THE WAY WE WERE
Culled by Judy Garrison
With commentary by Jim Andrews
From August 1920 issues of
The Andes Recorder
100 Years Ago
WEEK IN AND ABOUT ANDES
Events of a week as chronicled by
the Man on the Street
Miss Bessie Bruce will speak in the U.P. church at 7:30 Sabbath evening. [Jim Andrews: She was Rev. James Bruce’s granddaughter and a missionary in China. Bessie purchased the Bruce home on Delaware Avenue and retired there in 1958. Buffy Calvert, Rev. Bruce’s great granddaughter, lives in the house now.]
Committed to Jail
Emory Woodruff of Meredith was committed to the Delhi jail by M. S. Barnes, justice of the peace of East Meredith; charge—rape second degree.
- F. C. Bolton, committed by J. F. Cannaday, police justice of Stamford charge—non-support of family. Bolton received six months’ jail sentence.
A dispatch from Washington states that the population of Delaware county according to the new census is 42,774. Decrease since 1910 of 2,801, a loss of 6.1 per cent.
Delaware in common with the other agricultural counties of the state has suffered by the departure of the young people from the farms for the cities and villages. [Ed.: This was the lament I heard when I moved to Delaware County in 1971, and have heard ever since. Do I now hear the winds of change?]
A meeting was held on Monday evening at Delaware academy to make plans for celebrating the 100th anniversary of Delaware academy. [Ed.: I hope plans for the bi-centennial are afoot.]
During the severe thunder storm on Wednesday afternoon William W. Doig had a cow killed by lightning at the Dowie House farm. No insurance.
The Andes Town Board has leased a complete stone crushing outfit and a roller and will build some stone road with their share of the automobile money. The first will probably be on the Tremperskill.
A basket picnic and reunion of the Spanish War Veterans of Delaware county is to be held at Wautauga Falls, near Delhi, on Wednesday August 18, and all veterans of the War with Spain and their families are invited. Bring your knives, forks and spoons. Plates, cups and coffee will be furnished. Major Scott of Oneonta has been invited.
AUTO RACE CALLED OFF
Last Saturday afternoon between 3,000 and 4,000 people assembled on the Delhi fair grounds, drawn there chiefly to witness a 10-mile race between an Essex and a Buick car. A driver for the Essex car came from Binghamton by air, the plane landing on the county farm. During the first time around the half mile track the Buick suffered a broken steering gear…the race was called off—much to the disappointment of the large crowd. Fred Thomas, who was the driver for the Essex, missed his train at Binghamton and got Earl Southee to bring him in his plane. On his return trip they struck a storm and the plane was buffeted by the wind and tossed about like a shell. The plane finally landed in a field near Deposit and was lashed fast. Sabbath morning while attempting to “hop off” the propeller of the machine was broken.
Thousands of dollars’ worth of opium and morphine were stolen early Sunday morning from the plant of the Norwich Pharmacy company in one of the boldest robberies every performed in Norwich or county. Five holdup men made a clear getaway with several hours’ start and left no clues as to their identify. Police officials in every city of the country have been notified and wholesalers in drugs in order that the quantity of priceless drugs maybe traced.
AUDIENCE CAPTIVATED
The Six Kleptomaniacs given last Friday evening by the Andes Village Improvement Society was a great big success. The hall was filled and those who made the cast did credit unto themselves and to their society. The ladies themselves wore a broad smile when the receipts of the evening were counted and found to amount to the neat sum of $112.
Then there was three selections by Madame Buchheit, the famous singer who is summering at Perch Lake, and her power to thrill and hold an audience spellpound [sic] had not been exaggerated—those who didn’t hear her are sorry, and won’t do it again.
DAVENPORT MAN ENDS HIS LIFE
Eugene Stoutenburg, aged 58 year, for most of his life a resident of the town of Davenport, committed suicide at his farm one and one-half miles from the village of Davenport last Saturday evening by drinking poison.
…when the son arrived at about 7 o’clock he found his father unconscious in the house. Dr. Craig was summoned, but when he arrived the man was dead. An empty bottle with the label torn off was found near Stoutenburg and the physician believed that it had contained strychnine.
Since the death of Stoutenburg’s wife ten years ago, he had engaged a woman as housekeeper. Recently the state and county authorities have been investigating Soutenburg’s alleged relations with the woman and it is believed that this prayed [sic[ on his mind and had a bearing on his committing suicide. He left a note addressed to a Delhi lawyer relative to financial matters.~