Did you know?
While there’s probably a good bit of truth about that old saw, “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” I’d never given it much thought until I began looking back at old newspapers.
Things have certainly “changed” since the early years of the 20th century, when there was the widespread use of that labor-saving device — the horse.
“Grocer asks damages for death of horse,” read the headline on the front page of the Uniontown Morning Herald on Aug. 24, 1907.
That grocer, John R. Williams, was suing the Tri-State Telephone Co. His horse had died on Wilson Avenue after it had come in contact with “a heavily charged electrical light” that had been allowed to drop in the street, while the telephone company workers were working there.
On the same front page, it was reported that there would be a squad of state police troopers located in Uniontown.
There would be a sergeant and four mounted troopers. “Whether or not they will bring their mounts with them is left up to the commander,” it was reported.
Two years later, on April 28, 1909, it was reported on the front page of the Morning Herald that dozens of people had escaped “fatal injury or death” in Brownsville, when a team of horses from the Cole Bros. Circus broke free and headed in the direction of 500 spectators.
During the circus parade, an elephant “trumpeted,” and that frightened the horses. One man, who was driving a team of horses behind the circus parade, was carrying a full load of furniture. The runaway horses left that man’s haul in a pile of rubble. As you can see, horses were integral parts of the daily lives of just about everybody more than a hundred years ago.
Another front page story that day, left me a bit baffled.
“Oden H. Shoemaker, a Connellsville dealer who is alleged to have persisted in the sale of oleomargarine after being restrained by an order of the court, was present, but upon the plea of his attorney, Wooda N. Carr, Shoemaker will be permitted an opportunity to testify,” said the report.
The sale of oleomargarine? Or (as we call it these days) margarine. That guy got busted for selling margarine. And not only was he busted once, he’d been taken before a judge four times before the current case. Not only that, it was reported that because Shoemaker had been under those previous court orders not to sell oleomargarine, he might not expect to be fined. He could go to jail.
My how things really have changed. Although, directly below that story, I found proof, in another court case, that some things have “remained the same.”
“Charles Clark, alias ‘The Bighead Kid,’ from Brownsville failed to make a ‘hit’ with the court. He was charged with carrying concealed weapons, having had a big revolver in his pocket, to say nothing of a quantity of cocaine,” the report said.
Here’s another example of how things have changed, but they still remain the same. The man who was taken to court for possession of cocaine, was only fined $75. The man who got caught trying to peddle oleomargarine — he was heading to jail.
I’ve discovered something else that hasn’t changed in over a hundred years — there is no shortage of distance runners and the people who like to watch them. While not to be confused with the Boston (established in 1897) or New York (established in 1970) marathons, Connellsville held its own marathon in 1909.
“Forty-Eight Young Runners Apply for Place for 13 Mile Track Race of Wednesday,” read the headline on the front page of the April 26, 1909, edition of the Morning Herald.
The article listed the names of all 48 participants and made reference to the Herald’s own marathon race that had already taken place. On April 27, the day before the race, it was reported that interest in the event had “grown so intense that all of Fayette County threatens to desert home and business” to see it.
Of course there was always the opportunity to make light of the inter-city rivalry between Connellsville and Uniontown. “Mud Island Looking for 5,000 Crowd,” said the headline on the front page of the Morning Herald.
Some people chipped in and made contributions of prizes for the participant. “At the present time they total up more than $700 in value,” it was reported.
“First track marathon is won by Dawson lad,” read the front-page headline the day following the race.
Dawson’s Dennis W. Hickey had only managed to finish seventh in the Herald Marathon in Uniontown, but the 19-year-old finished ahead of all of the other runners in Connellsville.
He’d run the 13-mile, 200-yard course in 1 hour 30 minutes and 41 seconds in front of a crowd of (slightly below estimates) 3,000 marathon enthusiasts.
And to prove, once again, that while things have changed they still remain the same — marathons are still being run all over the world, but the language used to cover them has certainly changed.
Here’s one of those lines you’ll never see these days: “Fair Sex Turns Out in Large Numbers.”