75 years ago: There’s a new marshal in Shiloh and his name is Red
Looking back at stories that appeared in the O’Fallon Progress 100, 75, and 50 years ago:
100 years ago, Jan. 15, 1925
“Roy Williams, of Shiloh, last Thursday was released after a preliminary hearing on a charge of assault to murder in Justice Wangelin’s court.
“Justice Wangelin ruled that the evidence in the case indicated the shooting out of which the charge against Williams grew, was purely accidental. Williams shot Fred Lempkemeier and Joseph Erwin at his home in Shiloh November 30th last.
“Williams declared an automatic revolver he was showing to some friends was accidentally discharged as he started to put it in his pocket. Lempkemeier was shot through the face and Erwin was shot through the leg.
“At the time of the shooting the men all declared there was but one shot fired, but the physician who treated the wounded men found a bullet in each man.
“The physician testified it might have been possible for the automatic gun to fire two shots so rapidly that it sounded as if but one shot was fired.”
75 years ago, Jan. 12, 1950
“The Shiloh Village Board, at its last meeting, appointed Calvin J. ‘Red’ Rasp as village marshal.
“The newly-created office was made necessary, according to members of the board, due to speeding and other traffic violations since the hard road passing through the village was resurfaced with asphalt.
“One member stated motorists are inclined to make a speedway of the improvement.
“Officer Rasp, in taking office, stated that “speeding and other traffic violations will have to be curbed in our village as a protection of our citizens, without exception.”
“The new officer started a law enforcement campaign when he arrested 15 motorists for speeding, careless driving and other traffic violations over the weekend. Some were ordered to appear in Justice of the Peace Leonard Amann’s court in Shiloh Valley and others before Justice of the Peace X. F. Bertelsmann, Belleville.”
50 years ago, Jan. 16, 1975
“Rain which fell on O’Fallon Thursday evening and Friday morning turned many residents’ basements into lakes full of water and sewage.
“The 2.5 inches which poured down on O’Fallon caused widespread sewer backups in many homes and doing considerable damage to furniture and appliances located in the basements. The depth of the water in some basements reached three and four feet and gas and electric service was shut off in some homes.
“O’Fallon Mayor Gary Mackey said approximately 45 homes had water in the basements. Several of them on Madison, Adams, East Second and Julia Dr.
“There were other reports of flooded basements throughout the city.
“’This will not happen again as long as I’m mayor of this city. As soon as the rain starts to fall we are going to start pumping out the sewers,’ Mackey said.
“Illinois Environmental Protection Agency regulations prohibit sewage from flowing on the open ground but Mackey said that pumping the overflow out into open ditches is the only way to handle the situation.
“’They’ll (EPA) have to remove me from office to keep me from doing it next time,’ Mackey said.
“After the rain stopped Friday morning city work crews used pumps to drain some of the sewers where backups had occurred. Mackey also feels some blame has to be placed on the overflow drain which was shut off Monday following a suit brought against the city by Robert O’Brien, 609 Julia Dr.
“’A lot of the flooding in that area could have been prevented had the overflow been open,’ Mackey said.
“With the blocking of the line, the flow from the sanitary system, previously diverted to the open ditch and lake in that area, backed up into the basements in some cases. The entire area had reports of flooded basements including Mackey’s own home, but Mackey said he’ll try to prevent such a thing occurring again.
“’Next time, instead of letting the people suffer with sewage in their basements, I’m going to order the pumping started immediately,’ Mackey said.
“The city, a few days ago, had blocked up the sanitary sewer line that drained off sewage from the system in times of filled lines, to prevent backups in basements.
“The line was blocked because of the suit O’Brien brought against the city. O’Brien sued to force the city to stop using the drainage pipe on grounds it discharged untreated sewage into an open ditch which emptied into a small lake near O’Brien’s home.
“’We know some people are unhappy and mad about what’s happened but we can only do so much when our hands are tied by regulations and court rulings,’ Mackey said.
“In searching for possible blockage of the city’s sewers, City Engineer Dave Davis reported a large piece of aluminum was found blocking one section of sewer line just east of the Parkview Colonial Manor Nursing Home.
“The aluminum, Davis said, was collecting debris in the line and may have caused some of the back up problems in that area.
“Some of the blockage of lines had continued through Monday while searching of blocked areas continued.”