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1921 – 100 YEARS AGO
Garages, those not warmed by steam heat, will soon be closed for the winter season, if the state law in regard to this particular matter is adhered to. The law provides that no ban or building of any kind may be used as a garage, and heated, unless it be by steam only. Several people in DeKalb are now in communication with the state fire marshal as well as Fire Chief McEvoy in an effort to get suitable heating arrangements that will not conflict with the law.
Railroad executives for the second time, plan to slash the wages of 2,000,000 rail employees, it was reliably stated today. The executives of the leading carriers of the country who meet here Friday have definitely decided upon this step. The amount to be cut from the payroll will be decided at the conference.
Earl Madden, of Malta, is very much alive and asks that people refrain from sending flowers to his house. It was erroneously stated that the family had been north for Mr. Madden’s “death” instead of ”health.” The Chronicle is sorry the error was made and hopes that Mr. Madden will accept due apologies at this time.
A serious freight wreck at Flagg, west of Rochelle, was responsible for the delay in all trains from the west today. It was not until nearly six o’clock that trains were running near schedule time. Ten cars were said to have been derailed in the mix-up and although no one was hurt, traffic in both directions was tied up until after the big hooks had arrived and started cleaning things up.
Custodian Carter of the Rest Room, believes that the Rest Room is one of the most popular places in the city of DeKalb and Saturday night kept count of every person entering the North Third Street rooms for a half hour. Mr. Carter states that within the 30 minutes time, a total of 331 men, women and children entered the door, some for the second and third time. Many of them came in and remained for a half hour or more waiting for other people and some came in to read the papers. Mr. Carter says the greatest number of visitors at any time after supper when the rest room is opened is made up of young girls.
1946 – 75 YEARS AGO
A barn belonging to the Methodist church at Lee was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon. The fire started about 1:30 o’clock in an outside toilet near the barn and raced through the entire structure. The Lee and Shabbona fire departments were called but could not save the building. They did however manage to save a garage belonging to Swan Ostewig that was adjacent to the barn. The barn had been used by the pastor of the Methodist church and at a late hour today the cause was listed as unknown. The barn was not covered by insurance according to reports received.
A grocer replaced a show window today and several shoppers treated cuts and bruises as a result of a scramble for scarce soap chips. Ten minutes after 300 boxes of the chips were put on the counter at the Kroger Supermarket yesterday, the store was littered with broken glass, police were calming a crowd, and physicians were treating the injured. Mrs. Ermal Franklin, one of the shoppers, was treated for a cut on her knee, but she happily grasped a box of soap chips while the doctor took two stitches in the wound.
Someone evidently not pleased with the arrangement of Stiles’ show window sought to change its appearance sometime during the night by throwing a drinking glass through it. Broken glass now decorates the floor of the show window which adds not at all to the beauty of the display. The culprit is unknown but arrangements are being made to return the window to its usual condition.
Mrs. Joe Masterson made a round trip flight from the Kishwaukee airport Tuesday morning to Peoria, started at 7 a.m. transacting business and being home for supper that evening. Her husband, Joe Masterson, motored to Belvidere in the early afternoon returning with Mrs. Masterson’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Huddleston of Belvidere. As they stopped at the Kishwaukee airport on their way to Clare they were surprised to see their daughter align from the plane on her return trip.
Mrs. G. H. Hutchenson and Mrs. Robert Hutchenson and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Heal of Esmond were Sycamore shoppers Wednesday.
An estimate that 1,000,000 new nimrods would join the hunters’ ranks this fall in an announcement made by the United States Wildlife Service. The scarcity of meat is expected to provide an extra incentive. Some hunters are due for disappointment during the duck season which opens in this state on Oct. 26.
1971 – 50 YEARS AGO
A famous hairstylist, Frances Marchio of Homewood, will be the featured guest artist for the Illinois Hairdressers and Cosmetologists Association, affiliate 18, Wednesday at DeKalb School of Beauty Culture on Lincoln Highway.
“Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed,” is the motto that has built Knodle’s Electric, in Sycamore, the largest exclusive appliance and television center in the county. Celebrating its 41st anniversary this week, Hays Knodle, owner, claims he owes his success to the many, many local customers that we are very appreciative of.
There will be a meeting of the Mayfield Township to discuss a proposed sanitary landfill in the township. The meeting was asked for by the Wayne Disposal Company of Elgin which is planning to use 192 acres on Pleasant Hill Road for the landfill.
Over 300 persons turned out yesterday afternoon for the open house celebrating the opening of the nature trail for handicapped children located in Russell Woods Forest Preserve in Genoa. The nature trail was recently converted to enable all schoolchildren, even those with physical handicaps to spend the day in the forest preserve.
Zaugg Brothers Excavating Company in Rockford is using a Caterpillar to excavate at the new site of the DeKalb Fire Station at Seventh and Pine streets.
1996 – 25 YEARS AGO
With legal complications out of the way, construction could start as early as today on a visitor center addition to the Ellwood House Museum’s carriage house. The DeKalb Park Board last night reviewed and accepted a contract between the Ellwood House Association and Rosenow Construction, which will be signing sometime this afternoon.
The forecast for Saturday is sunny and 70 degrees. A good day to give the garage a fall cleaning. And, a good day to get rid of those old cans of paint, insecticides and cleaning products because DeKalb County residents can drop off their household hazardous wastes to be safely disposed of. The traffic report for Saturday is backups into the DeKalb County Farm Bureau Center for Agriculture in Sycamore as 500 to 1,000 cars are expected to bring in about 200 55-gallon-drums worth of hazardous waste.
The City of DeKalb’s facade improvements program has rebounded from a slow start last year to a high level of interest this fall. The city is now working with about a dozen projects in various stages of the facade improvement process.
– Compiled by Sue Breese
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The DeKalb County Courthouse in Sycamore, circa 1905. Photo Courtesy of the DeKalb County History Center Archives.