Looking Back: Weak ice and near demolitions
One hundred years ago, the Jan. 18, 1923 Charlevoix Sentinel reported the imminent arrival of a movie released in 1921. It summarized the plot in one of the most convoluted, incomprehensible descriptions ever printed in the paper. “’Wild Goose.’ Thrilling Scene Drives Grimly To Death to Save Woman. One of the most thrilling incidents ever screened is that showing a man of wealth driving his auto over an embankment fifty feet high, resulting not only in his own death, but also that of the man accompanying him. This is only one scene of many almost as striking which make up the Cosmopolitan production of ‘The Wild Goose,’ released by Paramount, which will be shown at the Palace Theater Wednesday, Jan. 24.” Apparently the film was considered to be of interest for one night only.
“The story deals with the love triangle treated from a new and novel standpoint. Diana Manners is the wife of an architect and she becomes infatuated with another man. When Hastings, who is Manners’ friend learns that his own wife secretly loves Manners, and that the latter’s wife has eloped with the other man, he follows them in his car and after forcing the man into his automobile, he deliberately drives over the cliff, thereby serving a double purpose — to give his wife freedom from him and save the honor of his friend.
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“Mary MacClaren plays the part of the romantic minded Diana, while Holmes E. Herbert is seen as the husband. Joseph Smiley is seen as Hastings, who brings peace to all concerned by slaying himself and the rounder who has been the cause of trouble.” Good Lord, who is doing what and to whom?
That same week, the Jan. 17 Charlevoix Courier reported a weather condition that could have had a tragic outcome. “’Shantytown’ Nearly Went Under. Sunday’s Warm Winds Played Havoc With It. Round Lake must have been spiritually in tune with the biblical character who built his house upon the shifting sands when Sunday’s strong southeast wind and the current it aroused threatened to swallow up their little shelters and the equipment they contained.” This was a reference to the fish shanties that had been erected across the downtown ice, in some years numbering up to 100 or more.
“Sufficient warning was afforded, however, so that no damage was done before the fish shanties could be removed to shore, although Monday morning the lake was fairly two-thirds cleared of ice and the surface still remaining was a treacherous, water-soaked sheet that threatened at any moment to break up under the steady pressure of wind and water.
“The ice in Round Lake, never safe, has been weakened this winter by a stream of water kept running in one of the larger boat houses along the lake shore, designed to prevent the ice from forming around the boat that is housed there. Fishermen, skaters and others should be more than usually careful about trusting themselves or their property upon it.”
The same issue reported the saved-by-the-bell retention from demolition of one of Charlevoix’s most iconic buildings. The D. M. Ferry Seed Company structure had been erected on Ferry Avenue in 1892 alongside the brand new railroad tracks just north of Ferry Beach. The harvesting and shipping out of seeds from the region’s fertile farms lasted almost three decades until Ferry pulled out to return to its home base near Detroit in the early ‘20s. “SAVES THE FERRY SEED HOUSE. Plans for the demolition of their seed warehouse here, put into effect by D. M. Ferry & Co. last week, were interrupted by the action of William Parmalee, of this city, who has secured a seven day option on the property and is now endeavoring to obtain financial assistance among the local business men with a view of saving the building to Charlevoix for use as a future factory site.
“This was a very public-spirited act on the part of Mr. Parmalee, as, if his efforts prove unsuccessful, he stands the loss alone. The building is in excellent condition, with an unusually strong foundation, sound roof and siding facilities on the P(ere) M(Arquette) tracks unsurpassed by any other location within the city limits. It would be nothing short of crime to allow this splendid factory building to be destroyed and we sincerely trust that Mr. Parmalee will be able to secure the desired aid in the matter. Now is our chance to show some of that co-operative spirit of which we love to expatiate at our various public gatherings.”
Had Charlevoix lost that building, we would not have been able to manufacture the small lightweight craft designed and built by future occupant Foster Boat Company. Those boats ferried Allied troops across the rivers of Central Europe in the push to Berlin that ended World War II in the European theater. For this contribution, Foster and Charlevoix received national recognition. Nor would we have the handsome Foster Boat Works condominium that has graced the Lake Charlevoix shoreline for about four decades. A belated salute to William Parmalee for his civic vision.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Looking Back: Weak ice and near demolitions
