BOUND VOLUMES, May 29, 2014
200 YEARS AGO
Anecdote – A Clergyman in Scotland desired his hearers never to call one another liars, but when anyone said the thing that was not, they ought to whistle. On Sunday he preached a sermon on the parable of the loaves and fishes, and being at a loss how to explain it, he said the loaves were not like those now-a-days, they were as big as some of the hills of Scotland! He had scarce pronounced these words when he heard a loud whistle. “Wha is that (says he) ca’s me a liar?” “It is I, Willy McDonald, the baker.” “Well, Willy, what objection have ye to wha I ha’ told you?” “None Mess. John, only I want to know what sort of ovens they had to bake those loaves in.”
June 1, 1814
150 YEARS AGO
The War News – No decisive action has occurred in Virginia since our last issue. For several days after the severe fighting of seven or eight days, the armies of Grant and Lee remained comparatively inactive. On Wednesday, May 18th, General Grant commenced what was at first intended to be a general engagement. But the enemy was found to be so strongly posted that the assault was abandoned after severe fighting in which both armies lost heavily. The next day Lee attempted to turn the right flank of Grant’s army, in which he was repulsed, principally by the gallant action of a division of new troops. On Friday morning there was a skirmish, in which 200 rebels were captured. Lee commenced a voluntary retreat on Friday. Whether Lee was compelled to fall back on account of a flanking movement by Grant, or rather to secure a new and stronger position, does not clearly appear. But whichever was the case, the retrograde movement took place and Grant pushed forward in pursuit. Our forces are reported occupying Guineas’ and Milford Stations, the first fifty and the latter forty miles from Richmond.
May 27, 1864
125 YEARS AGO
The one great question that divided the people at the last election was the question of taxation. The Democrats favored a reduction in both State and National taxes. Under the delusive cry of “protection” the Republicans carried the election, and the reform movement inaugurated by the Democrats under Cleveland as President, and Hill as Governor, was crushed for the time being. The first fruits are now being gathered. The State tax is increased three and one-half millions for this year over the tax of 1888, and the general government will show a corresponding increase when the next budget is made up. Under the endorsement received at the polls last fall, the Republicans seem to feel that it is a duty they owe the people to waste their hard-earned money. The State tax levy for this year is three millions higher than for any year since 1875.
May 31, 1889
100 YEARS AGO
In Our Town – There was considerable excitement in the vicinity of the post office on Monday morning when a mail bag containing something which gave out a sickening odor was received. Volunteers removed it to the back yard where it was opened in haste and found to contain a pasteboard box filled with sun fish packed in dandelion greens. The fish had been shipped from Westchester County and had been three days on the road. Fish are not to be shipped further than the first zone only when securely packed in a metal or wooden box. The “remains” were buried in an ash heap in the rear of the post office after the consent of the consignee had been obtained.
May 27, 1914
75 YEARS AGO
New York State Governor Herbert H. Lehman has approved the bill of Assemblyman Arthur L. Parsons of Central Bridge, Schoharie County, amending the conservation law to provide that it shall be illegal to carry any rifle larger than a .22 caliber rim fire during the open season for deer in counties where there is no open season for deer. Also signed by the governor was a bill of Senator Walter W. Stokes of Cooperstown amending the conservation law, by providing that persons in automobiles shall not carry any gun or rifle unless it was unloaded in both chamber and magazine.
May 31, 1939
50 YEARS AGO
A two-year-old male Labrador retriever, owned by Mrs. George Murnane of Syosset, and handled by J. Riser, won the James Mithoefer Memorial Trophy in the seventh annual Central New York Retriever Club field trial held here over the Memorial Day weekend. The trophy, offered for the first time this year honors the memory of Dr. James Mithoefer, who was an associate surgeon at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital and a founder and the first president of the club. The Syosset Labrador bested a field of 18 retrievers in the Derby, one of three events in the three-day trial which opened on Friday and ended Sunday. Mrs. Murnane will have possession of the trophy for one year plus a replica for permanent possession.
June 3, 1964
25 YEARS AGO
The NBC Today Show crew is coming to Cooperstown for a live broadcast with host Bryant Gumbel on the morning of June 2. Gumbel will open the show at 7 a.m. in front of the National Baseball Hall of Fame talking with museum curator Ted Spencer and associate director Bill Guilfoile. Interviews with Hall of Famers and baseball historian John Thorn will follow as the program moves along through the early morning hours. As Thorn is interviewed, the local Leatherstocking Town Ball team will play the Beachville, Ontario Cornstalks for the NBC cameras at Doubleday Field.
May 31, 1989
10 YEARS AGO
The nation has seen gasoline and fuel prices escalate at unprecedented rates in recent months and the average price per gallon is higher in the Cooperstown area. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.06. However, in the Cooperstown area the price has settled at around $2.15 per gallon. Nearly half the cost per gallon goes to the oil companies.
May 28, 2004
