Did You Know?
On this day 100 years ago, the U.S. Postal Service announced it was undertaking a new feature — C.O.D. mail.
The June 3, 1913, edition of a local newspaper carried a front-page item that outlined the mechanics of what was called “cash on delivery” service.
The “cash” was would eventually be changed to “collect” when other forms of payment could be used. C.O.D. mail has slowly diminished over the years, because many companies no longer ship their goods using it.
That week 100 years ago, the entire graduating class of Uniontown High School was pictured on the front page of Uniontown’s Morning Herald — all 50 members of it.
In those days, it wasn’t unusual for “major” motion picture stars to make personal appearances at local movie theaters. That’s because the movie business wasn’t nearly the multibillion-dollar business it is today.
Consider the case of one of the major stars of 1913 — James Morrison.
When he made a stop at Uniontown’s Imp Theatre in early June of 1913, he was on his way to a motion picture career that would span 16 years and would include 187 films. He’d signed a contract with Vitagraph Studios in New York that paid him a mere $25 per week.
He was scheduled to give a “lecture on the films as they are shown.”
Just seven days later, on June 10, 1913, it was announced that another Vitagraph star, Tom Powers, would be making a guest appearance at the Imp Theatre.
Powers appeared in 70 films between 1911 and 1917.
He would later appear in the 1944 classic thriller “Double Indemnity,” in which he played the murder victim. After that role, he would act in another 80 films and television shows.
His task that day in Uniontown was to tell all of the patrons at the Imp Theatre “how the fascinating ‘movies’ are made.”
The June 7, 1913, edition of the Morning Herald carried a front-page story that could have easily doubled as one of those “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” items.
“Brownsville fan at last sees Pirates win on 150th attempt,” read the self-explanatory headline for a story about a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball fan, who finally got to celebrate a victory.
When William T. Daugherty went to the game at Forbes Field a couple of days earlier, “He had been attending the games in Pittsburgh for over 20 years, in fact ever since the National League had been organized.”
But his devotion never paid off, until the Pirates took an early lead in the first inning, and they held on for a 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Until then, it was reported, “the visiting teams having won every one of the other 149 games.”
Baseball just wasn’t a game to be taken lightly during the early days of the 20th Century.
The June 5, 1913, edition of the Morning Herald carried a very serious headline about an purported assault that had taken place on a local baseball diamond.
“Umpire swears out warrants for assault,” read the headline for a story that could have easily been ripped from today’s headlines.
(Note: In early May, a Utah soccer official was attacked by an angry teenage player. He died a week later.)
Back in 1913, during a baseball game between Buffington and Leckrone, an umpire faced the wrath of a number of players.
It was reported that in the ninth inning, with one man on first base, and with one out, the trouble began.
A Buffington batter had two strikes against him, and he, according to the report, made no effort to step out of the way of a “floater.”
Apparently when the batter headed to first base, the umpire “called him back.”
That enraged the batter, and a number of Buffington players rushed toward the umpire, while calling him “vile” names.
When the umpire responded by threatening to eject the players, all but two of them returned to the bench.
The umpire claimed that’s when he got hit by one of them, and the crowd had to separate them.
The umpire “swore out warrants” for the arrest of the irate players, and a special officer was looking into the matter.
Such player-on-umpire assaults weren’t uncommon in those days. Here’s the final paragraph of the story about the 1913 incident: “This is the first trouble a Frick League umpire has had this year. Last year, a player was sentenced by the court to serve one year for attacking Umpire Ralph Kennedy.”
This week, 75 years ago, there had been 101 indictments returned for mainly “racketeering” and “numbers” charges.
Although, the Fayette County grand jury failed to return indictments on a number of people.
Oddly enough, those people were called “Ignoramuses.” (I later discovered that’s the legal term for the failure to return indictments.)
On the front page of that same edition (June 6, 1938), it was reported that Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians were about to make an appearance in Greensburg, and Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra were about to appear at the Luck Star Inn in Hopwood.
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