Following are summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and New Era. This column appears on page B1 of the printed newspaper each Monday. The items are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St.
25 years ago
FREE FOOD: Thousands of county residents lined up for free cheese, butter, honey, rice and corn meal supplied by the U.S. Government, which had purchased it from farmers through federal subsidy programs. “The need is tremendous,” said Jeff Wibberley, director of operations for the Community Action Program of Lancaster County, which was giving food to 10,000 people at two city sites and six elsewhere in the county. The need was so great that many even clamored for 373 blocks of cheddar cheese that was unavailable because it was rotten with mold. “Many, many people wanted the spoiled cheese,” Wibberley said. “But we couldn’t take the liability.” The surplus products were purchased by the government from farmers who received subsidies. (Oct. 20, 1984)
SUNDAY SHOPPING: A proposal to open Park City shopping center at 10 a.m. on the Sunday before Christmas stirred considerable debate among the mall’s merchants. The normal Sunday hours were noon to 5 p.m., although some of the larger department stores opened at 11 a.m. The controversy quickly widened, with church leaders opposing the 10 a.m. opening and a retired businesswoman launching a petition drive against it. The mall’s merchants’ association later dropped the plan. (Oct. 24 and 25, 1984)
50 years ago
LAVISH SCHOOLS? A special state Senate investigating committee charged that school construction in Pennsylvania tended toward lavishness. But Sen. George N. Wade, the Camp Hill lawmaker heading the committee, said his panel learned of no examples of lavishness in school construction in Lancaster County. Wade said he wanted his committee to pass a bill by Lancaster County Rep. Edwin D. Eshelman. The bill would require the Department of Public Instruction to prepare a number of uniform building plans for use by all school districts in the state. (Oct. 21, 1959)
MOMS IN CLASS: Nearly 60 Lancaster Township mothers took over teaching jobs part-time for a week so that the township’s elementary school teachers could meet other parents and talk about their children. It was all part of a program to get teachers and mothers better acquainted and to improve instruction of the children. (Oct. 22, 1959)
75 years ago
CHEAP GAS: Gasoline prices in Lancaster city dropped 1 cent a gallon, marking the third increase in 10 days. The price, including taxes, stood at 14.5 cents for regular, 16.5 cents for high test and 14 cents for third grade. In Camden, N.J., meanwhile, a price war hammered the cost to an all-time low of 7 cents per gallon, including the 3-cent state sales tax and 1-cent federal tax. (Oct. 19, 1934)
BOOTLEG WAR: In an effort to combat bootlegging, the state’s Liquor Control Board reduced prices of liquor and wine in stores around the state. Some brands of wine were listed as low as $1.40 a gallon, while brandy and rum prices ranged from 5 to 90 cents a bottle. The new list, which marked the sixth round of price cuts, was drawn “to make it unprofitable for the bootlegger, with his illegal and inferior merchandise, to exist and turn into criminal channels the profits that should go to social needs,” the board said in a statement. Profits from the state liquor monopoly were directed to pensions for the blind, unemployment relief and other social services. (Oct. 22, 1934)
PLUNDERED: Private and museum collections throughout the world were plundering Lancaster County of its rich treasures of Pennsylvania Dutch art while local organizations and individuals were standing idly by, historians warned. The warning followed the announcement that a collection of more than 300 articles of Pennsylvania Dutch art had been turned over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, with one entire Colonial room set up with relics of the past gathered from Lancaster County. Professor Herbert H. Beck, president of the Lancaster County Historical Society, said the county was willing to contribute its share to such displays, but needed to take steps to preserve some of its rich treasurers for its own people. (Oct. 24, 1934)
100 years ago
KIDS’ HOME: After considering nine sites for the new Mennonite Children’s Home, organizers chose a 7.5-acre tract at the east end of Millersville, on the north side of the turnpike near the Mennonite meeting house. The idea of the home was to have a place for the care of needy children, regardless of creed, until a private home could be secured for them. Construction was to begin in the spring of 1910. (Oct. 19, 1909)
PRICE OF LOVE: A local factory owner was sued for $5,000 for the alienation of the affections of another man’s wife. The businessman denied anything beyond a business relationship with the woman — who worked at his factory — but he was found guilty. The jury, however, valued the loss of affection at only $25, which it awarded to the plaintiff. (Oct. 19, 1909)
BURGLARS BACK: Burglars, who had operated extensively in the city the previous winter, were returning to work. They broke open a showcase of shoes at J.C. Shaub & Co. on North Queen Street and attempted to rob the hat and millinery store of Edward S. Kress at 37-39 W. King St. (Oct. 20, 1909)
