HOMETOWN HISTORY, September 7, 2012

125 Years Ago
There is no denying that the hops crop this year in New York State will be far heavier than was estimated. In some cases yards are yielding fully one-half more than was calculated upon a few weeks ago. The quality has not been surpassed in many years. Growers are selling freely at 18 cents. John R. Scott has bought the growth of A.G. Morris & Son, 125 bales, at this price, and also the growths of George Rose and Enoch Wright at the same figure. Other dealers have also bought freely at 18 cents. At Hubbardsville, on Saturday, the growth of I.S. Allen, 150 bales, was sold at 18 cents. These hops are mainly for foreign shipment. In Cooperstown, on Tuesday, 20 cents was paid.
September 1887

100 Years Ago
New Postal Regulations – Beginning with the present month the young woman who receives letters at the general delivery window instead of at home will have to convince Uncle Sam that there is nothing out of the way about it. The new regulations to prevent abuses of the general delivery window will then go into effect. These are questions which the clerk in all post offices in the country may ask: Are you 21 years old? Are you using a fictitious name? Is this correspondence illegal? If the first two are answered in the affirmative, the clerk will answer: “The mail will be delivered at your home by the regular carrier.” The law is intended to prevent young women making arrangements with men without their parents’ knowledge.
September 1912

80 Years Ago
With the opening game less than two weeks away, Coach W.E. “Shorty” Long lost no time with the opening of school Tuesday to sound the initial call for candidates for the 1932 football squad of Oneonta High School. Forty-three upper classmen responded, six of which were lettermen. The squad will be augmented today by many freshmen aspirants. For the first week, Coach Long intends to concentrate on conditioning work, fundamental drills and passing. Coach Long expects this year’s squad to average between 155-165 pounds. Among the upper classmen reporting were 12 backfield men. They included Captain Eddie Hague, Ray Baker, Al Townsend, George Wilber, Len Stanton, Bill Horan, Henry Lare and Pierce Ward of last year’s eleven. Veteran linemen who answered the call were Vic Wolchick, center; Bard and Trinkino, guards; Doherty, tackle; and Paul and Pete Ritchko, ends.
September 1932

60 Years Ago
Getting clothing for distribution to unfortunate families is one of the most pressing problems for the Family Service Association, Inc., according to its executive secretary, Mrs. Frank G. Sherman. “A man came to the office one day to say that his wife had left him with four small children, ranging in age from seven months to six years,” Mrs. Sherman reported. They live in two small rooms in a crowded flat. As another example, Mrs. Sherman told how “another young man came in because he had just made a payment on a home he had bought. He had just been asked to move so he had to have a place for his four children. The house needed lots of repair, but he could do that,” she said. “However, he did not have money enough left to buy shoes for his children to go to school. Could I loan him the money?” Our agency does not make a practice of loaning money, since we do not have it to loan, but I did loan this man money,” she said, “and it will come back to us.”
September 1952

40 Years Ago
John Insetta of 562 Main Street was named temporary personnel technician for the city in a special Common Council meeting held last night, after the Council created the $8,000 per year job. Insetta will assist the local Civil Service Commission and the city with personnel and labor relations. Based on CSEA-City of Oneonta negotiations, the position is to be advertised and an examination given but Insetta will serve pending the examination. Insetta will begin his duties on October 2. Insetta, who is presently unemployed, came to Oneonta at the end of June. He is a former operations manager of the Uni-Flex Corporation in Manhattan. He attended Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri and Wagner College, Staten Island. He is married to the former Linda Matthews of Staten Island. The couple has three children.
September 1972

30 Years Ago
Organizers of the “Little Red Caboose Festival” are soliciting contributions to defray the expenses of the four-day celebration. Festival chairman Wayne Miller said approximately $2,000 is needed to get the festival out of the red. He said approximately $10,000 was made during the festival honoring the 99th anniversary of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. “We made a ton of friends and only an ounce of money,” Miller said. Two expense items, train rides and beer keg sales lagged behind expectations. “We were hoping to make $2,000 on the train rides, but we only made $25,” Miller noted. Scheduling problems accounted for the lack of rides, he said. Approximately 9,700 rides were given on the carnival’s midway. The festival was jammed with people after Sunday night’s fireworks display. “That was $3,000 worth of fireworks,” Miller said. “Fireworks aren’t cheap.” Miller said.
September 1982

20 Years Ago
State police continued searching Tuesday for a burglar who broke into an Oneonta home last week and injured a 77-year-old woman in a scuffle. The woman defended herself from the knife-wielding burglar and suffered cuts on her hands and wrists as a result. The woman, whose identity has not been released, was staying in a home on Meadow Brook Lane northeast of the city’s boundary off East Street. The victim was asleep when the man entered the house at about 1:30 a.m. Friday. She woke up and the scuffle began. The only description given was that the man was black. Blood at the scene indicated that the burglar was injured, possibly on his hand or arm, according to H. Karl Chandler, state police investigator. “We’ve tried to examine the hands of all the black people in the community,” Chandler said.
September 1992