Past Pages July 4

130 YEARS AGO

The plug hat: Stovepipes were never received with favor in Nevada. In 1860 a man appeared in Gold Hill with a plug hat on and was mobbed by the outraged citizens. Billy, the Appeal carrier, fished up an old silk hat that belonged to a former editor, removed the dust with a blacking brush, put it on and started down the street. The first man he met was from Empire who smashed it down to his shoulders. A policeman, lifted the rim to his proper level and then a party of men coming out of saloon stood the wearer on his head until he looked like a plant in a flower pot. He staggered on a few blocks and his hat was knocked off with a cane. It is clear that the time is not ripe for miners to introduce plug hats in Carson.

120 YEARS AGO

A broken dam and Slide Mountain: Price reservoir at the foot of Slide Mountain burst, water rushed down the canyon and submerged the V&T track at Franktown. Leading from the reservoir is a ravine through which a flume runs. Some of Price's men were in the ravine at work on the flume, when they heard a roar of water like a train of cars coming.

70 YEARS AGO

Advertisement: Carson Theater - "Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

50 YEARS AGO

Anonymous: Alcoholics Anonymous declined to submit a list of its Nevada members to Gov. Grant Sawyer. The governor wanted to choose a representative to serve on the newly-created alcoholism agency. The group said "Anonymous" means names of members are kept secret.

20 YEARS AGO

After much debate, Stewart Street is to be used as a truck route. Business owners along north Carson Street have been opposed to using Stewart Street because of what was called added traffic problems.

10 YEARS AGO

More than 1,000 reservations for corporate names have been made online through the Secretary of State's Office. Nevada's highly touted tax and corporate laws make it a leading state for attracting new business.

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