Culled by Judy Garrison

With commentary by Jim Andrews

From JULY 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

There will be a Fourth of July celebration in Andes next Monday with the usual sports and ball game between Andes and Delhi. In the evening there will be special movies and a big dance.  [Jim Andrews: Andes routinely celebrated the Fourth in a big way with parades, ball games, community picnics and “the big dance.”] 

The Vitagraph Company is at work this week on the Andes Branch of the Delaware & Northern railroad producing a five real [sic] feature “Single Track”. The star is Corrine Griffith and the director Webster Campbell assisted by Frank Heath. The Davis trestle has been painted and other changes made for the picture folks, and they also have a train. [JA: This was a “damsel in distress” type of move with a fight scene taking place on the More Trestle which was located just below the Pleasant Valley Meeting House.  The trestle, being relatively new, was painted to look older.  The film had a showing at the Andes Town Hall theater.  A few years ago I tried to locate the film thinking showing it would be a great event for the Historical Society and discovered that the film was lost in a film storage facility fire.  Old film such as this is high flammable and nothing was saved.]

William N. Neild, a farmer living on Dingle Hill, had a very narrow escape last Thursday afternoon when he was thrown under the horse rake. His collar bone was broken and there was scarcely a spot on him that was not covered with bruises. Mr. Neild was taking the horse rake from one field to another and the bar-way was too narrow and his spirited team jumped when the wheel caught on the post and this broke the tongue of the rake. Mr. Neild was thrown down between the horses and caught by the teeth of the rake and dragged for some distance until a depression in the ground allowed the teeth to pass over him. The team soon left the rake and were caught at John Roney’s on the Tremperskill. When found Mr. Neild was unconscious and his condition is still very serious. [JA: Farming has always had occupational risks but safety wasn’t high on the list in days past.  This item shows just how dangerous using horse-drawn equipment could be, with the horses out of control dragging Neild with the rake.  It doesn’t say how far Neild was dragged, but it wouldn’t have taken much to give him the injuries he sustained. The horses were finally caught at the farm where Bunny Muzzonigro now lives.]

A new concrete floor is being put on the Spiers bridge on Main street.  [JA: This would be the bridge adjacent to the Andes Library.]

Mrs. A. E. Hepburn, of Des Moines, Iowa, is a guest of her cousin, Miss Mary Waterbury, and a very enjoyable family picnic was recently held in her honor, on the old farm, near Andes village, which, long ago, belonged to Deacon Daniel Waterbury, who was a great grandfather of the oldest members of the picnic; great, great grandfather of two, and great, great, great grandfather of the youngest member. There were present E. W. Waterbury and family, of New York City, George Waterbury Wheeler and family of Deposit, Mrs. Hepburn, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Miss Mary Waterbury, of Margaretville. [JA: Daniel Waterbury was the first Andes Postmaster and is buried in the family cemetery located to the right of the first right bend in the Cabin Hill road just above the former Dick Cole farm.] 

Robert Laing celebrated his 87th birthday in this village July 20. He is still well preserved. [JA: How would you like to be described as “well preserved”?]

The little two-year-old son of Harold Charles got hold of some poison fluid and drank the contents of the bottle. The child was given mustard water immediately and vomited. It was then rushed to a doctor at Downsville, who told the parents that the mustard had saved the child’s life. The little fellow is now getting along nicely. Some of the fluid had spilled on his clothing and ate holes every place it touched.

Last Friday was St. Swithin’s day and it rained. According to an old adage this means rain for 40 days and a good start has certainly been made. [JA: When I was in college, I mowed lawn in the cemetery as a summer job.  Pete Hanlon was the superintendent then and said he counted on St. Swithin’s day to predict the weather for the summer. I didn’t particularly like mowing lawn and I was hoping that it would rain on that day!!]

The tri-angler [sic] plot of ground in front of the Armstrong place [Mary Davis’ home] at the intersection of Main Street and Railroad Avenue has been filled in and is being curbed by the V. I. S.  [JA: The V.I.S. was the Village Improvement Society, which was made up of ladies from the community whose endeavor it was to make Andes village a nicer and more attractive place to live.  This organization continued on into the early 1950s.] 

At various times, while plowing on his farm below Shavertown, D. D. Hoag has unearthed Indian arrow heads, and at one time had quite a collection. The other day he unearthed a stone mortar used by the Indians for grinding corn. His farm at one time long ago, was undoubtedly the site of an Indian village. The arrow heads are all black flint and very hard. Shavertown Correspondent. [JA: The Indians used this area for a summer hunting ground but didn’t winter here since the weather was too harsh. The Shavertown Cemetery was located on the site of an Indian burial ground and often during the opening of a grave they would find bones and artifacts that had been buried with the body.  There was also what was referred to as the “Old Indian Orchard” on that flat which is mentioned in Munsell’s History of Delaware County.]

A show was billed for this place Monday and Tuesday nights. Monday night it rained and quite a number went to the place but in some way they were informed that there would be no show. The show people got mad over something and a shot was fired, the bullet passing through the window of Mrs. Hulbert’s store. No one was injured.  [JA: Those show people!!!!  Hulbert’s store was located approximately at the foot of Delaware Avenue opposite the stop light.  That store burned several years later.] 

 A Bovina Scrap: Mr. Hadley, on the Marshall Thompson farm, swore out a warrant against Ed Leftgren charging him with assault in second degree. The trouble is said to be over a spring. G. Leftgren lives just across theroad on the Lyle Thomason place and has the deed to a spring on Hadley’s side of the road. Friday afternoon when Hadley was in his barn milking Leftgren and his two sons went to the barn and it is alleged charged Hadley with cooling his milk in their spring, and Hadley claimed he only dammed the waste water. In the trouble Hadley alleges that young Leftgren knocked him down and that he was pounded. In support of his charge Hadley shows bruises and cuts and a broken finger. The trial is set for Wednesday.

Robert H Liddle is having a new veranda built on the front of his residence by the bridge on Delaware avenue. [JA: This is the current home of the Walter Baker family.]

The young daughter of Chas. Drew, on State Road, is suffering from a tape worm. [JA: It must have been a slow week to report this poor girl’s affliction with a tape worm. ] ~