Bound Volumes

April 6, 2023

210 YEARS AGO
The lyrics to a song sung by American sailors titled “Constitution Lane” – “Yankee sailors have a knack, Haul away! Yeo ho boys! Of pulling down a British Jack, ‘Gainst any odds, you know, boys. Come three to one, right sure am I, If we can’t beat them, still we’ll try, To make Columbia’s colors fly, Haul away! Yeo ho, boys! Yankee sailors, when at sea, Haul away! Yeo ho, boys! Pipe all hands with merry glee, While aloft hey go, boys! And, when with pretty girls on shore, Their cash is gone, and not before, They wisely go to sea for more, Haul away! Yeo ho boys! Yankee sailors love their soil, Haul away! Yeo ho, boys! And for glory ne’er spare toil, But flog its foes, you know boys! Then while its standard owns a rag, The world combined shall never brag, They made us strike the Yankee flag, Haul away! Yeo ho, boys!”

April 3, 1813

185 YEARS AGO
Slavery – A meeting for the discussion of Slavery is now in progress in the Court House, in the Village of Cooperstown. It will be continued through the day and evening of Monday, the 2nd of April next. Gerrit Smith, Esq. is attending the meeting. Cooperstown, March 31, 1838.
Large pig – Mr. Uri Jackson of Butternuts, killed a pig on the 3rd of January last, one year and nine months old, which weighed when dressed, 530 pounds, and produced 60 pounds of tried lard. The pig was fattened only three months.
Mssrs. L. & N. Deming of Edmeston have a four-year-old Devonshire Cow which this spring produced a calf weighing, when 12 hours old, 117 pounds. Edmeston, March 8, 1838.

April 2, 1838

160 YEARS AGO
Judge Nelson is soon to break ground on the lot on the corner of Main and Chestnut streets, for the erection thereon of two three-story brick stores which will be completed during the approaching summer. The Mssrs. Cory are to remodel their stone store, which will be enlarged and modernized. The front will be of brick. About every available place of business in the village is now occupied, and perhaps a few more stores could be rented without leaving others tenantless; still, trade cannot be increased beyond a certain point; some think it has nearly reached its limit, unless manufacturing be introduced – and it remains with those owning available land to determine where it shall be done. Location on a business street of but two squares is not of so much importance as convenient accommodations and limited fire risk.

April 3, 1863

135 YEARS AGO
Beer is retailed, especially in the country, at too high a price – five cents for a small glass, or ten cents for a little less than a pint; about $25 a barrel. If reduced to six cents a pint, it would be about $15 a barrel – a sum large enough to give an ample profit to both the brewer and the dealer. If the beer drinkers would “strike” for that price, doubtless they would effect the change. There are a great many laboring men who buy a pint of beer a day on average; and a difference of four cents is a matter of about $14 a year to them, enough to buy a common suit of clothes.

April 6, 1888

85 YEARS AGO
The sportsmen of New York are financing the purchase of hundreds of miles of streams in order that permanent public fishing rights may be preserved, says C. Monroe Dailey, secretary of the New York State Conservation Council. The money is coming from the Conservation Fund, into which go all of the license fees paid by the anglers and hunters of the state. In the past two years, $150,000 has been appropriated and largely spent on this project, with the result that more than 400 miles of stream fishing rights have been acquired. With an increasing population, the advent of the automobile and a greater interest in recreation, the problem of preserving the traditional American system of free public hunting and fishing becomes yearly more difficult.

April 6, 1938

60 YEARS AGO
Dr. John H. Powers will retire July 1 as surgeon chief of the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital after 33 years on its staff, the past seven as head of the Department of Surgery and clinical professor of surgery at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. In April 1944, Dr. Powers reported to the Committee on Convalescence and Rehabilitation of the National Research Council on the progress of 136 Bassett Hospital patients who were allowed to sit up, or even walk, from one to three days after undergoing major surgery. The practice of early post-operative ambulation has since become accepted as standard practice. Dr. Powers’ contributions thereto were the subject of numerous articles in popular magazines such as Saturday Evening Post and Readers Digest.

April 3, 1963

35 YEARS AGO
With the approval of a $47,000 matching grant the Higgins Cottage will be relocated from 131 Lake Street to 31 Chestnut Street to serve as a tourist information center and headquarters for the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce. The Higgins Cottage was rescued from demolition in April 1986 when the village board acted to preserve the structure after the Leatherstocking Corporation proposed to demolish it. The Higgins Cottage is one of two remaining structures in Otsego County which were used as tenant buildings for farm laborers.

April 6, 1988

20 YEARS AGO
Bertine Colombo McKenna, PhD, is Bassett Healthcare’s new executive vice-president and chief operating officer. McKenna was selected following a nationwide search. “Bertine McKenna brings a wide range of experience in both hospital and physician group management,” said William F. Streck, MD, Bassett’s President and CEO. “This unique combination of skills fits very well with Bassett’s historic values and missions. In addition, the people of Bassett will find Bertine bringing a level of energy and enthusiasm to her work that all will enjoy.” McKenna and her husband Patrick reside in Cooperstown with Max, their golden retriever.

April 4, 2003