Remembering when

My mom has been saving a section of the newspaper from my home county.  Arlo Bell writes the I Remember When article that brings news stories back to print from across the years.  Some of the stories are sad, others informational, and others laugh out loud funny.

Here are a few of my favorites...

May 9, 1912
A rowdy drunk was knocked down Wednesday, when he was ejected from the Dumas billiard hall, in Osage City.  He rushed back in, drew a .38 caliber revolver, and was about to shoot the proprietor, when the proprietor's brother knocked him out with a billiard cue.  The gunman was arrested, but escaped from his guard that night.


1892
The jail keeper, at Lyndon, left the jail in charge of the sheriff's son last week.  When the boy went to dinner, two prisoners used a broom and a piece of wire to get the keys off the desk and unlock their cell.  They hid in the attic and had a good laugh when he returned and found them gone.  The jailer was not amused and the two are on a diet of bread and water.


1907
The Women's Christian Temperance Union gave a mechanical social at Burlingame.  The ladies demonstrated their ability as carpenters and the men made buttonholes and sewed on buttons.


April 27, 1932
In connection with national clean up week, any child in Osage City may attend the Saturday matinee at the Dickinson Theatre for 10 tin cans or bottles.


A Burlingame man was fined $100 and sentenced to 30 days in jail last week for being caught with 48 bottles of home brew.


1892
Several boys at Lyndon, ages 12 to 17, took a keg of beer to Salt Creek Sunday and got beastly drunk.


1882
An enraged woman at Carbondale has threatened to prosecute any saloonkeeper selling liquor to her husband.


Two 10-year-old boys broke into a store and a doctor's office in Osage City Sunday.  They took some merchandise, but were soon arrested by the city marshal, who recovered most of the stolen goods.  They both received a first-class flogging from their parents.


My mom and I love talking about the language used.  Phrases like, "beastly drunk" and "first-class flogging"
are not common in our everyday language now.  I was surprised to find two references to gypsies - both in 1932.  I was not aware that gypsies were a part of our county's history.  Other aspects of our history like failed banks, war bonds, and rationing are mentioned.  One cannot ignore that fact that we are in a place where agriculture is part of nearly everything we do.  Notes about water rights, farm accidents, and cattle rustling remind me that since the beginning of our communities, people have been connected to production agriculture.  My heart was warmed when reading a note about the community garden in 1932.  All of these short notes create a window into the past.

I am really glad that my mom shares this bit of history with me and I am happy that Arlo Bell takes the time to bring the news back to life.