HOMETOWN HISTORY, November 30, 2012

125 Years Ago
On Thanksgiving evening the streets of Oneonta were for the first time lighted by electricity. The evening was stormy and disagreeable and the bright, cheerful light did not a little to dissipate the gloom which seemed in the unusual quiet of the day to have settled over the town. The American system is used for street lighting and thus far the lights have been entitled to all the praise they have received, which is not a little. The company displayed enterprise and liberality in furnishing the light for Thanksgiving evening. There are now some twenty-five arc lights in use about the village and in business places, and the demand for the incandescent light – the Westinghouse – is so active that a majority of the stores have already subscribed for it.
November 1887

100 Years Ago
Monday morning, shortly after 11 o’clock, a young woman walked into the Oneonta Hotel and was shown to the Ladies’ parlor by one of the bell boys. Ten minutes later she calmly produced a bottle of laudanum from her pocket and after pouring the contents of the bottle into a glass drank the deadly poison and fell to the floor unconscious. Two ladies who were in the writing room adjoining the parlor saw the act of the young woman and the next moment heard her groans of agony. As quickly as possible they notified Mr. DeLorme, the day clerk at the hotel. Together they rushed back to the parlor where the woman was apparently dying. Mr. DeLorme used all first aid relief measures known to him and then summoned Dr. G. W. Augustin, who found her with respiration entirely stopped. By the use of powerful stimulants and artificial respiration, Dr. Augustin succeeded for a time at least in keeping her alive. During two minutes of consciousness, the young woman mumbled that she had taken a large quantity of laudanum, that she had no father or mother and that all she wished to do was die. She was eventually identified as Nioskaletta Van Wie, daughter of Lorenzo Van Wie, residing at Davenport Center. Miss Van Wie was 19 years of age.
November 1912

80 Years Ago
The Oneonta checker team opened its season with a victory over Richfield Springs Friday night, winning 47 games, losing 27 and drawing 20. The match was played in the American Legion rooms at Richfield Springs. J.F. Roberts, New York State match champion, a member of the home team, scored five victories and a draw out of six games played. Perry, former Oneonta City champion, succeeded in getting a draw with Roberts. W. Quaif of Richfield Springs had a clean slate for the evening, winning all four games he played. A. Fenton came through with three wins and three draws in six games. Oneonta’s M. Anderson was the outstanding player of the evening winning 13 games, losing three and drawing one. A comparatively recent arrival in the ranks of local checker enthusiasts, he has made a careful study of the game and has been baffling some of the old-timers by his cleverness.
November 1932

40 Years Ago
Oneonta State is the new soccer kingpin in the City of The Hills. Playing before more than 6,000 spectators, the Red Dragons defeated Hartwick College by a convincing 3-0 score on Monday. Oneonta State thus became the college division champion of New York State. The Red Dragons earned their way to the championship contest by trouncing Adelphi last Wednesday. But, a spell of bad weather nearly prevented the championship game from taking place. An early snow storm, followed by freezing weather, then rain, left the city’s playing fields in all but unplayable condition by Thursday. Late Wednesday night Oneonta Mayor James Lettis offered, on behalf of the city, the use of Damaschke Field for the game and officially decreed Monday “Soccer Day” in The City of The Hills.” Prior to the contest there were predictions that lumping the rabid fans of the opposing teams together in one ballpark would result in riots, mayhem and property damage. The predictions proved unfounded. Oneonta, indeed, had one of its finest hours.
November 1972

30 Years Ago
President Reagan is urging city officials around the country to support his proposal for a five-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax increase to finance a highway repair and jobs program. Reagan is also considering a plan to accelerate next July’s 10 percent income tax cut by six months so it would take effect in January. White House officials said last week that Reagan was leaning toward speeding up the tax cut in hopes of stimulating the nation’s faltering economy. However, Republican Congressional leaders already have told Reagan there are not enough votes to pass the speed-up because of concern it would add to the mounting budget deficit. An earlier announcement that the administration was considering fully taxing the unemployment benefits of the nation’s jobless caused a furor and was quickly withdrawn. Reagan personally vetoed that idea saying it was “not the type of thing I want to do.”
November 1982

20 Years Ago
A year after a proposed state law would have forced deer hunters to wear blaze orange coats and hats, red and black check coats are still the garb of choice for hunters shopping at the Stevens Hardware store in Oneonta. “There has been a lot of talk about blaze orange over the years, especially last year when they thought about making a law, but to tell you the truth we have a hard time selling it,” said proprietor John Stevens.
November 1992

10 Years Ago
Pollsters face a growing number of obstacles while doing their work – such as the rapid growth of cell phone use, caller-ID technology, and answering machines. Researchers believe less than five percent of households use only a cell phone, although the number is higher among certain groups like young urban adults. The overall number using only cell phones is likely to grow. Most agree, however, that these developments have not yet crippled telephone surveys. The polling industry is unlikely to abandon telephone surveys without something more reliable to take their place.
November 2002