HOMETOWN HISTORY

July 29, 2021

Compiled by Tom Heitz/SHARON STUART, with resources
courtesy of The Fenimore Art Museum Research Library

135 Years Ago

It would be difficult for the lover of wild and picturesque scenery to imagine a more delightful trip than that afforded by a ride at this season over the New York, Ontario, and Western railroad between Sidney Plains and Middletown. The road winds its way through the wildest regions of Delaware and Sullivan counties, traveling up mountain sides, crossing gorges, and now and then darting through tunnels; then, after reaching Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, runs for many miles along the shore of the Hudson River at a point where the view is the most desirable. Altogether it is a ride worth taking, if for no other motive than to view the matchless scenery to the eye along the way.

July 1886

110 Years Ago

Advertisement – The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth will present in Oneonta on Tuesday, August 8, the greatest street parade in the history of the American circus. It is three miles in length and the cost to management is $1,000,000. With the advantage of many years spent in touring all the civilized countries of the world Barnum & Bailey’s many agents have been constantly gathering material to be used in street spectacles. Remote savage lands have been ransacked. Artists and designers from France and Italy have worked out the designs and ideas. Day and night for two years, mechanics and property builders have toiled in foreign workshops, executing these ideas. There has been no regard to the cost. It is a congress of nations, a horse fair, a musical convention, a zoological garden on wheels, a fairyland carnival, and an academy of science, all rolled into one panorama. Among the foremost features are John Ducander’s orchestra of horses, that play real music on sweet-toned bells; Jupiter, the balloon horse that goes up to the roof of the tent and comes down in a shower of fireworks; the Konyot family of wild riders; the Siegrist-Sibon family of aerialists; the great Fonelli family of Italian acrobats and Victoria Codora, the Spanish high-wire necromancer.

July 1911

90 Years Ago

The drastic cut in the price of cream recently announced by the Sheffield unit of the National Dairy Co. has aroused a vast amount of discussion, as might well be expected. R.M. Wellwood, vice-president of the Sheffield Farms Co., answers the criticism which has been leveled at his concern by saying, “The reduction of 25 percent in retail cream prices was made to meet competitive prices that have existed in the New York market for some time. This is evidenced by the fact that the wholesale price of cream was so low that this cream was resold at stores for 10 cents a half pint as compared with our former price of 24 cents a half pint, retail route delivery.” Wellwood claims the reduction will increase sales. J.A. Coulter, secretary of the 47,000-member Dairymen’s League responds: “Farmers cannot reduce the price of their milk any lower without many of them going to the wall.” He adds: “A reduction of two cents a quart would cost the farmers of the New York milk shed $3,000,000 a month.”

July 1931

70 Years Ago

Three new clay tennis courts on which work was begun ten weeks ago were opened yesterday in Wilber Park as a memorial to the late George I. Wilber, whose bequest made them possible. The courts, costing more than $8,000, were paid for out of the Wilber Fund, not from public taxes. They are regulation in size and equipment, are enclosed by high wire fencing, and have catch basins to drain them. A slate dust top dressing known as “red coat,” sometimes called “brick dust,” was applied late last week after the blue clay had been rolled into place. Wilber Park now has six clay courts and two blacktop courts, and another blacktop court is being built on the upper level to serve as a combination tennis and basketball court. One like it is also underway in Neahwa Park and both will likely be open for play next week.

July 1951

30 Years Ago

Last week the New York State Board of Regents voted to recast how social studies subjects are taught in the elementary and secondary schools. The reforms are aimed at abandoning some of the myths that have passed for history in the classroom. At the same time the Regents rejected a proposal to give some public school students vouchers to pay for tuition at private schools.

July 1991

20 Years Ago

Roberta Puritz, Otsego County Representative for the First and Second wards in Oneonta, will hold a constituent night on Monday in the Supreme Court Chambers at the Otsego County Office Building at 242 Main Street, from 7 to 8 p.m. Among the issues which are currently before the county board are the design of the New Meadows and a materials recycling center.

July 2001