HOMETOWN HISTORY, August 3, 2012
125 Years Ago
The Local News: Some wag placed a sign at the center of the great mud hole in front of the Herald building a few days ago which attracted no little attention. One side was lettered “Private Fishing Grounds,” and the reverse “No Fishing Allowed.” Unsightly places are these perennial Main Street mud holes. It would take but little work to do away entirely with the most of them.
George Hungerford, who lives on the hill two miles or so east of the village, lost another child by diphtheria a few days since. This makes the fourth of Mr. Hungerford’s children that has died from this disease within the past few weeks. He has four children left. When diphtheria first made its appearance in Mr. Hungerford’s family and he was urged to make the strictest precautions to prevent its spread, he is reported to have replied that he “did not think it was catching.” There is no diphtheria whatsoever it may be added in the village.
August 1887
100 Years Ago
Oneonta Yankees Trim Chinese from Hawaii in Heavy Hitting Soft Ball Game – The Chinese dragon met its Waterloo yesterday in a battle with the American Eagle, through the work of the Oneonta ball team, though both sides did enough hitting to win three or four ball games, as ordinary ball games go. The final score was 37 to 36 in favor of Oneonta. It was one of the most interesting ball games seen here in some time, and the way those boys did field the ball when the chance was given was a delight to the eye. Both teams were on their toes every minute, stopping several balls that were good for hits by a gilt-edged quality of work on the diamond. The performance of the entire Oneonta team was fine, every man sharing alike in the good plays, but the work of Kanyan and L. Akna for the Chinese is worthy of special mention as they robbed Tormey of two long hits in the deep outfield by two of the cleverest catches seen in a long time. Flynn and Lukyee were the opposing pitchers and were each touched for 11 hits, several of them for extra bases. Flynn struck out nine of the Hawaiian students and passed four while Lukyee fanned seven and passed none but hit three batters.
August 1912
60 Years Ago
Seoul Korea – American infantrymen dug in deeper atop hard-won Old Baldy on the Korean Western Front Sunday night while fighting elsewhere diminished to small-scale patrol clashes. Another big Communist power plant lay in smoldering ruins following an attack by planes from the carrier USS Princeton. The Navy said 11 direct hits were scored on a transformer station at Conjin on Korea’s northeast coast. A power house, fuel storage area and two smaller transformer plants also were wrecked. Warships and planes teamed up to wipe out 13 anti-aircraft batteries protecting the power plant before the attack began, the Navy said. On Old Baldy, a hill shorn of foliage by intense shelling, troops of the U.S. Second Division strengthened their bunkers against a Chinese counterattack. The hill has changed hands several times.
August 1952
40 Years Ago
A set of medical standards for determining whether a drinker is an alcoholic was put forth Tuesday by the National Council on Alcoholism. Under some conditions, a person might be considered an alcoholic only after 15 years of hard drinking. The guidelines were drawn up not only to standardize the diagnoses of alcoholism, but also to prevent over-diagnosis, Dr. Samuel C. Kaim said. Kaim chaired a 14-member committee that issued the criteria after a year-long study of the problem of excessive drinking. Major categories of criteria the diagnoses of alcoholism include withdrawal symptoms, alcohol tolerance or intolerance, and major illness. Minor criteria include physical disorders such as irregular heartbeat, behavioral patterns, insomnia, and depression among others. “Although even the diagnosis of alcoholism as a disease is still surrounded by controversy,” Kaim said, “the concept of alcoholism as a health problem has become accepted.
August 1972
30 Years Ago
Economic hard times dramatically increase the risk of injuries and physical as well as mental illness – and the increase is greatest among the middle class, says a study released recently. “If an economist says the unemployment figures only have impacts on your pocketbook and your savings account, he’s lying through his teeth. It has impacts on your health and your behavior,” said Ray Catalano, an urban planner at the University of California-Irvine. “When a community is being stressed by things like economic change, that population will yield more health problems.” Based on interviews with more than 6,000 Los Angeles County residents, “what we found was that people who experienced undesirable job and financial events have about twice the risk of being ill or injured as people who don’t experience those events, and they have 2.5 times of having some psychological disorder,” Catalano said.
August 1982
20 Years Ago
Kathy Borak of Oneonta is peddling frilly unmentionables at the Otsego County Fair in Morris this week. She claims to be the first “flea-marketer” to offer over-the-counter underwear at the county’s annual celebration. “My boyfriend’s aunt sells this stuff in New York City and now I’m the second-hand man,” she said. “People at the fair enjoy it. You don’t find this stuff around Oneonta.” Borak is selling G-string underwear, G-string teddies and various styles of brassieres and garters. She also has two types of crotchless panties, one with a tiny whistle and the other with a bow that is easily untied.
August 1992
10 Years Ago
Otsego County court clerks have gone underground. Previously located in space at the county office next store to the courthouse, the clerks have moved into what was once a coal bin, since renovated for office occupancy, in the basement of the county’s 1880s vintage courthouse. The new room is larger, more accommodating and efficient than the former spaces. “I think the space is making us more productive, because it’s quieter and we’re able to concentrate better,” said Marcia Mickle, senior court office assistant.
August 2002
