WB_021518

38 | February 15, 2018 | The wilmette beacon sound off
wilmettebeacon.com
A Word From The (Former) President
More news flashes from days of yore
John Jacoby
Contributing Columnist
• Sept. 14, 1905: The
Gross Point Village Board
raised the pay of policeman
William Rengel
and reduced his hours of
work from ten to eight,
a strange end to recent
events. Earlier this week,
Rengel was involved in
a fight with Paul Bleser,
the postmaster, when
Bleser insisted on riding
his horse on the sidewalk.
A few days later, William
Meyer, the pound master,
and Joseph Heinzen, the
Village President, also
had rough encounters with
Rengel’s nightstick when
they dared to challenge his
authority. Village officials
now avoid Rengel by
traveling on the other side
of the street.
• Feb. 8, 1906: Wilmette,
North Evanston,
and Evanston temporarily
lost their Lake Michigan
water supply. The problem
was caused by ice that
formed at the inlets of the
intake pipes and blocked
the flow of water into the
Evanston water system.
All three towns derive
their water from the Evanston
system. Evanston
police sergeant Enoch
Moberg donned a diver’s
suit and spent nearly three
hours chopping away the
ice before the water supply
was restored. These
blockages have been a
recurring problem that
exposes the three towns
to calamitous fires. A proposed
solution is to extend
the intake pipes further
into the Lake where the
intake water would be
warmer.
• Feb. 9, 1906: Three
hungry burglars broke into
the Wilmette grocery store
of the W. H. Cook Co.
early this morning. They
treated themselves to a
pound of imported cheese
and four pounds of chocolate
candy. Then they took
$150 worth of canned
goods and departed. No
arrests have been made.
• July 22, 1906: A huge
fire at Hoffmann Brothers
Coal and Lumber Co.,
1208 Central Ave., Wilmette,
consumed buildings,
wagons, harnesses,
coal, and lumber. Three
horses died in the blaze.
Also destroyed were four
lumber-filled box cars,
owned by C&NW, that
were parked on a siding
some distance away.
The combined efforts of
Wilmette and Evanston
firefighters were needed
to prevent an even more
widespread conflagration.
The fire was clearly arson,
as were two other small
fires at the same location
within the past two
months. Proprietor John
Hoffmann pointed his finger
at labor unions, who
he claimed are angry that
he’s selling building materials
to non-union home
builders. Total damages
amounted to $38,000.
• Aug. 19, 1906: Gross
Point farmers and Wilmette
businessmen united
to form a “vigilance committee”
to prevent more
cases of arson. Since the
Hoffman Bros. fire almost
one month ago, eight
more fires of an incendiary
nature have destroyed
homes and business
property in the area. Committee
members, operating
in coordination with
the police department,
will patrol the streets at
night and challenge every
stranger at the point of a
shotgun. Hubert Schwall,
one of the house-fire victims,
warned, “There may
be some shooting, and
somebody may be badly
hurt, but in the end we’re
going to have this part of
Cook County safe to live
in. I don’t know who has
been lighting these fires,
but when we find out it
will be very bad for the
person, whoever he may
prove to be.”
• Nov. 7, 1914: Three
sheriff’s deputies raided
a home at 1501 Wilmette
Avenue, suspecting that
the occupant, George
Steffins, was operating
a “blind pig” on the
premises. When Steffins
refused to allow the deputies
inside, they forced
their way in and found a
group of men seated at
tables with beer bottles
in front of them. In an
adjoining room, they also
found two teapots containing
whiskey. Steffins was
arrested for violating
Wilmette’s strict prohibition
ordinance. Immediately
after his arrest, the
unfortunate Mr. Steffins,
only 32-years-old, suffered
a sudden and severe
memory loss. He totally
forgot when, how, and
from whom he acquired
the banned beverages.
Letters to the Editor
Solar energy event worth
attending
People in our community
have a great new opportunity
to go solar, thanks to
the Future Energy Jobs Act
passed last year in Springfield.
Illinois is joining a growing
list of states around the
Midwest that are making
clean, renewable energy
more available to the public.
If you’ve ever wanted
to use solar energy but
couldn’t install panels on
your roof.
Come learn how a community
solar development
can enable you to use clean
renewable energy even if
you can’t have solar panels
at home. Go Green Wilmette
is sponsoring a town
hall meeting to discuss the
benefits of community solar
to residents in Wilmette
and beyond. Our guest
speaker, from Trajectory
Energy Partners, will define
community solar and
explain how landowners,
communities, businesses,
and residents can work together
to create a community
solar project. The town
hall meeting will take place
7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb.
20, at the Wilmette Public
Library, 1242 Wilmette
Ave. If you would like to
subscribe to a community
solar project someday, you
can (without obligation)
sign on and join a growing
list of area residents who
are seriously interested in
becoming community solar
subscribers. For more information,
please visit wilmettecommunitysolar.org.
Mark Kraemer
Wilmette resident
Featured pet is true
survivor
Just a note to say you
made my day by publishing
the photo of the Mc-
Cann family cat as Pet of
the Week (Feb. 1 edition of
The Beacon).
What a perfect portrait of
the snaggletoothed, crosseyed,
lame footed veteran
of the streets and his story
of finding his cushy retirement
home.
I’ve been staff for a few
real character cats but Brokefoot
takes the cake! What a
charming little survivor.
Alice Magos
Wilmette resident
Allowing priests to marry
might solve issue
Is there some irony here?
Cardinal Cupich’s liaison,
Rev. Jason Malave, in
commenting on the area’s
churches that will combine
operations, (Feb. 1 edition
of The Beacon), said “We
cannot put our heads in the
sand and pretend that there
are enough priests.”
Wait, what? Really? Rev.
Malave is making an assumption
that Catholic parishioners
are putting their
heads in the sand?
Doesn’t the real question
concern why have so
few men have found themselves
called to the priesthood?
Why did the Archdiocese
in 2017 ordain only
six priests?
Could it be that the celibacy
requirement has deterred
men from choosing
to spend their adult lives in
the ordained ministry?
The requirement of celibacy
for all clergy wasn’t
adopted until the first Lateran
Council of 1123. So
technically this obligation
doesn’t speak to doctrine
or dogma. Aside from logistics,
maybe what drives
the church’s insistence on
celibacy is a deep-rooted
sexism, an idea that women
cannot be spouses to priests.
As a lifelong Catholic
churchgoer and Sacred
Heart parishioner I find it
deeply troubling that – in
facing the crisis of vocations
to the priesthood as
well as falling church attendance
– the decisionmakers
fail to confront the
root causes of the problem.
They see combining parishes
as a solution. While
the priests and pastors and
bishops, and even Cardinal
Cupich, are acting in obedience
to their superiors, I
wish they could discuss the
issues that shake the American
church at its core.
Because allowing priests
to marry might provide a
huge boost in vocations.
I have always loved my
parish, and even today, miss
going to Mass. But it’s time
to boycott a church that, if it
listens, refuses to act.
Barbara Joyce
Wilmette resident