In 1910, Miss Katherine Dillman, an employee of the Abrahamson-Bigelow store, left her purse containing $340 in a drawer at the store. When she went for the purse, it was gone. The Jamestown police department was notified and promptly investigated the matter. The investigation resulted in the detection of the thief and the recovery of part of the stolen money. The money was taken by a 13-year-old girl who was found by police and closely questioned. At first she denied any knowledge of the theft, but later admitted that she was guilty. On account of her age it was not probable the girl would be prosecuted in the criminal courts.
The cricket eleven picked from the combined membership of Chautauqua and Columbus lodges, Sons of St. George, captained by Joe Pickard, defeated that representing the Jamestown Worsted Mills, captained by Robert Rid, on the cricket grounds on Saturday afternoon by the decisive score of 75 to 31. An interesting feature of the game was the reappearance of Joseph Holmes, an old time cricketer, who bowled for the Sons of St. George and succeeded in clean bowling five of the opposing batsmen in spite of the fact that this was the first contest in which he had participated all season.
In 1935, three sites for the proposed Jamestown Airport were submitted by the local civic airport committee. The sites were located on North Main Street Extension, Baker Street and English Hill. The proposed North Main site was the present airport, a short distance north of the city, consisting of about 100 acres. The proposed Baker Street site was the tract of about 200 acres bounded by Baker Street, Chautauqua Avenue and Hazeltine Avenue. The English Hill site was a tract of about 150 acres bounded by English, Hebner and Camp streets.
Hundreds of fish of all species met untimely and unnecessary deaths when a quantity of poisonous matter was dumped into the Chadakoin River somewhere in East Jamestown. The affected fish were first seen flopping at the surface of the stream near the bridge at Hopkins and Flagg avenues. As none of the apparently poisoned fish were seen far above that point it was believed the deadly chemical came from a factory not far above that point.
In 1960, blanketed by a starlit sky, more than 700 performers, another 100 backstage workers and six narrators unveiled "Sesquirama," the saga of Jamestown, before 3,109 enthusiastic opening night spectators at Municipal Stadium. The result was a colorful 2-hour pageant which traced the history of Jamestown from the days 150 years ago when its site was mostly Indian hunting territory to its existence in the Atomic Age. The first night audience reacted appreciatively to the efforts of their fellow citizens on the clear, but chilly evening. The stage, longer than a football field, with a large revolving center section, was beyond the imagination for a locally constructed, amateur product. Its pastel shades blended well with the authentic colorful costumes of the past.
Saturday's fantastic turnout for Jamestown's Sesquicentennial Parade went into the record books as the greatest in city history. Between 75,000 and 80,000 were on hand to watch the colorful procession. Police Chief John Paladino set the crowd at 80,000 following a block-by-block count during the parade. Mayor Carl F. Sanford's estimate was more than 75,000. "It was by far the largest in city history," he said.
In 1985, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, R-Pa., was returning to Washington with a list of complaints on the nation's deficit, the IRS, and Social Security inequities from about 35 local residents who braved the hot, humid weather to attend a public meeting at the Warren courthouse. Citizens voiced concerns on nuclear arms reduction talks and President Reagan's "Star Wars" defense plan, foreign trade, tax reform, and housing for the elderly. With the national debt projected to reach two trillion dollars by the end of the decade, the time to act on balancing expenses and revenues was now, Specter told his audience.
New York state, which lost five congressional seats in the last reapportionment, stood to lose two to five more if current population trends continued to 1990, according to two studies. Despite the fact New York had stopped losing population to the Sun Belt states, it still was not gaining people at a rate sufficient to avoid losing some of its 34 congressional districts, analysts indicated.