Milltown Historical Society

Tag: Talk of the Town

This Day in History: January 9th, 1919

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This Day in History: January 9th, 1919

MILLTOWN MAY START WORK SOON ON NEW STREETS

MILLTOWN, Jan. 9. – Every Councilman was present at the session of Borough Council last night. Borough Clerk Harkins was absent, however, as he is serving on the jury, and Councilman Crabiel acted as clerk. The Council was mainly occupied with deciding the appropriations for the year and the work was not completed when adjournment was made until Friday night, Jan. 17th.

A liberal appropriation is contemplated for streets and roads as the general feeling seemed to be that the time is right for a policy that will give the streets the attention they require. In addition to the grading of Cottage Avenue and the opening of Norman Place, there is Van Liew Avenue which has drawn forth some adverse comments lately from residents on that street, to be improved and also other road work.

If the remarks of the Councilmen can be taken as an earnest of their intentions in respect to the streets, it is quite certain Milltown will be considerably improved and beautified by its thoroughfares being put in good condition.

The fire department is also in line for a liberal appropriation. New hose and other supplies are needed and there were several members of the department present last night to present the needs of the fire company if the members of the council had not been acquainted with the things necessary to increase the efficiency of the borough’s firefighters.

In accordance with the Mayor’s New Year’s message recommending a fire alarm system, the Council has investigated and is considering entering an appropriation to cover a system which will likely cost in the neighborhood of $3,500.

The report of Councilman W. R. Evans for the light committee contained the information that there is not a single water or electric delinquent on the books for the years 1917 and 1918. This department is in charge of Superintendent Samuel Speirs and Assistant Superintendent John Bauries, and the excellent showing is due to their activities.

Nicholas Wagner, while crossing the ice on the pond near the coven Tuesday night, broke through and but for some quick work by a crowd of young men nearby, would have fared badly. His rescuers, led by John Miller, stretched out on the thin ice and by distributing their weight managed to reach a pole to him which he seized and was pulled out.

During the past week, the enrollment at the public school passed the five hundred mark. The school is steadily growing larger and furnishes a good barometer of the growth of the borough in general.

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This Day in History: January 8th, 1910

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This Day in History: January 8th, 1910

Milltown’s New Mayor’s Career

Conrad Richter, the recently installed Mayor of Milltown, was a constant participant in local governance. Since his appointment, he has served the borough as assessor and is employed in the clerical department of the Meyer Rubber Company in New Brunswick. Additionally, he acts as an agent for several insurance companies.He has been a member of the local Board of Education for several years and has been instrumental in bringing about the improved conditions of our borough. The people of Milltown predict for him a successful and prosperous term.The Borough Council, which will cooperate with Mr. Richter, is dedicated to improving the borough in every possible way. It consists of the following men: Stafford Rappelyea, Conrad Wagner, Henry Kulthau, Adam Christ, Balthasar Miller, Charles Smith, and Charles Bauries.Milltown, Jan. 5 – Hulda Christ, of South Main Street, who has been quite ill with the mumps, is convalescing.Mrs. Charles Hodap was a South River visitor yesterday.Services at the Churches:

  • German Reformed: Sunday school at 2:30 a.m., preaching service at 1639 a.m., meeting of the Ladies’ Aid Society at 2 p.m., Young People’s meeting at 6:45 p.m., and preaching by Rev. W. F. Barny at 7:30 p.m.Methodist Episcopal: Preaching service at 10:30 a.m., Sunday school at 2 p.m., Epworth League service led by Ms. Mae Huff at 6:45 p.m., and evening service at 7:30 o’clock.

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This Day in History: January 5th, 1907

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This Day in History: January 5th, 1907

Noted Armless Man is Dead

John Fuchs, of Milltown, Who Hunted, Fished, and Rowed, Succumbs to Paralysis.

MILLTOWN, Jan. 5 – John Fuchs, the armless man of Milltown, died this morning at 8 o’clock. He was almost seventy-nine years of age. He was struck with paralysis on New Year’s Day and had been unconscious since. He leaves a younger brother, Michael Fuchs, of Highland Park, and his only child, Mrs. Katherine Kuhlthau, wife of the postmaster, with whom he had been living for many years.

Mr. Fuchs came from Germany some forty-one years ago and was soon employed in the old Meyer rubber grinding mill, which stood where the powerhouse now is. About a year after, both hands were drawn in between rollers; the left arm was pulled out at the socket and the right had to be cut off near the elbow.

A hook was fastened to this stump and with this, he has done marvelous things ever since. He shot four rabbits this December, one of them running. Fishing was a favorite sport each summer. For years he could be seen daily sculling his boat about the pond after the scaly inhabitants there.

Rev. W. T. Barny will have charge of the funeral services, the time of which is set for 2 o’clock Monday afternoon.

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This Day in History: December 21st, 1904

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This Day in History: December 21st, 1904

SHOT AT HIS WIFE: DRANK KEROSENE

Robert Bromley, of Milltown, Was Poor Shot and Lived to Go to Jail.

Mrs. Robert Bromley, of Milltown, complained to Justice of the Peace Headly, of Milltown, last evening that her husband had fired a revolver at her and just missed hitting her. It appears from the wife’s story that she and her husband had a quarrel last night, and the man left the house and went to the shop where he is employed and returned with a revolver.

He fired this and then went to his bedroom, where he drank a liquid, believed to be some poison, and which rendered him unconscious for a time. He was disarmed by his wife and her sister, who then went before the justice and swore out the complaint.

Bromley was brought to this city last night and jailed on a charge of assault and battery.

Bromley is about 27 years of age. His friends cannot account for his actions. When his bed was searched, after his arrest, a hammer was found in it. It is feared that he had meant to use the hammer as a weapon in the assault he had planned.

After the man shot at his wife and she ran screaming from the house, with her babe in her arms, it is supposed that Bromley meant to do away with himself. The liquid he drank was kerosene. It rendered him unconscious.

A physician labored with him for some time in the house, and was unable to bring him to consciousness, although he emptied most of the kerosene from the man’s stomach. Then the man was carried out into the open air in the hopes that the cold air would have some effect upon him, and this was successful, and he revived.

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This Day in History: December 19th, 1912

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This Day in History: December 19th, 1912

$1,000 THE PRICE OF GIRL’S RUIN

Jury Awards Damages to John Eib in His Suit Against John Baierl, Whom He Accused of Betraying His Daughter.

For the betrayal of Miss Gertrude Eib, a Milltown factory girl, John Baierl, of this city, must pay $1,000, according to the verdict rendered by the jury which heard the case in Judge Lloyd’s court yesterday. The jury took something less than an hour to reach this conclusion.

The plaintiff in the case was John Eib, father of Gertrude. She was but twenty in February, 1911, when, she declares, she met Baierl at a party and her ruin was accomplished. Baierl, who is about the same age as the girl, was tried and acquitted on a criminal charge, but the girl’s father brought a civil suit against him for the distress the affair had caused his daughter, his family, and himself.

Freeman Woodbridge, counsel for Mr. Eib, laid stress on the resemblance he declared Miss Eib’s child bore to Baierl. The jurors inspected the little one closely. The defense in the case was a denial of parentage, which made the baby’s features an important factor in the case.

Baierl Charges Another.

Baierl on the stand admitted in part the girl’s charges against him, but denied that he was the cause of her trouble, or that the child was his. He admitted having taken Miss Eib home from the Stein party in February, 1911, and to the occurrences much as the girl testified.


Henry Naronosky, the next witness, declared that he had been at the Stein party. A game of forfeits was on and one of the penalties was that he and Miss Eib must leave the house. They went out at 1 a.m., he testified, and stayed out for three hours in the barn. He told very coolly about the occurrences then. Judge Woodbridge, counsel for the Eibs, asked him if he considered himself the father of the child, but the question was ruled out.

It was brought out that Naronosky also goes by the name of Smith.


George Bailey, George Roth, Michael Baierl, and Jacob Roder testified regarding the party and that Naronosky and Miss Eib were absent for the time stated. Thomas Revolinsky testified that Naronosky was known to him as Stanislaus Naronosky.


Freeman Woodbridge summed up for the plaintiff and John A. Coan for the defense, Assemblyman George L. Burton being associated with the latter. The jury retired shortly before four.

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This Day in History: December 5th, 1908

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This Day in History: December 5th, 1908

CRUSHED TO DEATH

Head Electrician William Duclos, of Michelin Tire Plant, Had Idea of Coming Death in Elevator Pit

Falling Weight Breaks Neck.

Crushed under an elevator weighing several hundred pounds, William Duclos, 29 years old, was almost instantly killed at the Michelin Tire works, Milltown, this morning. Death was caused by the tremendous weight on his head and back, which broke his neck.

The accident occurred shortly before 5 o’clock. Something wrong with the batteries controlling the elevator made it necessary for Duclos, who was head of the electrical department at the plant, to go into the elevator pit and discover the cause of the trouble. It is said that just before going down the shaft, Duclos had a premonition of his impending death, and turning to a fellow employee said, “I don’t know why, but something tells me I will never come out of that place alive.” Arousing his courage, however, the electrician descended and had hardly begun his investigation when the starting of the elevator caused one of the heavy weights to descend with a rapidity that made it impossible for its victim to move out of its path. He died about 15 minutes after the accident.

Dr. N. N. Forney, of Milltown, and Dr. F. M. Donohue were summoned, but upon their arrival, Duclos was beyond all earthly aid. Coroner John V. Hubbard, of this city, and Undertaker Moke were summoned and the body was removed to the dead man’s home on Vanderbilt Avenue.

Mr. Duclos had been employed at the Michelin plant for nearly two years, coming from Brooklyn in 1906 with his young bride. She alone survives him. Coroner Hubbard made a superficial examination of the circumstances surrounding the electrician’s death this morning but evidently did not satisfy himself that an inquest was unnecessary, for he went to the plant this afternoon for further investigation. There is an unconfirmed rumor that a careless employee was responsible for Duclos’ death in starting the elevator, not noticing the man in the pit.

Inquiry at the Michelin plant revealed a stubborn unwillingness on the part of those in authority to give out details regarding the tragedy. At first, an effort was made to deny that an employee had been killed.

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