Community

In Years Past

In 1914, while agreeing with President Wilson that the United States should remain strictly neutral during the present crisis in Europe, the Rev. Dr. Charles H. Small, pastor of the First Congregational Church in Jamestown, in his sermon Sunday evening took the stand that this nation should utter an emphatic protest against “standing idly by while an agreement to which we are a party is violated by another nation. We are party to an agreement that expressly forbids the crossing of the territory or a neutral power,” said Dr. Small, “and unless we too believe that an agreement is but a ‘scrap of paper’ we should utter an emphatic protest.”

Chandler Street in Jamestown, which for many years had been known as the “street of churches,” for the reason that there were five buildings devoted to religious purposes within a distance of two short blocks, was now also the “street of light.” Four 500-candlepower nitrogen lamps had been mounted on ornamental standards and were placed in front of the First Swedish Methodist Church property and these, together with the lights in front of the Swedish M.E. and First Lutheran churches, illuminated the street from its junction with East Second Street east to Elk Street. This portion of the street was now the best lighted of any street in the city.

In 1939, Baldwin’s Jewelry shop, operated by Charles M. Baldwin, would open its remodeled store at its present location, 7 E. Third St., Jamestown, this night at 7 p.m. The interior of the store was of modernistic treatment in blue and gray colors with indirect lighting for daylight effect and complete air conditioning for summer cooling and winter heating. The shop was established in 1912 by Mr. Baldwin’s father, C.E. Baldwin, who operated a jewelry store in Silver Creek.

Discovery of a rowboat drifting bottomside-up on Chautauqua Lake off Lakewood and the subsequent find of a car parked in a grove near the Erickson boat livery at Celoron had led suburban police to the theory that John E. Gruninger, 29, of Conewango Avenue, Warren, might have drowned in the lake sometime after 10 a.m. the past Friday. On Saturday afternoon, the overturned boat was discovered off Lakewood by Anton C. Klee of that village. Klee went out in another boat and towed the drifting craft ashore. He notified the Erickson livery at Celoron, having found their name on the capsized boat.

In 1964, two Erie, Pa. women were killed at Westfield the previous afternoon when their car was struck by another car which had swerved to avoid hitting a deer, crossing Route 20 near Forsythe Bridge. The dead were Bertie Hotchkiss, 92 and Bernice Herring, 70, her daughter. It brought the traffic toll in Chautauqua County so far in this year to 42, grimly nearing a dubious 10-year record. The previous high was in 1947 when 43 lost their lives in county auto accidents.

• The Salvation Army was providing food and lodging for a bride of less than a year stranded here without funds. Her husband was in the county jail at Mayville. Christine Lake, 22, was driving with her husband, John Lake, 32, from California to Lawrenceville, N.Y., to the home of his sister, when they were stopped the previous day by a state trooper outside Jamestown. When Lake failed to produce an operator’s license and a registration card, he was fined $25 on each charge. When he couldn’t pay the fine, he was taken to Mayville jail for 50 days. A local radio newsman took Lake back to Jamestown and contacted the Salvation Army. “We had a pink slip that said we owned the car but we didn’t have the other pieces of paper and we didn’t have the money and they took John away,” said Lake.

In 1989, highway crews throughout southwestern New York and northwestern Pennsylvania were continuing to battle snow and ice that developed overnight, resulting in the closing of one school system and several minor traffic accidents early in the day. All schools in the Cassadaga Valley Central School district were closed this day. Dispatcher Lewie Nickerson of the Falconer office of the Chautauqua County Highway Department reported, “Things are slippery – pretty well snow-covered. We’re keeping up with it as best we can, but it’s miserable enough to keep a little ahead of us.”

U.S. Rep. Amo Houghton said no one had talked with him about running for governor of New York and he doubted that anyone would. “Nobody’s talked to me at all,” Houghton told The Post-Journal.: “My heart is in an area that I can wrap my arms around and do something with,” the Corning Republican said of the Southern Tier, which he had represented in Congress since January 1987. “This is where I live,” he said. “This is where my stake is.”

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, wearied by 60 days of continuous campaigning for national Prohibition and crossing the continent twice in that period, ex-Gov. J. Frank Hanly of Indiana almost collapsed before an audience in Erie, Pa., at the First Methodist Church Thanksgiving night. After he had said about 15 words of his address, the governor brushed tears from his eyes and exclaimed, “I can’t!” He was taken to a chair on the platform. In a few minutes he was rushed to the Lawrence Hotel for rest. Members of the Flying Squadron which Hanly was leading, said: “Governor Hanly is utterly fagged out. He has not slept since we left Toledo, Ohio, on Wednesday.” Erie appeared a hoodoo for Hanly. During the Chautauqua here earlier, he was not met at the train and wandered about the city alone for more than an hour before he found the tent.

Seven or eight fine, fat turkeys had been stolen from the Martin farm at Fluvanna and Manager Andrew Warn had offered a reward of $50 for the apprehension of the turkey thieves. Mr. Warn resided at 41 Linwood Ave. in Jamestown, but he had charge of the Martin estates at Fluvanna. This year he raised a fine flock of turkeys. “I counted them on Nov. 12 and they were all there,” he said. “I counted them on Nov. 23 and seven or eight were missing. They had undoubtedly been stolen by someone.” Mr. Warn was at the Journal office this day and inserted an advertisement offering a reward of $50 for the apprehension of the thief or thieves. “They were fine turkeys and it is exasperating to have them stolen in this manner,” said Mr. Warn. “I killed one of the turkeys to send to Miss Martin and it weighed 16 pounds. It was a fine bird.”

In 1939, trapped in his bed as flames destroyed the house, John Thornton, 80, helpless invalid, died at the home of his daughter, Charles Rudolph, in Cherry Grove township about 15 miles from Warren. Fire from an overheated stove pipe was believed to have caused the tragedy. Thorton was staying with his daughter because his wife was unable to give him necessary care. The small house, built six years previously, was constructed of plain siding covered with tar paper. It had three stoves but no chimneys, the pipes projecting through the walls. In the house at the time of the fire was the five-year-old child of Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph, granddaughter of the aged victim. The child discovered the fire and ran screaming from the house.

Ellery Health Service listened with close attention to Dr. Carl Frederick Hammerstrom’s discussion of Pneumonia Control at its regular session in the Bemus Point High School Auditorium. Dr. Hammerstrom emphasized the importance of calling the physician at the earliest moment when pneumonia was suspected so that the new preventative, sulphapyridine, could be administered. This was furnished free by the New York State Department of Health and had been found most effective, the speaker stated. He also stated that in an emergency, the county public health nurse would visit the home, give first nursing care and instructions in the follow-up care of the patient. Marie West, county public health nurse, gave a report of her recent work which included 27 home visits, 16 of which were for tubercular patients. She asked for a mattress and for a quantity of outing flannel.

In 1989, the final results of this month’s Chautauqua County general election, as released by the county Board of Elections, showed that Jamestown voters decided the county executive race. The results of the Nov. 7 election awaited only the signatures of the county’s two election commissioners to become official. According to the final countywide tally, Democrat Ted Smith received 20,855 votes for county executive, while Republican Andrew Goodell, the county executive-elect, got 23,432. To win the post, Smith needed to carry Jamestown by at least 2,500 votes and also to carry Dunkirk. Smith carried Jamestown by only 559 votes, the final tally showed.

U.S. businesses liked their older employees’ strong work ethic but gave them low grades on adapting to new technology yet offered few programs to help them master it, a private study said. Many older workers saw themselves as an untapped resource and felt frustrated about the scarcity of programs to help them contribute more on the job, according to the study by the Daniel Yankelovich Group research company. Technology training “is critical if older employees are to thrive in today’s workplace,” the report said, adding that more needed to be done to match qualified older workers with jobs that used their skills.

Community

In Years Past

• In 1914, the plant of the Elko Paint Company had been transferred to the managers of a new furniture company which would be organized in Randolph to make the highest grade of upholstered chairs. Walter Holdridge, representing the new company, was in charge of repairs already being made to fit the building for occupancy. It was expected that by the first of January a gang of men, most of them expert upholsterers, would be working in Randolph. The company was organized with local capital to a great extent but the factory superintendent and men who would control the selling end of the business came to Randolph from a distance.

• The body of the man who died in the hospital at Dunkirk the past Saturday from injuries received in a fall through a railroad trestle and whose body was shipped to New Castle, Pa., on Thursday on the supposition that the man was Joseph Martwinski of that place, had been refused by Mrs. Martwinski on the ground that it was not the body of her husband. At the hospital the man had been booked in as Joseph Martwinski of New Castle. If the body was not that of Martwinski, it was puzzling to know how the man came into possession of letters bearing the name and address of Martwinski and Martwinski’s brother-in-law. And how could his brother-in-law, John Litka, have been mistaken in his identification of the body with the dead man’s features practically unmarked? This was another puzzling feature.

In 1939, Clyde D. Smith, who served as chief of the Jamestown Police department ten years ago, was a patient at a hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, following a three-story fall down an elevator shaft the previous morning as a result of which his back was broken. His condition was reported as “just fair.” The former Jamestown police chief was at work at the Straus-Hirshberg department store when the accident occurred. He was supervising the unloading of a truckload of furniture which had just arrived from Jamestown and was on the third floor of the store, at the open elevator shaft, when, in some manner, he fell into the shaft and plunged down three stories.

Discovery was made early Monday morning that the Boston Department Store in Dunkirk had been entered and the safe broken open and rifled. The loot consisted of about $400 in money, largely in currency but also including $50 in pennies; a number of checks, several diamonds and a gold wristwatch. Entrance to the store was gained by prying open a rear door and an inner door. The safe was opened after the combination had been battered off. Police said indications were the robbery was the work of skilled safe crackers.

In 1964, contributions already received for The Post-Journal Christmas Happiness Fund raised the total to $1,394.08. This was an encouraging start but it meant that about $4,000 more had to come in to care for the hundreds of persons who should receive happiness gifts. These gifts were for the sick and shut-ins, the elderly whose families were gone and for children whose parents could not provide presents for them. In the past year, 1,852 persons were remembered with gifts.

A 17-year-old Michigan youth was being held in Chautauqua County Jail for Pennsylvania officials in connection with theft of a car which was taken from Emporium, Pa. David Walker of Flat Rock, Michigan, was charged with reckless driving, being an unlicensed operator, and being a fugitive from justice. Police said he was a probation violator in Detroit. Walker was apprehended in Randolph. Sgt. Richard Peters of the Falconer barracks was engaged in a road check near Randolph when Walker made a U-turn about a quarter mile from the check point. The officer said the chase reached speeds between 70 and 80 miles an hour through the streets of Randolph and East Randolph before Walker lost control of the car and struck a tree. He was treated for a broken nose and facial cuts.

In 1989, West Germany’s Chancellor Helmut Kohl announced a plan to draw the two Germanys into an informal confederation that eventually would lead to reunification. West Germany’s major opposition party also called for unity. Kohl’s 30-minute address to Parliament was the most thorough delineation of his vision of eliminating the partition imposed at the end of World War II. East Germany’s Communist leaders opposed a reunification.

Conflicting damage reports were given by workers who rescued the Sea Lion after the 16th century replica merchant ship was pushed onto Chautauqua Lake’s shoreline by strong winds Monday night. Gusts of up to 26 mph buffeted the Sea Lion, carrying the 90-ton ship and its anchors into mud and rocks next to the Miller Bell Tower at Chautauqua Institution. The ship sat helplessly in the mud, its bow perched eight inches out of the water as about 25 volunteers – mostly former Sea Lion crew members and firefighters – used ropes, a winch and a tractor to push the ship into deeper waters, witnesses said.

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, Harry Teets, who won the roller skating championship of New York state the past week, won a one-mile novelty race on Thanksgiving evening at the Coliseum rink in Jamestown against Albert Johnson on a motorcycle. The race was run pursuit style. Johnson rode a one cylinder Excelsior motorcycle, while Teets skated on rollers. The race went 22 laps. It is probable that better time would have been made, but on the third lap Johnson’s machine skidded and Johnson fell. Teets slowed up but Johnson jumped on his machine again and the race continued. Teets began to gain on the motorcycle early in the race.

All the bitterness and sting of the recent defeats suffered by Jamestown High School disappeared when the Red and Green eleven took the strong Tonawanda High School aggregation Thanksgiving afternoon on the cricket grounds by a 6 to 0 score. The local 11 played like a new machine and it was safe to say that, working like it did Thursday afternoon, it could hold its own with any high school team in this section. The day was perfect and an unusually large crowd turned out to see the banner attraction of the season. The work of the locals was a big surprise to many. They entered the game with a grave determination to uphold the honor of the school in this game, the most important of their schedule.

In 1939, Lawrence Gleason, 44, who resided on the Kennedy-Ellington road, was found dead in a ditch alongside the road between his home and Ellington Sunday morning. The man’s wife, alarmed because of his failure to come home Saturday night, found his body shortly after she started out to search for him. It was believed that Gleason was killed shortly after midnight Saturday when struck by a car driven by Roy Thomas, 32, of Kennedy. Thomas reported that his car struck something when he was driving home from a dance at Ellington shortly after midnight. Believing his car had struck a deer, he went back over the road to search for the victim of the collision but found nothing so resumed his trip home. Mrs. Gleason said that she, too, had gone by the spot where Gleason’s body lay, at about 3 a.m. Sunday, without seeing her husband’s body in the ditch.

That there was a real opposition to Hitler within Germany was claimed by Dr. Hans Kronheim, rabbi of Temple Hesed Abraham of Jamestown in addressing the Rotary Club at its weekly lunch meeting. As evidence that there were “many millions in Germany who are not Nazis,” Dr. Kronheim said that he had personal knowledge of many non-Jews in Germany affording refuge and shelter to Jews who were being persecuted. He said that frequently Jewish families would find food at their doorsteps when Jews either could not buy food or were afraid to venture from their homes.

A Fredonia couple, Nelson Zinsmeister, 25, and his wife, Mary, 23, of Central Avenue, Fredonia, both popular teachers at the Fredonia High School, and her sister, Miss Barbara Miller, 32, of Trumansburg, NY, died in a Thanksgiving Eve accident when their automobile collided with another near Bluffton, Indiana. The trio was said to be on the way to spend the holiday with relatives in Indiana. Mr. Zinsmeister headed the mathematics department of Fredonia and his wife taught in the science department. Miss Miller was a teacher in Ithaca. Mr. and Mrs. Zinsmeister were natives of Indiana and he had received his master’s degree from Purdue University.

A small plane crashed the previous night amidst a maze of high tension wires, oil refinery towers and tanks but missed them all and nose-dived onto a lawn on the east side of Warren, Pa. The pilot, Dewey Morris Jr., 39, of Detroit, was found wandering about in a dazed condition a short distance from the crash. He was detained at Warren General hospital for observation. Morris told authorities he was enroute from Williamsport to Erie when he ran low on fuel and began to hunt for the Warren Airport. He crashed on the lawn of the Sylvania Electrical Products plant after striking some low tension wire. It was believed he mistook the lights of the plant for the Warren Airport.

In 1989, one area ski resort remained open while another closed temporarily after the weekend and a third hoped to open for the season on Dec. 1, weather permitting. Cockaigne opened Friday and spokeswoman Audrey Little reported “a pretty good weekend.” “We ran Saturday and Sunday and we’re closed today,” said Jane Eshbaugh, marketing director at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, the area’s largest ski area. At Peek ‘n Peak Recreation near Clymer, spokeswoman Becky Faulkner said of its intended opening, “the latest word is Friday. We’re making snow when we can.”

• Chautauqua County Executive John Glenzer and Office for the Aging director Mac McCoy had issued a statement warning senior citizens to be wary of misleading insurance sales techniques that had surfaced in the local area. Reports had been received of seniors receiving disturbing telephone calls regarding their health insurance coverage and Medicare benefits. The callers were identifying themselves as Medicare advisers or as representatives of the seniors’ current insurance carrier. In many cases, this had turned out to be untrue.

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, just because the turkey which gladdened ones eyes on the dinner table this Thanksgiving Day, was killed a trifle over a year ago down near Dallas, Texas, and had been in cold storage ever since, was no reason to worry. At least the experts of the department of agriculture, who were so keenly on the trail of infected foods of any kind and particularly of infected animals and poultry, so stated. If the process of killing, treating and storing the birds was scientific and careful, the birds would be absolutely all right for food. Indeed, they would be fine.

An explosion which could be heard for miles and which shook every building in Olean, occurred Monday night at exactly 10 p.m. when No. 3 agitator at the No. 2 works of the Vacuum Oil Company blew up. The agitator contained about 300 barrels of white oil and immediately following the explosion, was a mass of flames. The city fire department was called out and together with the fire fighting force of the Vacuum, had the fire out by 3 a.m. Tuesday. A large portion of the oil was pumped to another tank and saved.

In 1939, Guerdon Burke, driver for the Star Mail route between Jamestown and Warren, Pa., and a resident of North Warren, received only minor head injuries when his car struck a telephone pole at Water Street bridge at Frewsburg about 2:45 the previous morning and turned over. His car was considerably damaged and the telephones on the Water Street district were put out of commission.

Automobile owners who parked their machines overtime or otherwise violated the parking ordinance of Jamestown – and got caught – would have to pay the piper during the next week at least. Authority for the statement was Judge Allen Bargar who said in traffic court that he would excuse no parking violators for at least a week. “There are two schools of thought on this parking problem,” said Judge Bargar. “Many think that a motorist is sufficiently punished – and has learned his lesson – if he is required to appear in court or forfeit a dollar for his offense. Many others, on the other hand, have come to regard the procedure as a joke and feel that all they have to do to get their dollar back is to appear in court, admit their guilt and be excused.”

In 1964, shouting teenage boys, roaming the downtown section in pre-Thanksgiving Day jubilation, kept Jamestown Police busy the previous night. Six boys, who police said had been drinking, were hustled down to Police Headquarters and detained until their parents called for them. Police said more than 50 empty beer containers, plus some wine bottles, were found. Several of the “empties” were strewn about the parking lot at the rear of the Jamestown YWCA. Police said a second-floor fire escape on the building had been turned into a miniature bar, where other empty beer cans were discovered. Meanwhile, teenagers were believed by police to have taken an ignition key from a police cruiser while the officer was checking reports of illegal parking at English and Allen streets.

Eight wristwatches and quantities of beer, cigarettes, men’s clothing and other merchandise were reported taken the past night from Barker’s Grocery, 578 Willard St. Ext. Entry was made by forcing a back door to the small store which was located about one block outside of the city. The owners of the store, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Barker, said they would have to complete an inventory to determine the amount taken in the burglary. The break-in was being investigated by Ellicott Town Officer Elmer Widlund.

Community

In Years Past

• In 1914, Thanksgiving in Jamestown would be observed with appropriate services in the various churches at 10:30 o’clock the following morning. A number of the churches in this city, as well as those of Falconer, would combine in union Thanksgiving services, which would be held in the First Methodist Episcopal Church, the Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church and the Lutheran Immanuel Church of this city and the First Baptist Church of Falconer.

• There was some newspaper speculation as to whether the war would follow precedent in instituting any change in fashions of what some of the writers delighted in calling “face fur.” The Waterloo campaign introduced the mustache among the English troops, for it was first borrowed from certain Austrian officers, who were then allies. The British war office had made some effort to encourage the growth of mustaches among subalterns without conspicuous success and there were few signs that the trenched of 1914 were going to bring in a new fashion of beards.

• In 1939, Herbert Petrie, organizer and director of the White Hussars, who would appear in concert at Jamestown the following Tuesday, originally won national recognition as solo cornetist in the famous United States Navy band, directed by the immortal John Philip Sousa. The Music Parents’ Association of Jamestown High School was presenting the feature of the season in the High School auditorium at 8 o’clock. His achievements on the trumpet could be traced to a lifetime of application in his favorite instrument and to years of private study under Max Schlossberg of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

• Jamestown’s restricted parking area covering a score of streets in the congested downtown business section of the city could accommodate a total of 1,364 motor vehicles according to a survey made by Police Chief Edwin M. Nyholm at the request of City Judge Allen E. Bargar. The territory included in the survey extended from First Street on the south to Fourth Street on the north, Jefferson Street on the west to Prendergast Avenue on the east as well as the area adjacent to Brooklyn Square.

• In 1964, “Chautauqua Lake is in the process of being killed,” a water resources expert said at the annual meeting of the Chautauqua Lake Association and its Council at Jamestown’s City Hall. Stanley P. Spisiak, chairman of the water resource committee, N.Y.S. Conservation Council, criticized the apathy of many area residents in failing to act on the problem of pollution. He laid the blame for increased pollution and weeds in Chautauqua Lake to: People who act like “ostriches,” ready to accept the problem rather than be bothered. Persons who were concerned about offending people; lack of effective enforcement against violators; and the use of phosphate base liquid detergents. Mr. Spisiak said all news media should be used to point up the urgency of the problem.

• The Jamestown City Tax Sale Committee would recommend to City Council that it approve the razing of the former Public Market building in Brooklyn Square to provide a parking lot. Demolition of the city-owned structure at Market Street and Forest Avenue had been urged by the Citizens’ Progressive Group made up of local merchants. Merchants were asking that the site of the Public Market building be used to provide needed parking in the area. The site was part of a Brooklyn Square area marked for future urban redevelopment.

• In 1989, Friday was a busy day for local department stores and they were hopeful the weekend and the rest of the Christmas shopping season would be busy, too. That was the word from selected stores in Jamestown and Chautauqua Mall. “We had a fantastic day,” said Marge David, manager of Argersinger department store in downtown Jamestown. “We’ve had a good day – it’s been very busy,” said Suzanne Dankovich of Walden Books in Chautauqua Mall. Denise Mancari, manager at the County Seat in Chautauqua Mall, had the same sentiment. County Seat had more customers Friday than it’s had on other days this month, Mrs. Mancari said.

• The 1989 shotgun deer season was almost a week old and deer hunters were reporting fewer deer being seen this season than in past years. A spokesman for the state Department of Conservation, however, said the deer harvest in Chautauqua County seemed to be up, based on early checking station figures. Most of the hunters discussing smaller deer herds in the southern zone blamed it, in part, on the doe permit system set up by the DEC.

Community

In Years Past

• In 1914, the death of Albert A. Hitchcock, a well-known veteran of the Civil War, at the Woman’s Christian Association Hospital in Jamestown on Monday afternoon was due indirectly to a wound which he received while serving his country as a soldier 50 years previously and from which he had suffered ever since. He was born in Homer, N.Y., Dec. 18, 1845, and at the age of 18 years enlisted in the 130th New York Volunteer infantry, later serving with the 19th New York cavalry. The wound which eventually resulted in his death was received in action in 1865. Mr. Hitchcock had been employed for the past five years at Anderson’s Dry Goods store on Main Street in Jamestown.

• On account of the coasting accident to Margaret Dukesmith, aged 13 years, daughter of F.H. Dukesmith, Chief Kightlinger of Meadville, Pa., announced the previous afternoon that coasting would be barred from the streets for the balance of the winter. This child had the bones of her right leg fractured Saturday when the pair of bob-sleds on which she was riding crashed into a delivery wagon when the sleds reached Liberty Street.

• In 1939, a fire of undetermined origin in the business section of Franklinville on Thanksgiving afternoon, destroyed a two-story warehouse, causing an estimated damage of $8,000 to several stores and homes and threatened to burn down the entire village. Quick action of five fire departments and the fact that there was no wind saved the business section from destruction. Besides the Franklinville fire department, the other departments which fought the two-hour blaze were from Arcade, Machias, Delevan and Salamanca. A new shipment of Christmas toys was among the stock spoiled by water and fire at the Jones Department Store.

• Dr. Frank Robinson, Jr., 27, of Jamestown, formerly of Hornell, was fatally injured late Wednesday afternoon when his automobile careened across the highway and crashed into a tree after clipping a car operated by Robert Anderson on Foote Avenue, near the city line. Dr. Robinson was taken to WCA Hospital by James Vitanza, who witnessed the accident and he died an hour later. Anderson was not injured. Dr. Robinson was hurrying home to meet members of his family who had arrived in the city from Hornell about 5 o’clock for the Thanksgiving holiday. The party included his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Robinson, Sr.

• In 1964, Niagara Falls, one of the wonders of the world, might have undergone its first major change in modern times. Some experts were saying the American Falls, consisting of two cataracts since man began observing it, had sprouted another cataract. In other words, the honeymoon favorite was now three separate waterfalls. There were those who said differently, namely Arthur Williams, general manager of the Niagara Frontier Parks Commission, who contended the new addition was only a phenomenon that occurred during low water periods. Those favoring the three-falls theory claimed a newly formed island in the 1,075 foot brink that used to appear when water levels were low was now permanent.

• Cornerstone laying ceremonies were held Sunday for the new Methodist Church at Shadyside and Summit Avenues. The ceremony was the kick-off for the church’s 1964 building fund drive to be conducted in the coming week. A balance of $50,000 was still needed for the $150,000 church. Fifty years ago to the day, the cornerstone was placed for the present church in Lakewood. The original program in 1914 listed the Rev. Albert Patterson as pastor in charge. The service Sunday was conducted by Rev. William E. Gaiser, pastor of the church.

• In 1989, population estimates for 1988 indicated that the official 1990 census would show a decline in population for upstate New York’s four largest cities. The 1988 estimates, based on birth and death reports, tax returns and immigration statistics, were released earlier in the week by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The big loser during the eight-year period from 1980-88 was Buffalo – the state’s second largest city – where estimated population declined 12.4 percent from the 1980 figure of 357,870 to 313,570. The new estimate also dropped Buffalo in the ranking of the country’s most populous cities. In 1980, Buffalo was the 39th largest city in the country; in 1970, it was the 28th largest city. Based on estimates, it was now the 50th largest city in the U.S.

• Providing more high-paying jobs and streamlining Chautauqua County public services would be the priorities of Chautauqua County government if county executive-elect Andrew Goodell had his way. When Goodell moved into the county’s highest elected office Jan. 1, 1990, he aimed to attract high-tech business to Chautauqua County. Additional white-collar jobs would halt a “youth exodus” and bring more money into the county, Goodell told The Post-Journal.

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, one of the large powder magazines of the Dupont Powder Company, located about four miles outside the city of Titusville, Pa., exploded with terrific force at about 1 p.m. and it was believed that two men from Titusville, who left in the morning to remove some of the nitroglycerin from the magazine, were killed. So terrific was the force of the explosion that many windows in the business section of the city, over four miles away, were smashed. It was thought that the explosion was another of the unexplainable tricks of the dread nitroglycerin and occurred when the men started to move it.

Eight bushels of fresh hickory nuts had been ordered for the squirrels in the Olean City park by the park superintendent, William Allen, and pending their arrival, the squirrels were being fed on the remnant of the past year’s supply. The freezing of the ground made the supply of nuts that they thriftily buried during the summer and fall unavailable until a thaw could come but their regular ration of hickory nuts was forthcoming every morning. The squirrels were still nesting in the upper part of the park house which they seemed to regard as an hotel. Allen estimated that there were probably 150 or 175 squirrels in the city. Children had made friends with the squirrels and their presence was not resented.

In 1939, stocking of 4,269 trout in Falconer streams within the past two weeks was reported by Field Secretary Oscar Lundell at a meeting of the Falconer Rod and Gun Club on Tuesday evening. Brown trout, ranging upwards to 6 inches, to the number of 2,844 were included, the balance being brook trout. A committee was formed to formulate a proposal for the securing of public fishing rights along certain better known trout streams.

Parents of the day were constantly being advised by all types of agencies as to what kinds of drinks they should provide for their children with meals, in school or as simple refreshment. Many schools were already giving children milk at noon or in the middle of either the morning or afternoon session. Recently the director of health and physical education of the East Orange, N.J. public schools disclosed a study of beverages used by children. At East Orange schools, each child was provided with a drink of milk at one of the periods mentioned. Children were usually given graham crackers as well, because it was felt that milk and crackers provided not only nutritional benefits but relaxation as well.

In 1964, northern Chautauqua County was digging out of a pre-winter weekend snowstorm, which left some 200 vehicles stranded on the state Thruway. Motels and hotels were jammed with storm-bound travelers and in Westfield the Westfield Academy and Central School was opened early Sunday morning in an emergency measure to provide shelter for about 75 persons, including 20 infants. The storm left nearly 2 feet of snow in the northern lake shore area.

Despite the snow, the Merton P. Corwin Auditorium of Jamestown High School was filled for the concert Saturday night in connection with the Sectional All State Music festival held Friday and Saturday at the Jamestown High School. The storm forced 100 students from several schools in Western New York to remain in the city overnight Saturday when their buses failed to get through to pick them up after the concert. The pupils came from Kenmore, Grand Island, East Aurora, North Collins, Gowanda and Iroquois.

In 1989, the Pavel Tsimberov family of Bemus Point would have good reason to remember this day. It marked the Tsimberovs’ first American Thanksgiving and they planned to observe it in the manner adhered to by those who had grown up with the tradition. The Russian emigrant family was made up of Pavel, his wife, Olga and their son, Sergey. When asked if his family planned to have the traditional American Thanksgiving meal, Pavel replied, “We’ll try, and Sergey will help to get everything right.” The youngster, who would be 9 years old in January, was a third-grader in the Fluvanna Elementary School.

A citizen’s group lost another round in its fight to have the past year’s state Thruway toll increase ruled illegal. The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, in a 5-0 decision, upheld the 30 percent toll hike on the 559-mile superhighway. The court said the Thruway Authority imposed the spring 1988 toll increase legally and with all the proper justification.

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, Erie Railroad Detective J.W. Stevens arrested William Griffith and Roy Budgett the previous morning on a warrant charging them with petit larceny. It appeared that Griffith and Budgett, who were draymen in Jamestown, picked up some English walnuts from the floor of the Erie freight house several days ago. The railroad official appeared against them. Griffith pleaded guilty to picking up the nuts and was fined $5 by Police Justice Maharon. Budgett claimed that the nuts he had were given him by Griffith and he was discharged.

An explosion of a box of brass polish in the office of the salesroom of Frank A. Humbert on Pine Street in Jamestown caused a slight damage from fire shortly before noon the previous day. Miss Bertha Britz, the bookkeeper, was cleaning a small stove in the office with the polish when the explosion occurred, due to the gasoline which the polish contained. The explosion ignited the wall back of the stove and the desk nearby. Miss Britz tried to put out the fire alone but on seeing that it was too much for her she went to the door and called Fred Kell of the Home Telephone Company, who happened to be passing. Between the two, the fire was extinguished. Miss Britz was not injured but the wall back of the stove was burned quite badly and an umbrella was destroyed.

In 1939, the Jamestown board of public utilities at its meeting voted to erect wire supports for Christmas decorative illuminations at Main and Third streets. City council previously voted to furnish up to $25 to pay for city power to be used for the lights furnished by businessmen of the city. Carl Swanson voted against stringing the wire and cutting in the city power. Mayor Harry C. Erickson and Max H. Lear spoke in favor of granting the request of the merchants, which was granted with the one dissenting vote of Mr. Swanson, who sought to place a limit on the amount of money to be expended by the board.

A delegation of directors of the Jamestown Automobile Club, with heads of the state and county highway departments, inspected the recently completed East Lake Road this afternoon following a dinner meeting at the Hotel Jamestown. Charles Waters, district engineer of the state department of public works, conducted a discussion of the highway program for the county for 1940. He said that $500,000 was being appropriated for the widening and resurfacing of the Westfield-Fredonia highway and that plans were going forward for a high-level bridge, spanning the Gorge near Westfield. He urged the need for more funds to be used in highway work, declaring that an insufficient portion of the state taxes was being used for highway purposes.

In 1989, in an effort to improve communication between Paragon Cable Television and its more than 21,000 customers, the local cable franchise had created Channel One, an informational newsletter. The newsletters were being produced partly in response to a series of articles in The Post-Journal on the cable company’s lack of communication with its customers, according to Daniel Swackhammer, Paragon’s communications manager. “We had to improve the channel of communication between us and the people,” Swackhammer said, “and this is our response.”

Jamestown Community College officials found it difficult to plan for the next academic year because they wouldn’t know for sure until August what the school’s budget would be. In the past, the State University of New York had asked the state for more money than the amount with which it could manage to run its operations. Then, when the state made cuts, JCC got about what it needed, said President Paul Benke. This year, SUNY was asking for less than it needed and was hoping to get more than it asked for, he said. The state was not allowing community colleges to increase tuition.

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, fire, discovered at 1:45 in the morning, burning at that time on the roof of the Hotel Imperial at Celoron, completely ruined the two large summer hotels at that resort, the Imperial and the Hotel De Celoron. The Hotel De Celoron, which was almost a total wreck, with only a part of the southwest corner walls standing, was owned by the Jamestown Brewing Company. It was completely furnished although it had been unoccupied for some months. The Hotel Imperial was owned by Charles O. Johnson of Celoron and a portion of its first floor walls were still standing. The west side apparatus from Jamestown responded very promptly. Two streams were turned on the blaze by the Celoron firemen and one stream added by the Jamestowners. It took good work to subdue the blaze before the entire structures were destroyed. Charles O. Johnson, proprietor of the Imperial, stated that the house was closed. He himself had visited it on the previous day and found everything in good shape.

A special election of Jamestown taxpayers to determine whether $25,000 should be appropriated for sewer extension in the city was being held at the city hall on this afternoon. The board of estimate and review had asked that a bond issue for $25,000 be made to take care of needed sewer extensions, although it was planned to spend about $26,000. The ballots gave a list of the streets and the extension necessary on each street.

In 1939, the new Foote Avenue Bridge spanning the Chadakoin River in Jamestown, which had been under construction for the past two months had been opened to traffic, according to Director of Public Works Leland L. Graham. The bridge built of structural steel and reinforced concrete was 60 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a roadway 30 feet in width and sidewalks on either side five feet wide. When the project was undertaken by city forces two months ago, it was originally intended to repair the former bridge but its condition deemed this inadvisable.

Measles caused a death in Jamestown for the second consecutive month, according to the vital statistical report for October of Viola Tyler, deputy registrar. The report also listed several deaths due to external causes including a pedestrian struck by an automobile, carbon monoxide gas, fractured hip, methyl alcohol poisoning, third degree burns and a natural gas explosion. In September there were only three violent deaths, two of them resulting from traffic accidents and the third by hanging. There were 83 births and 49 deaths in the previous month. In September, 76 babies entered the world and 28 persons died.

In 1964, the season’s first major snowstorm hit the area on this morning disrupting traffic and causing a rash of auto accidents. Several inches of snow, accompanied by freezing, gusty winds were dumped within several hours. Police were out in force in Jamestown in an attempt to keep traffic moving. The most troublesome spot was on Willard Street between Barrows and Allen Street, where about nine cars were reported to have slammed into each other. The only bright note in the midst of the hard-hitting storm was the arrival of Santa Claus. The expected crowd, however was reduced radically by the weather.

Jamestown Mayor Frederick H. Dunn had requested that all American flags be flown at half staff Sunday in observance of the death, Nov. 22, 1963, of President John F. Kennedy. The proper method of raising the flag to half staff was to raise it to the top of the staff and then lower it to the half-way mark. A 30-day mourning period proclaimed for President Herbert Hoover had ended two days previously, at sunset.

In 1989, winds up to 81 mph tore through Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties the previous night, downing trees and power lines that left 28,000 Niagara Mohawk customers without electricity and damaged buildings and cars. Lightning started a fire that destroyed a mobile home in Cattaraugus County. A return to normal late fall and early winter conditions was expected to move into the area this day. Meteorologist Debbie Bauer of the National Weather Service’s Buffalo office, said more normal weather would return to our area through Thanksgiving Day.

Would the Sea Lion float safely while buoyed off shore at Chautauqua Institution over the winter? Or would the replica 16th century merchant vessel be smashed to splinters by the lake’s shifting ice the following spring? The Chautauqua Lake Historic Vessels board – which planned to berth the ship on the lake all winter – said the ship would be safe in the water. People who were involved in building the ship and who had served as its crew, said it should be stored on land. O. Winston Bartholomew, director of the non-profit Historic Vessels organization, told The Post-Journal he intended to go ahead with a plan to anchor the ship 20 feet from Chautauqua Institution’s shore, near the Miller Bell Tower.

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, a scene of bustling activity greeted the eye on entering the Sherman Street Grammer School in Jamestown Thursday evening, the opening night of the American festival for the benefit of the Hundred Acre lot fund. There were patrons forcing their way through crowded corridors, the noise of barkers lauding their wares from behind gaily decorated booths, the tempting odor of freshly popped corn and coffee, the sweet scent of roses and everything brilliantly patriotic due to the dozens of American flags used in decorating. Fully 700 persons attended the festival and every ticket for admittance to the assembly hall of the school had been sold long before the hour for the formal program to commence.

• An Erie Railroad engine, traveling at about 50 miles an hour, ran wild into Cleveland early this day, endangering the lives of scores of persons at grade crossings and resulting in serious injury to Engineer J.S. Hitch, 41, of Youngstown, who jumped to avoid what he considered sure death. The fireman succeeded in stopping the engine almost in the heart of the city. When 10 miles out of Cleveland, the throttle of the engine failed to respond to the engineer and as the engine lurched forward, the coupling was broken from the tender, which was followed by a long freight train.

In 1939, Benjamin McDonald, 57, of Celoron, died in the Jamestown General Hospital after he was struck by an automobile operated by Clarence Johnson. McDonald was walking up the Lake road and when he reached a point between Louisa and Dunham avenues he was struck by Johnson’s car. After receiving first aid by Dr. D.O. Wetzen, who lived nearby, McDonald was taken to the hospital. Johnson, who was not held, said a car was approaching and its lights prevented him from seeing the pedestrian until he was about 15 feet away. He swerved to the left in an attempt to avoid hitting the man and collided with a car driven by Gordon Altland of West Ellicott. Johnson said his car brushed McDonald, the door handle hooking his coat pocket and throwing him onto the shoulder of the road. McDonald left a wife and eight children.

Bradford, Pa., High School Owls had forfeited four football games played this season due to the use of an ineligible player. Principal M.E. Prettyman of Bradford informed the affected schools that Theodore Huff, co-captain and tackle, had been found to have been ineligible for the four games, hence the forfeits although Bradford won all four games. Guff was found to have reached the age of 20 before the games were played. Jamestown High School lost to Bradford, 36-7 but Huff did not play against the Red and Green.

In 1964, Jamestown had begun erecting its Christmas decorations in the downtown section in preparation for Santa’s arrival the following day. About 50 golden canopy type decorations would adorn an equal number of the new downtown mercury vapor lights. Santa Claus would begin distributing candy to the youngsters at 10:30 a.m. from a point between the Washington Street bridge and the Erie-Lackawanna train station. Before stopping to greet his admirers, however, Santa would tour the downtown area, including Brooklyn Square, aboard a fire truck.

Mop up operations at Corry Area High School started the previous afternoon after an early morning fire caused about $1,250,000 in damages to the building. Hundreds of school children, Civil Defense personnel, firemen and National Guardsmen started to clean up after the fire which destroyed the senior high wing and caused fire and smoke damage to the cafeteria, library, auditorium, administrative offices and the junior high wing. Damage was so extensive to the senior high wing of 25 classrooms that brick walls might possibly be torn down when new building started. No determination had been made as to how the fire started.

In 1989, for the second straight year, the Pine Valley Panthers made it all the way to the Section 6, Class D championship game at Rich Stadium only to lose in overtime. This time it was by a 7-6 margin to Hinsdale. Division 10 winner Hinsdale and Division 9 champion Pine Valley were averaging over 30 points per game this season but the teams played to a scoreless tie in regulation time before the tie-breaker.

Jamestown High School’s marching band was off to New York City for another performance in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. And for 45 band members, the trip also included an appearance on Late Night With David Letterman on NBC Friday evening, said band director Louis Deppas. On Late Night the 45 band members would play the “Viewer Main Theme Song,” recently composed by Henry Mancini. Not all the band members would be on the show. “It’s a very small studio and there was no way we could fit the entire band in there,” Deppas said.

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, an accident which came just short of being serious took place the previous afternoon at the home of G.E. Mason on North Work Street in Falconer when Dudley Clark of Bemus Point was thrown by a horse which he was riding and then, as he lay on the ground, was attacked by the horse and kicked and trampled. The affair was an unusual one as Clark was an experienced horseman. With a companion, they were just starting for a horseback ride when Clark’s horse began an effort to unseat the rider. In the struggle the horse slipped on the ice in the roadway and fell, pinning Clark to the ground for a minute or so. As the horse scrambled to its feet it turned on Clark attempting to strike him in the head with its fore feet. It was first thought that internal injuries had been caused. However, Clark was able to get up and to go out in the evening. He reported that no serious injuries had resulted.

State Veterinarian F.G. Shepard was authority for the statement that there had been no report of any cases of foot and mouth disease in Chautauqua County or the territory in which he operated. The inquiry was made in view of the numerous cases reported in the Buffalo section and the possibility because of the widespread outbreak existing in 13 states that such cases might occur an any time in this district. Jamestown was no less interested than individual cattle owners for an outbreak here would mean not only a serious loss of cattle but a serious shortage in the milk supply.

In 1939, the Sportsmen’s Club on Chautauqua Lake at Stow celebrated its rebuilding, following a fire the past June, with a dinner Friday night for members and friends. It was estimated about 100 attended. The new building, just completed, was similar in design to the former one, except it was of the bungalow type and its floor dimensions were somewhat larger. There were two fireplaces instead of one on the north and south sides of the building. Construction of the building was begun Sept. 5, by the Olson Construction Company of Jamestown headed by Gust A. Olson. The new building was slightly nearer the lake than the old one. The old club was destroyed by fire after it was struck by lightning during a severe storm on June 28 in the evening. Most of the features of the old building, to which members had become accustomed, were a part of the new structure.

The death of Supreme Court Justice Pierce Butler might result in the appointment of Solicitor General Robert H. Jackson of Jamestown, to the cabinet. Many in Washington considered it likely that President Roosevelt would name Attorney General Frank Murphy to succeed Butler on the high court. Butler was the only Catholic on the court and the only midwesterner, Minnesota being his residence. Murphy was a Catholic and came from Michigan. If Murphy should be elevated to the court, it was considered likely that Jackson, the government’s highest law officer, would be named to succeed Murphy as head of the department of justice. Certain New Dealers in Washington wished to put Jackson in a position where he might be more available for the presidency if the President did not run for a third term.

In 1964, plans to stage a “Boost Jamestown Day” which were delayed by election activity, would be renewed at a meeting of the steering committee Tuesday, Dec. 1, at the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce building. The public celebration would be held in the Crystal Ballroom of the Hotel Jamestown and was designed both as a review of progress and a look into the future of the city. It had been estimated that some 1,500 persons could be expected to join in the civic tribute which would be similar to annual civic testimonials held in other cities. Leading personalities from all walks of life and from throughout the Western New York area would be invited to the event, which would include a dinner, brief outlines of progress by top industrial and business leaders and displays of Jamestown-made products.

Now local mail carriers had an additional weapon, besides their bag, to ward off those perennial offenders who appeared to relish the idea of bounding out of nowhere at the unsuspecting mailman. According to government sources, the spray called “Halt,” cayenne pepper and mineral oil, was 85 percent effective in controlling animal attacks. Arrangements were made with Jamestown Postmaster Raymond Gould to take a picture of a mailman spraying a dog whose favorite pastime was apparently barking and jumping at the carrier. Call it intuition if you will, but the dog seemed to sense there was something afoot and quickly returned to the ranks of “man’s best friend” before the spray could be used. However, other dogs were not as perceptive. Some had felt “Halt’s ” effect and the stuff actually worked.

Community

In Years Past

• In 1914, Daniel F. McCoy, aged 77 years, was the victim of a serious accident late Tuesday afternoon while assisting in doing the barn chores on the farm of his brother, George McCoy at Fentonville, where he was staying. Mr. McCoy went into the barn beside a colt and was kicked in the leg with sufficient force to break one of the bones. It was some time before he was found and taken into the house. A surgeon was called from Jamestown to attend to Mr. McCoy’s injuries and found the leg so badly swollen that he was unable to set the broken bone at that time. The fracture would be reduced this day if conditions permitted. Owing to Mr. McCoy’s advanced age, his condition was considered serious.

• The Salvation Army throughout the United States, numbering about 1,000 organizations, was aiding the sufferers in the European war zone by collecting linen and cotton and sending it abroad for hospital purposes. Each Wednesday and Thursday the various organizations collected the material and sent it to New York City, where the headquarters were located. Here the material was cut into strips for bandages and sterilized. The local Jamestown corps had this week met with excellent results in this work. The Wells-Fargo and American Express companies had given a two-thirds rate on all goods of this kind to be sent to the headquarters at New York.

• In 1939, the huge A & P self-service super market at 512 W. Third St., corner of Monroe Street in Jamestown, opened its doors to shoppers the previous morning. It was the newest link in the chain of stores operated by the Great Atlantic & Pacific Company and replaced the smaller super market formerly operated at 300 W. Third St. The new market was housed in a modern one-story brick building of steel and cement construction, built by Jamestown labor under direction of the J.M. Benzinger Construction Company. Feature of the market in addition to its size was its location, just outside the central business section with provisions for plenty of parking.

• Sheer artistry pervaded the Lakewood Methodist Church Friday evening for the dramatic recital presented by Mrs. Ralph W. Austin, reader and Miss Leola Fairchild, pianist, before a large and discriminating audience. The program was sponsored by the Ladies’ Aid Society of the church with the president, Mrs. Paul Vittur, in charge. Mrs. Vittur introduced the artists and also read the introductory explanation of the Bergliot saga, written by the Norwegian poet, Bjornson Bjornstjerne, one of the original winners of the Nobel prize in literature back in 1903.

• In 1964, Chautauqua County farmers were apparently better off than their counterparts in other sections of the state – they had water in their wells. According to Glenn Cline, county agricultural agent, with rare exceptions, county farmers had ample supplies of water. Unlike many areas in the state, he said, Chautauqua County’s precipitation had only been slightly below normal. During the past growing season, the agent said, precipitation was about normal here, whereas in most other New York counties, the rainfall was far below average.

• An objective study of the Jamestown City Hall building would be needed to determine the feasibility of remodeling the 70-year-old structure as part of any plans for expanding municipal office facilities at the present location, Norman Tinkham, Jamestown architect, told members of City Council. “It was not my intention to advocate wholeheartedly the retention of the City Hall building,” Mr. Tinkham stated. “My point was that if the walls and foundation are sound, the building has an intrinsic value which might justify consideration of such an expansion project.”

• In 1989, the bear was gone but it would be a long time before Marvin Sampson and his Benson Street neighbors forgot the animal’s two-week visit to the Willard Street area of Jamestown. The bear, captured in a state Department of Conservation live trap, added Sampson’s home to its list of nightly stops. In recent days, the bear kept getting closer to Sampson’s home and tried to climb on a deck that bordered the rear yard. “I was within eight yards of the bear. He was trying to come up on my deck,” Sampson said. The bear wasn’t satisfied with coming onto the deck. “Friday night he came and looked into our windows,” Sampson said. The bear, seemingly trying to get closer to his new neighbors, even tried to come into Sampson’s house by trying to hoist itself through his bedroom window.

• The immediate task facing Donald W. Ahlstrom was to assure the continued viability of city government, according to the mayor-elect of Jamestown. Ahlstrom won the office by 129 votes, according to County Election Commissioner Terry Niebel. Ahlstrom, the first Republican to win the mayor’s office in 20 years, said it was a tough campaign. “It’s difficult to run a campaign without money,” Ahlstrom said. “But I had some great people around me. They were very encouraging.”

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, falling from a camp box, Isaac Miller, 74 years old, a member of a Bellefonte, Pa., deer-hunting party in the Alleghenies, dislocated his left shoulder the past Sunday. So eager was he to get a shot at a deer that he refused to listen to friends and go home, but strapped the upper part of his arm to his body and hunted all week. The previous afternoon he walked six miles to the nearest settlement and the past night was brought home, 40 miles by automobile. The dislocated arm was reset and he was little the worst for the experience, though the party got no deer.

Winter, scheduled by the calendar for its first appearance for the season of 1914 in Jamestown just two weeks hence, made a hurried advance trip arriving here on this morning to look over the prospects. Apparently things looked good to the visitor from the north and the long engagement would open at once. What had Jamestown done to deserve this visitation? The light snowstorm of Monday afternoon turned into the first section of a real blizzard before morning and at daylight snow plows were out and a whole lot of people were up and exploring their clothes presses and trunks for their winter flannels.

In 1939, the City of Jamestown was saluted by Major Edward Bowes in his hour-long amateur radio show over the coast-to-coast network of the Columbia Broadcasting system Thursday night. The city’s history was reviewed and the various civic and industrial achievements cited by the impresario during the program. The major gave a special salute to “Jamestown’s favorite son” Robert H. Jackson, solicitor general of the United States, who was in the news previously during the day, being mentioned as a strong possibility for the Supreme Court to succeed the late Justice Pierce Butler.

The following is a portion of the verbal salute from Major Bowes to the city of Jamestown: “Jamestown’s products are many and far reaching. Furniture – she leads the world in the manufacture of metal office furniture – textiles and woolens, tools, voting machines, wood and metal products, ball bearings; washing machines, kitchen cabinets. A noted home-owning city – with tree-lined streets and beautiful parks and many churches and schools. Jamestown is a modern vacation Eden – a year round paradise for all varieties of sports and hobbies. Nearby is the famous Chautauqua Institution, with its famed symphony concerts, long a cultural and educational center, which each year draws visitors from all over the world. And so – our salutations to Jamestown, a model community, a thriving industrial center and a world famous playground.”

In 1964, Governor Rockefeller had stated flatly that there would be an increase in state taxes next year to balance a record-breaking budget in excess of $3 billion. Rockefeller, who campaigned in 1962 for re-election on a promise not to raise taxes and then admitted he had made a mistake, said Monday, “I couldn’t present a balanced budget without tax increases.” The New York State Constitution required a balanced budget.

A stern warning that youthful offenders brought before him for the second time could expect little favorable consideration from the court was sounded by Chautauqua County Judge Edwin O’Connor. The judge’s warning was given to parents, spiritual advisors, counsel and the youths involved, at the start of a morning session which saw 12 persons go before the court as youthful offenders. Two more appeared at the afternoon session. Judge O’Connor, in addressing the gathering in the courtroom, called for “something concrete” to be done in the matter. “Something that’s going to work has got to be done about youthful offenders,” he said.

In 1989, more snow and continued cold temperatures were expected throughout Western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania over the weekend on the heels of the area’s first major snowstorm of the season. The snow that fell late Thursday afternoon and overnight brought snow removal equipment into operation throughout the affected area. In Jamestown, Howard Pitt Jr., operations director with the city’s Department of Public Works, explained the response to the first significant snowfall of the season was slowed because of the need to change over trucks from leaf collection duties.

District schools in Newburgh, NY were closed as the town mourned and officials tried to help students cope with the deaths of seven elementary school children killed when a cafeteria wall collapsed during a violent storm. The wall, approximately 30 feet high and 50 feet wide, caved in on a group of first second and third graders as they were eating lunch at the East Coldenham Elementary School in Newburgh, about 60 miles north of New York City. Between 113 and 125 students were eating in the cafeteria when the brick, cinder-block and glass wall imploded. In addition to the seven killed, 18 children were injured. All the children were between 6 and 9 years of age.

Community

In Years Past

• In 1914, traffic at the Erie Railroad was delayed for several hours Tuesday evening on account of a freight wreck near the Main Street crossing in Jamestown at about 6:30 o’clock. A westbound freight train was the cause of the trouble. There was an engine at each end of the train and the accident was due to the fact that when the front engine slowed up for the crossing, the rear engine kept right on. This jammed the string of cars together with such force that an empty coal car was forced from the rails and lodged on top of a box car. It was not until nearly midnight that the debris was cleared away by a wrecking crew.

• “The need in this city of a tuberculosis sanitarium and outdoor school for children in the first stages of consumption is an imperative one,” said Miss Julia Anderson, the tuberculosis nurse in Jamestown. “There are many cases of tuberculosis not being cared for properly at home because the necessary conveniences are not available and the hospitals are unable to accommodate them, so what are we going to do?” Miss Anderson had under observation 81 cases of tuberculosis. Half of the patients were housewives, no other occupation yielding as many victims. This was attributed to the close confinement brought about through the performance of household duties and the care of many children.

• In 1939, collision of a combination booster-hose truck from Company No. 1, Jamestown city hall station and a pumper from Company No. 3, Winsor Street, at Newton Avenue and Stowe Street, during a rainstorm Friday evening sent two firemen to the General Hospital and caused damage to apparatus estimated at $500. Three firemen on the Winsor Street pumper were hurt but none required hospitalization, being sent home for the night. Firemen said a still alarm was received from the Buffalo Street pumping station, sending Companies from East Jamestown to put out a blaze in a boys’ play shanty on nearby Hayward Street. When they reached the scene they found the shack burned to the ground.

• A posse of men searched French Creek for a considerable distance and the surrounding countryside for about two hours Thursday afternoon for Kenneth Neckers, 4-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Neckers. They found the child about a three-quarter mile away from the house in the woods back of his home. He evidently had followed the wanderings of his small dog. When found he was crying and had his arms full of wood which he had gathered. His sturdy little legs had carried him to far off places, much to the concern of his parents. He was none the worse for his experience and his mother was recovering from hysteria and fright.

• In 1964, Jamestown schools not only met but went far beyond the standards prescribed by the N.Y.S. Education Dept., Dr. Harold L. O’Neal, superintendent, reported at a meeting of the Board of Education. Specific areas cited by Dr. O’Neal in which the local school program surpassed state regulations and requirements included length of school sessions, teachers’ pupil-load, library facilities, adult education, provisions for handicapped children, civil defense in schools and teacher salaries.

• Two area Navy men injured in auto accidents while home on leave were airlifted from Jamestown Municipal Airport to U.S. Naval Hospital, St. Albans, Long Island, the previous afternoon. James R. Billquist, of Jamestown, who was injured Oct. 27 in an accident on Fluvanna Avenue; and Jack Barner, of Warren, Pa., injured in Akeley, Pa., were removed to the hospital on a C-113 transport plane. Billquist had been hospitalized at W.C.A. and Barner in Warren General Hospital.

• In 1989, East Germany ended all border restrictions the previous day and cut a new passage in the Berlin Wall at Bernauer Strasse, where desperate people once leaped from windows and border guards shot down others trying to flee. Work was reported on many more new openings in the wall that divided the city for 28 years. More than 100,000 jubilant East Germans climbed over and rushed through borders Friday for the first time since 1961. They chatted amiably with stony-faced guards, who no longer had orders to open fire. Thousands crossed back and forth during the day. West German television showed East German guards helping East Berliners climb over the wall to avoid congested check points. Some border guards were handed roses by beaming girls.

• Willard Street residents had an unexpected and unwanted visitor in the evenings during the past two weeks. A black bear, rumored to weigh as much as 300 pounds, had been seen by several residents snooping through people’s garbage, Jamestown police said. Despite its trips into the city, the bear was wild and should not be approached, police said. “Everyone should remember that this is a wild animal and under no circumstances, try to approach it or startle it,” Capt. Lawrence Wallace of the Jamestown Police Department said.

Community

In Years Past

In 1914, Jamestown had its first real furniture exposition. There had been attempts to hold furniture expositions here in the past years but nothing of the magnitude of the present exposition had ever before been undertaken in Jamestown. While the exhibit was largely of Jamestown lines, there were some fine exhibits from outside the city and altogether the men who had interested themselves in this undertaking had every reason to feel encouraged over its success. Owing to lack of an exposition building, the exhibits were scattered all over the city. The manufacturers had secured every available inch of space for exhibits but it was only a drop in the bucket to the amount of space required for all the lines manufactured here.

Between Clarendon and Buchers Mill in Warren County an elm tree was cut down the past week that measured four feet through the butt which was measured two feet from the ground where it was sawed off. Nine logs were taken from the same and it contained 3,200 feet of lumber which every lumberman knew was some quality. An elm was expensive wood, the value on the tree being over $100. It was the property of the Central Lumber Company of Warren.

In 1939, Chautauqua County Supervisor Charles Rickenbrode, 55, of Ripley, who had served several terms in that office and was reelected at the past Tuesday’s election, suffered a heart attack the previous evening while attending a town board meeting and died shortly after being removed to his home. Mr. Rickenbrode was connected with the local basket factory and other businesses in Ripley. Born Feb. 16, 1884 at Mayville, Mr. Rickenbrode removed to Ripley early in his life and had been engaged in the basket making industry the greater share of his life with plants at Ripley, Stockton and North East under the firm name of Rickenbrode & Rownd.

Except for a sled and a box of Christmas ornaments, pitiful reminders of happy occasions, everything in the house owned by Carl and James Anderson and occupied by them and Mr. and Mrs. Norman Durnell and eight children, was lost in the fire which destroyed the house. Eighty bushels of potatoes stored in the cellar were burned with the rest of the property. The house was located at the foot of Prosser Hill on the Kiantone-Busti Road and an overheated stove was believed to have been the cause of the blaze, which was discovered about 10:30 a.m. The Durnell family discovered the fire but not before the flames were eating through the roof of the house. A call for help was sent to the Frewsburg Fire Department. In attempting to reach the place the fire truck became mired in the mud and was unable to give assistance.

In 1964, a group of 70 members of the Swiss Association of Master Carpenters and Furniture Dealers was expected to study Jamestown’s furniture industry the following spring. Murray S. Stephens, executive vice president of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce, said Swissair, the airline of Switzerland, had already requested information about the city of Jamestown. He said 200 copies of the folder describing Jamestown in general and 200 copies of the brochure put out by the Jamestown Furniture Manufacturers Association had been sent to the airline’s office in New York City.

The fate of a number of stately elm trees which lined the southern end of South Main Street in Jamestown could rest on the outcome of a survey being undertaken by Third Ward Councilman Westley Peterson. Protests against cutting down the trees, as authorized by City Council’s Highways Committee two weeks ago, were registered by a number of residents at a meeting of the committee the past night. Removal of approximately 19 trees between the curbs and sidewalks along South Main Street south of Cole Avenue was ordered by the committee two weeks ago after it was informed that roots of the trees were clogging the storm sewer and causing water to back up into the basements.

In 1989, tens of thousands of giddy East Germans streamed into West Berlin and other parts of West Germany this day after a heady night of celebrating the opening of the Berlin Wall and western borders for the first time in 28 years. “The Wall is gone! Berlin is again Berlin,” proclaimed a banner headline in the West Berlin Newspaper Bild Zeitung. Revelers in downtown West Berlin waved copies of the newspaper, popped champagne corks and lit sparklers. “The Berlin Wall will come down and Berlin will live,” said former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, who was mayor of West Berlin when the 9-foot-high Berlin Wall went up in 1961. East and West Berliners joined in dancing atop the Berlin Wall during the celebrations.

Carnahan’s, a major retailer in downtown Jamestown for more than 65 years, was opening a branch in Chautauqua Mall this day. Apparel for men and young men would be featured. The firm selected the mall location because it needed an additional store with extended shopping hours, according to Paul W. Sandberg, company president. There were no plans to change the downtown location. “Our flagship store stays anchored right where it is on West Third Street,” said Sandberg.

Community

In Years Past

• In 1914, the Republican party in Chautauqua County had come back. A plurality approximating 8,000 was given to the head of the ticket at the election Tuesday. The Progressive vote in the county had shrunk to less than 1,000. The Sulzer vote was larger than the Democratic vote. The Republican vote was larger than all three combined. Using the election of 1912 as a basis for comparison, and it was the only basis on which a comparison could be made, it was evident that Sulzer cut the Democratic vote in Chautauqua County squarely in two and only a little handful of voters remained loyal to the Progressive Party.

• Safe breakers blew a safe in the Boyles General Store at Venango the previous morning, the noise of the explosion waking the residents of the village for several blocks around and in the excitement that followed, the yeggs escaped. The news was at once sent out in each direction in an attempt to capture the men but at an early hour of this morning they had not been seen in the direction of Meadville. The force of the explosion completely wrecked the safe, blowing the door several yards away and doing slight damage to nearby articles. Whoever did the job was evidently an amateur as it bore all the earmarks of someone not very professional.

• In 1939, Satans Bowl of Death, which was run by the Auto Derby Club, Inc., closed its season Friday with a party honoring the drivers who had participated in the events held throughout the summer. William Shaw was the master of ceremonies and awarded a cup to Donald Okerlund, 19-year-old jalopy driver who took top honors in the competition, chalking up 3900 points and winning six feature races. A trophy was presented to Bill Fales of Pittsfield, Pa., for being the most outstanding Pennsylvania driver. Colored motion pictures of various races held in the Bowl were shown. Extensive regulations to promote more safety for the drivers in the jalopy races would be introduced next year.

• William E. FitzGerald of North Main Street, Jamestown, had the unusual experience of bagging a monkey which he mistook for a squirrel while hunting with Fred Schrader and Buster Armella near Red Bird Corners on the Sinclairville-Stockton Road Friday. FitzGerald shot the animal, believed to have been owned by Jerry Parker, Greenhurst, who reported it escaped from a cage two months previously. John Zentz, Mayville game warden, who was notified of the affair, reported there was nothing in state game laws relative to monkeys.

• In 1964, New York Democrats boasted a dazzling array of election prizes – a record landslide for President Johnson, a U.S. Senate seat for Robert F. Kennedy, control of the legislature and a majority of the state’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. Those swept out of office by the Johnson tidal wave included the top two Republicans in the Legislature, Senate Majority Leader Walter J. Mahoney and Assembly Speaker Joseph F. Carlino. The president rolled up an all-time-high plurality of nearly 2.4 million votes. He became the first presidential candidate in the state’s modern history to capture every county.

• Republican Congressman Charles E. Goodell of Jamestown failed to carry his home city but was returned to Washington by a comfortable 25,000 vote margin to represent the five county 38th Congressional District for his third full term. Rep. Goodell turned in an impressive showing in an election which saw many Western New York GOP candidates cut down by President Johnson’s record shattering victory.

• In 1989, a snowstorm made Friday a good day to build a snowman in Jamestown. Putting their hands to the cold task were Leslie Samuelson, 11; Katie Samuelson, 10; Natalie Samuelson, 7; Jason Luce, 3; Krista Nunn, 3; and Jeremy Nunn, 8. The snowman was at the Samuelson home at 25 Delevan Ave. Those who didn’t appreciate the sneak preview of winter the Southern Tier got on Friday would appreciate the official weather forecast for the rest of the weekend. Precipitation – frozen or otherwise – did not figure in to the forecast for the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

• Readers of The Post-Journal had probably noticed that the black ink used to print the newspaper did not rub off on their hands like it used to. That was because the newspaper had introduced a revolutionary new ink formula into the production of the daily newspaper. The new “no rub” black ink was more expensive but the readers deserved to have this nuisance eliminated.

Community

In Years Past

• In 1914, William George and daughter Alma of Duke Center, Pa., lost their lives in a gas explosion at their home late Saturday night. Miss George, 25 years old, had just returned from the home of a neighbor, lighted the gas log and was discussing the strong odor of leaking gas with her parent when the explosion occurred. Both George and his daughter were blown from the house by the force of the explosion. Miss George, who had seated herself on a lounge, was blown through a nearby window while George, who stood nearby, was hurled through the door. George crawled from the ruins of the home, his clothing ablaze. He was taken to the Bradford hospital where he died about midnight. Miss George walked to the home of a neighbor where she died an hour later from burns.

• A deliberate attempt to wreck the Republican knob on the voting machine in the First district of the second ward of Jamestown was made this forenoon. Fortunately, the attempt proved futile but it caused the election officials and voters of the ward considerable annoyance nevertheless. It was shortly before noon that Frank Clark entered the voting machine and seized the Whitman knob. The knob fell from the machine. Examination showed that someone had twisted it off with a pair of pliers. It had then been loosely replaced so that the next voter would be unable to operate it.

• In 1939, Ashville and Blockville youthful Halloween celebrators paid for their mischief – with money out of their own pockets and a little after-school studying. Twenty boys ranging in age from 14-17 years, were reported as moving two buildings, parts of a motor car, a buggy, corn stalks, etc., and placed them in front and on top of the gas station operated by George Bennett at Main and Maple streets. On Wednesday morning it was not possible to enter the place. Several dollars damage was done by breaking electric light bulbs, cutting electric cables and wasting material, aside from closing the place to business until about 3 p.m.

• About 150 persons attended the Halloween costume party at Edwards chapel in French Creek Monday evening. Games and contests appropriate to the occasion were directed by Mrs. Ethel Jones who was assisted with the decorations by Mrs. Bessie Tenbuckle. William Warnshuis won the adults prize for the funniest costume and Mrs. Ida Tenbuckle, representing a Spanish lady, won the prize for the prettiest adult outfit. Little Joan Mary Reed, in a Pierrot costume, won the first prize for the prettiest child’s outfit.

• In 1964, slight damage was done to a tar kettle, building paper and a section of south wall by fire this morning at the new Bemus Point Junior-Senior High School under construction on the Dutch Hollow Road. The blaze apparently stemmed from the overheated kettle. Considerable smoke resulted and a portion of it smudged the bricks on the south wall. Fluvanna firemen responded and the Ellery Fire Department was dispatched. Raymond Russell, clerk of the works, said damage was slight.

• For most American voters, politics stayed on the fringe of their personal concerns – and their November decision was more intuitive than reasoned. That was something hard to believe in an election year when politicians battered issues back and forth and debated with the vehemence of collegians, with political news in the mainstream. But the voter-at-large ignored much of the uproar and made his decision on the basis of his own political tendency and his sense of how the nation was going, and how his own personal affairs were going. These were the findings of 16 years of in-depth surveys of the American voter and his behavior in presidential and off-year elections since Harry Truman faced Thomas E. Dewey.

• In 1989, when 10-year-old David Gard decided to stay home from school on Monday because of a cold, he didn’t expect the day to be very interesting. But the afternoon brought excitement that he probably would never forget – he assisted in the birth of his baby brother when his mother went into labor at home, three months prematurely. “I was thankful he was home,” exclaimed his mother, Susan Gard of Fluvanna. “I don’t know what would have happened in the 20 minutes between the time the baby was born and the time David would have come home from school. I was not able to get to the phone.” Tiny William John Gard was transported by Starflight helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Buffalo. “He is in excellent shape,” Mrs. Gard said of her newborn son.

• The mysterious mushroom had been around for centuries and had caused many a cautious person, not knowing the difference between the mushroom and the poisonous toadstool, to scratch his head and walk away to live another day. This delicacy, however, was in no way a mystery to Hugh Dunne, the regional director for Allegany, Long Point and Erie state parks, who grew the gourmet Japanese Shittake mushrooms at his hillside home on the Scott Hollow Road, west of Salamanca. You wouldn’t find Dunne in a cool, dark and damp cave with a flashlight but rather out in his nearby woodlot with 1,600 4-foot logs. Each log annually produced an average of 1 pound of the tasty mushrooms.