HOMETOWN History

Jan. 24, 2020

150 Years Ago

No Snow – Track Clear: Reports from the Pacific Railroad to January 20 say there is no snow on the Great Plains nor in the Black Hills, nor in the passes of the Rocky Mountains, nor in the lofty chain of the Sierra Nevada, to obstruct the trains – but a clear track from ocean to ocean. At the same time the record shows the Hudson open to Albany and the same is reported of all the European rivers emptying into the North Sea and the Lower Baltic, which are usually fast-locked in ice in mid-winter. Surely some wonderful things in the heavens and the earth, in the sun and his satellites are going on of momentous import to our little planet of which we know nothing.

January 1870

125 Years Ago

General County News – Miss Bertha Matteson of Morris, Raymond Snyder of Salt Springville Almon T. Olney of South Edmeston, and N.D. Root of Oneonta are among the students now at the Albany Business College from Otsego County. The revival of business is making an increase in
the demand for graduates of the college and the outlook for those who attend is highly encouraging.
H.W. Smith of Wells Bridge, recently sent a case of fresh eggs to New York City and the other day received word from the commission merchant that they were all hard-boiled when received. The cause can hardly be understood. But, it is supposed that they came in too close contact with the steam pipes in transportation.
Collections were taken in several of the village churches in Oneonta last Sunday in aid of the proposed hospital. The total amount secured was $137.81.

January 1895

100 Years Ago

Dorothy Garrique, playing a leading role with the musical comedy “My Soldier Girl,” coming to the Oneonta Theatre Monday, January 26, is a niece of Thomas Garrique Massaryk, president of Czecho-Slovakia, the new republic in Europe. Mr. Massaryck, previous to the war, was president of the University of Bohemia. He was a believer of free speech and at the outbreak of hostilities made many fiery speeches in behalf of the Allied cause. This so enraged the Central Powers that he was arrested, cast into prison and an order went forth to execute him. He avoided the death penalty only by a remarkable escape from prison. He succeeded in reaching London and afterward came to America. During his time in this country he visited relatives in Chicago and there met Miss Garrique.

January 1920

80 Years Ago

Hartwick Head Addresses Lions – “The whole world is in dire need of more and stronger centers of intellectual and spiritual activity which will leaven modern culture with Christian education and Christian philosophy of life,” Dr. Henry J. Arnold, President of Hartwick College, declared at last night’s meeting of the Lions Club at the Oneonta Hotel. Dr. Arnold talked on “The Education Democracy Needs.” He opened his address with a reference to a story in Rudyard Kipling’s second jungle book and said that “it is hardly necessary for us to use our imagination as to whether the jungle is creeping into our civilization. In international affairs, the jungle of might, of fear, of suspicion is quite wide-spread. In national policies, the Christian form of government – democracy – is giving
way to the totalitarian state, which controls the affairs of business, industry, the school, and to a large degree the church, and where men cannot read, cannot write, and cannot speak about what they wish. In secular education, naturalism has reduced man to matter, so that it does not matter what he does. Morals and morality are relative in such a philosophy and the end justifies the means. To the lawless, America means only a place in which to rob, to thieve, to destroy and plunder.”

January 1940

40 Years Ago

The SUCO Student Association wants to establish a center to distribute information on sex problems and sell birth control devices in spite of administration objections to the plan. S.A. President Greg Floyd said students need more information on venereal disease and other sex-related problems. “We wouldn’t be counseling or anything like that. We’d just be acting as a clearing house for information. We’d just give out pamphlets and things like that,” he said. In addition to passing out literature, the center will also sell birth control devices at a “reduced cost,” he said. “We have volunteers ready to man the thing. The only real problem is where to put it.” Dean of Students Francis Daley said Monday he won’t provide a home for such a center. “I wouldn’t provide them with a spot for their center if they asked me for one. It’s not the place of the college to provide an outlet for birth control devices. We do provide counseling and information on sex as part of our function as an educational institution.” Daley said SUCO has no more cases of venereal disease than most colleges its size. Daley had no information on the numbers of pregnancies on campus. “If we can help just one person avoid a pregnancy or keep them from getting VD, it would be worth it,” Greg Floyd said.

January 1980

20 Years Ago

Josh Brown, an Oneonta High graduate, hit a 15-foot jump shot at the buzzer to lift the Hartwick College men’s basketball team to a 62-60 victory over Alfred University on Saturday. Brown finished with 19 points on 5 for 8 shooting from the field and 8 of 10 from the charity line. The Hawks are 8-5 overall and 2-3 in the Empire Eight circuit. The Hawks have won four of their last five games.

January 2000

10 Years Ago

New York Governor David Patterson was among the estimated 2,000 mourners who paid their respects at the funeral of New York State Police trooper Jill E. Mattice. She was the first female trooper to die in the line of duty. There were 500 members of the state police – including
150 members of Mattice’s Troop “C” – attending the ceremony. Mattice, 31, had been a member of the state police for more than six years and had worked the past five years as a school resource officer, most recently in the Franklin and Unadilla Valley districts.

January 2010