Echoes of the Past: Bread, a strange disc and clashing tanks

DISCLAIMER: The articles in Echoes of the Past are printed in their entire original form, typos and all.

1923 – 100 Years Ago

Dam Permit Granted ‘Tis Said

What seemed to be reliable reports received in Hinton Monday said that the West Virginia Power Company has been granted a permit by the Federal government to construct a dam across New River near the mouth of the Bluestone River. The proposed dam is to be 140 feet high; 530 feet thick at the base, and more than half a mile long. The cost is estimated at $130,000,000.

Real Salt-Rising Bread

Ronceverte’s Electrik Maid Bread Shop advertises it will have real salt-rising bread (“the best you ever ate”) fresh every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Greenbrier High School Notes

Preparations are being made for the presentation of an operetta, “Microbe of Love’” at the G.H.S. on October 26. All who have been in love or have any interest along this line, should seize the opportunity and be at the G.H.S. auditorium on time ready to catch the disease, for the germ will be in the air.

1948 – 75 Years Ago

See Strange Disc

A National Guard fighter pilot told a story of a 30-minute encounter with a mysterious flying object over Fargo, ND, in the darkness – and his account supported by two control tower operators and another flyer. The F-51 pilot said he attempted to intercept the object, making head-on passes, but that it out-turned and out-ran him for nearly a half hour until he lost it at 17,000 feet.

Late Garden

Shell Freeman of Caldwell on last Friday had green beans and roasting ears from his garden.

State Having Biggest Tourist Income Year

West Virginia is experiencing its greatest vacation income year in history, the state industrial and publicity commission reported. Acting executive director Robert W. McKinnon estimated that the state’s businessmen will have received $146,500,000 from the vacation trade before the end of the year.

1973 – 50 Years Ago

Agnew Bids Farewell To The American Public

Spiro T. Agnew has said goodnight to the Americans who believed in him. He faded from the American political scene in a sad televised speech to the nation in which he protested his innocence of criminal wrongdoing. The former vice president gave no accounting in his 22-minute address for cash contributions he has acknowledged receiving from Maryland contractors in 1967 and acknowledged spending for “non-political purposes.”

Hundreds Of Tanks Clash In Mideast

Hundreds of Egyptian and Israeli tanks clashed today over desert sands on both sides of the Suez Canal in an epic armored battle reminiscent of the World War II fight at El Alamein. 

Farthest Tourist

Phillippe L ‘Areaux, left, 21-year old college student from Belgium is believed to be Greenbrier Scenic Railroad’s farthest student. He is shown here with Ronceverte Mayor Virginia B. Blake following the train’s final run. (See photo).

1998 – 25 Years Ago

Greenbrier County Commissioners Voice Support For Study Of Two-Lane Bypass

At the request of representatives from a local grassroot organization, the Greenbrier County Commission agreed to draft a letter to the State Division of Highways asking that DOH engineers study a two-lane bypass around Lewisburg. For the second time in two months, representatives from Citizens for a Planned, Progressive and Preserved Lewisburg Area addressed the commission concerning the proposed Route 219 bypass which is expected to extend from the Greenbrier Valley Airport to Rich Creek, Virginia.

AEI Received Award For Excellence In Exporting

Appalachian Electronic Instruments in Fairlea has received Governor Cecil H. Underwood’s Excellence in Exporting Award for 1998. Since 1994, international exports by West Virginia companies have increased by more than 41%, tapping into many global markets, including the European Union, Canada, Asia and Latin America.

AARP Gives Senator Byrd First Distinguished West Virginian Award

S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-WV, received the first Distinguished West Virginia Award from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). “Older Americans are active in all facets of American life today. From mentoring the young to volunteer work, seniors are continuing to be involved and important in the lives of their communities,” Byrd said at the chapter’s state conference in Charleston.