Culled by Judy Garrison With commentary by Jim Andrews From November 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

WOULD CLOSE ANDES BRANCH

The discontinuance of the Andes branch would sound the death knell for the entire road as a large share of its income is derived from the freight to Andes. For some time the management of the road have had a grudge against Andes and have been trying by any means to discontinue the road. They claim that the branch does not pay for much more than the coal. Anyone who knows the amount of freight brought in (much more than any other station on the road) knows that such a statement is a lie. It is alleged that in figuring the freight received on Andes goods the railroad only figures from Union Grove instead of from East Branch which is the only fair way and just way to figure it. The chief aim of the railroad seems to be to close the branch by fair means or no. If they have an idea that they will continue to get the Andes freight and that it will be hauled from Shavertown they have another guess coming. The facts should be placed before the judge. [Jim Andrews: This item is a bit confusing since it indicates that the hearing is to show why the branch should not be closed when I believe it was to show why the branch should be closed. The branch was understandably short. and with two trestles was an upkeep expense. However, the entire railroad had sustained severe financial hardships, had been reorganized in 1918 and the name changed from the Delaware & Eastern to the Delaware &Northern. The point the article writer is making is that the freight charges were being calculated only from the Union Grove station and not freight that was shipped from the East Branch end of the line, which would have dramatically increased the numbers.  The Andes branch had been the primary delivery method for the materials used to construct Angelica Gerry’s mansion at Lake Delaware. With that project ending the branch would understandably have lost revenue. The D & N finally succeeded in closing the Andes branch in 1926 with the final death knell being the construction of the macadam road from Margaretville through Andes to Delhi (Palmer Hill). Road transportation was much more cost effective than rail service. Therefore the railroad lost business. The Delaware & Northern continued limited operation from Margaretville to East Branch until 1942 when NYC bought the line and tore up the tracks in preparation for the construction of the Pepacton Reservoir.]

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ENDS HIS LIFE BY HANGING

William Henry Fritts, a native and long time resident of the town of Franklin, ended his life by hanging at noon on Sunday…. The unfortunate man was 68 years of age and was well known in the vicinity of North Franklin. It is believed that he was despondent because of ill health, he having suffered seriously from rheumatism of late and having reached a time when he felt he could no longer work and earn a livelihood. More than a score of years ago he shot and killed his more prosperous neighbor, Jothan Gay, at North Franklin, charging that Gay had been intimate with his wife and had refused to make the

cash settlement promised. The crime caused a sensation at the time. Since his release Fritts had been unfortunate in many ways. He leaves a wife, five children and one sister.

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Folks who are legally qualified to vote and who because of lack of interest fail to vote should be put in jail for a few days.

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Tuesday’s election brought big changes and a wide swing of the political pendulum. Democrat Alfred E. Smith defeated Governor Miller by a plurality of nearly 400,000 and carried into office the rest of the state ticket…..In Delaware county everything was strongly Republican. Governor Miller received a plurality of 5,000.

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Howard Samuels, proprietor of the Andes-Delhi stage line, and Leland Tuttle have formed a partnership and propose to operate a bus line between Delhi and Margaretville. If we have much snow the drifts on Palmer Hill will compel them to take a vacation during the winter. [JA: This would have serviced traffic from the newly constructed highway from Margaretville and would suffer financially if the road were closed due to snow drifts. Often the drifts would be in place for many days while road crews dug them out. Modern snowplows were not in great supply.]~