THE WAY WE WERE – Culled by Judy Garrison From January 1923 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

James Miller, the young son of Robert J. Miller, broke his arm Wednesday afternoon while riding down hill on High street. The sled on which he was riding collided with the corner of his father’s barn and the arm was broken just above the wrist.

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Mrs. John Raitt, who lives with her son, Thomas Raitt, in southern Bovina, celebrated her 91^st birthday on January 2. [Judy Garrison: John Raitt, local historian who told much of Delhi and Andes history through brief story-like accounts, was no doubt a relative. I’ve heard that the singer, Bonnie Raitt, was John’s cousin.] [Buffy Calvert: As a boy John Raitt lived on the farm where Mel and June Ruff now reside. One day John caught a beautiful trout. His father suggested he give it to Mrs. Bruce—my grandmother—who was ill. Reluctantly he did. Sometime later, after Mrs. Bruce’s death, her husband, Judge Bruce, invited young John to his study where he told him how much she had appreciated the trout and give him a large tin of peanuts as a reward.]

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Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in New York State, and the central feature of Victory Mountain Park, has become property of the People of the State by deeds just given. In addition to Mt. Marcy the State now owns 40 of the 42 highest mountains in the Adirondacks and practically none of the high peaks in the Catskills are now without some state land, either on the summit or on the steeper slopes. Over 20,000 acres has been acquired under the bond issue.

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On the 24^th of this month the men of Shavertown will hold an Oyster Supper at Fletcher’s hall for benefit of the cemetery. George Fletcher has given the hall and 5.00 and we feel quite sure he will give us 10.00 for his supper, so we have 15. Let all the rest come and help. The gentlemen will wait on the tables and there will be 2 or 3 good speakers. [JG: I’m guessing that since oysters were still in great abundance in New York City, it was not costly to bring up huge amounts by train, which is why they were so often featured at dinners. I like that the men were waiting on tables.]

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Representative Upshaw, of Georgia, in a speech in the house declared that “bootleggers ply their devilish trade among too many public men in Washington,” taking a shot at Governor Smith of New York, who he said “took an oath to defend the constitution and then in his next breath joined the nullifiers of the constitution by calling on Congress to allow beer and wine.” “I serve notice on the governor and all who train with him that he cannot roll into the White House on a beer keg or wine barrel—for the militant manhood and the emancipated womanhood of America will rise up and smash every jug and break every bottle and roll every beer keg and champagne barrel into the Atlantic ocean. The inauguration defiance of our national law shut the door of the White House forever in the face of the present governor of New York and other wet presidential aspirants.”

“Repeal the 18^th amendment?” the Georgian exclaimed, “Why you might as well talk about repealing the ten commandments of God because after thousands of years they are broken every day.”

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PALMER HILL A JONAH

A near blizzard swept over eastern and northern New York state Monday, heaping highways and byways with snow…Andes was in the storm belt and around a foot of the beautiful has fallen. Aside from Palmer Hill there has been no great difficulty experienced in traveling with sleigh or auto. Palmer Hill, even with a new state road, has kept up its reputation. Autos which tried to buck the drifts failed to climb the western slope. The Delhi-Arkville bus failed on the morning trip but with the aid of shovelers was able to make the afternoon and have made every trip since, and is the only auto that is able to make the hill. Sheffield Smith with his big truck with a load of household good tried to surmount the drifts and had to turn around and came back to Andes and unloaded as did also a Ford truck.

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What does a New York City man know about agriculture, and yet one heads the senate agriculture committee at Albany.

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James D. Calhoun Post has received the new furnishings for their rooms over the Big Store.

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If icicles are an indication of the depth of snow that we are to have this winter, it will mean a record breaker as many icicles are from 8 to 10 feet in length. [JG: Is anyone familiar with the predictive value of icicles? It’s new to me.]

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Ellsworth Reynolds has sold his residence at Fleischmanns to Manuel Kline for
$9,000, and has accepted a position with a large realty firm in New York City. He came to Fleischmanns 32 years ago without a dollar and has been one of the live wires of that section. Among other things he has built over a quarter of a million dollars of houses and hotels. [JG: Fleischmanns was known for the abundance of hotels and seasonal boarding houses.]~