BOUND VOLUMES, June 21, 2012

200 YEARS AGO
Comets doubtless answer some wise and good purpose in the creation – so do Women. Comets are incomprehensible, beautiful, and eccentric – so are Women. Comets shine with peculiar splendor, but at night appear most brilliant – so do Women. Comets are enveloped with a lucid nebula, through which their forms are visible – so are those of Women, through their light and elegant attire. Comets confound the most learned when men attempt to ascertain their nature – so do Women. Comets equally excite the admiration of the Philosopher and of “the clod of the valley” – so do Women. Comets and Women are therefore closely analogous; but the nature of each being inscrutable all that remains for us to do is to view with admiration the one, and almost to admiration, love the other.
June 20, 1812

150 YEARS AGO
The laws of this state forbid that any person shall travel in this state for the purpose of selling goods or merchandise, the product of a foreign country, without a license procured of the Secretary of State. Every pedlar who has not such a license is liable to be taken before any Justice of the Peace in the State and fined $25. Any pedlar who refuses to produce his license to any officer or citizen who shall demand the same, is liable to a penalty of $10. And citizens may apprehend a person trading as a pedlar without license, and take him before a Justice, who is bound to proceed summarily. There are doubtless scores of pedlars traveling this state without a license, who are amenable to the law.
June 20, 1862

125 YEARS AGO
Union School – The annual exhibition, graduating exercises, and awarding of Regents’ diplomas, of this institution, will take place at the Court Room on Friday evening of this week. Admission 25 cents. Prize essays will be read as follows: “Druidism,” by Fannie H. Murray; “Cooperstown,” by Minnie U. Marsh; “Foliage,” by Minnie E. Averell; “Seesaw,” by Fannie E. Austin; “Charity,” by Gertrude A. Bunn; and “Poetry,” by Grace H. Farmer. The following are the thirteen academic graduates: Fannie E. Austin, Minnie E. Averell, Gertrude A. Bunn, Ella Corwin, Byron J. Field, Fred L. Hills, Minnie U. Marsh, Fannie H. Murray, Nora M. Osborn, Emily G. Shumway, Arthur J. Taylor, Nettie B. Taylor, and Ida M. Van Deusen.
June 24, 1887

100 YEARS AGO
Surely never before did the girls have such a chance to look their prettiest for the straight silhouette which remains fashionable is varied endlessly in all sorts of becoming ways. With the new wrinkles in coats, sashes, frills and piping, it’s an easy matter to so change the aspect of a last year’s gown that its own maker would fail to recognize it. Color contrasts and the mixing of odd materials are carried to the limit of combination seemingly and then there are others. Piping and facing and bands of odd colors bring out the lines of a costume or turn a trying somberness of hue into stunning becomingness. No one need hesitate to select black, brown, or gray, because it does not accord with one’s coloring. White accessories at the neck with a dash of blue, yellow, red or lilac will make anything right if judiciously used. Contrasts are the smart note in up-to-date fashion.
June 26, 1912

75 YEARS AGO
Baseball fans of Cooperstown who were interested in the performance of Don and Doug Weir as catcher and first baseman respectively for the Cooperstown high school nine, would have had an added thrill had they realized that these two boys were members of another and more remarkable team – the Weir Wonders, all brothers, and children of Mr. and Mrs. Elial G. Weir of Oaksville. Although they range in age from Leslie, who might be mistaken for the mascot, if his name were not Weir, to Douglas, who was a post-graduate this year at the local school, they are capable we are assured, of filling every post on the diamond. Their father is the manager and chief supporter. There are also four sisters, who form the cheering section. Completely outfitted in uniforms they are ready to meet any team made up exclusively by brothers.
June 23, 1937

50 YEARS AGO
Social Security Checks going to Otsego County residents have grown by leaps and bounds in the last three years. Total payments to local beneficiaries are 39 percent higher than they were in 1958. At that time they amounted to $3,437,472 a year. Now, by virtue of an increase in the number of beneficiaries as well as an increase in the size of individual checks, the total has climbed to $4,782,960. At the beginning of this year there were 6,470 persons in Otsego County who were getting checks each month as against 5,102 in 1958.
June 20, 1962

25 YEARS AGO
Margaret McGown, Cooperstown, has been awarded a master’s degree from Russell Sage College, Albany in public service with a concentration in health administration. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Elmira College in 1972 in the areas of sociology and psychology. She is employed in the department of social work at Bassett Hospital. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick McGown, Jr. of Cooperstown.
Enforcement of the two-hour parking limit on Main Street in Cooperstown goes into effect next Monday, according to police chief Hank Nicols. Peter O’Connor, a graduating high school senior, has been hired as the summer’s parking enforcement officer, Nicols said. Warning tickets will be issued until next Monday, Nicols said.
June 23, 1982
10 YEARS AGO
John May, MD, director of the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH), was honored recently with the Stueland Scholar Award. The award is presented annually by the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, WI, for leadership in agricultural health and safety. May accepted the honor at a conference last month in Marshfield during which he spoke on the topic, “Occupational Health in Agriculture.” Affiliated with Bassett Healthcare, NYCAMH has worked since 1983 to promote safe and healthy farming practices.
June 21, 2002