In 1912, motorcycles were about to be introduced into the postal service, as experimental motorcycle routes would be established in Washington in the following week by order of Postmaster General Hitchcock. If it worked well, motorcycles would be used for collecting purposes in New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and other large cities. Automobiles had been used in the postal service for many years. Aeroplanes were also under consideration as a means of transporting mail.
Had it not been for the contest for the Republican nomination for congress and the Republican nomination for member of assembly in the First Chautauqua district, the primary election in Jamestown Tuesday afternoon would have been a very tame affair. There were no contests in the other parties and the voters of other parties did not take the trouble to vote very extensively. Only a portion of the Republican voters were enrolled and of that portion, only a little over 1,000 voters went to the poles. The contesting candidates had workers at the polls and automobiles carrying voters made things lively during the evening. Nevertheless the voting was light.
In 1937, the first snow of the season fell the previous day on the high Pennsylvania town of Kane, sending hayfever refugees and townsfolk scurrying for their overcoats. Flurries continued for some minutes before changing to rain. Many hayfever sufferers welcomed the cold snap and waited expectantly for the first frost which would be their sign to return home in the hope that the ragweed would be chilled.
That Chautauqua County crops would suffer to some extent from the effects of the first frost of the season Friday night, was revealed this day by officials of the Farms Bureau, who reported that the extent of damage to crops might be known by Monday. Lowland crops were believed to have suffered to quite an extent. Reports of damage in Kiantone and Ashville, indicated vegetable crops were affected in those areas.
In 1962, long needed repair of the Sixth Street bridge in Jamestown might get under way if City Council adopted the recommendation voted the previous night by the highway committee. The renovation project, as outlined by Roger Burgeson, director of public works, would include pavement, installation of a new surface on the sidewalks, the repair of curbs on both sides of the structure, replacing four sections of railing and installation of 11 new bases and light standards.
Inauguration of the recently adopted plan for Mayor William D. Whitehead and members of Jamestown City Council to hold informal sessions every Monday night as a means of mending strained relations was subjected to another delay the previous night. Because some members had been attending a longer-than-usual meeting of the highway committee, it was nearly 10 p.m. when they assembled in the City Council chambers for their session with the Mayor, only to learn that he had apparently wearied of waiting and had left the building.
In 1987, the late Robert E. Dean II, formerly of Forestville, was named a hero by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. Dean died in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., in March saving a 9-year-old boy from drowning in the Pacific Ocean. He was one of 21 people in 10 states and one Canadian province to be recognized by the commission for risking their lives to save others. Dean graduated from Forestville High School in 1977 and had been living in California for about five years. He was survived by his wife, Lucinda A. Baker Dean of Forestville and his daughter, Brenda. John Szydlo, principal of Forestville High School had Dean as a student. "He was just a good all-around kid...You couldn't ask for a better person."
The long road to getting an agreement between the city of Jamestown and the town of Ellicott for water and sewer service was about to come to the Journey's Inn. The Journey's Inn, a motel to be built in Falconer, would be the first business to benefit from the agreement, which granted the city tax-free status for its sewer and water lines in the town in return for piping water and sewage to and from the town. The Jamestown Board of Public Utilities agreed to allow water to flow into and out of a newly created water district in the town of Ellicott. That district would provide pipes to the Journey's Inn to be located just off Falconer's Southern Tier Expressway exit.