North Carson Street looking northeast in the 1950s.
Wednesday
155 Years Ago
Mark Twain on Greeley — Mark Twain says: “Mr. Greeley is going to lecture on the Byron scandal. We have no authority for making this statement, but then it makes an interesting item of news, and the inexorable business of a newspaper is to collect interesting news.”
140 Years Ago
An escaped prisoner. Yesterday afternoon David Francis, an inmate of the state prison, while hauling sage brush slipped away from the guard and went over the hill. He left the guard about a mile from the prison and the guard took 20 minutes to get back to the prison to give the alarm. Francis is five feet, seven inches, dark complexed with hazel eyes, black hair, full black beard, weighs 158 pounds and has a foot size of eight. His scars are numerous: knife wounds in right and left sides, and lower end of back bone; scar on right thigh outside; two scars on right thigh in front; scar on left thigh in front; gunshot wound on right ankle in front; scar on left wrist, one long scar on left hand and one scar on front of left shin. He was sentenced to 14 years from Elko County.
120 Years Ago
There is some talk of changing the time of the passenger train. This is unnecessary as it is changed several times every day before it arrives.
60 Years Ago
Youngsters 14 and 15 years of age were reminded today that it is illegal for them to ride motor bikes of more than 6-1/2 HP, or which are capable of going faster than 35 miles per hour. Carson City Police Chief Robert Humphreys said those riders will be cited.
40 Years Ago
A tenacious robbery victim jumped onto the hood of the getaway car and, clinging to the windshield wipers, remained aboard until the car was finally stopped and she was grabbed by the hair and thrown to the ground.
Thursday
155 Years Ago
A homespun joke — Home, the spiritualist, boasts that he can elongate himself some two feel by unseen assistance. This may be called the Home stretch of spiritualism.
140 Years Ago
Mrs. Mary Jane Walch has entered a suit against the city of Carson and all its inhabitants for the unlawful taking of water from King and Gregory Canyons. She asks that all named be perpetually enjoined against using one-twelfth of the waters of Gregorys and one-sixth of the waters of Kings Canyon and pay $2,000 for using it during 1883-84. She claims the water under the Goodwin decree of 1865.
120 Years Ago
A small bunch of rain fell yesterday, and more is promised. Nothing like having enough of a good thing.
60 Years Ago
The state welfare division “seems the most serious area we’ve covered where were not getting the job done,” Sen. Carl Dodge, R-Churchill, told the legislative commission Friday.
40 Years Ago
A 21-year-old maximum security prison inmate suffered a punctured lung when he was stabbed Saturday night by another inmate, according to an associate warden at the prison.
Friday
155 Years Ago
The Red Stockings are reported to be coming to Virginia City. They have made no calculations with regard to “rarified air” and are probably destined to a still more awful defeat than they received at the hands of the Eagles, Pacific’s and Picked Nines of San Francisco and Sacramento.
140 Years Ago
Virginia has organized a “Tom Fool Club,” and at a recent meeting only one man was present. The rest were in Gold Hill fixing up the wires for the Democratic primaries.
120 Years Ago
There was a gathering of the Leisure Hour Club at Masonic Hall last evening. They were opening the winter season and emphasizing the event with a banquet. All in all, they had a very jolly time. In the euchre contest between the Russian and Japanese forces the Russians won by a majority of 84 points. Miss Plat won the first prize.
60 Years Ago
Funeral services for Harold Rupert, a Carson City resident, are pending at Capital City Mortuary. Mr. Rupert died this morning at a Reno hospital.
40 Years Ago
A 23-year-old Carson City man was booked into jail Monday on a variety of charges after he allegedly aimed his car at a state Department of Wildlife agent’s vehicle several times and raced toward it at speeds of up to 60 mph.
Trent Dolan is the son of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.