Past Pages Dec. 29

130 YEARS AGO

Mark Twain's Madness: The announcement that Twain imagined himself the editor of the Hartford Courant and a deacon of the church should make no one surprised if in his capacity as an editor, he thought himself qualified to run a church, or as a deacon, considered himself competent to manage a newspaper. The suspicions as to his mental condition might have been well founded.

100 YEARS AGO

Opium habit holds Indians in its grasp; local police officers make discoveries in arrests: Some 50 percent of arrests made now of Indians have to do with opium or some form of it. Local authorities are trying to break up the practice by keeping Indians away from Chinatown, but then it is sold outside and is harder to regulate. The matter is being presented to the Legislature for state aid in suppressing the vice.

70 YEARS AGO

Secretary of State Malcom McEachin today released an informative booklet concerning the political history of Nevada. It gives a brief sketch of the state's early days and a directory of officials to date.

50 YEARS AGO

Phil Roventini announced today he has bought out all interests of Jack Bartlett in State Motors.

20 YEARS AGO

Both Mervyn's and K Mart are reporting better than last year sales in the post-holiday season.

10 YEARS AGO

Andy Stockhoff ranks among the nation's elite after being accepted to West Point Military Academy.

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