87 years ago: O’Fallon old timer recalls ‘shooters’ reveling on New Year’s Eve
In January 1936, the O’Fallon Progress printed some New Year’s memories of John Lienesch (1859-1944), who grew up and lived in Shiloh on a farm just south of what is now Green Mount Crossing.
Here’s what he remembered:
“I am writing this on New Year’s eve and that makes me remember the New Year’s ‘Shooters’.
“In the old times it was the custom to go out on the night before the new year and ‘shoot New Year’ in the neighborhood.
“On that night you could hear the parties of shooters, some of them miles away. To illustrate the custom, I will tell of one of the first that I remember, in those old times.
“About 11 or 12 o’clock we were awakened by a volley that shook the universe. It was followed by one of the old German songs in which I could recognize the voices of several of our neighbors, especially those of Henry Brockhahn (Sr.) and Phillip Zinkgraf, tenor and bass.
“Then came a recitation in German by Mr. Schaefer. Then more singing ‘I’m Wald Und Auf der Heide’, ‘Ju vi Valera’, ‘Du, du, Liegst Mir Am Herzen’, ‘Stiebel, du Must Sterben’, ‘Doktor Eisenbart’ and other among which was ‘Me Unio, me Unio, for Ebbah’ as Phillip used to word it. Then another volley to close with.
“Then father went out and invited them in. There were about fifteen or eighteen in the group and we had plenty of cider and cakes and father passed around the ’dimmy-John’, if you know what that was. (He was referring to a demijohn – a glass bottle with a large body and small neck that, in this case, held liquor.)
“After New Year’s greetings and a good time, they went on to the next neighbor. Sometimes the crowd wasn’t so congenial and were inclined to raise ‘Cain’.
“Those were not desirable visitors and we were glad when they were gone. They were only out for the liquor and to start a racket. Sometimes some one would get shot, accidentally or otherwise.
“I remember another New Year’s eve at the home of my uncle John R. Thomas, just south of our place. Dan Bennett (son of Jerry Bennett, the horsethief detective) and Emmeline Cooper were celebrating their marriage.
“‘Aunt Hester’, whom many of the older folks may remember, was a famous cook and entertainer.
“Supper was just over when the shooters arrived, and after the first volley they were invited in and set down to the table. They were a motley crew. The older ones were all right but some of the younger seemed to think a disguise was necessary, had turned their coats and caps wrong side out, blackened their faces and ‘sitch like’.
“Their embarrassment at the table was the cause of much merriment. After supper Uncle John produced a jug of the real old stuff and he and Dan took them out on the porch and gave them a ‘snifter’. Then they fired a parting volley and proceeded on their round.
“But the old custom has entirely departed, and it is a good thing. It would not fit in with the present atmosphere.”
75 years ago, Jan. 6, 1949
As the result of a general melee at the New Year’s all-night dance at Community Hall (today’s Katy Cavins Center), five young men were fined $5.00 and costs each in Justice of the Peace J. T. Holliday’s court, on charges of fighting.
More than a dozen young men between the ages of 20 and 25, were involved in the brawl which resulted in a fight during which one of the men, Nick Vono, of Alton, was struck across the face with a beer bottle, inflicting a gash wound on the forehead and nose which required nine stitches to close.
Arrested were Vono, his brother Frank, and Anthony Greco, also of Alton, James “Sonny” Carson, Jr., of this city, and Kenneth Brendel, of Troy.
Constable Ed. Trame and Deputy Sheriff Elmer Lacquet made the arrests about 2 o’clock a.m. in the new year when the belligerents were hailed into court.
50 years ago, Jan. 3, 1974
Monday and Tuesday were dry days in the O’Fallon area.
At least in terms of getting gas for your car, it was a very dry two days.
Many of the service stations in the area reported they were either low or out of gas and many planned to close early Monday and stay closed through the New Year’s Day holiday.
Ron Swain, of Fred’s Standard Station at U. S. 50 and Lincoln, reported that the station was completely out of premium gas Monday and very low on regular. In fact, the station was so low on regular gas, it quit selling it Monday morning.
“We’ll be open after the holiday, but we don’t know if we’ll have any gas to sell. It depends on when our allotment for the month comes in,” said Swain.
Swain said that he doesn’t know when the gas may come and there is a chance that the station may be reduced on what it’s supposed to get. The station has stopped staying open on Sundays for a number of months and during the month of December, the station ran its tanks dry twice.
“On Saturday, we pump twice as much as we would pump on a weekday,” Swain said.
A number of other stations are also worried about running out of gas in the middle of the month so the stations have been limiting the amount of gallons of gas they sell a day.
The Clark station at Lincoln and State Sts., which planned to be open on New Year’s, said it restricts itself to selling a maximum of 1,700 gallons a day.
John Wells, manager of the station, said that no cutbacks in the amount of gas his station was getting were expected. The station was open on New Year’s Day. However, it closed early Saturday afternoon for lack of gas.
Two other stations reported the gas situation serious. One station manger announced his station had empty tanks. The other station reported it was close to being dry.
“We ran out of gas Sunday,” said Tom Berlinski, manager of the Fina station, “but we stayed open for our car wash service.”
Berlinski said he expected more gas within a day or two, possibly on New Year’s Day. The station is normally open 24-hours a day and planned to be open on the holiday.
Hilles Mobile was low on gas Monday when questioned.
John Hillesheim of Hilles’ said he planned to close the station sometime Monday morning and stay closed through the holiday.
“Our tanks are just about dry, thus the reason for the early closing. My supplier is out of gas so I really don’t know when I’ll be getting more gas,” said Hillesheim.
Hillesheim added that he too may cut back on his gas delivery next month. Besides finding it hard to get gas, local drivers can expect to pay more for the petrol as is the case across the country.
Of the stations asked, all but one reported premium gasoline at a price exceeding 50-cents a gallon. Regular gasoline averaged in price between 47-cents and 49-cents a gallon. Clark was the lowest priced station with 48.3-cents a gallon for premium and 44.3-cents for regular.
(This occurred during the 1973 Energy Crisis that extended into 1974. The Progress also reported this on Jan. 3, 1974: “Clocks Go Ahead. Everyone will lose an hour’s sleep this Saturday night unless you forget to turn your clocks ahead before you go to bed Saturday. In an attempt to save energy, the nation will go back on Daylight Savings Time starting at 2 a.m. Sunday. It will be the first time since World War II that the nation has returned to the savings time in winter.”)
