THE WAY WE WERE
Culled by Judy Garrison
With commentary by Jim Andrews
From JUNE 1921 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
Memorial Day is a holy day—that grows. It began among the survivors of the Civil war, and the beautiful practice quickly spread to the people. It expresses admirably the gentler, tenderer, more emotional side of our patriotic feeling. It is a day charged deeply with emotion. It is a memory day of those myriads of brave young men who in all the wars of history have gladly offered their lives that the nation might be preserved….
Memorial Day, 1921, was fittingly observed in Andes on Monday, May 30, and the exercises were among the best held here in recent years. The day was perfect and the attendance large….Only four member of the G. A. R. were present—making us realize that only a mere handful of the participants in the great struggle of the 60’s are left. Following the exercises Hon. M. Linn Bruce gave one of his admirable addresses. This was followed by the planting of the Legion Memorial Elm [Jim Andrews: That Memorial Elm was cut down about 45 years ago—it had died. The Memorial Day services used to be held in the circle before the reflecting pool was built] in what is known as the “circle” and a few fitting remarks by M. Linn Bruce Jr., Post Commander. Then followed the placing of natures flowers on the graves of the heroes of five wars. The parade then reformed and returned to The Village Hall, where it broke ranks.
The burial of the late Harry Dowie was made Sabbath afternoon in the Dowie cemetery and eulogistic remarks were made by Hon. M. Linn Bruce. [JA: Harry Dowie was the Andes native who relocated to NYC and managed a large butter distribution business. His nephew, Alexander Shewsbury Dowie, owned the corner store which was the local butter collection center in the late 1870s and 1880s. The butter was kept in the store cellar which had a flagstone floor and helped keep the butter cool. Once enough butter was secured, a shipment to NYC was made. Harry also donated the funds for the construction of the cut stone cemetery wall.]
A frost was reported in some sections Thursday morning. The crop outlook is poor. In 1884 there was a snow storm and a freeze on Decoration day.
The appearance of Delaware avenue has been greatly improved by cleaning up the old boarding hall lot. [JA: The boarding hall was located on the site of the current Presbyterian Manse and had once served as the Andes Academy. It later housed the faculty and live-in students for the Andes Collegiate Institute. After it was razed, the lot became overgrown prior to the church purchasing it.]
The weather continues dry with cold nights and little growth. Crops of all kinds will be the poorest in years.
The Delaware & Northern will continue to run for another year at least. A meeting of the supervisors and representative business men of the four towns most interested—Andes, Colchester, Hancock and Middletown—was held at Downsville last Friday evening and after a discussion of the situation a resolution was passed unanimously declaring it to be the sense of the gathering that the assessed valuation of the company’s property be reduced to $100 per mile, and the railroad officials declared that under those conditions they would continue to operate the road. In order to settle the matter, however, the assessors must act on the question. Papers were drawn up and signed by three towns and by the railroad officials and have been forwarded to Judge Cooper at Binghamton and the application for the discontinuance of the road which was to have come up June 20 will be withdrawn. [JA: The D&N was already having severe financial problems in 1921 and made this cost savings in an effort to keep the line running. The Andes branch shut down in 1926 and eventually the remaining rail service was reduced to the “Red Heifer” that continued to run from Margaretville to East Branch until the city bought the railroad in 1942 in preparation of flooding the valley.]
- C. Oliver, D. L. Bruce. W. A. Ostrander, J. S. Forrest, H. D. Archer and W. C. Liddle were at East Branch Tuesday on railroad matters. [JA: These were Andes businessmen already worried about what impact the financial woes of the railroad would have on Andes.]John Clement and wife, of Halcott Center, spent the week-end with his parents on Delaware avenue. Saturday he caught a 2-pound trout in the Tremperskill. [JA: His father, Billy Clement—the overseer of the poor—lived in the current Delaware House which at that time was a small farm.]