Greased streetcar tracks, man returned 'from dead' made 1907 news

The announcement by an Elgin man and his sons that they were going to manufacture cars in the city wasn't the first for the community, but one that definitely got attention.

Elgin's largest employer, the Elgin National Watch Co., said it was ready to offer a new amenity to its workers, an Elgin man "returned from the dead" after 18 years, and Elgin police stepped up law enforcement to deal with the Halloween mischief.

Here's a look at what was happening in the Elgin area in October 1907, as recorded in the newspapers of the time.

• "Get ready for another car manufactured in Elgin," said H.F. VanWambeke, inventor of the Van Motor Wagon. The new machines came equipped with a two-cylinder engine capable of speeds from 4 to 13 miles per hour. Boosting a 20-horsepower motor and weighing 1,200 pounds, the vehicles carried a price tags of $750 to $850.

The VanWambekes said they were enticed to move to a nearby community with an offer of a building and a bonus, but that they planned to remain at their location at Hill and Jefferson avenues, where their work force of four men was expected to increase to 20 hands by the spring.

• School is closed for two weeks, announced officials of St. John Lutheran School, who said the institution had a number of children suffering with diphtheria.

Meanwhile, the Elgin public schools dealt with children who were out of school for a different reason -- truancy.

More than two dozen children failed to come school regularly, officials said, who added that these young people were often seen loitering about livery stables or working part-time jobs.

The increase in truancy was partly attributable to the board's decision to eliminate the truancy office position and assign the duties to the district engineer, critics charged.

• Can children who live outside the district attend school in Elgin? "Yes," said Elgin school board members, who decided to allow several students who would otherwise have had a 2-mile walk to a neighboring district attend classes in the city. Apparently in a benevolent mood, the trustees also gave permission for two teenagers who had been working in the city for the summer, and who had no permanent address, to register to attend school in Elgin.

Meanwhile, school officials said they were going to join forces with the state's attorney to combat cigarette smoking by teenage students. Some high school youths were also playing cards while smoking, reports said.

• "No more will young Elginites under legal age lean their elbows on Dundee bars or ogle the pretty village maidens," said East Dundee officials.

The proclamation came after a drinking episode left a number of stone memorials overturned at a local monument dealer.

For years, Elgin residents who did their imbibing in the Dundee area often made their way to and from the village on the interurban line, with the last cars for the evening disproportionately full of celebrants.

• The city's largest employer, the Elgin National Watch Co., which had long been known as a desirable place to work, added yet another benefit for its workers -- a hospital.

Described as a "model facility," the clinic consisted of four well-equipped rooms to accommodate anyone who might become sick or injured on the job.

Though the medical facility boasted an on-duty nurse, plant officials said they did not plan to have a doctor on staff, saying it was more efficient to call whatever physician was available at the time.

Company officials boasted a safety record at the plant that included only one fatality in 40 years.

• "I want all my property back," is what an Elgin man who had been missing for 18 years said upon his return to the city.

Leaving a wife and two young children, the individual disappeared with no trace, and the courts eventually declared him dead. The new returnee said his spouse had no right to sell his possessions, which included several city lots and partial ownership in a farm

. Newspapers said the case proved to be one of the most complicated in Kane County since it involved a man who was considered legally dead but who was really alive.

• Finally, though the police department added mounted officers and warned residents to keep their dogs outside and bring certain tempting possessions indoors, officers still had to deal with a hefty amount of Halloween mischief.

Among the more harmless pranks were soaped windows and "tick tacks" -- devices made with a notched spool, stick, and string that made alarming noises when held against house windows.

More serious instances involved a number of carriages which were carried some distance from their source, and streetcar tracks that were covered with grease.