:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/OKPQS2WUE5D77GYR7MLBPBE4RQ.jpg)
1925 – 100 Years Ago
That the building operations will be as great as in 1924 is the expectation of contractors of DeKalb, as the erection of homes has already started on an active scale. One contractor in lumber yesterday afternoon stated that his firm has furnished lumber for five homes that are in the process of construction while orders have been filed for the erection of four more homes as soon as the weather is such that work can be started. This will be news that is of interest to the entire community.
All dirt and gravel roads in the county were yesterday closed to heavy trucks, the order to be effective until such time all the frost is out of the ground and the road bed such that heavy traffic will not cause ruts to be formed.
That automobile stealing in DeKalb is carried on a large scale may be gained from the fact that six automobiles, five of them Fords have been stolen from the street of DeKalb since the first of the year. Since December 1, 1924, nine automobiles have been stolen. Taking the records for this year, six cars have disappeared in a period of eight weeks. Some of the cities in this vicinity have a much larger record, the average being better than one car missing each week.
Marshall H., and a chicken thief seems to have been the cause for the excitement about 1:30 o’clock last night in the vicinity of South Fourth street. The shots, five in number, were heard by many people, and until noon today the shooting was a mystery. No record of the shooting could be found at the police station this morning. According to the story told by Marshall H., he arrived at his home on Roosevelt Street shortly after one o’clock to find a person coming out of his father’s chicken house. Going into the house after the revolver he returned and fired after the person. The thief ducked into the chicken house again and Marshall took two more shots at the place where he thought the man night be hiding. After the third shot the man made a run for liberty and escaped, although he was shot at again.
Construction work at the new bank building at the intersection of Somonauk and Main streets in Sycamore was halted today on account of the extreme cold weather. The contractor was busy pouring cement for the foundation yesterday and the day previous, but it is reported today that he did not believe it would be best to continue such operations.
1950– 75 Years Ago
Brownout Information For DeKalb Residents – Following meetings with industry and business yesterday, at which time all agreed to take immediate steps to the use of electricity, the results were very encouraging. Last evening the power company was able to take a boiler off an hour and one-half earlier that the previous Friday night thus effecting a savings of 24 ton of coal.
Washington – If you paid $2,000 for that shiny new sedan with the whiz-ding automatic drive and supersonic windshield squirter, you only got $1,500 worth of automobile. The other $500 went for taxes.
The Chronicle office in Sycamore will be open next week despite its darkened appearance. In attempting to cut power uses 25 per cent along with everybody else, it was found that the only way it could be done was to eliminate some of the lights. Therefore, the light at the top of the stairway will be dark until the power shortage is relieved by end of the coal strike and two of the four lights in the office have been turned off.
The radio receiver for the Sycamore police station has been installed and is operating today. This connects the Sycamore police station directly with the sheriff’s radio enabling police officers in the station to contact officers in the squad car, the sheriff, the Sycamore fire department, or any of the deputy sheriff’s out on the road. The radio was installed last night. The set of the police car has been working for some time.
There’s an art to soft-boiling an egg! The eggs must be at room temperature so as not to crack when dropped into the rapidly boiling water. Then cover the pan, turning off the burner and let the egg stand in the water for six minutes. The result is a perfect soft-boiled egg.
Russel C. of Maple Park was driving on Route 30 east of Big Rock the other day when a strong gust of wind aided the slippery ice in blowing his truck off the highway into the ditch where he struck a telephone pole, breaking it at the base. Part of his load of baled hay was thrown to the ground. There were no injuries and minor damages to the truck.
1975 – 50 Years Ago
Principals at six DeKalb schools expect no substantial changes in programs or number of teachers in 1975-76. Principals at Tyler and Chesebro elementary schools will lose six teachers. Tyler no longer will have three special education teachers. The district central administration will absorb special education costs. Chesebro, the new southeast school, which replaces Haish will lose 2.7 teachers due to declining enrollment. Other principals said their schools and staffs should remain essentially the same next year.
High winds and drifting snow yesterday combined to make travel around the county difficult. South First Street Road, south of DeKalb seemed to disappear in the mounds of swirling snow.
Santa Barbara, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol stopped Ronald Reagan’s red station wagon for speeding twice in two months. The first time, Reagan was governor, and no ticket was issued. The second time, he had left office, and his driver got a citation.
James Naismith, a Canadian-born teacher living in the United States, created the game of basketball in 1892 as a way to keep football players in top shape.
A study of mass transit needs in the DeKalb-Sycamore area will begin in the next few weeks. The study is expected to take about six months. A federal grant of $28,850 will pay for the survey.
2000 – 25 Years Ago
Casting shadows has been an educational experience for students and businesses in the DeKalb area. Youths in several area school districts have been studying a variety of career choices by working side by side with job-shadowing hosts such as medical centers, funeral homes, police department and other companies.
A new vote-tally system will made participating in this year’s DeKalb County primary election faster and easier than ever. The county plans to lease an Election System 2000, made by Governmental Business System Inc. of Burr Ridge, for the March 21 election at a cost of $45,000. The state-of-the-art system features a paper ballot that’s easy to fill out. With the ES-2000, there no longer a need for punch-card systems.
The old Quonset hut on DeKalb Avenue in Sycamore was demolished recently as Soft Water City prepares to move to a different office. The new structure, behind the demolished hut, will house Soft Water City and have a permanent apartment for rent on the second floor. The current Soft Water City office is located to the right of the hut.
Compiled by Sue Breese