Lookback: Aug. 31, 2009

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August 30, 2009

Anonymous The Press Republican Mon Aug 31, 2009, 12:10 AM EDT

25 YEARS AGO — 1984
  Violent underground disturbances are shaking the homes and nerves of families living near the old mining town of Witherbee, and many fear the ground beneath them may be about to give way.

  A dispute over the 1985 use of the horse show grounds ends when the town announces the twin Lake Placid horse shows and the Wally Byam Travel Trailer convention will be held simultaneously. Two sites will be used — the horse show grounds and Mt. Van Hoevenberg.

  Under pressure from the federal government, Essex County supervisors are planning to have an elevator installed in the government center in Elizabethtown. This would make the building handicapped accessible.

  A violent thunderstorm races across Essex County, downing power lines and flooding streets. More than 750 customers of Niagara-Mohawk Power Corp. in southern Essex County and nearby northern Washington County were without power.

50 YEARS AGO — 1959
  The new Clinton County Jail receives its first prisoners. The $303,000, 48-cell structure was accepted conditionally by members of the Building Committee of the Board of Supervisors.

  Northway work preliminary to bridging of the Saranac and Salmon rivers is progressing on schedule, the project being about 25-percent complete. Actual bridging is expected to be completed in the spring.

  The Plattsburgh Common Council notifies owners of 105-107 Cornelia St. they have 10 days to tear down the burned-out building. They sent the notice to the attorney of Empire State Associates of Albany.

  The AuSable Forks Board of Education will hold a second referendum Nov. 17 on a $570,000 school-construction proposal. The same proposal was defeated by district voters July 22.

75 YEARS AGO — 1934
  City and county prisoners serving time in the Clinton County Jail will be subject to hard labor within a few days as the county has made arrangements for working prisoners at a quarry on the Beekmantown Road, Town of Plattsburgh.

  Fire of undetermined origin destroys the barbershop of Oliver Lavigne at Chazy. The barbershop was located in a one-story building situated across the street from Patnode's garage. The loss is estimated at between $500 and $1,000.

  Favored by bright sunshine and clear skies, the golden jubilee of St. Augustine's Catholic Church in Peru is turned into a countywide event that will remain for many years a unique part of the history of Peru.

  There are more girls than boys of school age in Malone Village, it is disclosed by the annual school census. There are 1,463 girls against 1,445 boys.

100 YEARS AGO — 1909
  The Chateaugay Pulp Co.'s mill, situated about a quarter mile from Chateaugay, is destroyed by fire. The loss is estimated at $50,000, with insurance of about $20,000.

  Tupper Lake is plunged into darkness on account of the burning out of coils on the overloaded municipal dynamo. The burned-out machinery was shipped to Syracuse for repair, and indications were that the streets of the village would be in darkness for about a week or more.

  The New York State Tercentenary Committee votes to erect a permanent memorial to Samuel de Champlain, the discoverer of the lake, at Bluff Point, the exact location being left to a subcommittee.

  Four extra sleepers are sent south on the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, and even with these, all those who desired to travel from this section could not be provided with berths.

— Compiled by Contributing Writer Sue Botsford, who can be reached at 834-7201 or botsford@westelcom.com