Genealogy Trails, Hardin County, Illinois

Genealogy Trails

Hardin County, Illinois

"OUT OF THE PAST"

March 1943

Source: Hardin County Independent News

Dravo Construction Company of Pittsburgh, PA had turned over to Aluminum Ore Company on March 1 another small shaft sunk north of the railroad depot in Rosiclare. It was part of an expansion program by the company which began in January, 1942. A much larger shaft, 12' x 12' and 775 feet deep, was almost finished. A building and three large ore bins were being built near the shaft. Timbering of the shaft was not yet complete. Fluorspar was being hoisted out of three smaller shafts at 282, 313 and 289 feet deep, all 4' x 8'. Change houses, boiler houses, tipples on all four shafts, a water tower, and dynamite houses had been constructed. An office, machine shop and machinery shed were also to be built. One hundred seventy men had been working on the construction.

Chicken Dinners were sold at Jim May's Restaurant in Rosiclare every Thursday and Sunday for 60 cents each.

E. Potts clothing store in Rosiclare was advertising men's tailored suits at $30.50.

A Box Supper was to be held at Tower Rock School . "Buy a cake for the prettiest girl," it was advertised.

At Midway, Mrs. Geneva Cowsert gave a stork shower for her sister, Mrs. Frank Williams.

Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Pennell of Rock Creek had called on Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Martin of Midway.

Mr. and Mrs. Harley Milligan of Lamb community near Cave In Rock were announcing the birth of their baby girl, Brenda Joyce.

Milton Lewis and sons, Wayman and Bobbie of the Bend of the River community were dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Wendell Kaegi.

W. W. Winn had entered a soldier's hospital at Jefferson Barracks.

Bobbette Moore had celebrated her ninth birthday with a party at her home in Fairview.

A nursery shower was given in the home of Mrs. Bruce Piland for Mrs. Gene Crawford.

The Rosiclare Woman's Club was hosting a St. Patrick's Day Dance at the Y. M. C. A. with music by Mrs. Hattie Joiner, "Fid" Ledbetter, and F. Warren Rutherford. Admission was 25¢ for high school students and 30¢ for grown-ups.

"Hitler's Children" was showing at the Capitol Theatre, Rosiclare, starring Tim Holt, Bonita Granville, and Kent Smith. Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan were starring in the movie "George Washington Slept Here."

Beef, pork, lamb and mutton were to be rationed at two pounds per person per week beginning the end of March. Butter, cheese, edible fats and oils, canned fish were also rationed at tow ounces per person per week.

The Bureau of Mines in Washington, D. C. announced that shipment of fluorspar in 1942 was 12 percent greater than in the previous year. The Illinois/Kentucky district was accountable for 79% of all shipments. Steel mills were the main consumers of fluorspar, but the production of hydrofloric acid used in the manufacture of raw materials for aluminum also put the spar in big demand. The glass industry was the third largest user of fluorspar.

Sheriff and Mrs. Ivy K. Joyner had moved from the Ellis Apartments in Elizabethtown to a room in the courthouse with free rent, lights, heat, water, and janitorial service. The commissioner allowed it in order to keep trespassers out, because some light bulbs had been stolen.

George Lee Guill, 26, and John Allen Anderson, 50, were buried under spar, rock and debris when a cave in occurred at North Daisy Mine owned and operated by Rosiclare Lead & Fluorspar Mining Company. A hanging wall in a stope gave way. Three hundred tons of material had to be drawn out before the men's bodies could be recovered. The bodies were about 260 feet down. Anderson, of Elizabethtown, left a wife and several children and stepchildren. Guill of Rosiclare left his mother and siblings.

Practice tests were to be conducted in Rosiclare and Elizabethtown, according to A. H. Cronk, Commander of the Hardin County Civil Defense. Air raid alarms were to be sounded for two full minutes. The public was not to be alarmed by the tests. In Rosiclare sirens and mine whistles would be used. In Elizabethtown, fire alarms would be sounded.

Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Edmondson of the Bend of the River community were announcing the birth of a daughter on March 17.

Twin brothers, Alfred and Alvin Banks, sons of Mr. and Mrs. Datis Banks of the Keeling school district, had volunteered to enlist in the army on their 18th birthday--March 17.

Pvt. Freeman D. Rotes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bass Rotes, Rosiclare, was injured in combat at Guadalcanal and was hospitalized in Michigan. He received the Purple Heart.

Pvt. Charles David Conkle, 18, was stationed at Camp Polk, LA. He was the son of Fred Conkle, a veteran of the first world war who lived in Elizabethtown. Conkle reported that he liked army life.

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