Note: I was under the impression that the Greendale Patch was going to end on October 15. It looks like it has not, so I will continue to post the Greendale Review – Revisited here as long as I can.
With this year being the 75th anniversary I thought it might be interesting as well as fun to look back at Greendale’s beginnings from the viewpoint of its own residents and local news stories of the day. Every Thursday through the end of the year, I will be posting humorous, relevant or just interesting stories from Greendale’s original newspapers.
The following selected stories are copied exactly as they were originally written (including some misspellings) unless otherwise noted. Some may be shortened with “…”. They will be in bold and italicized type.
Find out what's happening in Greendalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Also, just a reminder - Greendale first opened to residents on May 1, 1938
GREENDALE REVIEW – Wednesday, January 24, 1940
Find out what's happening in Greendalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
SHORT CIRCUIT IN SYSTEM CAUSES POWER FAILURE
The power failure that occurred on Sunday, January 14, between the hours of 7:38 p. m. and 9:05 p. m. was caused by a short circuit in the system which could not be located at that time, according to Walter Kroening, assistant manager.
Alvin Wolf, utility electrician was detailed to discover the cause for the outage and on last Wednesday found that a main oil fuse located in the manhole at Clover Lane and Catalpa Street had a burnt out connection due to faulty insulation on the cable. This explains why street lights along the east boundary of the skating rink were not in operation during the past week, since that is the only secondary circuit effected by this oil switch.
The proper repair will require about two hours and it is proposed to do this work sometime during the week of January 22nd between the hours of 12 p. m. to 2. A. m. during which time it is hoped that little inconvenience will be suffered by the residents. The management will notify the residents in time to be prepared for this temporary outage.
Another power failure was experienced between the hours of 12:15 a. m. and 1 a. m. on the morning of January 18. Kroening stated that the cause for this outage was a wire break on the Wisconsin Electric Power company’s transmission line which affected not only Greendale but all of the area in the southern section of the county.
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CORRECT SIZE FUSES NECESSARY TO AVOID FIRES
It has recently come to the attention of the management, according to Walter E. Kroening, assistant Manager, that oversized fuses have been used in the lighting circuits in the Greendale homes. The correct size and the only size that should be used is a 15 ampere fuse. Installation of larger sized fuses than that specified is likely to result in overloading the wiring system and can be the cause of fires.
Residents are requested to cooperate to the extent of checking their fuse boxes immediately to be sure that correct sizes have been installed. If oversized fuses are found, they can be exchanged for correct sized fuses free of charge at the Village Hall.
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OFFICER’S FIRST AID SAVES PFEUFFER CHILD
On Saturday, January 6, little Marla Pfeuffer of 5606 Beaver Ct., was very ill with streptoccic sore throat when she suddenly needed emergency attention.
Unable to locate and receive medical aid, Arthur Pfeuffer, father of Marla, called Officer Hale, who was on duty at the Safety Building.
For a half hour Hale worked over the child with the assistance of Dan Mackin, who volunteered his services. The child was transported in the police squad car to Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee.
“We feel confident that the efficient, prompt action of Officer Hale saved our little girl’s life,” said Pfeuffer, “and we are grateful for a safety department that is so well prepared to assist in an emergency.”
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TELEPHONE COMMITTEE MEETS
The telephone committee met recently to discuss ways and means of improving the present high priced telephone service that now exists in Greendale.
The committee decided to investigate the feasibility of having a connecting company here in Greendale.
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GREENDALE REVIEW – Wednesday, February 7, 1940
Thermostatic Devices Installed in Furnaces in Urban Area
The work on the installation of thermostatic controls on furnaces in the urban area is underway and very good progress is reported by Walter E. Kroening, assistant manager. It is expected that all of them will be completed by the last week in February.
Complete operating instructions are furnished with each thermostat and have been attached to the walls of the utility rooms. It is advisable that each resident thoroughly familiarize himself with these instructions so that he may realize the full advantage of this improvement. Particular attention should be given to the instructions covering the switch button control to cut out the thermostatic control during periods of firing the furnace or removing ashes.
No adjustments are to be made to any of the mechanical parts of the controls except the setting of the room thermostat to the temperature desired.
HEATING SUGGESTIONS
Better hot water generation can be obtained from the furnace coils if accumulated soot on the outside of the pipe is removed with a wire brush. Soot forms a highly resistant insulation which renders the coil inefficient.
In order to obtain proper humidity the furnace water pans must be kept filled with water at all times. Negligence in allowing them to remain empty for any period will result in their being warped.
HINTS ON HOT WATER GENERATION
It is very important that excess hot water be drained from the hot water tank each night before retiring. This is particularly necessary during excessively cold periods, since the continuous generation of hot water by the furnace coil and sometimes, in addition, by the laundry stove, may result in damage to the plumbing.
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NEW SLED RUNS INSTALLED
The five new sled runs have been built and have been installed in the community parkways at the following locations, according to Walter E. Kroening, village engineer.
1. West end of Northway South of the Road and West of Apricot Court.
2. Dale Parkway South of Blossom Court.
3. East end of Northway on the South side of the road east of Badger Court.
4. Valley Park South of Carnation Court.
5. South of Catalpa Street and West of Dendron Lane.
Next week – A small fingerprint outfit presented to Officer Hale.
NOTE: If the Greendale Patch ceases operations, the “Greendale Review – Revisited” will continue as a separate blog at this address:
thegreendalereviewrevisited.blogspot.com
The blog is not up and running just yet, but will be soon with past posts as well. Also there will be a link to the blog on the Greendale Celebrations website:
greendalecelebrations.org
Thanks to the Greendale Historical Society, for which I am a member, for providing the original newspapers.
Steve Peters