Choking horses, circus bribes and school lunch

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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 1875, the editor of the Highland Weekly News took to the front page to refute a Chillicothe Gazette editorial that read, “Highland County candidates who want the support of the Hillsboro Gazette, make it a point to present old Springer with circus tickets. A ‘free blow’ to a one-horse menagerie is sure to secure his ‘influence.’” The News replied, “It is not true that a ‘free blow to a one-horse menagerie’ is sufficient to ‘secure his influence.’ It takes a good fat advertisement from the show besides free tickets, to do the work.”

A Pike County man drowned in the Scioto River during a wagon crossing.

Farms in California had just begun cultivating bananas.

Pat Dougherty’s old dray horse choked to death in its stable at the age of 25. The paper said the horse “had been a faithful public servant.”

In local briefs, wet weather had “increased the musquito crop to an annoying extent,” and watermelons were getting “plenty and tolerably cheap.”

A report from the newspaper’s May Hill correspondent, known only as “Leo,” said the bluffs around the area were teeming with corn despite having experienced the wettest July in many years.

This week in 1881, the Hillsborough Gazette reported two men in Lynchburg got into a shouting match that turned into a gunfight. One man shot the other in the chest with a small-caliber revolver, but the bullet glanced off and struck another man. No one was seriously hurt. The shooter was on the run.

The newspaper’s “Christian representative” attended services at St. Mary’s Protestant Episcopal Church, and “listened to the grand music of the choir and the words of the new minister.” The article reported, “We are satisfied that one can attend services at the Episcopal Church any Sunday morning with pleasure and profit.”

I. Kaufmann & Co. advertised Kentucky Bourbon and Monongahela Rye whiskeys and bottled beer.

Seybert & Co.’s Imperial Liniment was advertised as a certain relief for rheumatism, neuralgia, toothache and sore throat.

Floreston Cologne was advertised as the “most fragrant and refreshing of perfumes. Exceedingly delicate and lasting.” Bottles were available at local druggists for 25 cents.

The paper opined that Dr. H.S. Fullerton’s new residence on North High Street was “the nicest building work ever done in this city,” adding that the combination of outside colors was “tasty.”

This week in 1955, the Press-Gazette reported a Lynchburg man was charged with kidnapping his wife.

The Highland County Fair was set to be held for four days in the second week of September. The Rocky Fork Rodeo and Western Horse Show, sponsored by local police and fire departments, was set to be held in September as well.

In hospital news, a Hillsboro man was treated for an ankle injury sustained while playing ball, a Detroit man was treated for a cat bite and a Hillsboro man was given a checkup after he fell through a trap door and injured his right leg.

There were no new leads in an investigation of a theft at a Chillicothe Pike home. The thieves reportedly made off with more than $400 in cash and checks.

A man escaped serious injury in a rollover car accident near Folsom.

Chuck roast was 33 cents per pound at Albers Super Markets, Longhorn cheese was 43 cents, Puffin biscuits were 11 and a half cents, margarine was 18 and a half cents and strawberries were 25 cents.

An 86-year-old woman was badly burned after her dress caught fire from a kerosene lamp.

This week in 1981, the Press Gazette reported Thurlow “Chip” Steffy resigned as Hillsboro High School’s band director.

Emergency officials predicted a bad fire season ahead due to dry weather.

Lunch prices for students at Lynchburg-Clay High School increased slightly.

Kmart advertised Nestea iced tea mix for $1.57, Dial soap for 68 cents, Pepsi products for $1.37 per six pack, and women’s suede oxford shoes for $12.

A suspicious-looking substance found in a pond adjacent to PCB storage facilities in Pricetown tested as hydrocarbon dye, officials said.

A truck drove into the side of a residence on North High Street. The headline read, “Uninvited guests.”

The Colony Theatre advertised showings of “The Great Muppet Caper.”

In further school lunch news, Tuesday’s lunch menu at Marshall was a wiener sandwich, baked beans, potato sticks, sliced peaches and milk.

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

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A look back at news items through the years

By David Wright

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