notes:

Charles Denhard, secretary of the Liquor Dealers’ Protective Association, attended a meeting of that body held in Carteret yesterday. Mr. Denhard is contemplating improvements to his hotel surroundings here by the removal of two large trees on the sidewalk and the laying of a concrete walk.
The Tamakwa Camp Fire Girls were entertained at the home of the Misses Glock last evening.
The L.C.S. was entertained at the home of Miss Anna Hoffer last night.
Mrs. Ernest Yahnall and Mrs. Ida Hermann were New York visitors yesterday.
William Kaiser, who has been visiting in Albany, N.Y., has again returned to his home.
The Cheerful Circle was entertained at the home of Mrs. C. Bennett in New Brunswick on Wednesday.
Jackson Barraud has returned from a visit with his parents at his home in Mt. Sinai, N.Y.
E. Jumet, of the Michelin Tire Company, recently purchased an Overland auto.


What is a grange anyway? https://newjerseygrange.com/about.html

Did you know?

The Middlesex County Fair was founded by the Milltown Grange in 1938 as a successor to their Flower and Crop Show which had been held at the Grange in 1937. Incorporated as a non-profit organization, the original Trustees had to be members of the East Brunswick Grange. The Grange had been in the process of changing their name having moved to East Brunswick in 1936 to the new Grange Hall built near the corner of Dunhams Corner Road and Ryders Lane – which was the home of the Raritan Valley YMCA until it was sold in 2003. Fred Gauntt, Master of the Grange at that time appointed H. Earl Propst as Fair Chairman and Fred C. Heyl as Secretary-Treasurer of the fair. Heyl remained Secretary-Treasurer until his death in 1956. https://middlesexcountyfair.com/history/


George McGinnis at a Loss to Know Who Robbed Him

MILLTOWN, April 17 – Upon awakening yesterday morning, George McGinnis, of South Milltown, discovered that one of the cleverest burglaries he had ever heard of had been performed during the night at his own home. The visitor or visitors made entrance through a window in his bedroom, ransacking his trousers and then going downstairs to his daughter’s apartment, Mrs. Jennie Steins, and getting away with a loot comprising some thirty-two dollars, a sum of change, and two gold watches, which Mr. McGinnis had purchased to make presents with.

Mr. McGinnis said he didn’t care so much about the money but he did care a great deal about the two watches which were engraved with the initials of the parties to whom they were to be presented. He said that one was to have been presented to his daughter and another to some other little girl.

In going through Mr. McGinnis’s trousers, the burglars secured a twenty-dollar bill, a two-dollar bill and some change, and the other ten dollars were secured from the daughter’s room downstairs.

The Entrance

The method by which the robber gained entrance was one of the cleverest stunts ever attempted hereabouts, and the methods involved would lead to suspicion. The visitors went to Mr. McGinnis’s own barn, found a stick about 3×4 inches and about 16 feet long, and on this single stick nailed about six slats forming such a ladder as would enable them to reach the second-story bedroom window on the side of the house where they had entered.

Mr. McGinnis said that his trousers were near the window and that they could have reached for them from the outside without entering the house. The front door was found open yesterday morning, as was a cellar window, but it is believed they made their exit by way of the front door.

In the shed or barn where this stick was found, whereby the burglars made their ladder, there was also a dog, but the visitors evidently made friends with this guardian and yesterday morning he was found on the front porch. It was also said that, much to the surprise of Mr. McGinnis, a lamp was found in his bedroom when he awoke yesterday morning, which he is positive was not there when he retired the night before.

Just what time the burglary occurred is not known. Mr. McGinnis said that both he and his daughter were out in the early evening and he returned to retire about 11 o’clock, and during the night he heard nothing whatever that would cause him to think there was any mischief going on.

When asked by a Home News reporter whether he suspected anyone, Mr. McGinnis replied, “Certainly, sure. But I didn’t catch them in the act, so I can’t do anything in the matter just now.”

He said, “I don’t care so much about the money, but I do care a whole lot about the watches, and whoever did get them won’t dare to wear them for they had been inscribed with initials of the parties to whom they were to be given.”


This Day in History: April 16th, 1915

This Day in History: April 16th, 1915

CHAS. ELKINS’ HOME RANSACKED BY ROBBERS

MILLTOWN, April 16.—Robberies seem to be becoming very popular in Milltown during the last few days. Day before yesterday, Miss Elizabeth Broadbent, the daughter of a well-known farmer of Dunham’s Corner, was the victim of a hold-up in South Milltown, (as stated in yesterday’s Home News,) in which she lost a pocketbook and the thief, a young man, made a clean getaway despite the efforts of a posse that pursued him through the woods until dark. At the same time, someone was busy in the Elkins home in North Milltown, as when Miss Margaret Elkins, daughter of Charles Elkins, of Elkins Lane, came home from a trip to New York, she found that her house had been ransacked from top to bottom.

Every room in the house, with the exception of one, had been visited by the intruder, but as far as can be learned, nothing is missing, but her mother’s wedding ring and an old revolver. Miss Elkins is of the opinion that the robbers were in the house when she came home.


This Day in History: April 15th, 1915

This Day in History: April 15th, 1915

MILLTOWN SCENE OF DARING ROBBERY IN DAYLIGHT


MILLTOWN, April 15.-The corner of Kuhlthau Avenue and Main Street, Milltown, was the scene of a bold broad daylight robbery yesterday afternoon, sometime between 2:30 and 4:00 o’clock.


While no definite statement was made as to who committed the theft of a pocketbook containing a small sum of money, the victim of the outrage, Miss Elizabeth Broadbent, the daughter of a well-known farmer residing near Dunham’s Corner, has every evidence to believe that the party is a resident of a nearby town, and has relatives living here.


The party who committed the theft is but a young man, and certainly was bold to attempt what he did in broad daylight. The cries of the woman soon brought neighbors to the scene, who joined and gave chase, together with one of the local officers, until late in the evening.


The man made his escape through the main thoroughfares of the borough, and thence to the woods, where he baffled the posse that pursued him. Late in the afternoon, it was thought that he was making his way toward the railroad.


This Day in History: March 22nd, 1905

This Day in History: March 22nd, 1905

TIRE WORKS FIRE WON’T STOP WORK

The storehouse of the International at Milltown was destroyed, but the main works are saved—the damage well covered by insurance.

The six-story frame structure, approximately 70 by 100 feet, which was the plant of the original Meyer Rubber Co., situated at Milltown, burned last night. So great was the danger to surrounding property that help was sought from this city, with Raritan Engine Company and Liberty Hose Company responding.

Although the building destroyed was the real factory in the time of Christian Meyer, it had only been used as a storehouse for some years past by the International Automobile Vehicle and Tire Company. The brick structure opposite, where active manufacturing is carried out, was not harmed, even though it seemed at risk as the flames were moving across the covered bridge connecting the old building with the new brick structure.

The origin of the flames is a mystery, but it is thought to have started on the fifth floor around 6:30 PM when the employees were leaving, spreading rapidly due to the building’s age and the inflammable nature of the stock. The fourth floor was used as storage by the Jersey Rubber Specialty Company.

The assistance of the New Brunswick firemen was pivotal in controlling the fire. Sergeant Kelly, upon receiving the news and call for help, notified Chief Kidney, who dispatched the Raritan Engine Company and Liberty Hose Company. The latter made remarkable time, and the route taken was via Livingston avenue, recently cut through to the Cranbury Turnpike, and on to Milltown.

Raritan Engine Company’s engine, drawn by Walter Flavel’s horses, went out in record time. Second Assistant Chief Puerschner, in charge at Milltown, deployed a crew to the connecting bridge, beating back the flames despite suggestions to tear it down. Fire shutters on the main building helped contain the danger until the firemen arrived.

The plant’s overhead sprinkling system activated upon the fire’s start, with three streams from the building’s fire connections playing on the flames, although their impact was limited. Minor explosions occurred when the fire reached particularly flammable materials, necessitating continued water application until nearly midnight.

The electrical current for trolleys was shut off due to the fire’s proximity to the overhead bridge and feed wire. No. 4 engine was stationed on the other side, with hoses crossing the tracks. Water was pumped from a pond, and the stationary engine in the brick building, installed for firefighting, proved effective. The dense smoke from burning rubber products and appliances made the firefighters’ work more difficult.

The building, valued at $15,000 and built quickly after its predecessor’s destruction, was part of the original rubber factory of Christian Meyer. Insurance, managed by Weed and Kennedy in New York, covered the entire property at $500,000. The destroyed building was insured for $125,000 across several companies.

Howard DeHart, a trolley conductor, was the first to see the flames, raising the alarm as he crossed the old wooden bridge to North Milltown.