Culled by Judy Garrison From May 1912 issues of
The Andes Recorder 100 Years Ago
Week In and About ANDES
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Events of a Week as Chronicled by the Man on the Street
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With commentary by Jim Andrews and Andy Wos
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Reports from the anthracite coal fields state that the concessions granted to the miners will result in an increase of 25 cents a ton to the consumer upon chestnut, egg and stove coal, but there will be no increase upon pea, buckwheat, rice and barley, the commercial sizes, because the operators declare they cannot raise the prices upon the latter sizes owing to necessity of meeting the competition of bituminous miners. The domestic sizes represent half the production and householders must pay the increased cost. [Jim Andrews: In 1912, Andes and the surrounding area heated primarily with coal. The advent of central heating in the late 1800s, even here in Andes, promoted the increase in the use of coal. Coal burned an even, long-lasting fire—even overnight when banked properly, which was a great improvement over wood fires which burned hot and cold and required frequent refueling. Stove coal was used in furnaces and boilers, while pea coal was used in kitchen ranges, water heaters and parlor baseburners. This price increase would have been a definite burden on local homeowners.]
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Delaware county with an area of 927,360 acres, has 390,000 best suited for forest, and land needing reforesting is 80,000. [Ed.: This is excerpted from a longer piece stating that forty per cent of New York State’s area in acres of 30,498,560 is wooded.]
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The small house standing on the rear of Mrs. Charles Carman’s lot in Andes village and occupied by Josiah VanValkenburg, was badly damaged by a fire which broke out shortly before midnight Sabbath night….[Ed to Jim: Do you think this is Scott and Erica’s little shop?][J.A. I would surmise that this could be the same building, however I never had heard that it was used as a residence. It seems that a fire of any sort would have destroyed it as well as spreading to the main house. Of course the fire department was right next door which might have prevented the building being a total loss. I wonder if Scott discovered any evidence of a fire when he cleaned up the building? It would no longer have been used as a photography shop by 1912.]
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The five general stores in Andes will close at 8 o’clock every evening except Saturday, commencing Monday evening, May 13, and continuing until further notice. [Ed. to Jim: Do you know what the prior closing times were?] [JA: I believe that Cliff Dickson, owner of Dickson’s “The Big Store on the Corner” once told me that they closed at 6. Closing at 8 pm would make sense since the days were getting longer and staying open later would not necessitate lighting the lamps. People would be out later in the evenings and would take advantage of the expanded hours.]
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The survey for the new road which is being agitated by some of the residents of Gladstone Hollow, was made Friday. The proposed road goes up what is known as “back brook.”
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Friday afternoon Bertha, dauter [sic] of George Marx, was bitten on the upper part of the leg by a dog owned by S. B. Huyck. She was just coming out of the Huyck residence when the dog sprang at her and caught her high up on the leg and its teeth went thru her clothing and sank into the flesh. Dr. Wakeman treated the wounds and they are healing nicely. The dog is said to be of an ugly nature. [Ed. to Jim: that last sentence could probably get a reporter sued for libel these days!] [JA: Bertha Marx was an elementary school teacher here in Andes—teaching up until the late 1950’s and lived in Gene and Gladys McCarty’s house. Remember, people never thought of suing anyone back then. I’m sure the whole town knew about the dog and weren’t surprised when Bertha got bitten. They wouldn’t have killed the dog either. Bertha probably got a lecture about “You knew better than to be anywhere near that dog!”]
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G. Gladstone made a business trip to Oneonta on Tuesday. While there he sold his four horse-power motorcycle and has purchased one of ten horse-power.
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The V.I.S. have arranged for a general cleaning-up day Friday, May 31. On that day a wagon will go about the village and gather up such refuse as shall be placed in BAGS in front of the houses.
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The contract for the new summer residence of Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Gerry, near Lake Delaware, has been let to the Charles T. Wills Co. The house, which is of large proportions, will stand on the eminence of the Jas. C. Mabon farm, which Mr. Gerry purchased a few months since. It will not only overlook the present lake but the artificial one that later will be built on the Whitson place. [Andy Wos: In the Summer of 1911, during the early stages of creating his new (Aknusti) estate, Robert L. Gerry started discussing plans for creating a 60 acre lake with his hired landscape architectural firm, Olmsted Brothers. The lake was to be built immediately southeast of the where the mansion sits today and consist of an earthen dam 1,000′ long and 53′ high. It’s estimated cost was $45,000 which is just over $1 million in today’s dollars. The lake never got past the planning stages.] ~