HISTORY COLUMN
By Tom Heitz |
35 Years Ago – October 1970
A full-page picture of gunstock maker Scott Harris of the Remington
custom rifle shop, Ilion, appears in the November issue of the national
sports magazine Guns and Ammo. Scott, a specialist on gun stocks, is
shown holding a completed Remington 700 custom gun with an American
walnut stock and a design that he created. Scott is one of 30 men who
work in the shop to produce fine, super-accurate custom rifles. Scott
Harris started the Harris Gunstock Shop in Richfield Springs a number
of years ago which he sold to Robert Hosford and which Hosford still
operates on Lake Street.
40 Years Ago – October 1965
Ed Donnelly of Schuyler Lake, a senior at Parsons College, Fairfield,
Iowa, was among nearly 30 persons honored at the annual A.A.U.
Special Awards banquet at Des Moines, Iowa, on October 2. Donnelly was
named the only boxer included on the list of outstanding athletes in
all sports. Last March, Donnelly won the Iowa State Golden Gloves
championship. He is eligible to compete for entry into Olympic
competition. The program was highlighted by the showing of a color film
on the Olympics. Ed is the son of Mrs. William Donnelly of Schuyler
Lake and the late William Donnelly. He is a 1962 graduate of R.S.C.S.
50 Years Ago – October 1955
Mrs. Francis Estigo is conducting her School of Dance, including tap,
toe, ballet and ballroom classes for the ninth season, in the Richfield
Springs public library. Registration is still open for any class.
Classes are held Tuesday afternoons and private instruction is given at
the Estigo home on James Street. Mrs. Estigo formed her first dancing
classes in this village eight years ago and has taught continuously
except for a short interruption in 1951. Mrs. Estigo is a graduate of
Boston University cum laude, majoring in physical education and
recreation and specializing in dance education. She also studied at
Calif and Vestoff-Serova schools of dancing in New York City. Modern
dancing was studied under Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn and at the
Chellis School of Dancing in Boston.
60 Years Ago – October 1945
D.D.T. Dangerous When Improperly Handled – D.D.T., the new insecticide,
may result in the poisoning of humans according to C.S. Leete of the
State Health Department. “The ingestion of one teaspoonful of the
commercial DDT powder would probably result in serious DDT poisoning,”
Mr. Leete said. “This insecticide, when used in a solution, is usually
dissolved in an oil such as Kerosene. Such a solution can be absorbed
through the skin, causing irritation and other signs of poisoning. It
is not yet known definitely what the cumulative effect of DDT would be
upon man. Therefore, this insecticide should be used with care and
should not be placed upon any food or surface with which food comes in
contact.”
75 Years Ago – October 1930
The last word in Paris and the first in New York is “velvet.” For
morning, night and noon, negligees, pajamas, Sunday night supper
frocks, formal and informal evening and afternoon wear – everything is
velvet. The sophisticated street ensemble, or the smart bolero for the
debutante are in black and white or rich autumn colors, but velvet is
the favorite material.
The subject of a survey in England recently determined whether the
traditional boy’s pocket or the modern woman’s handbag holds the
greatest and widest variety of things. The handbag won – for one
woman’s receptacle contained a powder case, a diary, handkerchief,
cigarette case, lighter, mirror, bundle of letters, purse, comb,
notebook, lipstick, stocking-mending outfit, patterns of cloth, keys,
and a shoe lace.
100 Years Ago – October 1905
An automobile party from Miller’s Mills narrowly escaped being dashed
to death over the embankment on the steep hill leading from Cedarville
to Miller’s Mills. Leon Miller was out with his new machine,
accompanied by Miss Brown, a sister-in-law of Richfield Springs. They
were returning from Cedarville about dusk and were descending the steep
grade when the steering mechanism of the automobile broke and the
driver lost control. Both Miller and the young lady jumped from the
flying auto. Miss Brown sustained injuries about the foot, breaking the
small bones in her ankle, and also received injuries about the body.
Mr. Miller luckily escaped injuries, but his automobile was badly
wrecked.
Resources for this column have been provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library.
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