1925– 100 Years Ago
Walked 4,400 Miles
Lewis Law, aged 18, of Camden-on-Gauley, at the end of the term of the normal at Cowen, will have walked 4,400 miles to get his education. Lewis walked 3,300 miles in three years, making daily trips from his home to Cowen High School to complete his high school education in three years’ time.
Don’t Appreciate Klan
The new town council of Webster Springs seems to be very much embittered against the K.K.K., and is endeavoring to crush it or else greatly curtail its sphere of action. In the regular meeting there was spread upon the minutes of the council an ordinance forbidding the marching and parading of persons, wholly or partly masked whereby the identity of the person might be concealed and unlawful to burn a fiery cross, without the consent of the majority of the council.
Remarkable Timber
C. Wilson, timber buyer, recently bought a quantity of standing walnut timber from Mrs. Bell Rader, near Lewisburg, which contained two remarkable trees. One tree measured 21 feet in circumference at the top of the ground and yielded 3,140 feet of walnut boards, which will go into fine furniture. The other tree was remarkable for its height, the main prong of two forks measuring 74 feet to the first limb and 16 inches at that height. This tree would have yielded 3,200 feet or more of boards, except for being slightly hollow at the butt.
1950 – 75 Years Ago
Big Steer At Fairlea
The nation’s highest priced beef-on-the-hoof will be on display to the public at Fairlea. Judge Roy Bean, grand champion steer at the International Livestock Exposition in Chicago is being brought here by Tri-County Equipment Corp. Judge Roy Bean, all 1,200 pounds of him, won the grand championship purple ribbon and a cool $13,800 for the 4-H Club of Pecos County, Texas. The prize-winning Hereford was purchased at a record $11.50 a pound by Dearborn Motors, Detroit, national marketing organization for Ford tractors and Dearborn farm equipment.
Cruelty In West Virginia
Two New Jersey women won divorces Monday on charges of cruelty – they said they had to live in West Virginia. I’d rather be dead than go back to West Virginia, Mrs. Mary S. New of New Brunswick told Superior Court Judge Donald H. McLean. Mrs. Helen Sizemore of New Brunswick said she held similar sentiments about the state. Both told of wartime romances which started at USO dances in Camp Kilmer just outside of New Brunswick, but the bloom wore off, they said, when their new husbands took them home to West Virginia. Mrs. Sizemore said she slept in a mattress filled with cornstalks, walked a mile for a pail of water, and slept some 10 feet from the pig pen.
Old Stone Building
Approximately $90.000 was raised through pledges and subscriptions and cash donations to the Old Stone Memorial Religious Education Building. Col. H. B. Moore, general chairman of the building committee, was well pleased with this splendid beginning.
1975– 50 Years Ago
Teachers Salaries Fall To Fourth Lowest
Salaries paid West Virginia school teachers fell to the fourth lowest in the nation. The West Virginia Legislature recently appropriated funds to provide a $500 across-the-board pay increase for the State’s professional educators, but that provision was vetoed by Governor Arch Moore.
UCLA Bruins Defeat Kentucky
Fittingly, John Wooden has gone out a winner. The man who turned out the greatest dynasty in college basketball history did it again Monday night – his final game of coaching. If Wooden, the wily Wizard of Westwood, was conducting some kind of psychological warfare when he announced his retirement Saturday after UCLA’s 75-74 overtime win over Louisville in the NCAA semifinals it worked. For the 10th time in 12 years, his UCLA Bruins won a national championship. Two days after Wooden’s dramatic announcement, his Bruins beat Kentucky’s take-no-prisoners defense, 92-85.
Auction House Opening
The South Pottstown Auction House with Lee Levengood, auctioneer, opens the season on April 5 at 11:00 a.m. sharp in the old depot across from the Blue Grass Market in Caldwell.
2000– 25 Years Ago
Pilot Seriously Injured In Greenbrier County Airplane Crash
The lone occupant of a small airplane that crashed in a remote area of Greenbrier County is listed in critical condition at a Virginia hospital. John Edward Hayes was fourteen miles north of the Greenbrier Valley Airport when he lost his Cessna 177 engine. Three employees of the airport and Mike Kelly, owner of Mountain Helicopter, responded to the emergency situation.
DOH Maintenance HQ Opens In Lewisburg
The new County Highway Maintenance Headquarters on Route 219 in Lewisburg was officially opened. The $500,000 building was designed to facilitate cost-effective coordination and utilization of personnel and equipment for area residents.
Queen of Jordan Visits The Greenbrier
The jet carrying Queen Rania of Jordan touched down at the Greenbrier Valley Airport at 8:30 PM. There to greet her was White Sulphur Mayor John Bowling, Jr. and his granddaughter, Anne, a seventh grader at Eastern Greenbrier Junior High School. The queen flew into West Virginia for the first time on her way to The Greenbrier resort. “She is here to give a speech to the Young Presidents’ Organization which is holding its summit at The Greenbrier,” Press Secretary Alia Toukan stated.
DISCLAIMER: The articles in Echoes of the Past are printed in their original firma and may contain typos.
