120 YEARS AGO
Charges of undue severity to the children at the State Orphan's Home have been levied, reports the Reno Gazette. The charges, leveled against Superintendent Williams, were unfounded said the Board of Investigations. The board hesitated in its conclusion and reluctantly said that corporal punishment should be resorted to with great reluctance, if not entirely superseded by other means of chastisement. We therefore recommend that the rod should only be used in punishment of grave offenses, and then only after sufficient time has elapsed to permit the guidance of deliberate judgment.
100 YEARS AGO
In every part of the country the closing of the local banks is causing a slump in the stock on the San Francisco exchange. There is a distinct improvement in the financial condition in New York today as the crisis is past and conditions are settling to normal. Under the guidance of John Pierpoint Morgan, and backed by the money men in the East the banks have been put in a position to pay all calls for money. John Sparks, governor of Nevada, has called a holiday until Monday to allow the financial crisis to settle. During this period, all debts and obligations will be suspended.
70 YEARS AGO
An Ely woman, Bessie May Bess Somerville, with a double-barreled shotgun in her hands, yesterday afternoon ran her husband, Joe Somerville, out of the house and onto the street by Fisher's Service Station. From there she ran him into the Ely cemetery, where he ducked behind tombstones and monuments, she after him all the time, aiming the gun at him as he ran and whenever he showed his head, until she was disarmed and taken to justice court. Joe had surprised Bessie when she had another man at his home. Seeing what was up, Joe picked up a shotgun and poked Bessie in the ribs, whereby she wrestled it from him and chased him out of the house. She was sentenced to three months in jail.
50 YEARS AGO
Mrs. Ray Reinhardt entertained guests and members of her sewing club last evening. Enjoying Mrs. Reinhardt's hospitality were Mesdames Cameron Batjer, Bill Sinnott, Bob Shriver, Addison Millard, guests, and Mesdames Paul Laxalt, Tom Carter, Charles Marriage, John Baker, Archie Pozzi Jr., President Burroughs and Stan Pochop, members.
20 YEARS AGO
The man who shot up a Stateline casino Friday has been identified as 50-year-old Ohio defense attorney David Riebel. Riebel entered the Lakeside Inn hotel-casino dressed in a bullet-proof vest, mask and dark clothing and armed with a submachine gun and .357-caliber handgun. He was shot by a detective after robbing the casino of $1,400.
10 YEARS AGO
A Douglas County couple's airplane trip turned into a bi-state search Sunday for the four people on board. Ron and Lisa Lukas, along with two Carson City men, left the Minden-Tahoe Airport in a Cessna 206 to visit Ron's father in Clements, Calif. About 50 people form Nevada and California Air Force Wings and 16 aircraft searched for the plane.
• Trent Dolan is the son of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.