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1922 – 100 YEARS AGO
Boy Scouts of the city started the Christmas Seal sale last night in earnest and the boys during the evening disposed of over 2,000 Tuberculosis Christmas seals. Saturday is to be the banner day for the Scouts. They now have plans made to install booths in several places around the city.
Through the efforts of Dr. C. E. Smith, who has been secretary of the DeKalb County Medical Society for some time, and with the help of Herbert Wells Fay, of Springfield, a large number of pictures of DeKalb County physicians will be made a permanent fixture of the new J. F. Glidden Memorial Hospital, according to an announcement made today by Dr. Smith, who plans to furnish a handsome case, and see that the pictures are properly mounted.
Reports are coming into the Isaac Walton league that several big bass and smaller fish have been found dead along the river banks near Sycamore. The matter was reported to the league of this city which is already at work on the matter trying to find the cause. So far those in authority believe that the cause may be due to the water that is emptied by factories, which contain poisonous substances.
Houses which are being built by merchants and factories of Sycamore are progressing very rapidly. Those on DeKalb Avenue and Cross Street are nearly completed. When completed, the homes will be turned over to factory men who will be able to buy them on the installment plan. It is estimated that there will be 11 of the houses built, while more are proposed for next spring.
Work on the new theatre for DeKalb has again become evident after a delay of sometime, on account of the lack of men to do the work. The ornamental front pieces which have been stored in straw for some time have been removed this week, and the sponsors of the new enterprise are hopeful that the front may be installed within the next few weeks. Nearly all of the roof has been completed and this will allow the continuation of the work, even if the cold weather may prove unfavorable.
Flaming pieces of soot, of large proportions coming from the C. F. Smith home on Augusta Avenue, occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Reese, caused a call to the fire department yesterday. The boys stood around for a moment or two, kept a watchful eye on all sides of the house in case shingles caught fire, and then returned to the station. The firemen these days are sticking closely to their posts for emergencies, and as soon as the chief sees that one wagon can return, he so orders. This is done in case of a second alarm.
1947 – 75 YEARS AGO
Milwaukee road switch engine 1516 was derailed near the General Electric plant last night and efforts of her crew and section workers to place it back on the rails have been unavailing. With all drivers off the rails and most canted in the mud, local officials finally called for one of the road’s big wrecking derricks to come out this afternoon and set the busy little “yard goat” back on the rails. Little damage was done to the locomotive in the derailment and none of the crew members was hurt.
Orphans of veterans of World War I and II, who died as a result of service may be eligible for educational aid from the state of Illinois. The aid, in the form of $150 a year allowance and free tuition at the University of Illinois and state normal schools, is payable to such children between the ages of 14 and 22 while they are in school.
Raymond C. Nehring’s implement store in Hinckley was destroyed by fire last night which was caused by a huge, heavily loaded semi-trailer truck skidding out of control through the front and catching fire from an overturned oil stove. The big truck, owned by Union Freightways, was loaded with electrical equipment. It was reported that an automobile driver making a “U” turn in front of the truck caused the driver to lose control. It crashed through the show windows and stopped with the cab well inside the building.
During the noon hour the fire department was called out to assist in the rescue of a dog which had fallen in the water at Normal Lake, one truck answering the call. On arrival at the lake the firemen found that the dog had made its way out of the water and that their assistance was not needed. A safety first run was made last evening to North Seventh Street where brakes on a motor vehicle had flared and caused a fire scare. There was no damage and the two fire trucks returned to the station immediately.
1972 – 50 YEARS AGO
Houston’s Apollo 17′s astronauts ended man’s first exploration of another world today, their moon ship packed with secrets of the past and a legacy left behind for the future. The three-day tour of the dusty, washboard floor of the Taurus-Littrow Valley was the last U.S. Manned expedition now planned beyond the orbit of Earth. It was perhaps the last trip to the moon in the 20th century.
The mobile chest x-ray unit of the Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association of North Central Illinois will again visit DeKalb County communities, industries and other institutions in a year-round program to provide free chest x-rays to everyone, 18 years of age and older, during 1973. The unit was purchased and is operated on a day-to-day basis entirely by Christmas Seal contributions.
The Fairdale Methodist Church will have a Christmas Caroling Party Dec. 17. All Sunday school students are to meet at the church at 6:30 p.m. Their caroling route will be down Church Street, up Main Street and down First Street. It would be appreciated if porch lights would be turned on.
Only one landfill will exist in DeKalb County after this Friday when the 11-acre landfill operated by Charles Valence, 888 Sunset, Sycamore, will be closed by the county planning committee.
1997 – 25 YEARS AGO
The wick is lit for Hinckley’s Fourth of July celebration, but plans for a fireworks show could go up in smoke if organizers cannot raise at least $15,000 by January. For the second year, firework organizers are hoping $12 community calendars will do the trick. While the calendars were an overwhelming success last year, raising about $20,000, sales this year have been less than smoking.
Northern Illinois University’s plan to purchase another piece of land on the west side of campus could send waves through city hall and heighten the debate over the city’s development. NIU’s Board of Trustees approved a plan to buy a 32-acre parcel near the campus on Lincoln Highway. The university will use the land for future growth.
– Compiled by Sue Breese