Downtown Carson during the Nevada Day Parade in about 1950.
Wednesday
150 Years Ago
Pleasing feature. With the building of the new Ormsby House a nuisance of the first type disappears. Those old hog pens in the rear and heaps of manure and other disgusting filth, which gave scent to that loathsome sickening puddle, are removed and the premises are undergoing a thorough purification. Cannot other gross nuisances be likewise removed?
140 Years Ago
Ingenious. Yesterday the steamer Meteor attempted to run on to the tracks of the railway at Glenbrook, which runs under water into the lake for the accommodation of the steamer. The water was too low, and presently the engineer said that he was going to lift the steamer upon the tracks using a molasses barrel and fastened it under the boat’s prow. He then connected a rubber pipe to the barrel and pumped out of the water. The barrel filled with air and lifted the tub six inches, and it slid right onto the track.
120 Years Ago
Yesterday at Dayton, Judge Mack passed the death sentence on A. Buralli, who killed a countryman by the name of Antone Zari on the evening of Nov. 3. The time fixed for execution is Monday, Jan. 26, 1903. The hanging is to take place at the state prison and the Warden is the hangman.
80 Years Ago
The Nov. 25 issue of The Occidental, official publication of the Associated Students of Occidental College, reports that Carl Shannon of Carson City is one of the 15 Oxy students recently chosen to be listed in “Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges.”
40 Years Ago
State prison director Vern Housewright said today he has no intention at this point of asking the 1983 legislature for a change in Nevada’s method of execution to lethal injection.
20 Years Ago
People with railroad buff on their Christmas list should check out the silent auction at the Plaza Hotel in Carson City to benefit the Northern Nevada Railway Foundation.
Thursday
150 Years Ago
Yesterday afternoon the “Bald Eagle” a C.P. Engine, was moving southward toward the Clear Creek Flume with two flats in front. Passing over the low swampy grounds, a horse stepped on the track, tried to escape, and was overtaken before he had gone fifty yards. Both flat cars are a wreck, and the engine sustained no material damage. The great trouble is getting her back on the track.
140 Years Ago
Night before last Captain Todman’s boat, the Truckee, sank behind the breakwater and is a total loss. The machinery will be saved in the spring.
120 Years Ago
Dancing class. Miss Florence Hastings has organized her dancing class in this city, and lessons will be given every Wednesday afternoon at Armory Hall. Commencing Wednesday, Dec. 3, a social dance will be given in the evening and will continue through the winter.
80 Years Ago
Secluded in a hotel site in Reno, Dorothy Arnold DiMaggio refused to talk to reporters today but her attorney, Joseph P. Baller, said that after the necessary six weeks residence, she will file suit for divorce against her husband, Joe the slugging New York Yankees outfielder.
40 Years Ago
Drunken driving was the biggest factor in Nevada’s highway deaths in 1981, a study of the state Department of Transportation showed Monday. Nevadans, not tourists took up the majority of those deaths.
20 Years Ago
Charles J. Merdinger of Incline Village was 23 when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He was aboard the battleship USS Nevada where he served in the main battery plotting room.
Friday
150 Years Ago
Thieves around. With the increase of business activity in town there comes also an increase in population, and petty thieves make up a part of that population. A narrow-minded skunk slipped into the office of Captain Pray’s lumber yard Sunday and stole away a coat, pistol, and a pair of pants. He is suspected, but those who might bring him before Justice P., offer not to expose him if he will pony up the stolen chattels.
140 Years Ago
The prison tracks. Warden Garrard writes an interesting letter to the Chronicle in which he argues that the tracks at the prison are human and that an arrowhead found by Mr. McGee near the Walker River reservation was burning under a similar deposit as is found at the state prison.
120 Years Ago
One of the chemical fire engines for Tonopah has arrived and will be placed in commission immediately. It will be housed for the present on the Brogher lot, adjoining the Mizpah saloon.
80 Years Ago
Everett “Snooky” Curless, former center on the Carson City high school team, played the position for the wolfs (UNR Wolfpack) in the defeat of the Marines from Hawthorne at home by a score of 63 to 48.
40 Years Ago
Sometime between now and Christmas, city manager Don Hathaway will put together a balanced budget for Carson City for the fiscal year beginning July 1. It isn’t likely, however, that the budget will reflect what will really happen with the legislature, the economy and negotiations with employee associations.
20 Years Ago
When the Carson City fifth grade singing ensemble gathered on the steps of the Capitol to sing Thursday evening, they looked out across a sea of faces crowded between the Capitol and Carson Street. It was a record turnout.
Trent Dolan is the son of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.