Good Old Days 06-27-14

Compiled By The Sidney Sun-Telegraph Staff

These stories from the past first appeared in The Sidney Telegraph. Original writing is preserved, though some stories were shortened for space reasons.

100 YEARS AGO

June 27, 1914

Sad Tragedy At Big Springs Sunday

Big Springs' saddest tragedy in its history occurred Sunday afternoon when Mrs. Warren Beach and two-year-old baby boy were fatally burned by the explosion of a gallon can filled with kerosene. Mrs. Beach was in the act of pouring coal oil onto some live coals in the kitchen range when the oil ignited and the flames traveled up the stream of the can. The explosion hurled burning oil over the mother and child and the interior of the kitchen was ablaze. Mr. Beach, who was in the front part of the house, hurried to the scene and wrapped a quilt about his wife, placing her on the bed.

He then ran back but could not find the child who had wondered out the back door. When he returned to the bedroom he found his wife enveloped in flames again. He finally succeeded in extinguishing the blaze which had consumed her skirts and burned her left hand to the bone. The child was picked up by a neighbor and carried to the doctor's office where he was found to be fatally burned about the abdomen. All the child's hair was burned off his head. The baby died at 2 o'clock Monday morning and the mother an hour later.

Mrs. Beach was the wife of Warren Beach, assistant postmaster of Big Springs, who is a son of R.V. Beach, one of the early settlers of Deuel County. She was the daughter of Henry Wiegand of Chappell. Besides the husband a five year old daughter survives.

75 YEARS AGO

June 27, 1939

While Hoppers Gnaw At Their Crops, Farmers Find Time For Humor

Tall stories are turning up in Sidney, now that grasshoppers are the principal topic of conversation. One concerns the reported dilemma facing Cheyenne County druggists. It is reported that the 'Hoppers' are marching on the drug stores, demanding a shot of poison. Said one druggist: "It looks like the government has made dope friends out of the grasshoppers. They're lapping up the poison and asking for more."

The authenticity of the story is questioned, but it has an important aspects. As long as western Nebraska's wheat farmers keep their sense of humor, the situation is not lost. Another story concerns the activities of an inventive person who hopes to capitalize on the 'hopper' invasion. His line of reasoning runs something like this:

Grasshoppers feed on wheat, oats, barley, corn and other small grain. If they could be trapped, ground up and converted into breakfast food, the dish should have all ingredients of all breakfast foods rolled into one.

"Krunchy Hopper Popper, The All Grain Breakfast Food." A farmer appeared on the streets of Sidney Saturday telling of grasshoppers so large they were carrying away his chickens. He pointed to feathers floating through the air to verify his claim. The 'hoppers pick the chickens and eat them while in flight, he asserted, leaving not the slightest trace of meat or bone.

Another story concerned the apprehension of tourists who wanted to visit the Black Hills but has heard that hordes of grasshoppers were blocking the highways. "You needn't worry about that", they were advised by a local man. "The highway department has its snow plow cleaning off the roads." Feeling reassured, the tourists set out for the hills. Taller stories are expected to appear, now that the cycle has been born. All of which proves again that farming is the biggest gamble of them all.

50 YEARS AGO

June 27, 1964

Daryl Conger To Attend Convention

Daryl Conger, Physical therapist at Memorial Hospital, will attend the annual National American Physical Therapy Convention next week, July 5-10, to be held at The Hilton Hotel in Denver.

Mr. Conger, chairman for the Western Nebraska District, is one of three voting delegates from the state of Nebraska for the election of officers to National officers.

There are 57 acting therapists in the state of Nebraska with one voting delegate allowed for each 25 therapists and one for the President.

The week will be filled up with special programs, speakers and Doctors presenting their research papers. 1500 therapists are expected to attend

25 YEARS AGO

June 26, 1989

First Wildlife Deaths Reported As Workers Clean R.I. Oil Spill

Newport, R.I, - Nearly half a million gallons of oil from a grounded tanker closed beaches and claimed its first wildlife victims, and hundreds of people worked to clean up spills in five states.

Beaches were ordered closed today in Rhode Island, and shellfishing was banned off the coast. An undetermined number of oil covered lobsters and several birds have been found dead, state and federal environmental officials said.

Since lobsters, flounders, cod and haddock important to the regions fishing industry are now laying their eggs, it is the "worst possible time to experience an oil spill," said Kenneth Sherman of the National Marine Fisheries Service. Fish can swim away from the oil slick. But larvae do not have that mobility, he said.

The Greek-licensed tanker World Prodigy struck Bretton Reef at the mouth of Narragansett Bay on Friday. Gov. Edward DiPrete said the captain, Lakovis Georgudis, admitted he failed to wait for a pilot and mistakenly changed course, sending the ship toward the rocks.

Results of drug tests on Georgudis and mate whose name was not immediately available where expected by late today, although the Coast Guard said drugs or alcohol were not believed to be a factors in the accident.

A federal inquiry into the accident would be convened Tuesday, Coast Guard Adm. Richard Rybacki said. State Attorney General James E. O'Neil said he hoped to learn Georgudis violated state law by approaching too near the bay without a pilot. Elsewhere, contractors cleaning up a spill from Uruguayan tanker grounded in the Delaware River have hired 255 employees. The state of Delaware also agreed to provide 300 National Guardsmen to help remove thousands of gallons of heavy fuel oil that leaked into beaches in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

The tanker, re-floated Sunday, was carrying 18 Million gallons of heating oil. Officials had no estimate of the severity of Saturdays spill, saying they were unable to account for at least 800,000 gallons, including an undetermined amount that mixed with water and remained in the tanker.

Delaware wildlife officials worked to protect Pea Patch Island, home to several species of nesting shorebirds. Crews laid 1,700 feet of oil-retaining booms along the island, one of the mid-Atlantic's largest rookeries. One oil-covered duckling died.

In Texas, crews aided by wind and waves from a storm tried to contain 250,000 gallons of heavy crude oil that spilled into Galveston Bay after a barge collision.

By late Sunday, more than a third of the 6,000 barrels that leaked from the barge had been sucked from Bayport Channel, said Coast Guard spokesman Bob Morehead.

The Coast Guard scheduled a hearing in Houston on Tuesday to investigate Friday's collision of the tanker Rachel-B and the barge owned by the Houston based Coastal Towing Co.

10 YEARS AGO

June 27, 2004

Chappell Abuzz With Talk Of Meteorites?

What appears to be a rare phenomenon has set the small community of Chappell abuzz with excitement. Two of the town's rural residents have discovered what is presumed to be a meteorite in their own front yard, a find that if confirmed valid by experts, is said to be a once in a lifetime discovery.

"We're so excited," said Donna Akeson of the find. "We have heard that if it is a meteorite that this happens once in every 100 years." Akeson discovered what appears to be a meteorite the afternoon of Thursday, July 22 while going about airing the house following a thunderstorm the night before. "I went to open the window to get some air circulating in the house when I saw it just laying there about four-feet from the house in the front yard," she said. Akeson and husband, Bert, live eight and one-half miles north of Chappell.

Akeson said she knew right away that it was a meteorite because she had done a little research prior to stumbling upon the find. "It's funny, I had just done some reading on meteor rocks so I knew immediately what it was," she said. "It's kind of interesting to know that I read about it then found one."

Akeson believes that the object fell from the sky during a thunderstorm that hit the Chappell area around 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 21. Though the only one who seems to have known something unusual had occurred was the couple's dog, Flossee.

"I was sitting on the couch around 9 p.m. Wednesday when I heard a crack of thunder followed by a bright flash," Akeson said. " At the time I didn't think much about it but then my dog jumped off my lap and took off on a dead run for the kitchen .... to hide in her basket. Apparently she (dog) knew something serious had just happened and got scared." Due to Flossee's strange reaction, this is when Akeson estimated the time the rock landed on her property.

The object fell at such a momentum that it hit a tree in the Akeson's yard, damaging the bark and leaving a trail of leaves three to four foot wide in its wake. The rock is about the size of a cantaloupe and estimated to weigh around six pounds.

Five days after the find, the rick is now in the safe keeping of Deuel County Sheriff Jeff Ortgies said the office has submitted a quarter-size piece of the rock for testing to the Colorado Meteorite Recovery Team in Lakewood, Co, and is awaiting official confirmation as to whether or not the community of Chappell can indeed stake claim of its first reported meteorite.

"It brings real excitement to the community to see something like this," Akeson said. "It's really just a funny thing, and we are happy that we had an idea of what it is so other people can see it and enjoy it." The Akeson's hope to share their discovery further with the community displaying it at the Deuel County Fair in August.

Once test results are received back from the Colorado Meteorite Recovery Team, the Sidney Sun-Telegraph will run a follow up article on the findings.