Down Through the Years 2-09-11
By Shirley Erickson
100 Years Ago
When things get dull around the station and H. J. Crandall, night operator for the Missouri Pacific, at Wagstaff, wants to know just what is going on in different parts of the world, he walks to his room and listens to the messages coming through a peculiar apparatus lying on a table. It is the receiving station of his home made independent wireless telegraph station. Mr. Crandall conceived the notion of installing a “wireless” some time ago and he now has the system so perfected that he can handle all messages coming his way. Daily he catches messages out of the air sent from Kansas City, Leavenworth and St. Louis.
Business is picking up. That is business for the “minions” of the law. Last Thursday night Pearson Bros. Department store was broken into and the cash drawer suffered to the extent of $5.00. There being $3.00 in silver and $2.00 in pennies. The burglars also took about $100.00 worth of trousers, sizes 32 and 33. They entered the store by one of the back windows and scattered Eggo-See and other breakfast foods of Battle Creek fame over the lot back of the store in their entrance and exit. Nothing has been found as a clew to the culprits as yet.
75 Years Ago
Lawrence Schoonover of Garnett came here today as manager of the A. & P. store in place of Rex Smith who is staring to work for the Metropolitan Life Insurance company in Kansas City. Rex has been manager here since last August. He came here from Olathe. Lawrence has been working in the Garnett A. & P. store several years.
Bing Crosby was taken from Osawatomie last week to a Kansas City hospital suffering from double pneumonia. Bing is a bird dog owned by A. D. McClure. His condition is improved and he will be able to leave the hospital in four days.
Osawatomie was honored twice at the Kansas Day festivities in Topeka this year. The Women’s Kansas Day club unanimously elected Mrs. T. T. Solander president of their group and the state central committee of the Republican party selected Osawatomie for its second district meeting place February 20.
50 Years Ago
W. V. Jones, division train master for the Missouri Pacific Railroad, will retire effective Feb. 1.
He will be honored at an open house to be held at 7:30 p. m. Feb. 4 in the City Auditorium. Fellow workers are staging the event.
Jones, who was born April 5, 1893, will close out a half century of railroad service. He started his career with the Frisco Railroad in March 1909.
He joined MoPac in July 1918 at Hoisington and Osawatomie as a dispatcher. He was promoted to division trainmaster of May 20, 1925 and has lived here since.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones live on North 12th St. They have one son, Sandy, of Osawatomie.
Two girls from the First Christian Church, Joan Banister and Cheryl Smith, attended the state youth planning commission in Emporia Wednesday through Friday last week.
25 Years Ago
At least one former Osawatomie resident had an experience Tuesday morning that he’ll never forget. He witnessed the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger as it occurred.
Michael Chitwood, now of Golden Gate, Fla., was attempting to photograph the huge craft as it hurtled through the air, out over the ocean. He was listening to the mission control broadcast on his car radio as he watched.
Chitwood said he saw the explosion and the smoking trails scattering in all directions several seconds before the space control spokesman announced a “major malfunction” in the launch.
The observance Monday of Dr. Martin Luther King Day stirred memories for some Osawatomie residents.
Dr. Alan Smith, former pastor of the United Presbyterian Church here, recalled the day 20 years ago when Dr. King spoke in the church.
On June 6, 1965, the civil rights leader was a guest in the church and delivered the sermon. At that time, Smith was serving as interim pastor of the local church.
The church registration book for that date bears the signature of Dr. King.
Despite the closings of schools, financial institutions and most government offices, there was little done in Osawatomie to make the holiday for the slain civil rights leader.
The largest and nicest collection of new books received at any one time for patients at the Osawatomie State Hospital came from Ernie Mehl, sports editor of the Kansas City Star, according to hospital volunteer services director Mrs. Frank Bowker.
15 Years Ago
Estella Pritchard of Osawatomie has been honored with a Melvin Jones Fellow Award by the Lions Club International organization.
Ray Rothgeb of Independence, Kan., Lions Club Past District Governor, was in town Friday at the Osawatomie Lions Club weekly luncheon to make the award presentation to Mrs. Pritchard.
Melvin Jones Fellow awards are given to Lions Club members who make a significant contribution to the Lions Club International’s Sight First Campaign, which raises money to stamp out reversible and preventable formers of blindness.
Mrs. Pritchard’s donation was $1,000. Last year the Lions Club raised $134 million worldwide for the program.
“The contributions I made were in memory of my mother who was almost totally blind and my sister who suffered from double-vision,” Mrs. Pritchard said.
HISTORY HOUND—Homer White of Lane looks through his collection of historic pictures, newspaper clippings and artifacts, which he has been building up over the last 20 years. White said he is unsure of how much information that he has picked up through the years, but it is enough for area school students, town officials and local history buffs to call on him for information. (Accompanied a picture.)
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on Feb 9 2011. Filed under News and Updates.
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