Culled by Judy Garrison  From February 1913 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

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The new nickle [sic], five cent piece, will be put into circulation some time this month. On one side is the head of an Indian. At the top is the word Liberty and at the bottom the date, 1913. On the other side appears the figure of a buffalo and the denomination of the coin, “Five Cents.”*

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Miss Angelica L. Gerry will erect a residence on the old King farm, at a point overlooking the Gerry Lake and the site is already located [Jim Andrews: This mansion was on the knoll overlooking Route 28 as you approach the St. James Church and could easily be seen from the road.  It was an imposing classical revival edifice with extensive formal gardens. When Miss Gerry (as she was referred to locally) died in the early 1960s, the heirs sold the contents of the 40-year old house and had the mansion torn down (a real crime, in my opinion: as a child I remember seeing it go down piece by piece) in an effort to lower the taxes on the property. It was a beautiful residence, which was, by the way, her summer home.]

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Address by Rev. W. P. Bruce at Delaware Valley Dinner, Jan. 25 [Ed.: held in NYC]

Mr. Pres. and friends of Delaware Valley: I like old Delaware County for it is always there no matter how long you leave it. An orator once chided the Senator from the State of Delaware by saying “You represent two counties at low tide and one at high tide. In the Catskills the land is not so high as to be snow-clad throughout the year or bleak and inaccessible in summer.” I sympathize with the lad who was hoeing potatoes and a pedestrian quizzed him about the poor soil, the many rocks, and sad evidence of vegetation and hot day. Then the weary knight of the hoe replied “Don’t waste any sympathy on me. I don’t own the farm. I only work here.” Many love their farms even tho they do not own them yet, although they have paid for them twice over in the sweat of their brow and discouraging taxation….

I do admire the pride the average farmer takes in the County of Delaware. For its liberation from every vestige of Feudalism the man of Andes and vicinity fought in the Anti-Rent War. That very spot where Deputy Sheriff Steele was shot is on a hill just below the village of Andes and many residents can recall hearing participants in that struggle tell of that fatal day in August, 1845. Their love for the Republic is evidenced by the many little flags that each Decoration day tells of the resting place of a Federal Soldier tho on the stone beside you can read their love for the land of their birth in the words “A native of Scotland.” I wonder if our immigrants today will be as faithful and inscribe in after years with equal devotion, “A native of Russia”; “A native of Italy”.

When I sing the National Air, “I love thy rocks and rills” I do not think of the hills of New England dear to the heart of the author of that famous poem. I think of old Pisgah above Andes and the rocks that rib the sides of that proud eminence. So when I read the Psalm “I will lift up mine eyes unto the Hill,” I do not think of the summits that guard the Holy Land or the Alps that look down on Ancient Rome. My faith receives its inspiration from the hills that throw their shade at eve over the village of Andes where I first found the Lord. [JA: William Bruce was the son of Presbyterian minister Rev. James Bruce, the brother of Judge Bruce and the great Uncle of Buffy Calvert. He grew up in the house that Buffy lives in. He was a pastor in Yonkers and was killed in the 1920s when the wind blew his hat into the street, and when he ran out to retrieve it a trolley struck him. He had a gold watch that played a tune when the case was opened. This watch was smashed in the accident.]

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Horses Drowned at Lake Delaware

Monday afternoon a span of horses belonging to Gerry’s and used on their estate in southern Bovina, were drowned in the Livingstone lake on the estate by the ice breaking beneath them.

Superintendent Ringholm with several men and teams were harvesting the ice crop. The Superintendent noticed the water coming up thru on a spot over which the teams were passing and ordered the drivers to keep off of it, but in some way Robert Mabon, who was driving a team was not made aware of the danger and he started to drive cross the spot suddenly the horses broke thru the ice and Mabon dropped the reins and jumped from the rear of the bobs. The team dropped out of sight in a very few moments, taking the front bob with them. Mr. Ringholm attempted to throw a rope over the head of one horse but it caught on the bit and he did not have time to make another attempt. One of the men rushed up with another rope but the other horse went down before he could get a chance to throw.

The accident was caused by the ice having split and the lower layer having settled and the water overflowed. The lake at that point was 15 feet deep. Tuesday a channel was cut from the spot where the horses went down to the shore and the bodies of the animals were taken out and buried. On previous occasions oxen and horses have went into the lake but had always been rescued. ~

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*Some nickel history from Wikipedia: The nickel has been struck since 1866, with the initial shield design being replaced in 1883 by the Liberty Head nickel. As part of a drive to increase the beauty of American coinage, the Buffalo nickel was introduced in 1913, followed by the Jefferson nickel in 1938. In 2004 and 2005 special designs in honor of the Lewis and Clark Expedition were issued. The Mint in 2006 reverted to using the original reverse side and substituted a new obverse by Jamie Franks. As of 2012 it costs more than eleven cents to produce a nickel; the Mint is exploring the possibility of bringing down the cost by using less expensive metals (it is 75% copper and 25% nickel).