Memories spring eternal ...

100 YEARS AGO

(1908)

A veteran gambler and saloon proprietor, whom this city council paroled from the city jail about a year ago after he had piteously begged for leniency and sworn to forever abstain from selling whiskey, was arrested this afternoon on a charge of selling intoxicating liquor. A search and seizure warrant was issued for the man and his rooms over Congdon's tin shop were searched with the result that a great deal of goods were attached. He had a pretty equipped dive in preparations when the big chief, with a transfer wagon arrived. Five bottles of whiskey, which had just been poured from a jug, were seized, together with a case of beer, an empty beer case and about 300 newly-purchased half-pint whiskey bottles. There were two three-gallon jugs lately emptied of whiskey that were also taken in by the officer. For several months the officers have been hearing such an operation going on.

75 YEARS AGO

(1933)

A severe windstorm, unaccompanied by precipitation or any electrical disturbance, struck Fort Scott this morning, being especially violent on the west side. The wind blew hard all morning from the southwest, but its velocity was greatest from about 11 o'clock to 12:30. The wind strewed the streets with branches from trees and in many places the trunks of large trees were broken by the force of the gale. Small buildings in several locations were damaged or destroyed. A barn belonging to Prof. E.J. Hawkins, near Third and Horton, was blown down. Telephones were put out of commission in a good many cases by wires being broken. It was reported in the Hammond neighborhood there was a bad dust storm, the gale kicking up the soil from plowed fields. A large tree was blown down in the yard of the Burke Street Hospital, breaking electric wires. The hospital was without lights for some time. At the Will Hammer and Ed Yockey homes on South National large shade trees were blown over. A shed at the Thompson residence on South Main was destroyed. The water towers on Burke Street were blocked for some time by a large tree which had blown down in the street.

50 YEARS AGO

(1958)

Mrs. Dorothy Smart, American Red Cross disaster representative, midwestern area, was guest speaker at last night's meeting of the Lion's Club. The total cost to the Red Cross in the 1957 Missouri-Kansas tornadoes came to $857,931. Also a guest was Miss Lorraine Meyer, nursing field representative for the Red Cross. The two women are currently conducting a Red Cross disaster institute in Fort Scott.

Gene Payne, who is stationed with the Air Force at Victorville, Calif., recently witnessed a National League baseball game at the Coliseum at Los Angeles. There were 78,000 people in the coliseum that day. It seats 100,000.

Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys of the Grand Old Opry have been signed for Aug. 14, the final night of the Bourbon County Fair, said fair board president Jim Batten.

25 YEARS AGO

(1983)

Lyal Burt will pass on a company safety record second to none when he retires as the Fort Scott branch manager for the Gas Service Co. He has held the same position for 20 years. "We have the longest running record of anyone," Burt said. Burt said not anyone in the office has lost any work time because of a job-related accident since the safety record in the local office began. The office hallway wall is filled with plaques lauding the safety practiced by the Fort Scott employees. Burt said, "I suppose the outstanding thing I will remember is the fellowship with the co-workers and also the customers." He and his wife Maxine plan to travel."