Hometown Oneonta - The Otesgo-Delaware Dispatch: HOMETOWN History

HOMETOWN History

Friday, March 5, 2010

Compiled by Tom Heitz with
resources courtesy of the
New York State Historical Association Library

125 YEARS AGO

Home & Vicinity – At the residence of the bride’s parents in Portlandville on March 5th, Miss Carlotta, daughter of M.S. Cooke, Esq., was married to Mr. George H. Wilber. About 40 guests responded to the invitation. The gifts were numerous and valuable, and spoke well for the friendship existing for the bride and groom.
Amidst the excitement of a game of marbles at the lower school, during the noon recess last Friday, David Boughton fell and broke his arm. He said nothing about the injury until his return home after school, when the arm was so swollen that it was with difficulty that the fracture was reduced.
March 1885

100 YEARS AGO

March 1910

80 YEARS AGO

Thirty members of the guidance class of the Oneonta high school visited the Delaware & Hudson railroad shops on Saturday, where the different plants and processes were explained to them by officials of the road. Wesley Dunbar, divisional car foreman, took charge of the class and escorted them first to the machine shop, where different parts of the rail cars are manufactured. Ray Schuster, general car foreman, joined the party. A large steam hammer was operated for the class and an inspection was made of the new electric hammer which is being installed in the plant. The class next visited the lumber shops. W.G. Scutt, wood mill foreman, met the party and explained the different saws and processes as they went through the mill. Frank Clark, foreman of the coach shops, guided the students through the process of building new coaches and the remodeling of the old ones. At the storehouse, A.E. Kniskern told the students there are 3,200 different articles kept ready for instant use. The roundhouse proved to be of extreme interest to members of the class as Mr. Woolever, master mechanic, took charge of the party and Engine 1400, claimed to be the second largest in the world, was put through her paces.
March 1930

60 YEARS AGO

If all goes well, Arthur F. Duggleby, Navy veteran, may settle his three-cent financial squabble with the Veterans Administration by April Fool’s Day at a total cost to both sides not exceeding a Marshall Plan loan to Europe. Mr. Duggleby, a barber at 110 Main Street, feels that he is getting a trimming in respect to dividends on his National Service Life Insurance. On Thursday, he received a letter bearing a 30-cent registered mail stamp, advising him that he had been overpaid in the sum of three cents and that the Veterans Administration wanted its money. The message listed the debt as $0.03, and advised Duggleby “if the lien is not paid within 60 days from the date of this letter, it will bear interest at the rate of four percent per annum compounded annually. If not paid, it will be deducted from any future settlement of the insurance of any benefits to be derived from the government.” Last October, Duggleby received a letter from the Veterans Administration advising him of “a 1 cent credit on his account which may be deducted from a premium payment.” The same letter also advised him that his check for $3.87 in payment of a premium had been accepted for only $3 because the 87 cents was blurred.
March 1950

40 YEARS AGO

Sam Stratton reports from Washington – The time has come when we upstaters must insist that the Penn Central Railroad be required to extend its present Washington to New York Metroliner service to upstate New York – certainly as far as Albany – probably all the way to Buffalo. The urgent need to bring upstate New York into the 20th century as far as modern, high-speed passenger service was pointed up last week when the Penn Central requested the Interstate Commerce Commission’s permission to discontinue all of its east-west passenger service. The Federal government has spent millions of dollars to help the Penn Central get this Metroliner service going.
March 1970

30 YEARS AGO

In 1979, the number of farms in the United States was about 37,000 fewer than the previous year. The new definition of a farm is “a place with annual sales of agricultural products totaling $1,000, or more. Estimates based on this definition are available beginning with 1975. From the 2.49 million farms recorded in 1975, there has been an annual erosion of about 1.0 to 1.5 percent to the current total of 2.33 million. It is estimated that a further drop of about one percent in 1980 will bring the number down to 2.31 million farms. However, farm acreage loss has been more moderate. During the second half of the 1970s, 13.7 million acres were diverted to non-agricultural use. However, in 1975, the average farm contained 427 acres. Five years later, in 1979, the average acreage had risen to 450 acres.
March 1980

20 YEARS AGO

Commuters and shoppers who take the city’s public transit will ride in bigger, more comfortable buses this fall. The new vehicles will carry growing numbers of people who are leaving their cars at home and taking the bus instead. The city signed a contract March 6th with Bus Industries of America to buy three 40 foot long Canadian made Orion buses. Two of the buses will come equipped with wheelchair lifts.
March 1990

10 YEARS AGO

Applications are now available for the Catskill Choral Society’s Dox Apprenticeship Program of 2000/2001. The program offers high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to sing and perform with the Choral Society in its fall and spring concerts. The Dox Apprenticeship Program honors the Choral Society’s former music director, Thurston Dox for his dedication to enriching the musical experiences of young people.
March 2000

Resources for Hometown History have been provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library.

Labels: 03-12-10, Columns, Hometown History

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