HOMETOWN HISTORY, November 1, 2013

125 Years Ago
Attention Laboring Men: The recent strike on the Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley railroad was due to a reduction of wages paid the Italian laborers employed from $1.25 to $1.00 per day. On the street railway recently built in Oneonta, mainly through the efforts of Hon. David Wilber, wages were $1.50 a day and home labor was employed – something of a contrast in methods. Laboring men here will appreciate the difference and being aware that the Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley management, now as two years ago, are opposing the election of Mr. Wilber, regardless of politics, will see to it, we have no doubt, that such opposition results, as heretofore, to Mr. Wilber’s advantage.
November 1888

100 Years Ago
City attorney Owen C. Becker was the speaker before the Fortnightly Club at a meeting at the residence of Supt. George J. Dann on Watkins Avenue at which nearly 30 members were in attendance. His subject was “Some Tendencies of the Times.” The speaker declared his belief that conditions are growing better in politics, referring to the time when legislatures were bought and sold and corruption was winked at everywhere. Although the progress has been slow, we have lived to see reforms in our election laws, from a condition when floaters were bid for at the polls to a condition when comparatively little money is used for the purpose of influencing the voters. The last 25 years have seen rapid progress and advancement in the cause of labor. Laws have been enacted protecting women and children in industry; providing safety appliances and sanitation in working places, providing compensation for industrial accidents, providing a minimum wage scale, and recently providing for the arbitration of differences between employers and employees.
November 1913

80 Years Ago
One-fifth of all children in New York State under the age of 16 years are in families receiving public relief. This is brought out in a report released by the State Temporary Emergency Relief Administration. Individuals over 16 years of age whose families, or who themselves, are on relief rolls comprise one-twelfth of all people over the age of 16 years in the state. The collection of these figures was for the purpose of computing the amount of cod-liver oil necessary to carry relief children through the winter. The state administration advocates that local relief officials provide a pint of cod liver oil each month for each child under three years of age, and for each undernourished child. The state likewise advocates the extensive use of milk in relief families. A quart of milk a day is considered the proper minimum amount for each child under six years and between 10 and 16 years. Other children are supposed to receive a pint of milk a day and expectant and nursing mothers ordinarily receive a quart a day.
November 1933
40 Years Ago
Four Oneonta natives who are making a name for themselves in music circles throughout the northeast will begin a two-week engagement at the Oasis Motor Inn this week. It’s the first local stand for the quartet known as “The 69th Amendment” although the four members have performed as individuals in Oneonta on many occasions before. The group is composed of Ed Michelson, 24, on piano; Brian Kreger, 28, on drums; and brothers Ray Cameron, 26, and Dave Cameron, 25, who play lead guitar and bass. Since forming their band in 1971, the quartet has toured New England. They were once hired for a two-day stand at The Berkshire Motor Inn in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and ended up spending four months there as the featured band. They have also played the Penthouse Lounge at the Colonial Hilton in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the Living Room in Boston, Bounty Tavern at the New Sheraton Bangor in Bangor, Maine and the Chateau DeVille in Framingham, Massachusetts. “The 69th Amendment’s repertoire stretches from ballads to the Jitterbug, to 50s medleys and the music of the 60s. All four young men grew up together as students at St. Mary’s School and Oneonta High School.
November 1973

30 Years Ago
Religious leaders said Tuesday they were “near despair” over Governor Mario Cuomo’s leadership and his consideration of an executive order to ban discrimination against homosexuals in state government. The clergymen believe that if Cuomo issues a gay rights executive order, it will give government sanction to homosexuality. They warned in a telegram to Cuomo that they would “begin to work in earnest to arouse our constituencies concerning you and your policies, which we believe are inimical to the best interest of New Yorkers.” “You are lending the moral legitimacy of your office to something that is off the wall,” the Rev. William Smith, dean of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Seminary in Yonkers, told Cuomo at a meeting with the Governor and about 20 clergymen last week.
November 1983

20 Years Ago
Esther Effenbein, who began her work at SUCO in 1950 as a costume researcher, received the Esther Hubbard Whitaker Award, in recognition of her her outstanding service to the college in the performing arts. Effenbein has designed costumes for more than 1909 productions at the college and for the Glimmerglass Opera Company. She continues to serve as a visiting assistant professor in the Speech Communication and Theatre Department. She also developed a program at Bassett Hospital using stage make-up in occupational therapy for patients.
November 1993

10 Years Ago
A study says the number of foreign students attending U.S. colleges increased by less than one percent in 2002-2003 – the lowest growth rate in seven years. It’s just the latest piece of evidence that international students are shying away from the United States because of tough immigration rules. The Institute of International Education (IIE) said tightened visa procedures enacted after the 2001 terrorist attacks, which have delayed the entry of many foreigners into the U.S., contributed to the low growth rate. In each of the previous two academic years, foreign student enrollment has increased by 6.4 percent. U.S. schools want foreign students both for the revenue they bring in, about $12 billion annually, and for their research contributions.
November 2003