Carson City looking north from the top of the Capitol building in 1871.
Saturday
150 Years Ago
The talking machine will be the sensation of the evening — after Rev. McGrath has finished his lecture upon the human voice. This contrivance is said to be a remarkably ingenious one — the machine, we mean — though his reverence is not by any manner of means weak, uninteresting or indifferent talker.
140 Years Ago
Ranchmen in the Carson Valley say that the thermometer yesterday morning touched 20 degrees below zero. The chess players of this city are talking of forming a chess club, but it all ends in talk. A young lady in this city always calls doughnuts “fried holes.”
120 Years Ago
A Japanese fleet of 16 ships attacked a Russian fleet at anchor at Port Arthur today. Three Russian ships damaged and beached to prevent sinking. Russia is raising a great army to invade Japan.
60 Years Ago
Hundreds of Carson City and other Nevada residents this afternoon mourned the death of Christopher E. (Chris) Tyndall, who died recently following a heart attack. He was 59.
40 Years Ago
At the movies: Yentyl, Christine, Dead Zone, Hot Dog and Scarface.
Sunday
150 Years Ago
Gen. Edwards’ hen coop was outraged night before last under peculiarly fowl circumstances... The gallinaceous burglar helped himself to the key of the coop by reaching his hand, secuadem artem, through a hole in the kitchen window, then unlocking the coop door, took to his larcenous arms five fat hens, then locked the door, returned the key to its regular place and quietly went away. The general suspects a Chinese cook whom he discharged a little while ago.
140 Years Ago
Yesterday morning Lizzie Lindsay was brought before Judge Edwards in the District Court room for sentence. She was sentenced for 25 years in the state prison. She dropped her head a little lower when she learned her fate but did not appear much moved. Her attorney will appeal the verdict.
120 Years Ago
This winter should be a reminder to the farmer that nature is a hard fellow to back; that what happens one year is not apt to be the same condition as the next. Every farmer has been trembling in his boots for fear that there would not be water enough for his farm in the summer months. Mason Valley is one in particular.
60 Years Ago
Herbert Chiara, Ormsby County Elementary School district administrator and prominent Nevada educator died last night at Carson-Tahoe Hospital. Pall bearers at his funeral will be William Swackhammer, Alton Poulin, Albert Seelinger, John Filipini and Henry Filipini Jr.
40 Years Ago
Republicans from throughout Northern Nevada packed the Nugget Convention Center Saturday for what participants called the biggest Lincoln Day gathering ever. The event’s star guest, U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, said President Reagan enjoys the most popularity of any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Tuesday
150 Years Ago
A brute fellow named Cullen was arrested yesterday charged with beating his wife. She swore out the complaint. She had the marks of his savage violence upon her face and person. He’d been working for the Railway Company and got paid off and took his money and got full and then went for the tiger. His wife asked for some money to get something for breakfast, and he walloped her. His honor set him up for 100 days in default of paying a fine of $200.
140 Years Ago
The Oroville stage which was reported lost in the snow has turned up all right having found shelter at a place called Buck’s ranch. Any port in a storm is what the passengers said when the relief party reached them.
120 Years Ago
THE STORM. The greatest storm recorded in years. The wind that has been blowing throughout this section for the past several days landed one of the largest storms that has been recorded in many years. While this valley has received but nothing but rain as yet, the prospects for a first-class snowstorm are more than favorable.
60 Years Ago
A trio of defense attorneys today called the Frank Sinatra Jr. kidnapping case a hoax. One said it was staged “so Frankie Jr. could make the girls swoon as his papa once did.”
40 Years Ago
Like many other 39-year-old ladies, Bertha finally had to go on a diet. But her problem is a bit more severe than that of a woman who wants to lose 10-20 pounds before summer. Under doctor’s orders, Bertha the elephant at John Ascuaga’s Nugget is on a campaign to lower 1,600 pounds. Bertha was weighed at Calaveras Cement Co. at 11,000 pounds.
Trent Dolan is the son of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.