25-50-100 Years Ago -- Oct. 29
Oct. 28—100 Years Ago
Oct. 29, 1923
L.M. Kepler, Baltimore, was arrested by Officer John Winpigler Saturday evening for moving one of the police department's no parking signs at the Square Corner and then parking his machine in the prohibited space. Mayor Lloyd C. Culler, who was standing nearby, asked him what authority he had to move the sign. The Baltimorean is alleged to have ignored the city's chief executive not knowing that he was the mayor.
Street shooting growing out of an alleged crap game, resulted in John Willis, this city, being shot through the leg, and John and William Jones, of this city, narrowly escaping injury. Calvin Dorsey, alleged to have done the shooting, was placed under arrest and is in jail awaiting trial. Accounts given by spectators and participants are somewhat indefinite and conflicting, but it would appear that the men quarreled and that three of them, John and William Jones and another unknown man, chased Dorsey, who fell down and then drew a revolver and fired two shots. One struck John Willis, who is claimed to have not been one of the pursuing party, in the leg. The other shot passed through the heel of the shoe of John Jones but failed to inflict a wound.
The mystery as to what caused the electric current to flicker and then fail entirely for upwards of half an hour in Frederick several nights ago and for several hours in a dozen other cities and towns served by the Potomac Public Service Company was explained Saturday, when it was announced that a guinea hen had become caught across the wires near Dam No. 5, causing a short circuit. The heavy surge which followed the fowl's contact with the wires caused insulators on a tower to break, and the current went directly into the ground.
50 Years Ago
Oct. 29, 1973
County firemen were busy this weekend fighting three major building fires. Sunday night, fire completely destroyed a historic three-story log home on Crystal Fountain Road near Emmitsburg and gutted a house trailer on New Design Road, three miles south of Frederick. On Saturday, more than $5,000 damage was one to a building at the Greenthumb Garden Center on U.S. 40W. State Fire Investigator Don Barnes said that fire was started by a youth who was playing with matches.
Indian summer, the most colorful Autumn in recent years, faded Sunday under a chill downpour. As red and yellow leaves melted from the trees, a strong wind warned of the coming winter yesterday. Two snowbirds [juncos], a sure sign of snow, were spotted Saturday in Frederick by Marie Ramsburg of Clifton Road.
25 Years Ago
Oct. 29, 1998
Three years after his death, the name of Frederick's most famous ghost hunter still inspires a range of emotions. Ask any longtime residents about Harvey Scheetz and many still chuckle or sigh at the thought of him. Mr. Scheetz died of heart failure in October 1996. He was 47 years old. Harv, as he was known, called himself a ghost hunter before Ghostbusters became cool with the movie by that name. To other people he was was a dreamer, an inventor, a gadgeteer or sculptor. To skeptics he was a friendly eccentric. "He was a showman, to put it succinctly," said Steve Colby, owner of Off The Deep End, a variety shop on East Street. For the first time since Mr. Scheetz died, the business is displaying several of his inventions, including the ghost-viewing helmet seen on the David Letterman show.
In the Gulf War, television hero Paul Turner was exposed to a biological agent and depends on a serum to survive. This Fort Detrick employee now investigates similar abuses in science from cloning and bioweapons to deadly viral agents. Mr. Turner is the main character on "Strange World" played by actor Tim Guinee. Detrick spokeswoman Eileen Mitchell said she often sees TV shows with plots of biowarfare or infectious diseases, indeed Detrick can even be spotted in some, but this is the first time a TV drama series has contacted the base. Researchers from the show often call USAMRIID to make sure plots are technically correct and pose questions such as "if anthrax were released in 20 miles outside a major city, exactly what would happen?"
(Editor's Note: The News-Post does not have access to archives from 20 years ago for April 16 through December 2003. The "20 Years Ago" summary will return Jan. 1, 2024.)
