Culled by Judy Garrison
With commentary by Jim Andrews
From February 1922 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
William M. Tuttle died at his home in Andes village about 9 o’clock on Sabbath morning, February 5, from a form of poisoning which puzzled the physicians, at the age of 64 years. He had been unable to work for several months because of a sore on his leg. [Jim Andrews: This could easily have been from sepsis resulting from an infection of the unhealed sore on his leg. Medicine has come a long ways.]
The large boilers which were used at the Andes Creamery company plant here, will be moved to Shavertown for the new dry milk plant at Shavertown. [JA: Today the boilers would have been scrapped but in economical 2022 were reused at the Shavertown plant. I am assuming that these were the boilers from the burned out creamery on Lower Main Street.]
Fraser Bros have sold their creamery business and real estate at Fraser’s station to George Polley the well-known creameryman of Andes. They will devote their entire time to the feed business and farming. Possession is to be given March 1. [JA: George Polley was a longtime businessman in Andes and lived in the large foursquare house by the stop light. His second wife, Agnes Gladstone Thompson, was the postmistress here in Andes for many years].
W. A. Ostrander (the Medlin house), Rev. C. E. Hewitt, H. D. Archer (the former Dr. All house on Depot Street) and W. J. Howland (Frank Temming house) now have phones on the farmers telephone lines. This makes 207 subscribers that have to be called from the central office in Andes. [JA: The central office was located in the Two Old Tarts building. All calls had to be manually connected by the operator in that building using plugs and sockets.]
Colonel E. Miner died at his home in Arena on Saturday afternoon, February 11, from pneumonia, aged 65 years. [JA: Pneumonia was a common cause of death during the winter months up until the use of antibiotics. People of all ages, particularly the elderly, succumbed to this.] He was son of the late O.E. Miner and was born on the Tremperskill on the farm now owned by Marvin Miner (the Spic Tuttle farmhouse). He was twice married and for a number of years conducted a hotel in Arena.
The chief topic in Andes the past week and still is “Milk”. The league price for February is $2.58 per hundred for 3 per cent milk in this zone as sent out from league headquarters. The Andes Creamery Company and L. B. Samuels, who leases the Co-Operative Dairy plant, refused to pay the league price. Farmers belonging to the league could not accept a less price without paying a fine to the league, so on February 1st no milk was delivered….It is a bad situation from whatever angle you take it—for the farmer, the creameries and the village. About 18 families in the village depend on the two creameries for the labor which gives them their daily bread. The farmers simply fighting for existence and hoping for betterment in conditions. They cannot continue month after month to produce at a loss. [JA: Milk prices have been serious issues for farmers ever since. The few farmers left in Andes today have to rely on alternate sources of income in order to keep their dairies in operation, i.e. sawmills, lumbering, maple syrup production.]
Dr. C. L. Wakeman, who went to Steubenville, Ohio, about two years ago, returned to Andes on Wednesday and will resume his practice here. [JA: Dr. Wakeman practiced medicine from his home here in Andes (the site of which is now occupied by the Andes Town Pool) until the 1940s. He was a true country doctor who not only treated people in his home, but made house calls, delivered babies and tended to the sick and dying.]
The House of Representatives has just voted $360,000 for “free seeds” which is only a waste of money. The seeds sent out are of poor quality and not true to name, and even if they do grow are as liable to be weeds as anything else. [JA: unsolicited editorial comment]
The interior of the Norton drug store (former Paisley’s building; now the home to Bevan Designs) has been re-decorated in white and presents an attractive appearance.
The Ladies Auxiliary of the U. P. church will hold a Valentine Social and Oyster Supper at Union Hall (the second floor of the Tin Horn building which was used for many community events, including the high school basketball games) on Tuesday evening, February 14.
A.D. Liddle, truant officer, was at Shavertown on school matters on Thursday.
Many Stamford merchants and professional people are studying Spanish, that language being much used there during the summer season, when there are many Cuban residents.
A breach of promise suit for $50,000 came up before Federal Judge Frank Cooper in Albany Tuesday. The action is that of Marie Hume of Chicago against Dana W. Kerr of Bloomville. Miss Hume charges between April 1915, and May, 1919, at Chicago and other places Kerr promised to marry her, and then married another woman. As a result, the plaintiff claims she suffered mental anguish and nearly lost her mind. She says she spent large sums of money for medical treatment.
With this issue the present publisher completes 28 years as editor of the Recorder—three times that of any other publisher in the 54 years of the paper’s existence. We are ready to welcome a successor at once.
- D. Oliver is probably the oldest volunteer fireman in point of service in the state. He has been a member of the Andes Fire department ever since it was organized and his certificate is dated March 13, 1877—45 years ago. [JA: Silas D. “Square” Oliver was the local feed and furniture dealer with two locations in the village as well as the local funeral director with his “parlors” located in the former “Beehive” building across from the Catholic Church. He lived in the large Queen Anne style Moore house next to the bank.]
Statistics show that in the ten large countries participating in the world war there are 15,000,000 surplus women as compared with 4,000,000 prior to 1914. In England there are 2,000,000 unmarried women.~