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
NEW PREZ: The Rev. Peter M. Schmiechen, 46, academic dean at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill., was unanimously elected president of Lancaster Theological Seminary by the board of trustees. (Nov. 3, 1984)
PLANT STRIKE: About 1,500 local floor and tile workers struck Armstrong World Industries, halting operations at its Lancaster floor plant and East Hempfield Township distribution center. Union leaders of Local 285, United Rubber Workers, declared the strike following the workers’ “overwhelming” rejection of a company proposal to reduce medical benefits. The company’s contract offer called for a doubling of insurance premiums paid by employees, and for a yearly deductible of $100 for individuals and $200 for families. The offer also included a 5.04 percent wage increase. (Nov. 5, 1984)
REAGAN ROMPS: President Ronald Reagan scored the strongest victory in a presidential race here in more than half a century, winning 75.6 percent of all votes cast in Lancaster County as he defeated Democratic challenger Walter Mondale in a landslide re-election triumph nationwide. Reagan’s margin locally was the most substantial since Herbert Hoover’s defeat of Alfred Smith with 88 percent of the vote in 1928. (Nov. 7, 1984)
50 years ago
DEADLY TREE: A 17-year-old girl was killed and two sisters seriously injured at Hinkletown when a dead tree fell among a group of people waiting on a bank of the Conestoga Creek to watch a mass baptism on a Sunday morning. With brisk winds blowing, the 60-foot elm tree tore loose from the earth and fell without warning. (Nov. 2, 1959)
GUN CLASSES: In a sweeping new effort to curtail firearms accidents throughout the Commonwealth, special classes on gun safety were being formed in schools for the first time. The classroom approach, an initiative of the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the National Rifle Association, was being introduced in a number of Lancaster County schools. (Nov. 3, 1959)
FARM WILLED: Cane’s Point, the beautiful Pequea Township farm of the late H.W. Prentis Jr., was to become a recreation center for Armstrong Cork Co. employees under terms of the industrialist’s will. Prentis, who had died a week earlier, had served as the company’s president and, later, chairman of the board. The will stipulated that if the company rejected the offer, the farm — off Millersville Road — would be given to the Lancaster County Commissioners for use as a public park. Armstrong directors later declined the offer, saying it would be too costly to convert the farm to recreational use. The county commissioners then tabled the matter, but before they could act, the will was declared invalid because it was executed within 30 days of Prentis’ death. The farm (pictured above in 1966) was auctioned for $51,100 to T.R. McComsey in April 1960. It later became the Circle M Ranch recreation area, and is known today as Outdoor World Circle M Campground. (Nov. 5, 1959, and March 28, 1960)
75 years ago
SHOPLIFTERS: Two shoplifting gangs arrested by Philadelphia police were reported to be linked with thefts of merchandise from Lancaster County department stores, including the M.T. Garvin and James Ross stores. In a separate incident, a thief shattered a plate-glass window at the Baechle and Good jewelry store in Ephrata and escaped with 10 gold watches worth $500. (Nov. 5 and 6, 1934)
ELECTION: Lancaster County stood firmly Republican in the face of a New Deal tide that resulted in a political earthquake in Pennsylvania. GOP Congressman J. Roland Kinzer won re-election with 57 percent of the vote countywide, but the state shed its Republican cloak and elected Democrats Joseph F. Guffey for the U.S. Senate and George H. Earle for governor. It was seen as a major victory for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and an endorsement of his New Deal policies. On election night, a screen on old City Hall carried the returns flashed from the Lancaster Newspapers building across West King Street. Meanwhile, loudspeakers connected with WGAL brought music and election returns to all who had time to listen, and thousands of others received their returns from the newspaper office by telephone. Unable to secure a brass band for an impromptu parade, Democratic celebrants raided the newspaper office for a metal waste paper basket and used the bottom as a drum for their march. (Nov. 7, 1934)
PARK PLANS: Two local parks were benefiting from a Relief Works Division program that was getting into full swing. One squad of workers was cleaning the lake at Long’s Park. Another was beginning work on a new 12-hole golf course at Williamson Park. (Nov. 8, 1934)
100 years ago
FIRE ENGINES: City Council voted to spend $25,000 to buy two new steamer-type fire engines, and to sell two old engines that had not been in service for a long time. (Nov. 4, 1909)
BASKETBALL: The Lancaster School Board received a petition from faculty and students of the Boys’ High School, requesting permission to use the school annex on Mulberry Street for basketball games, with the maximum cost of equipment not exceeding $25. Necessary alterations included screening the windows, removing gas fixtures and installing electric lights in the ceiling. (Nov. 5, 1909)
CLASS SIZES: City school officials noted that while other cities were reporting overcrowded classroom conditions, Lancaster schools generally were maintaining recommended class sizes. Class sizes here averaged 41 students in the primary grades, 43 in intermediate, 42 in secondary, 41 in grammar, 34 in the Girls’ High School and 31 in the Boys’ High School. (Nov. 5, 1909)
