In 1915, lightning, wind and rain, the latter amounting to cloudburst proportions in various sections of southern Chautauqua County between noon and half past 1 o’clock, caused serious damage in many places. Jamestown was in the path of the storm and while the rainfall was not serious here, the lightning damage was considerable. Gerry and Ellington suffered the most serious storms yet reported at this time, water flowing into Gerry village so it stood two or three feet deep near the D.A.V. & P. depot, and various places up Hatch Creek. Several buildings in Jamestown were struck by lightning. A bolt of lightning struck the Vandergrift block, shocking an electrician, George Bennett, who had rooms there.

The Jamestown club of the International Baseball League was still in serious financial conditions. It was hoped that with a good day Sunday and with the Rochester Internationals as the attraction, a large crowd would turn out and the gate receipts would greatly aid in pulling the team out of its trouble. However, as had been the case during most of the summer, a heavy rainstorm occurred shortly before the game and as a result, the attendance was less than 1,000. As had been generally known several of the players had declined offers from other teams in the hope that they would receive some of their back pay on Sunday. The poor crowd made this impossible and this morning Servatius, Lindholm and Getzie left the team.

In 1940, in Dr. Edward Howard Griggs’ amphitheater address Thursday night, he declared, “It was Woodrow Wilson’s greatness that he adhered so faithfully to the principles of democracy of Thomas Jefferson and applied those principles so widely to new problems of international relationship. Leading us through the first World War to victory, he dreamed a great dream – a dream of bringing together nations, believing in the rule of law not of force, in an organization to enforce justice in international relations and to eliminate war.” Contending that war still existed because nations had not caught up with men in controlling their relations, the speaker set forth his plan for peace. “The only solution is for nations to parallel civil society – to bring law abiding nations into an organization with the power to enforce justice. It is justice that needs enforcement, not peace. Peace, like happiness in individuals is a by-product of right living.”

There was a very definite possibility that the federal government’s civilian pilot training program in Jamestown would be expanded in the fall or the following spring according to a statement to The Journal by Frank Andrews, private flying specialist of the Civil Aeronautics Authority who arrived at the municipal airport to inspect the local pilot training set-up. Mr. Andrews was unable to state exactly how or when the expansion would take place but he indicated that the present program was only a start on the federal government’s venture toward training thousands of competent civilian fliers.

In 1965, authorities were making tests to determine the exact cause of the death of fish over the weekend in the West Branch of French Creek, an outlet for Findley Lake. Authorities said a small quantity of suckers, minnows and young muskellunge died after a dam on Findley Lake was opened about 8 p.m. Friday at the request of several residents to drain off a collection of algae. The dam was opened over the protests of Arthur Cooper, president of the Findley Lake Association, authorities said. Tests to determine the cause of the fish kill were being made by Pennsylvania and New York state authorities.

The Falconer Fire Department won the grand trophy in the parade at Silver Creek Saturday night, ending the three day convention of the Southwestern New York Volunteer Firemen’s Association. An estimated 15,000 watched the more than two hour parade in hot, humid weather which saw the mercury reach the 90s. The Falconer firemen won the grand trophy for having the best marching and performing fire department unit. They were led by their “Old-Timers” Kiltie Band.

In 1990, President Bush’s reaction to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s invasion and annexation of the small, oil-rich kingdom of Kuwait drew praise from the congressman from Warren. U.S. Rep. William F. Clinger fully supported President Bush’s response to events in the Middle East, David Fuscus, Clinger’s press secretary, said. Clinger, R-Warren, noted the Iraqi president was unpredictable. Clinger hoped the economic pressures on Iraq would make Hussein see his actions were not worth the cost. The congressman was “somewhat confident” the strategy would work, Fuscus said.

The leader of a movement that was pushing record companies to ditch the cardboard packaging in which compact discs were sold was claiming victory for his side. By the end of the year, a system would be in place to get rid of the environmentally wasteful “long boxes,” said Robert Simonds, chief financial officer of Rykodisc. Even the most vehement retailers would admit off the record that the days of the long box were numbered.

In Years Past

In 1915, four employees of the Warren Chemical Products Company had a narrow escape from death a few nights ago when they were overcome by the fumes of nitrate acid that they inhaled while at work cleaning out a tank in which it was contained. The men were ordered to do the work but no one warned them of the danger that attended the task, providing they breathed the fumes for too long a time. The men finished the work and after they climbed out of the tank they all sat down on the railroad track to rest up. One by one they toppled over unconscious. They were discovered by other workmen and a call was sent for a physician. They were worked over for some time before the doctor succeeded in bringing them around.

A chance arrest the previous day led to the discovery that the home of William Bookstaver at Central Avenue and West Fifth Street in Dunkirk had been ransacked by burglars during the night. Patrolmen Luczkowiak and Kurlinski were passing through the New York Central railroad yard on their way home when they saw a man throw a package into a car standing on a side track and them climb in after it. When they reached him he was trying to get rid of a revolver. The officers arrested him. He gave his name as Franklin Smith and said he lived in Buffalo. The police said they found in the package a pair of opera glasses, a handbag, a belt, several neckties, a number of pearl-handled knives, a string of beads and some other articles. The name Bookstaver appeared on some of the articles.

In 1940, John Gurney, youthful Metropolitan Opera Association basso-baritone, in his appearance as guest star with the Chautauqua Symphony orchestra under Albert Stoessel’s direction, attracted a capacity audience in the amphitheater and received a most enthusiastic ovation. Mr. Gurney was the son of Fred. W. Gurney, who originated the Gurney ball bearing and formed the company for its manufacture in Jamestown years ago. The company grew into Marlin-Rockwell Corporation, a leading industry in Jamestown. A brother, Daniel Gurney, was active in the company and a resident of Jamestown. Mr. Gurney had a magnificent voice. Its rich, well-rounded tone was deeper than the average baritone, bordering on the bass. His manner was easy and charming.

Harry Youngs, 50, superintendent of the North East, Pa., water works, was electrocuted when a 2,300-volt charge from the line of the Erie Lighting Company passed through his body. Mr. Youngs, with his brother, Ralph, was removing trees and limbs along the company’s lines on the North East-Findley Lake Road. A tree digger’s boom touched the high voltage wire, sending the current into the body of Mr. Youngs. His brother attempted to free him and he, too, received the heavy charge. Another man, Floyd Pritchard, struck Ralph Youngs, breaking his hold upon his brother’s body. His brother was then freed from the machine and rushed to the office of Dr. E.G. Shelley, where attempts at resuscitation failed.

In 1990, A fuel oil tanker burst into flames near Wrightsville, Pa., after tipping over in a ditch along Route 6 in Freehold Township early Monday evening. Six volunteer fire departments were called to the scene to put out the spectacular blaze. Route 6 was closed for about four hours. The only injury was to the tanker’s driver, Kenneth Holtz, 48, of Erie, Pa., who was in fair condition at St. Vincent Health Center in Erie. The tanker went out of control about 7:15 p.m. just north of Dugal Bridge. It overturned and slid into a ditch, rupturing the ports on the tank. Holtz was driving west at the time. The fire consumed the tanker and cab, leaving only portions of the frame remaining after the blaze was put out. Volunteer firefighters from Wrightsville were aided on the scene by those from Youngsville, Starbrick, Spring Creek, Corry and Bear Lake.

Concerns about the effects of a fire at a proposed tire recycling facility were aired at Monday’s Ripley Zoning-Planning Commission meeting. The commission requested the Ripley Fire Company’s attendance to give the commission input concerning the protection for commercial and light industrial areas, specifically for the tire recycling and storage facility proposed by Angelo Lutgen. The proposed facility would be built on Route 20 at the old Circle Motel site.

In Years Past

In 1915, eleven victims of Tuesday night’s flood in Erie were to be buried this day while Coroner Hanley and his deputies were arranging for the inquest which had been scheduled for Monday. Competent engineers were at work preparing data for presentation to the war department at Washington with a view of further regulations that would prevent further filling in of the Mill Creek channel and thus tend to avert a repetition of this disaster. The forces of men working in the wreckage were further increased and hundreds of wagons were pressed into service. Dynamite was used to blow the piles of debris to pieces.

The Jones Hospital commission in Jamestown decided at the meeting on Friday evening that people who were financially able had to pay for treatment at the institution and steps were to be taken to collect the amounts due from delinquents. There was a considerable discussion of this matter.

In 1940, music, speeches, dollar bills and general hilarity in which over 8,000 joined, marked Chautauqua’s 66th birthday celebration Tuesday night. The pre-set goal of $36,000 was exceeded, the figure being $39,281 when the totals were added up after the Old First Night celebration. The opening ceremonies, the traditional vesper services, were led by Mrs. Mina Miller Edison Hughes, daughter of Co-founder Lewis Miller, just as in the days of Chautuaqua’s early beginnings when the vespers were held beneath the trees in Miller park. Dr. Arthur E. Bestor, president of Chautauqua Institution, conducted the memorial service of the Drooping of the Lilies. This was a silent tribute to the founders, Bishop John Heyl Vincent and Lewis Miller as well as all old Chautauquans who had since died.

The Children’s Health Camp at Cassadaga would close for the season the following Monday evening at a special program to be presented to parents and friends of the children. Because of camp regulations, no visitor under 18 years of age could be admitted to the camp grounds. A day in camp would be depicted by a group of campers and the operetta, Hansel and Gretel, would be given by another group of children. The costumes and stage props for the operetta had been made by the children and staff at the camp.

In 1965, fire severely damaged two stores in the business district of Falconer the past night and was eating away at a third before the Falconer Fire Department with an assist from Jamestown, was able to bring the blaze under control. The rear of Peterson’s Central Market, 9 E. Main St., and George’s Shoes, 11 E. Main St., were extensively damaged by fire, smoke and water. The newly remodeled Anderson Restaurant at 7 E. Main received heavy fire and water damage to the kitchen area. The Ben Franklin Store, 13 E. Main, received only minor smoke damage. Falconer Fire Chief Frank Waddington said the fire appeared to have started in or near a metal trash container at the rear of Peterson’s Market.

The personality of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and his responses to a gamut of questions covering a broad range of international and domestic subjects won him an impressive ovation from a near-capacity audience of more than five thousand persons the past night in the Amphitheater of Chautauqua Institution. His performance was rewarded with prolonged applause and a standing ovation from the audience. For more than 20 minutes he moved back and forth across the front of the Amphitheater stage shaking hands and exchanging greetings with a throng of admirers who crowded the area.

In 1990, “I wanted to get on TV some way. That wasn’t the way I was planning on doing it,” said Jamestown Expos pitcher Bob Baxter after he became the victim of a Candid Camera prank in front of nearly 2,000 fans at College Stadium Monday night. And millions more would see it on Oct. 4 when Candid Camera’s sports special would air on CBS in prime time. The prank was taped at the start of the regularly scheduled New York-Penn League game with the Niagara Falls Rapids. Peter Funt, son of Candid Camera founder Allen Funt, first set up the prank by having Expos catcher Dan Hargis give nonsense signs to pitcher Baxter. Hargis and Funt, who posed as an umpire, were wearing microphones.

Gov. Mario Cuomo had asked state officials to determine if New York’s law restraining price-gouging could be used against oil companies. Prices at gas stations across the state had increased since the past week, when Iraq invaded oil-rich Kuwait. A top consumer aide stopped short of calling the higher prices gouging but admitted there had been a dramatic price increase since the past Thursday when Iraqi troops stormed Kuwait.

In Years Past

• In 1915, Erie’s flood horror was growing. Already 28 bodies had been recovered and Coroner Hanley had records of 75 missing. Chamber of Commerce and police officials estimated the loss in the city at $7,000,000 and the county at $2,000,000. Rain began falling again the past night and many residents of the city were panic stricken. All through the city women were crying and screaming hysterically, while the men were preparing for an all night watch and were ready to move out with their families and valuables at a moment’s notice. Many people had already left the city as the fear of pestilence grew. The city was under martial law with state guardsmen patrolling the streets. A large slaughter house was in the path of the flood. As a result, decaying carcasses were strewn about under the wreckage.

During one of the thunder storms this week, Alex Hunter, the 14-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hunter, residing on their farm near Tionesta, was struck by a bolt of lightning that came into the house on the telephone and for half an hour or more was unconscious and thought to be dead. The family was just sitting down to dinner in the dining room, the lad sitting with his back near the telephone, when the bolt came in on the wire and struck him on the back of the head. He was knocked off his chair. Dr. Hess was summoned and attended the boy who seemed to be out of danger.

In 1940, Robert Abers, 30, of Washington Street, Jamestown, was drowned in Cassadaga Lake at about 8:30 o’clock the previous night while swimming with a group of friends from Jamestown. Abers, a brother, John, and three other Jamestown men came to the Holtz boat livery at about 8:20 p.m. and entered the lake at that point to start swimming toward a raft about 100 yards from shore. Abers apparently decided he would be unable to reach the raft and had turned to head for shore when he suddenly sank below the surface. One of his companions tried to swim to his aid but was unable to reach him in time.

Heavy rainfall, the first in two weeks, accompanied by high winds and an electrical storm late the previous afternoon, caused some damage in Jamestown and vicinity. Gilbert C. Olson, public works department office engineer reported rainfall of 1.90 inches. This was more than fell during the entire month of July when total rainfall measured only 1.89 inches. The barn of Charles James, Ashville road, a half mile from the West Lake Road intersection, was destroyed by fire after the structure was hit by a bolt of lightning at 4:45 p.m. Hay, three calves and some chickens were destroyed. Lightning struck and killed a cow owned by Arthur Lindquist, Town Line Road, Busti, while the animal was grazing in the pasture.

In 1965, for Carl G. Pearson, Emory Drive, Jamestown, this day 20 years ago recalled vivid memories. Along with other members of the U.S. Air Force, he was standing alongside the runway on Tinian, waiting for the return of the Enola Gay, which had taken off hours previously on a mission that changed the political and military thinking of the entire world – the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Mr. Pearson, now a Jamestown businessman and community leader, who headed the city’s sesquicentennial observation a few years ago, was serving at the time with the 313th Bombardment Wing of the 20th Air Force.

Art Metal, Inc., worldwide producer of office equipment and furniture, had reported a profit of $2,086,000 for the fiscal year ended May 31, 1965 – more than twice the preceding year’s profit of $1,004.000. The profit for 1964-65 was not subject to Federal income tax because of a loss carry-forward from earlier years, officials said. The company president W. Cornell Dechert, said, “The principle factor contributing to the earnings increase was a substantial improvement of operating results of the Art Metal domestic company.

In 1990, retail service stations in the area had responded to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait the same way service stations across the country had responded – they raised gasoline prices. However, the increases were because of decisions made by the parent companies and not local owners, many area service stations had said. Gasoline prices had gone up 4 to 7 cents a gallon since the end of the past week in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Warren counties but consumers didn’t seem to be minding yet. “People are a little concerned, but they’re taking it all in stride,” said an employee of Chet’s Mobil Service Center on Washington Avenue in Jamestown.

Bronx Burrough President Fernando Ferrer, spurred by his own daughter’s fears for her safety, called for an emergency crime summit in New York City where five children had been killed by stray bullets in the past two weeks. “It’s bad enough that we’ve been driven behind locked doors but now even a locked door is not enough,” said Ferrer on Sunday, in reference to two of the recent slayings. The past Monday a 9-month-old Bronx baby playing in his walker was hit by bullets fired through an apartment door.

In Years Past

In 1915, shortly before noon this day a party of lake property owners visited the Warner Dam in Jamestown and after inspecting conditions there stopped at the Shearman Brothers’ factory and interviewed Frank E. Shearman, Sr. The men asked that more slash boards be taken out of the dam in order that the flooding conditions of Chautauqua Lake be relieved. In reply, Mr. Shearman stated that in his opinion, the initial trouble was at the boatlanding bridge where the river had been filled in. He said that would take care of all the water that came past the bridge.

Working in relays under a scorching sun, police, firemen and volunteers continued their search in the masses of wreckage piled along Mill Creek in Erie by Tuesday’s freshet, for the bodies still believed to be in the debris. Some headway was made during the night and anxious crowds moved from temporary morgue to temporary morgue every time the report was spread that another body had been uncovered. There still remained, however, great piles of ruins that had not been explored and friends of many missing persons shuddered when they thought of what those unsightly heaps might hold.

In 1940, as a result of its negligence in having permitted tanning liquors and acids to drain into Tionesta Creek near Sheffield, thereby polluting the stream to the extent that hundreds of game fish, including bass and trout, were killed, the Surplus and Salvage Company of Jamestown was assessed a fine of $100. The fine was imposed by Fish Warden R.C. Bailey of Youngsville. The tanning liquor and acid which allegedly caused the destruction of the fish was emptied from vats at the old Instanter tannery at Sheffield. The tannery was being dismantled by the salvage company.

The Hamid-Morton circus, featuring Clyde Beatty, wild animal trainer and Lee Powell, the Lone Ranger, presented its sixth and final performance at the East Second Street lot in Jamestown Saturday night before a capacity crowd of spectators. The show, which was sponsored by the Jamestown Shrine club, left for Warren, Pa., Sunday, continuing to Oil City and Erie later in the week. The committee in charge of the circus took orphans and many children unable to afford a ticket to see the circus. The tickets were sponsored by public-spirited citizens.

In 1965, a Jamestown man was injured and his automobile extensively damaged in an early morning accident at Fifth and Main streets. Richard Webb, 21, of State Street, was admitted to Jamestown General Hospital. His condition was satisfactory. Sgt. James Bond said Mr. Webb was the driver of an auto which was northbound on Main Street about 6:45 a.m. At the intersection of Fifth Street, his car was struck by an eastbound auto, operated by James Hancock, 54, of Livingston Ave. The Webb auto was overturned by the impact, coming to rest on its top. Sgt. Bond credited the use of a safety belt with “probably saving the life” of Mr. Webb. “This is one accident where the driver would almost certainly have been killed or badly injured if it had not been for a safety belt.”

Jamestown City Council would be called upon for some indication of its intentions regarding future operation of the Municipal Golf Course after the current season when construction of a new building at Jamestown Community College was expected to make part of the course unavailable for play. The committee discussed the problem created by the prospect that the new $1,500,000 building for the college was to be erected on a site which would make it impossible to continue use of portions of the golf course, including the fifth green and the sixth and seventh tees. There was no space available on the present course to relocate the portions which would be eliminated.

In Years Past

• In 1915, a cloudburst which came as a climax of a three days rain caused the death of from 40 to 50 persons and property damage estimated at $3,00,000 at Erie, Pa., Tuesday night. Scores of persons were rescued from their homes as the houses were swept from their foundations. Many buildings were washed away entirely. The entire city was inundated and for a time the downtown streets were five feet under water. Not in recent years had a catastrophe of this magnitude visited western Pennsylvania. That Erie should suffer to such extent seemed hardly believable for the only water course in the city was Mill Creek, ordinarily a sluggish stream.

• Mabel O’Brien, a student, was found dying alongside the state road one half mile north of Olean toward Hinsdale the past evening. She expired before the arrival of a physician and an ambulance which had been hurriedly summoned by telephone. The discovery of the girl was made by a neighbor, Oliver Wagner, who was walking along the road. Wagner reported that he was passed by an automobile that was pursuing a zigzag course in the direction of Olean. The local police started at once in an automobile in pursuit of the car supposed to have caused the fatality. The car was found abandoned about one mile north of the scene. Blood was found on the wheels, mudguards and running board.

• In 1940, inauguration of direct airmail service for Jamestown, over a pickup route with Pittsburgh the southern and Jamestown the northern terminal, would take place Monday, August 12, according to an announcement by Postmaster General James Farley. Additional pickup routes between Pittsburgh and Huntington, W. Va., and Pittsburgh and Philadelphia would start on the same day. All-American Aviation, Inc. of Wilmington, Delaware, would operate the pickup routes. The effort to obtain direct airmail service for Jamestown was started several years ago.

• With the city of Salamanca gaily bedecked with flags and banners of modernistic design, the citizenry anxiously awaited the opening ceremonies of the 32nd annual convention of the Southwestern Firemen’s Association to be held August 7-8-9. Local committees were completing their final plans for the welcome spectacle. Rope span arches in designs of red and white had been strung across the city streets and the ornamental light poles in the business section were decorated on each side by colorful streamers. Preparations had also been made to cover the entire downtown business section with a huge amplifying and public address system.

• In 1965, application of the new 2 percent sales tax as it affected sale, purchase and registration of new and used vehicles had been explained by Donald Carlson, auto license bureau director at Mayville. Mr. Carlson said that when a new or used car was purchased from a dealer the tax would be paid at that time and the buyer would receive a bill of sale stamped to certify payment of the tax. When a car was bought from an individual, the purchaser, prior to registering the vehicle in his name, must pay the tax to the auto license bureau on basis of cost as indicated by the purchaser on a statement of transaction.

• A public water emergency was declared by the Dunkirk Common Council the past evening when extensive damage to the city’s water intake crib off Point Gratiot was reported by Leonard Zimmer, president of the Dunkirk Diving and Research Co. Council ordered immediate repairs be made after viewing pictures of the damage created by lake ice during the winter months. Mr. Zimmer told councilmen that several layers of timbers surrounding the intake had been split lengthwise or damaged to such an extent that stones from the cribbing had worked their way into the intake. Mr. Zimmer’s firm was instructed to carry out emergency repairs.

• In 1990, Lakewood Mayor Anthony Caprino and Bruce Weitz, Grossman’s executive vice president and general manager, were on hand Friday at a board-cutting ceremony to celebrate the “grand re-opening” of the Grossman’s store on East Fairmount Avenue. Over the past six months, the store had been expanded to 50,000 square feet from its original 12,000 square feet. Weitz said the Lakewood store was the model that other Grossman’s stores would follow in the Northeast.

• Motorists across the country were already paying more at the gasoline pumps because of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent jump in oil prices. And already, some were howling accusations of price gouging. The American Automobile Association said its survey of 1,400 retail gasoline stations nationwide showed self-service unleaded gasoline prices increased 4 cents in two days, to an average of $1.11 a gallon.

In Years Past

• In 1915, serious damage to the tracks of the Chautauqua Traction Company on the west side of Chautauqua Lake between Sylvan Park and Chautauqua, was narrowly averted Monday afternoon when a small sized cloudburst over the headwaters of Prendergast Creek and the smaller streams running into the lake at that point, caused the water to rise to an unprecedented height. At Aiken’s mills, it was said that there was a rise of four feet in a few minutes and stumps, small trees, logs, etc., came down and lodged against the road and railroad bridges with such force as to threaten the structures.

• At the close of the past Saturday’s double header at Wellsville, Manager Bell of the Warren club unconditionally released Pitcher Custer and Catcher Carroll. Custer failed to show up in proper style while Carroll seemed unable to hit well enough to hold a berth on the club. Catcher Carlton, late of the Hornell club and a former Jamestown catcher, had been signed up by the Warren management as had also a shortstop by the name of Stewart. The latter was recommended by Roger Bresnahan, manager of the Chicago Cubs.

• In 1940, Claude Althroff of Warren was instantly killed about 2:25 o’clock Thursday afternoon at the plant of the Warren Axe & Tool Company on the East Side, when he was struck on the head by a large piece of an emery wheel which exploded while he was grinding an axe. The force of the blow threw him about 12 feet. The fragment continued on across the floor about 25 feet, narrowly missing several workmen. Another piece from the wheel went through the roof of the plant. The wheel had been a new one, only placed in use about noon on the day of the accident.

• About 130,000 bricks were being purchased by the city of Jamestown for completion of the streetcar rail removal project, according to announcement by Director of Public Works, Charles Strandburg. Many of the bricks had already been received and used in North Main and East Second streets. The bricks would be paid for by the federal government, sponsor of the WPA project under which the rails were being removed. With completion of the West Sixth Street paving and resurfacing project, the crew would be shifted to the East Second Street rail removal work.

• In 1965, a Jamestown clergyman called on City Council’s public safety committee to study problems involving juveniles in the neighborhood of Tenth and Washington streets. The Rev. Clifford Hill, associate pastor of the North Main Street Church of God, suggested efforts be made to halt the use of 10th Street by youngsters for playing ball. He cited hazards to the children from traffic using the street and also noted any motorist whose car struck one of the youngsters “would not be entirely to blame.”

• Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator from New York, would “Face the Press” at Chautauqua on Friday. The topic under discussion that evening in the amphitheater would be “National and International Issues of 1965.” Sen. Kennedy would be questioned by a panel of three newsmen – Earl Mazo, reporter for Reader’s Digest magazine; Lucian Warren, Washington D.C. correspondent, Buffalo Courier-Express and James West, city editor of the Erie, Pa., Times.

• In 1990, the average ALLTEL New York home customer with a Tel-Touch telephone could expect to find their bill increased by about 40 cents a month for the rest of the year. The added charge was the result of a state-imposed gross revenue surcharge that increased from 3.41 percent to 6.04 percent as of August 1. Gary Walker, the utility’s operations vice president, said the new rate would be in effect through 1990 and was scheduled to decrease in the next three years to 3.9 percent in 1993.

• An Ohio man was killed early this day in a one-car accident on the state Thruway near the town of Sheridan. His son and wife were in serious condition in a hospital in Erie as a result of the accident. Dead was Donald Prekler, 54, of Mentor, Ohio. His wife, Norma, 51, and son, Philip, 14, were taken to Brooks Memorial Hospital and then airlifted by Starflight helicopter to Saint Vincent’s Health Center in Erie. Buffalo Thruway State Police said Prekler was driving east on I-90 when he apparently fell asleep at the wheel of his car shortly after 2 a.m. Troopers believed Prekler’s car wandered into the center median and when he woke up he overcorrected on the roadway, hit the shoulder of the road sideways and overturned the car. No one in the car was wearing seatbelts.

In Years Past

In 1915, the ninth encampment of the supreme division, Uniform rank of Maccabees, was being held at Celoron Park, which presented a military appearance, with row after row of tents in the grove and officers and men in uniform everywhere to be seen. The camp was formally opened with appropriate exercises Sunday afternoon and the tents would be struck Saturday morning. There was a completely equipped hospital tent and also a large tent which served the purposes of an auditorium, while the old dance hall which extended for a considerable distance over the lake at the lower end of the park was used as a mess hall. The entire grove was occupied by the camp and the baseball park was used as the drill and parade grounds.

• According to the Buffalo weather man, Sunday was the hottest day of the summer and no one in this section would be inclined to dispute the statement, for the day was certainly uncomfortably hot. It was the humidity more than the heat that made life uncomfortable. It was better on Chautauqua Lake than on the Great Lakes for a slight breeze was stirring during the day. There was a big rush to various points on Chautauqua Lake. Traction cars on both sides, steamers and private craft were loaded throughout the day. The automobiles, too, were in large numbers.

In 1940, a restricted narcotic supply because of war and intensified law enforcement was driving drug addicts to desperate thievery. “They are stealing morphine, forging physicians’ prescriptions, going to any limits to get dope,” Frank Smith, director of New York State’s Narcotics Bureau, said in an interview. War had drastically curtailed shipments from the Orient. Law enforcement was sterner each day – New York’s four-man narcotics bureau cooperating with local and state police arrested more than 2,500 distributors the past year.

With three officers and 87 enlisted men on its roster, Company E, 174th infantry, New York National Guard, would march out of the state armory in Jamestown at 6:30 o’clock Saturday evening on the first leg of a long trip which would end late Sunday afternoon at DeKalb Junction, a small village in St. Lawrence County, not far from Ogdensburg, for joint regular army and National Guard maneuvers of 105,000 officers and men of the First army. The company, under the command of Captain Fred Ellis, would march down Porter Avenue to Third Street, across the bridge and on Fairmount Avenue to the J.W.&N.W. railroad terminal, boarding special cars and leaving for Buffalo to join the other companies of the regiment for the eastward trip.

In 1965, firemen were jeopardized by exploding shotgun shells while fighting an early Sunday morning, two-alarm fire at Dunkirk which destroyed a 2 1/2 story frame house and damaged the adjacent 1 1/2 story frame dwelling. One person was overcome by smoke inhalation while attempting to flee from one of the burning houses. The 2 1/2 story house of Matthew Kucharski Sr., on E. 2nd St., where the fire started, was totally destroyed. The flames leaped a distance of 15 feet and damaged the second floor 1 1/2 story home of Sophie Kurgan. Mr. Kucharski’s 21-year-old son, Matthew, Jr., was overcome by smoke as he attempted to flee through the kitchen door. His father stumbled over his son’s body. The elderly Mr. Kucharski managed to pull him outdoors where first aid was administered.

Declaring that the main theme of the Christian life was to give service to one’s fellow man, the Rev. Howard Pettersen of Ashtabula, Ohio, paid tribute to Mrs. Earle Hultquist for her gift of $250,000 to build an infirmary at the Lutheran Retirement Home, Falconer Street and Aldren Avenue in Jamestown. Mr. Pettersen gave the main talk at the ground breaking ceremonies for the Earle O. Hultquist Infirmary the previous afternoon attended by about 250 persons. The services, held in the grove where the infirmary was to be built, marked the 35th anniversary celebration of the home.

In 1990, Iraq’s powerful army invaded the small, oil-rich kingdom of Kuwait early this day. Tank-led troops quickly seized the ruler’s palace and government buildings and the emir fled to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait officials said. “The Iraqis have occupied all of Kuwait!” one government official shouted in a telephone interview. Urgent appeals for blood donations indicated a significant casualty count but no numbers could be confirmed. The Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States said “U.S. intervention at this stage is of paramount importance.”

The largest ladder truck in Chautauqua County was recently purchased by the Lakewood Volunteer Fire Department. Fire Chief Steve Smouse said the 110-foot ladder truck was one of a kind in the county and was purchased with the intent of providing mutual aid – giving assistance to other rescue squads in the county. Instrumental in the purchase, Smouse said, was an engine donated by Cummins Engine Co. of Lakewood which saved the fire department about $12,500.

In Years Past

In 1915, invitations had been sent out for the annual reunion of the correspondents of The Jamestown Journal to be held at Chautauqua on August 10 next. The responses received were numerous and indicated that a large number of the correspondents and many of their guests would take advantage of the opportunity for meeting together and enjoying the program which had been arranged. The event was to be an unusual one in the history of this association, which was in its eighth year.

The Victor Gold Dredge, invented by Dr. F.A. Monroe of Jamestown would be sent to Northwestern Colorado the following week for trial. This machine was to be used in placer mining in separating the gold from the gravel. Dr. Monroe had been working on this machine for many years and received his patent the past January, having applied for it five years previously. Three hundred twenty acres of land had been purchased in the mining country of Northwestern Colorado by Dr. Monroe and another Jamestown man to try out the machine and the doctor would leave the following week to superintend the trial.

In 1940, a Pennsylvania coal vendor, who had made a business of operating a large truck from the Shamokin fields to Chautauqua County homes, was apprehended by authorities and prosecuted for shortweight under the New York State Agriculture & Market Law, for violation of Section 197-A Article 16-A, which prescribed that each ton of coal should weight 2,000 pounds and that a licensed weigh master should certify to the accurate weight of each delivery. When arraigned before Justice of the Peace Earle W. Gage in Ashville, Edward Sebelski of Shamokin, Pa., entered a plea of guilty to a charge of giving short measure to two North Harmony residents and was fined $100 as a second offender in two days’ time.

• After a lapse of many years, wild bears, while few in number, were to be found in Chautauqua County. A mother bear and her two cubs had been sighted on several occasions of late between Fredonia and Stockton and were believed to be spending more of their time in the thick undergrowth of Wheeler Gulf. A farm hand, making a shortcut through the ravine, came face to face with the trio. “It only lasted a matter of seconds,” he said. “The old bear growled and I fled.” A large bear had also taken up its abode in Farrington Hollow in the town of Villenova.

In 1990, Gov. Mario Cuomo’s top economic advisor said New York state was still interested in buying the New York Yankees if embattled owner George Steinbrenner wanted to sell. While Cuomo aide Vincent Tese said that he didn’t think any such sale was imminent, he said New York would be ready to move if conditions changed. Tese said that while he agreed with Cuomo, a former minor league player, that major league owners would probably reject public ownership of the Bronx Bombers, “that doesn’t stop us from at least trying and I think we would try.”

Residents in Mayville could raise their glasses and propose a toast to a personal victory. Naturally, they’d be drinking local water, since it could be the cause for celebration. The village of Mayville’s water was judged the best-tasting in a blind taste test at the Chautauqua County Fair in Dunkirk.

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