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1924 – 100 YEARS AGO
Construction work on the Independent filling station to be erected on the southeast corner of Fourth and Lincoln Highway is progressing rapidly and although there remains much to be done, the managers of the Independent concern are hoping to open within a few weeks. Concrete for the drives is being poured and already the greater portion of the mixture has been placed. Masons have been erecting the station house and the pumps are expected to be installed in the first of the coming week.
With 18 or 20 mothers with their babies present at the American Steel Welfare building for the regular session of the baby clinic held every Thursday morning, the attendance today exceeded all records. Although the clinic is primarily intended for the babies of the steel employees, any mother in town is invited to bring her baby to the clinic on Thursdays. The child is weighed, measured and inspected and if anything appears to be ailing the baby, advice is given to the mother in order that corrective measures may be taken before the trouble becomes serious.
Firemen have just completed giving the DeKalb wagon company truck the second coat of paint and the gold trimmings have been added making the truck a fit mate for the Seagrave. The work was done by the boys in the barn and every bit of equipment is in top notch condition at the present time. Additional hose has been ordered by the fire chief.
Many DeKalb people are planning to attend the benefit to be given this evening at the Modern Woodman Hall in Elva. A number of people from DeKalb have donated their services for the evening and a program including excellent talent is to be given during the evening.
DeKalb police officials were this morning requested to look for two young boys, one aged 12 years and the other 14, who have left their home in Chicago and are thought to be headed west. The mother of the lads, Mrs. William Egle, told police that she thought they would be around the railroad yards. The youngest boy, Billy, has khaki pants and shirt, and a baseball cap. The older lad, Bobby, is dressed in a dark suit. Police were watching the trains and hikers and to the present time have not seen the lads go through DeKalb.
1949 – 75 YEARS AGO
Boys with Soap Box racers are reminded that they must have the little cars at the starting ramp, Pleasant and North Eleventh streets, at 11 o’clock Sunday morning. The racers must be weighed and inspected before the race starts at 2 o’clock and to facilitate matters the committee has decided to do it before lunch. This will obviate the necessity of hurrying the cars through inspection at a time when the nervous drivers will be wanting to give them last-minute checkups.
The hybrid seed companies in this area are now in full swing detasseling foundation and commercial corn. In some places, they have been at it for a week. The corn has ripened about 10 days earlier than average and the earliest since 1939.
Theft of a portable electric generator was reported to the Kane County Sheriff’s office by the California Packing Corporations, owner of the machine. The unit, which was operating lights for night work in a pea field on the Mary Milnamow farm located west of Kaneville, is a generator and motor combined.
Gloria Ohlinger of Esmond has begun work in the DeKalb Agricultural office in DeKalb.
Ed’s Grocery store on West Main Street in Genoa is being remodeled and the entrance is being changed from the north side to the east side. This will provide more window display and make an attractive building.
The Order of the Arrow, the national camping fraternity of the Boy Scouts of America, will hold its annual pow-wow on the weekend of July 23-24. It is at this time that candidates for the order will be inducted at the ordeal ceremony. Members of the brotherhood will gather at Camp Rotary MacQueen at Kirkland and will participate in the activities that evening and Sunday.
Chauncey Watson, president of the Midwest Cattle Feeders Association and prominent DeKalb County farmer, returned on Wednesday after three weeks spent touring the British Isles. Watson, along with representatives of the Northwest Cattle Feeders Association, made the trip by plane and during the stay in the British Isles had an opportunity to inspect agricultural pursuits there and also visit various agricultural associations. The group was also conducted on tours of London and other large cities.
Extensive repairs to the Seventh Street crossing in DeKalb of the North Western Railroad have been completed and the crossing has been reopened to traffic.
1974 – 50 YEARS AGO
Striking workers at Spauling Fiber Division plant continued to man picket lines today. The wildcat strike, now in its fourth day, has shut down production and is keeping approximately 320 workers off the job. Pickets declined to be identified but several said they would all return to work if the “swing shift” policy set up by the company was removed.
Make the youngsters quickie pizzas from split English muffins which have been buttered, spread with canned pizza sauce, sprinkled with shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, then broiled until the cheese is bubbly.
DeKalb County farmers are getting angry and tired of waiting for the Illinois Tollway Authority to repair damage to drainage tiles caused by the construction of the East-West Tollway. Faced with what they call major damage to both crops and their water drainage tile systems, 46 persons have filed complaints against the tollway authority.
The Children’s Learning Center found a new home this week when it signed a 20-year lease with Harry Brody for use of the old Cyclone Fence factory at the corner of 14th and Pleasant streets. Although the lease calls for renewal every five years at $1 a year, funds must be raised to remodel the old factory.
1999 – 25 YEARS AGO
A group of horses that escaped a local slaughterhouse have cost the owners of the facility $4,000. Cavel International, a Belgian-owned company that sells horse meat to the European market has agreed to pay the DeKalb Park District $4,000 for damages the horses did to River Heights Golf Course.
Reports of Chicago’s love affair with a herd of gaudy downtown cow statues have reached this self-proclaimed Milk Center of the World, where a traditional bovine replica has been a local icon tourist attraction since 1966. The reaction of longtime Harvard resident to the heifer hijinks 62 miles away in Chicago has been about as stoic as Harmilda herself, who stands in all her black and white fiberglass glory on a pedestal in the heart of this McHenry County town of 7,000.
Cape Canaveral, Fla. – Thirty years after Apollo 11 blasted off for the moon, the words that sent the three astronauts on their way were rebroadcast in a mock countdown Friday to celebrate the anniversary of the first lunar landing mission. Moonwalkers, space program workers and hundreds of others gathered for the festivities.
Pierce Community United Methodist Church will celebrate its 150th year of faithful service as an organized church this Sunday.
– Compiled by Sue Breese