Past Pages May 13

130 YEARS AGO

Dan DeQuille's idea of the wind on the Comstock: The Chinese use everything as illustrated during yesterday's gale. While boulders as big as pumpkins were flying through the air and water pipes were being ripped out of the ground, an old Chinese man was observed seated on a knoll calmly flying his kite which was an iron shutter, with a log chain for a tail.

Ghost at the Capitol: The ghost supposed to haunt the Capitol square and push a lawn mower about on the grass, turns out to be nothing more than an open faucet sounding so much like a lawn mower in motion that people who passed the place at midnight stopped and peered into the darkness to ascertain who was working at so unreasonable an hour.

120 YEARS AGO

Jim Townsend has invented a flying machine that works by the force of gravitation. It will come in handy in flying from the top of the Eiffel Tower down to Paris. It can be taken up in an elevator without much trouble.

70 YEARS AGO

Carrier pigeons are released in Carson: Two crates of carrier pigeons were released in front of the express office by Thomas Shafer, manager for the express company. They headed directly for their home cotes at Redwood City, California.

50 YEARS AGO

Birth control: The federal Food and Drug Administra-tion has approved a birth control pill. Tests showed that conception could be prevented by taking the pill for 20 days each month. Price 54 cents a pill or $10.80 a month.

20 YEARS AGO

John Ballweber named as the new curator for the Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City.

10 YEARS AGO

GOP presidential front runner George W. Bush will come to the Tahoe fund raiser. According to Gov. Kenny Guinn's press secretary Jack Finn, the governor is "technically hosting" the event at Lake Tahoe.

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