Bumps, bruises and Buford brawls

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As The Times-Gazette celebrates its 200th anniversary, we’ll take a look back each Saturday at some of the important, interesting or even odd events as they were reported during the same week throughout the years, along with interesting advertising features from back in the day.

This week in 1937, the Hillsboro Press-Gazette reported rural residents of Highland County felt an earthquake on a Tuesday morning.

According to the article, farmers said “dishes rattled and pans jumped on stoves,” while urban residents said they thought the noise and sensation came from a passing truck.

A Buford man was found not guilty at trial after the jurors deliberated for 30 minutes on his assault and battery charge.

The article said a disagreement had broken out between him and another man about the Buford softball diamonds, and they fought each other. The defendant was a church team organizer, and the alleged victim was organizing a girls’ softball game. The defendant argued he had acted in self defense.

The proceedings “attracted a large attendance” in what was Judge G.W. McDowell’s first jury trial.

In other Buford news, a brief in the social pages said one Fred Butt, a tenant at the M.C. Rosselott farm, fell and broke his collar bone.

The Press-Gazette reported it had adopted a “modern type face” by switching to the Excelsior font, which it boasted was “as crisp and clear as church chimes in the snow.”

At A&P Food Stores, a “tall can” of red salmon was 18 cents, coffee was 23 cents per pound, bread was 10 cents per loaf, and dried beef was 10 cents for a four-ounce package.

“The New Bell’s Theater,” boasting a Western Electric Sound System, advertised shows by The Top O’ The Morning Gang and Ma & Pa McCormick with the Brown County Revelers. The theater also advertised a showing of “Borderland,” starring Hop-A-Long Cassidy.

A short feature article discussed the French cultural heritage of Clay Township and Whiteoak Township.

This week in 1964, The News-Herald reported a number of injuries in the hospital news. A man bumped his head, another “mashed” a finger, and another injured his right foot on a motor scooter.

In classifieds: “WANTED — Quilts to quilt.”

A 5-year-old boy was struck by a car on South High Street and sustained injuries.

The Sugartree Ridge Post Office was discontinued as an independent office and brought under the supervision of the Hillsboro Post Office as a “rural station,” the first of its kind in the county.

Ira Marconette was the Sugartree Ridge postmaster at the time, and had been for 22 years.

A full-page ad depicted a large six-pack of Coca Cola bottles, and shouted in bold print, “COKE IN THE NEW HALF-QUART SIZE!”

One hundred and eight people were present for Sunday School in Danville.

An article under the heading “Aw shucks!” said two youths admitted to husking and stealing eight bushels of corn in a field near Peebles. They each received a 60-day “workhouse term.”

This week in 1973, The News-Herald reported that a letter from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency cited the Highland County landfill for “not reasonably complying with sanitary standards.”

Hillsboro Safety and Service Director George Gall announced a new traffic light at North High Street and Collins Avenue had begun operating.

Dwight Crum, Dick Ryan, Bob Dunlap, Wilbur Rhodes and Chuck Davidson, all from Hillsboro, comprised the winning team of a muzzle-loader shoot in Chillicothe.

The Colony Theatre advertised showings of “Lady Sings the Blues,” starring Diana Ross.

In further hospital news, a woman was admitted to the hospital after falling from a table at a laundromat. A man was treated after running a thorn into his foot.

Thieves ransacked an apartment at Hi-Land Terrace and made off with a .22 caliber pistol, a sweater and a vest. They also reportedly broke a television set.

On the opinion page, the paper lauded an Indiana judge for his creative sentence of a man who pled guilty to “desecrating” the American flag by using it as a curtain in his mini-bus. The judge ordered the man to carry the flag to and fro in front of the courthouse, and a crowd gathered — some of whom “didn’t spare too much mercy in their comments.”

This week in 1997, The Times-Gazette reported via the Associated Press that North and South Korea were to hold peace talks for the first time in 25 years.

Bob Hodson and Ralph Philips were to co-chair the 25th annual Radio-Telethon for the benefit of the Highland County Society for Children and Adults.

The Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission heard from a man who wanted to develop a hydroponic greenhouse in Highland County.

The same day Lidocaine became available to the Hillsboro Fire Department Life Squad, emergency workers used the drug on a New Market man with a history of heart disease who was having chest pains and shortness of breath.

A semi trailer was parked at the Hillsboro Senior Citizens Center for anyone who wished to donate items to flood victims from Adams County.

In sports, the Fairfield Lions and Whiteoak Wildcats “staged, arguably, the most exciting game of the year,” at the Division IV district semifinals at Ohio University before Fairfield outlasted the Wildcats in double overtime with a final score of 98-87.

Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.

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A weekly look back at news items through the years

By David Wright

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