Looking Back: Burglars, babies and railroad buffs found among historical headlines
One hundred fifty years ago, the Sept. 14, 1872 Charlevoix Sentinel reported that a letter had been posted in Charlevoix to “Traverse Scitty,” Mich.
Fifty years later, the Sept. 14, 1922 Sentinel reported a burglary at Captain (no first name given) Taylor’s ice cream, tobacco, camera and film, and souvenir store at the bottom of Chicago Avenue facing the train station. It “was entered by thieves and a quantity of merchandise, mostly cigars and smokers articles, taken by the marauders.
“Several crimes of like nature have been committed in the city recently, evidently the work of some person familiar with local business places, surroundings and general conditions as well as judges of good cigars and other articles used by smokers.”
The Charlevoix Courier of the same week said that a rear window had been jimmied open. “Inventory of losses reveal about $3 in pennies missing, cigars to the value of $15 and four or five dollars worth of cigarettes. The night prowlers evidently short of ‘smokes’ cleaned out the stand of practically all stock on hand.” Now that is what is called nicotine habit.
The week prior, the Charlevoix Courier reported that a new twist was about to entertain the crowds expected for the upcoming Charlevoix County Fair held outside East Jordan. “BABY SHOW AT COUNTY FAIR. Little Tots Will Have Their Day This Year. Look who’s here! A Baby Conference at the Charlevoix County Fair!
“Frank F. Bird, hustling secretary of the fair, had been hearing so much about livestock that he began to reflect. The hogs had to be up and on their toes with nice arched backs; the milk cows had to show dairy type; the horses had to have good bone, be well coupled, and all the rest of it.
“’But why neglect the babies?’ asked Farmer Bird, as he pondered. Then he began to smile. 'We’ll put on a baby show and give their mothers a chance,’ he told himself, and the Baby Conference is the result of this happy resolution.” A physician would examine all children up to six years of age beforehand. A nurse would be on standby, as would a “lay worker” from the Department of Health in Lansing. Dr. Blanche M. Haines, director of child hygiene and public health nursing, wrote that “all that is now needed is ‘plenty of babies.’ Bring on the little darlings!.” Hogs, cows, horses, babies — what’s wrong with this picture?
The Sept. 13 Courier advertised the arrival of the latest Hollywood potboiler epic, the “Queen of Sheba,” in the usual blathering hyperbole of the era. It was produced “... on a more tremendous scale than any spectacle of screen history. Massive settings, a thrilling chariot race, with women driving Arabian steeds to a smashing climax. Thirty horses and ten chariots take part in a hippodrome spectacle with ten thousand spectators cheering and applauding them to victory. This is one of the biggest pictures of all times.”
“The “Queen of Sheba” produced in 1921 — anybody ever heard of it?
The film was lost in a 1937 vault fire in New Jersey that destroyed almost all of the Fox studio's silent prints and negatives. It would have been interesting to compare the “Queen’s” unique feminine chariot race to that in the Ramon Navarro “Ben-Hur” that came along four years later.
Fifty years ago, Charlevoix Courier editor Bob Clock wrote an editorial for the Sept. 13, 1972 edition that related the delights of taking a train ride between Boyne City and Boyne Falls. “RIDING THE RAILS. Who would have thought 25 years ago that a railroad could attract passengers by charging 20 cents a mile? The old rate, as you’ll recall, ran about three cents a mile and a lot of us thought that was pretty steep. But for the past two summers the Boyne City Railroad has been charging excursionists $2.50 a head for the 12-mile round trip between Boyne City and Boyne Falls, and the company doesn’t seem to be wanting for passengers. Kids travel for $1.50 and babes in arms are free.” Bob’s wife Judy, then 30 years of age, had never been on a train.
“Boarding the train at Boyne City was like stepping into the past, not the American past but the British past. The company had purchased a British-made steam locomotive called the Flying Duchess, and three British railroad coaches. Unlike most of their American cousins, the British coaches are divided into compartments of six seats each, three on each side facing each other. The aisle runs down one side of the car, not down the middle. Glass sliding doors separate the compartments from the aisleway. Real fancy. When you climb aboard you half expect to find Agatha Christie or Somerset Maugham closeted in one of the compartments, heading for St. Mary Mead or holidays in Blackpool.
“The round trip takes one hour and 40 minutes, so you can be sure the Flying Duchess isn’t out to break any speed records. Riders are treated to a magnificent view of Boyne Mountain Lodge and Everett Kircher’s new condominium just west of the ski resort. They also get to cross the sparkling Boyne River on a genuine railroad bridge just before the train reaches Boyne Falls. The ride brings back memories to old railroad buffs. The creaking and groaning of the old coaches, the click of the wheels traveling over the rail joints and the rock-a-bye motion that has always been a part of train travel.
“The trip to Boyne Falls and back is a nostalgic visit to a time when the pace of living was a lot slower, and, for my money, a whole lot more pleasant.”
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This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Looking Back: Burglars, babies and railroad buffs among the news
