HOMETOWN HISTORY, February 7, 2014
100 Years Ago
Local News – “Pop” Snyder, the one, the only, and the original auctioneer, concluded his sale of the “once was” goods of Meyer Tanner Saturday morning. As was the case with the previous sales a large multitude were present and bids and witticisms alike filled the air in a never-ending stream till all the goods were sold. Just what certain unmarried gentlemen are going to do with certain articles of feminine apparel is a mystery for the sleuths of the city to discover if they can.
February 1914
80 Years Ago
Despite continued cold weather, good progress is being made on all outdoor Civil Works Administration projects in Oneonta, according to City Engineer Frank Gurney, who is in charge of local CWA projects. Payrolls between December 11 and February 3 amounted to $28,621.95. The recent order cutting the hours of employment from 30 to 24 per week has resulted in a decrease of about $1,200 in the weekly payroll. About 275 persons are employed in CWA projects. Oneonta’s ten approved projects will cost approximately $75,149.46. The projects are: Rip-rapping sewers,” $2,674; Sanitary sewers, $4,309; Schools, $2,452.16; Supervisory and office, $2,130; Storm sewers, $3,409.50; Wilber Park, $6,916.40; Neahwa Park, $43,214.40; Grading and widening West Street, $10,044.
February 1934
60 Years Ago
Moving to combat what they called repeated indifference of city drivers to the municipal snow removal problem, police issued a record 101 tickets for all night parking violations early yesterday morning. According to the city ordinance parking on all city streets is prohibited between 12:01 a.m. and 6 a.m. following a snowfall of two and one-half inches, or greater, unless or until such street is plowed and cleared of snow. Following the last previous heavy snowfall, police issued 23 tickets for parking violations. February 1954
40 Years Ago
Charles W. Woolever, assistant professor of geography at SUCO will give a talk in the Faculty Lounge, Hunt College Union, on “Bangladesh Revisited.” Woolever, who was in Bangladesh from October 15 to December 10, 1973, had gone to Bangladesh in March 1972 as part of the Airlift of Understanding of the Emergency Relief Fund for Bangladesh designed to gain firsthand knowledge of rehabilitation and survival needs of the new nation. He is the son of the Rev. and Mrs. C.E. Woolever, who were missionaries in India for 42 years and lived in the Calcutta area until he was 19.
February 1974
30 Years Ago
Federal surplus foods will be distributed by Opportunities for Otsego, Inc. at five locations in Otsego County in February. Each household will receive a five pound block of cheese, a four pound box of dry milk, and one other commodity – either a three pound container of honey, or a ten pound bag of corn meal on a first come, first served basis. Only one distribution per household is allowed. The distribution point in Oneonta will be on February 23 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Salvation Army, 25 River Street, Oneonta.
February 1984
20 Years Ago
Jonathan J. Layton, 20, of East Islip, a State University College at Oneonta sophomore, broke into a condemned house at 91 Maple Street, where Layton and members of the Iota Tau Kappa fraternity had once lived. He then shot himself with a bolt-action hunting rifle. Layton’s act, an apparent suicide, stunned college officials as well as fraternity members who now reside at 21 Cedar Street. Police reported that a friend described Layton as being highly intoxicated earlier in the evening. He was said to have spoken about harming himself. A SUCO official said it was the first instance of a student suicide in 18 or 20 years.
February 1994
10 Years Ago
Propane gas is once again flowing through the Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company’s pipeline. The line has been shut down following an explosion on January 25 that destroyed a house on Quaker Hill Road in Harpersfield.
February 2004