Bound Volumes
June 22, 2023
210 YEARS AGO
(Ed. Note: General Zebulon M. Pike, a hero of the War of 1812, was killed at Sacketts Harbor on March 27, 1813 when a British powder magazine exploded, propelling a large stone into his back. Pike’s Peak in Colorado is named in his honor.) It may not be amiss, perhaps, to notice a humble mark of respect offered by the Managers of the Baltimore Theatre, a few evenings ago to the memory of General Zebulon. M. Pike. The house was crowded in consequence of several spectacles designed in honor of the day. Between the second and third act of the play the curtain slowly, but unexpectedly rose, to solemn music, and exhibited a lofty obelisk on which was inscribed “Z.M. Pike, Brigadier General, Fell Gloriously Before York.” On the left hand of the monument was that elegant actress, Mrs. Green, in character as Columbia, armed, kneeling one knee, and pensively pointing with her spear to the name of the hero. Her address was uncommonly splendid & very appropriate. On the other side was a lady, an elegant figure, dressed in the deepest mourning, gracefully leaning against the pedestal, immovably fixed in all the solemn majesty of woe.
June 19, 1813
185 YEARS AGO
The weather for the past week has been warm and delightfully pleasant. We have never known every species of grain and grass to come forward with greater rapidity. The grass crop and English grains, in this county, look well, and promise an abundant return for the toil of the husbandman. The appearance of Indian corn is good, yet it is unusually backward. We have seen a good many farmers within the past week, in different towns, and all wear cheerful countenances.
June 18, 1838
160 YEARS AGO
The War News – The long-threatened, and by many long-expected, invasion of the North by the rebels has taken place. What progress they have made, or how successful our troops have been in checking their formidable raid, is not known at the time we write. The intelligence thus far received is extremely foggy and unreliable. One thing is painfully evident from all the accounts which reach us from Pennsylvania – the rapid movements of the enemy appear to have taken the people of that State and the government at Washington by surprise. Gov. Curtin had no state troops at hand, and the President could send him none from Washington.
June 19, 1863
135 YEARS AGO
Interest – One of the remarkable economic facts within the past generation is the lowering of the interest rate for the use of money. Undoubtedly this has been going on for many years, but of late the fall has been so rapid as to be easily noticeable. Men not past middle life remember when seven per cent was the ruling interest rate through the country, and those in a “tight place” had to pay a shave. Now it is not an easy matter to place money on first class security at six per cent and good bonds can easily be floated at four or five per cent. This state of things is causing the practice of close economy on the part of those living on incomes. A fortune of twenty to thirty thousand dollars does not sound nearly as large as it did forty years ago.
June 22, 1888
110 YEARS AGO
The vaudeville acts in the Star Theatre are attracting considerable attention. Opening last Thursday for three days, Douglas & Douglas, a high-class ventriloquist and magic act was given, and the first half of this week Marvelle, a famous contortionist is here. Marvelle has traveled with all the big circuses, including the Ringling and Barnum shows and played an engagement recently in the Hippodrome, New York. These acts are booked
From one of the big-time circuits in New York and are of the best. The licensed pictures made by Edison and his associates, are new every night and the vaudeville acts change Mondays and Thursdays.
June 18, 1913
85 YEARS AGO
New York State’s Super-Highway, from New York to Albany to Buffalo, passing through the Mohawk Valley is planned as the World’s greatest motor route, according to information given out by Captain A.W. Brandt, Commissioner of Highways of the New York State Department of Public Works. While the present plans call for comparatively early work on an across-the-state highway of four lanes with a twenty-foot park strip in the center, Captain Brandt and his highway engineers are planning a 50-year project which will see the construction of a twelve-strip highway, 250-feet wide, making possible a future trip from New York across the state to Buffalo in five hours. Some say the twelve-lane road will be installed in 25 years or less.
June 22, 1938
35 YEARS AGO
The college council of the State University of New York at Old Westbury and President L. Eudora Pettigrew recently dedicated the F. Ambrose Clark Physical Education and Recreation Center, a sports complex with indoor and outdoor facilities. Jane Forbes Clark, grandniece of F. Ambrose Clark and Edward W. Stack, Secretary of the Clark Foundation, were present for the unveiling of the memorial plaque and for the dedication of the center. Mr. Clark, who died in 1964, was an internationally known agriculturalist and sports enthusiast. With his own resources, he developed the 5,000-acre Iroquois Farm in Cooperstown into one of the leading agricultural complexes in the state. During WWII, while in his sixties, he and Mrs. Clark opened Iroquois Farm to seamen whose ships had been torpedoed.
June 22, 1988
20 YEARS AGO
The Cooperstown Board of Trustees has appointed Hugh Cooke MacDougall village historian. He will replace Marjorie Tillapaugh, who served in the post for many years prior to her death in April. MacDougall has been a resident of the village since 1986 when he retired from a 28-year career as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer. MacDougall’s diplomatic career took him to posts in Guinea, Brazil, France, the Ivory Coast, Mazambique, and Tanzania. His last overseas position was in Rangoon, Burma.
June 20, 2003