A glance in the rearview mirror

July 1922: Jury service $4/day. Indoor toilets voted down. Lost Atlantis—found?

by Mary Jo David

The following news excerpts are from July 1922 editions of the Stockbridge Brief-Sun newspaper. These are mostly reproduced in the original, without edits or corrections. Visit the Stockbridge Library to view electronic copies of old local news publications dating back to 1883.

Everyday Good Things: Now is the time to go forth and pluck the early watercress, the wholesome dandelion, the dock and poke, the new shoots of milkweed and marsh marigold or cowslips, all giving the needed zest to the food of spring. –7/6/1922

Giddap: A traveled friend has observed how differently the horsemen of different lands urge on their steeds. The British click their tongues; the Norwegians make a sound like a kiss; the Arabs roll a long “r” and the Neapolitan coachman barks like a dog. –7/6/1922

Caring for Asparagus Bed: Cultivate and fertilize the asparagus bed so that the crowns may develop properly during the summer and be able to produce a heavy crop of shoots next summer. Remember that the yield and quality of the asparagus depend largely upon the treatment given the asparagus this year. –7/6/1922

Help Wanted: Laborers 40¢ and 45¢ per hour. Carpenters 70¢ to 80¢ per hour. Plenty of Steady Work for Good Men. Owen · Ames · Kimball Co. Grand Rapids, Mich. –7/6/1922

From Annual School Meeting Notes. Dist. No. 1: …The annual meeting was then adjourned for one week to July 17 for the purpose of further considering the question of Heating, Ventilating and installing inside toilets, at an estimated cost of $12,000. [Editor’s Note: This expenditure was voted down at the next meeting.] –7/13/1922

Reprinted from Fowlerville Review: …The gasoline stock on hand is the largest in the history of its manufacture and yet the price is steadily advanced in the face of such conditions. …Supply and demand seems not to have been considered, but the powers that be have simply boosted the price. Congress will attempt an investigation, and that will probably result in boosting the prices a little higher. –7/13/1922

Carrying On with the American Legion: The Legion’s campaign for jobless soldiers was aided materially by a Detroit (Mich.) court judge who, finding all jury panels exhausted, directed that unemployed ex-soldiers be obtained for jury service at $4 a day.  –7/13/1922

LOCAL/PERSONAL—July 6, 1922 edition:

• NOTICE: The offices of Drs. Brown and Rowe will be closed every Wednesday after noon and Drs. Brogan and Stitt every Thursday afternoon during the summer months.
• Art Nelson was seen on the street one day this week all “dolled up.”
• Last fall Supervisor A.M. Roche lost a pocketbook containing $26.50 while working in a field. Last week while cultivating in the same field his cultivator uncovered the purse and the contents were found only damaged.”

LOCAL/PERSONAL—July 13, 1922 edition:

• Watson Lane of Unadilla is suffering with three broken ribs, the result of having been thrown from his buggy in a collision with an automobile.
• D. Bachelor of Indianapolis was in town Monday. He was here looking after the Munith Bank, which is being started.

LOCAL/PERSONAL—July 27, 1922 edition:

• One hundred and sixty-six ice cream cones were served Thursday to the people from Howell and young people from Camp Birkett.

INTERNATIONAL / NATIONAL NEWS

July 13, 1922 edition:

• Finds Clues to “Lost Atlantis”: Colon, Panama—The Lost Atlantis has bobbed up again, this time in Panama. An Englishman, Mitchell-Hedges, recently made a two days’ journey into the mountains of the San Blas hinterland, and came back with his suspicions that the Chauquanuqua Indians are the survivors of the once proud inhabitants of Plato’s submerged continent.

July 27, 1922 edition:

• Boy Scouts—Three Times a Life Saver: Paul Lernar, a twelve-year-old Tenderfoot of Boston’s west end has already earned a considerable reputation as a life saver, having three times rescued persons from drowning. Paul’s latest feat in this line was pulled off recently, when he coolly dove into the Charles River and hauled to shore little Robert Cubilowich who, in chasing a ball, had pitched head first into the water from the Esplanade while many adult bystanders looked on panic stricken and helpless.

AND A SMILE UNTIL NEXT MONTH!

July 27, 1922 edition:

• Why, Arthur! One night the town’s most popular young lady, dressed up in her father’s clothes, fled with her lover. The editor of the town paper hurriedly set the type for the astonishing news, and in due time his paper came out with this headline printed in bold letters, “Fleas in Father’s Pants.” –Cappers Weekly.