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Show alarms were much more effective and far reaching in case of a lost child or a fire. The custom was adopted to ring a curfew at nine P.M. that called children to their homes. And the tradition was religiously adhered to until the City Council ruled in the mid-1890's that it was a useless institution and dispensed with it. At a later time the curfew custom was revived, finally considered to be a useful measure that was maintained for many years . MORE GROWTH The Mt. Pleasant Creamery was established in 1892, the first one in the town and the third in the territory. By 1896, it was found to be failing and a plea was made for a greater milk supply. Most people kept at least one cow in their corrals, and the milk wagon was a familiar sight in John K's part of town as it made regular rounds to gather milk cans standing in front of homes. Frank Larsen was the driver of the wagon, well into the present century. In 1898, the sexton reported that there were 1098 graves in the cemetery, and the Merz Monument Company began business in 1899. That year, Bent Hansen and Company purchased the first buggy hearse to be used in Mt. Pleasant. Wagons had usually served as hearses until then. In 1885 the Ericksen Meat and Grocery Company was started, and incorporated in 1897. It would be impossible 97 |
