Past Pages 6/5

130 years ago

A Freak of Nature: At Benton's stable yesterday morning, a man was on free exhibition who had a duplicate thumb growing out of the thumb of his right hand. Both members were well formed, and seemed to cause the possessor no inconvenience.

100 years ago

What looks very much like an increase in telephone rates in this city has stirred up a lot of talk among subscribers. The company is putting in a lot of two-party lines and has put a cable along Carson Street and other main lines. The charter held by the company with the city allows it to charge as high as $24 a year for residential phones and $48 a year for business phones. The old rate was $1.50 a month.

70 years ago

Elko residents have been wondering what has become of those gold fish they placed in lily ponds in their yards with the coming of early summer. The mystery was solved a few days ago. Mrs. Charles Smith placed a bowl containing two beautiful gold fish outside the house a few mornings ago. When she took a look, one was gone. The bird in the air nearby was identified as a kingfisher. It had speared on gold fish and was coming back for another.

20 years ago

County commissioners, sheriffs and other elected officials crammed into an Assembly hearing room today to endorse a bill to raise salaries as much as 61 percent. Only Carole Vilardo, lobbyist for the Nevada Taxpayer's Association, testified against the increase.

10 years ago

A possible credit card scam was thwarted this week when an elderly Carson City woman sensed something was wrong and called the attorney general's office. Under no circumstances, says a spokesman for the office, should seniors give out credit card information over the phone.

• Trent Dolan is the son of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.