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Looking Backward 1.24.2013

  25 Years Ago

January 21, 1988

 

The Ava High School Bears earned the championship trophy in the Seymour tournament last week. The Bears defeated Fordland, Mtn. Grove, and Gainesville to claim the championship title.  The Bears will host the Ava Invitational Tourna­ment next week.

Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Powell, of Ava, will observe their 50th wed­ding anniversary on Jan. 28th.

Gary Wayne Jenkins, a senior at Ava High School, recently enlisted in the United States Navy for guar­anteed training at the Navy’s Oper­ations Specialist School.  Gary, the son of J.W. and Sharon Jenkins of Route 1, Ava, Mo., enlisted under the Delayed Entry Program, and will complete high school before reporting for active duty in September 1988.

Tiger Cubs of Troop 77 visited the Herald Office last Wednesday evening and saw how a newspaper is printer.  Members of the group are Brett Sterling, Justin Brummett, Jonathan Witchey, Seth Jones, Andy Hartley, Bradley Storie and Garrett Senn.

Bill Goss, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Goss of Ava, has been appointed principal nominee to the United States Military Academy at West Point by Congressman Gene Taylor of Missouri.

BLACK OAK –– Last Sunday Marjorie Buck enjoyed dinner in her daughter’s home with Bill and Shirley Riley.

BASHER –– Mr. and Mrs. Dewayne Davis were Sunday din­ner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Davis.  To help Harold celebrate his birthday. Happy Birthday, Harold.

WAGNER – Congratulations to Kenneth and Amy (Riddle) Sherrow on their 55th wedding anniversary on Jan. 28.

 

50 Years Ago

January 17, 1963

 

The new high school building is now under construction on the R-1 school grounds in Ava.  Overall, the building is approximately 270 feet long, north to south, and the widest part is the north end of the gymnasium, 106 feet. The two-story classroom portion is ap­proximately 147 feet by 60 feet, with a portion of this widening out next to the gym. There will be six classrooms on the first floor and seven on the second floor. The building is being constructed by the Lester Sutherland construction Co. of Mtn. Grove for a bid of $341,445. Architect is Drew and Englehart of Jefferson.

Clyde E. Norman, 72, Ava’s oldest business man died at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Springfield Baptist Hospital. He had been a druggist in Ava from 1910 until last summer, when he disposed of the business because of his illness. Surviving relatives include his wife Effie (Curry); three children, Dr. Ruskin Norman, San Antonio, Texas, Mrs. Betty Hicks, Wichita, Kansas and Miss Laverne Norman, Tucson, Arizona.  Clyde continued as sole owner and manager of the business until the summer of 1962, when, due to his illness, the business was sold to the present owners, Bob and Martha Turton.

A second home economics teacher, Miss Sandra Ward, will begin teaching in Ava High School Monday.

A combination of alleged cattle rustling and butchering caused grand stealing charges to be filed against two Ava men.  They are accused of going to the farm of Irby Plumb, located on Cowskin Creek about four miles west of Ava, on the night of Jan. 9, and killing and butchering a three-weeks-old Hereford calf.  The men were ar­rested the next day by Sheriff Don Souder and Deputy Chancy Sherman.

Mr. and Mrs. Jose Duran of Squires announce the birth of a 10-pound, 1-ounce daughter, Ruth Anne, at the Mansfield Hospital at 8:45 a.m. Monday, Jan. 14. The Durans also have four sons and four daughters.

A state summary of school dis­trict organization shows that there were 848 high schools and 7,263 elementary schools operating in 1940.  In 1960 this number was down to 526 high schools and 731 operating elementary districts. An­other 376 elementary districts were not operating schools.

THE SNOOP with Bob Bowles- Mrs. Allen Welker, working in the kitchen, heard her three-year-old daughter ask, “Where did you get that stuff?   Mrs. Welker did not investigate immediately but shortly thereafter she went into the bed­room and found little Annette’s hair standing straight up – and it had that greasy look!  Her daughter had helped her baby sister by using the kitchen’s supply of shortening.

CROSS ROADS –– Paul Evans has a new pickup.

BLACK OAK –– Mr. and Mrs. Jim Duckworth and daughter have moved to a farm they purchased on Happy Home Road.

The world is having a hard time making up its mind whether to come to peace or go to pieces.

 

75 Years Ago

January 20, 1938

 

Ava will have a President’s Ball again this year, the money raised to go for a new national foundation for infantile paralysis. The date for the ball has been set for Saturday, Jan. 29.  Music for the dance will be furnished by Rex Browning’s orchestra.

The Ava high school Bears gained the undisputed lead on the Altitude league in basketball Tues­day night when they defeated Elk­land 37 to 21 on the Ava court.

Elsworth Baxter, son of Mr. and Mrs. Baxter of three miles north of Ava, and Miss Lena Bristol, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bristol of Ava were married Satur­day in the office of Justice of the Peace R.A. McJimsey with Mr. McJimsey officiating.

City automobile licenses are now due and may be obtained from Mrs. Sarah Reedy, city collector.

E.H. Hamby of the Robertson School District was in Ava Satur­day. Mr. Hamby was enroute to Kansas City where he had been called to serve on the jury of the U.S. Federal Court.

Dr. R.D. Runde, superintendent of the Missouri State Sanatorium at Mt. Vernon, held a clinic at the high school Tuesday.  Seven hun­dred school children were tested for tuberculosis, approximately 500 of these tests were made on Ava stu­dents and 100 on children from rural schools.

Headline: “Capone, The Worst Hated Man in Alcatraz.”  Well, he wasn’t the best-loved man even in Chicago.

Query: “How long can the sane stay sane if their taxes rise much higher for the support of the insane?”  Now, there’s a problem for you.

ROME – We are all enjoying the nice spring-like weather. Quite a lot of winter plowing is being done in this community.

ROCKBRIDGE –– We are now having spring-like weather in mid-winter, but the drought is becoming rather serious.

Many Ava pleasure seekers en­joyed a masquerade skate party given last Wednesday evening at Roscoe’s Roller Skating Rink. Sixty masked skaters were on the floor, many in fancy costume. Just before the masks were removed, prizes were awarded by Mrs. Spurlock to the following contest­ants:  Miss Hester Miller, best lady skater;  Tan Edmonds, best man skater; Mrs. O.M. Swick and Roscoe Spurlock, best couple skating; Mrs. Joe Pitts and Elzie Hutchison, best costumes.  Joe Murphy won the prize in the potato race.

Miss Florida Pratt took charge of the White Way Café Friday morning after closing a deal for the purchase of the café from Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Viles. Miss Pratt for many years has been employed at the Ozark Hotel, where she was the main cook for Mr. and Mrs. S.W. Grimes.

Little Miss Louanna Mae Grabeel, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Murley Grabeel, of north of town, who has been very ill for the past several weeks is slowly improving. She has been suffering from com­plications caused by an attack of influenza.

Joe Bacorn and his brother, Fred Bacorn purchased the new Auto Lodge Thursday evening from Roy Dean, and took possession of their new business Friday morning. The Bacorn brothers are agents for the International Harvester Company.

 

100 Years Ago

February 7, 1913

 

The big Steel bridge at Vera Cruz, across Bryant River is com­pleted, and will be ready to turn the travelers on in a few days –– as soon as the approaches are finished. The Midland Bridge Co., who did the work have hauled their tools to Ava and will be loaded on to the K.C.O. & S. for shipment in a few days.  This is the second steel bridge Douglas County has built in the past 2 years.

When Mrs. Thomas Edison suc­ceeded today in getting her husband to admit her into his laboratory, she presented him with the medal awarded by the American Museum of Safety last night.  Edison, who had not left his laboratory for three months, had sent his wife and daughter to the presentation cere­monies. Mrs. Edison explained to the Museum officials that he was working night and day on his new talking motion picture invention, “Kinetophone,” and was too busy to receive the medal in person.

M. Dussaud, a French scientist, who has discovered a means for the production of what he terms “Cold Light,” today made public some details of his discovery, which, it is thought may revolutionize electric lighting.  Experiments with the lamp have established that the new light is absolutely without danger, as no heat is given off and it re­quires a hundred times less current than the ordinary lamp. It can be worked by a tiny battery, or suffi­cient motive power can be obtained from a jet of water from an ordi­nary faucet, or even a squirrel turning a cage.

NOTICE TO BOOZERS –– It is nothing unusual to see men and boys drink or in an intoxicated condition on the streets of Ava, and especially is this so on Saturdays. It looks disgusting to see men of families staggering and reeling on the streets using indecent language and having no respect for law order or the welfare of others.  While it may not be altogether my business to get out and make arrests of these parties, I wish to sound a word of warning to all those who will be seen in that condition in the future. You can expect to pay for your folly at the courts of law and justice in this county.  W.J. Cannifax, Pros. Atty., Douglas County.

TOPAZ –– Wm. Pennington is putting an addition to his house, which adds greatly to its appear­ance.

BRUSHY KNOB NEWS – The family of Bob Seal who moved to Ava about 4 months ago, has re­turned and living on the old place – Bob we understand is traveling with a shooting gallery.

 

125 Years Ago

January 27, 1888

 

When a person sits down upon a red hot gridiron, they are sure to jump up, clap their hands upon their sit-down-a-tive-ness, and bellow with pain, as is forcibly shown in one of last weeks editori­als of the Douglas County Demo­crat. In this instance, however, the poor, miserable excuse for a news­paperman is unable to do his own howling, so he has been compelled to import a blatter from Blatters­ville, a regular ring-tailed, short-horned squealer, to make a noise for him.  What does it mean? Does the grinning ass expect us to descend into the mire and wallow with the swine, as we shall be com­pelled to if we wish to make an intelligent answer to his degrading bosh. The Democrat has always occupied the aggressive side of the fight, and we have paid about as much attention to its clatter as we would to a half grown whippet pup.  The Herald has spurned off its con­stant and underhanded attacks in much the same manner that the lubberly bull is put to flight by the wasp.  It is no pleasure to use to wallow in his filth. However, if he wishes to come again he may still count us as being in the fight.

George W. Rosure, known as the “cowboy evangelist,” is said by an Arkansas newspaper to be worth $700,000, which yields an income of $150 a day. His fortune was made in cattle and by lucky in­vestments in real estate. He is just 40 years old, and in his youth was reputed to be one of the wildest of the dwellers on the plains.

The Russian military authorities are training falcons to fight the carrier pigeons now extensively adopted by all the European armies for carrying message in time of war.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, an Ameri­can couple, have been traveling for three months in Europe on a tricycle, and they say their expenses are only $6.25 a day, including sightseeing expenses.

A very good glass eye can be bought for $100, and yet people will persist in using those that nature gave them just as long as they can.

A man in town, who began to read the newspaper article entitled, “A Winter Circus,” was disap­pointed at not finding it a report of the proceedings of Congress.

A number of friends called on Mr. and Mrs. John Martin Wednes­day night. They passed a delightful hour by singing and charading.

As election time draws near prospective candidates begin to be spoken of.  Among those spoken of for collector are J. Wash Singleton, James Bunyard, and Calvin Wilson, and a few more. All of these gen­tlemen are true and tried men, besides being strictly Republicans in principle as well as name. Each would strengthen a ticket.

WEST END NOTES – Chicken pox has been epidemic in this neighborhood for some time.

Postmaster Howard of Little Beaver, is endeavoring to secure a change in the Sparta and Roy mail route so as to obtain a tri-weekly mail from Roy to Little Beaver.

WHITES CREEK ITEMS –– As it is warm one day, and cold the next, a good many are supplied with colds.