20-40-100 Years Ago -- March 26
Mar. 26—100 Years Ago
March 26, 1923
Attorney General Alexander Armstrong recently advised E. Austin Baughman, Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, that the person responsible for running an automobile through Frederick, with a bear sitting at the wheel, should be prosecuted for reckless driving. In the case in question the real operator of the car was arrested but the magistrate who heard the case held that the car was being operated by the bear and that there is no law regarding bears operating motor cars.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal will resume operations May 1 on an extensive scale, according to an announcement from Vice-President G.L. Nicholson, of the Towage Company. Coal will be hauled from Cumberland to Georgetown, and on the return trip sand and gravel, to be used in the million-and-a-half dollar hydro-electric plant of the Potomac Service Company at Williamsport, will be hauled. According to an estimate made today by boatmen, only about 70 odd serviceable canal boats can be mustered into service this summer out of a fleet of some 600 during the canal's palmiest day.
Trilby Sewell and Annie Corsey, both of whom had been drinking, made the "fur fly" in a fight on that part of Bentz street known as "Paradise," Sunday morning. The pair met at "Paradise," and in a short time words passed between them. Their words led to blows and from the start the scrap was lively. The Corsey woman landed a stiff punch in her adversary's moth and in return the Sewell woman clawed the arms of her opponent. In the midst of the melee Deputy Sheriff Allen Bartgis came along and arrested both belligerents and took them to jail.
40 Years Ago
March 26, 1983
In an emotion-charged, almost bittersweet ceremony Friday, Frederick's John W. "Jack" Derr was sworn in as the state senator representing District 3. He replaces Sen. Edward P. Thomas Jr., the popular, long-term legislator who died of cancer March 1.
Frederick County, in the eyes of the federal government, is about to shift from a rural area to one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country. The Office of Management and Budget, the federal agency that defines the nation's metropolitan areas for census counts and federal programs, announced this week the county will be included in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The designation has come about through a change in the definition of a metropolitan area. The new definition calls for a metropolitan designation if 15 percent of the county's workers travel to central counties in the metro area. Montgomery County is considered a "central county."
(Editor's Note: The News-Post does not have access to archives from 50 years ago for August 1972 through March 1973. The "50 Years Ago" summary will return April 1, 2023.)
20 Years Ago
March 26, 2003
Maryland officials unveiled a new drivers license Tuesday designed to thwart consumer fraud, underage drinking and improve homeland security. The new design will debut in Frederick in May before going statewide in summer. It's the first change to the license in 10 years, costing $40 million to accomplish, $34 million for the system, the rest going toward support.
The Maryland Senate gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill to allow police to use radar cameras to catch speeders zipping through neighborhoods and school zones. The measure, which authorizes local jurisdictions to mail drivers citations and fines of up to $100, passed despite repeated attempts, mostly by Republicans, to modify or defeat the legislation. State law currently authorizes local jurisdictions to implement cameras to catch drivers going through red lights.
