BOUND VOLUMES

Aug, 29, 2019

200 YEARS AGO
Cattle Show and Fair – The Bye-Laws of the Otsego County Agricultural Society declare that “there shall be an Annual Cattle Show and Fair at Cooperstown, on the first Tuesday of October, to continue that and the succeeding day.” It is important that candidates for premiums should be made acquainted with the conditions upon which they will be entitled to the rewards of the Society. To effect this object, permit me to state, that the “Act to improve the Agriculture of this State, passed April 7, 1819, requires “that each person, to whom any premium shall be awarded for any Agricultural product, before the receipt thereof, make an accurate description of the process used in cultivation, the soil and in raising the crop, or of feeding the animal, as may be, and shall in all cases describe the nature of the soil, the kind and quantity of the manure, the state thereof, and the time of year in which applied, and deliver the same to the President of the Society.” No person can receive a premium at the hands of the Society without conforming to the letter and spirit of this law.
September 6, 1819

175 YEARS AGO
Effects of perpetual day upon the mind, feelings and avocations of men is described thus in the narrative of Buchan’s Expedition to the North Pole: “Nothing made so deep an impression on our senses as the change from alternative day and night, to which we had been habituated from our infancy, to the continued daylight to which we were subjected as soon as we crossed the arctic circle. Where the ground is but little trodden even trifles are interesting. The novelty, it must be admitted, was very agreeable, and the advantage of constant daylight, in an unexplored and naturally boisterous sea, was too great to allow us to wish for a return of the alternations above alluded to. But the reluctance we felt to leave the deck, when the sun was shining bright upon our sails, and retire to our cabins to sleep, deprived us of many hours of necessary rest. And, when we returned to the deck to keep our night watch and still find the sun gliding the sky, it seemed as if the day would never finish. To many persons, it will no doubt appear that constant daylight must be a valuable acquisition in every country. I think the reverse is really the case. We cannot overestimate the blessings we derive from the wholesome alterations of labor and rest and be truly thankful for that merciful provision with which nature has endowed the more habitable portions of the globe.”
September 2, 1844

150 YEARS AGO
Local – A Fancy-Dress Masquerade Party, held at the house of one of our citizens is numbered with the several pleasant social affairs which have come off in Cooperstown during the present season. The costumes were quite varied and presented an amusing study – most of them the product of skillful hands at home – others ordered from abroad. Sharp eyes failed to detect many of the disguised ones until the time for unmasking came, and the merry dance commenced. Cooperstown, we are assured by old residents, was always noted for the clever manner in which such things were carried out in this village. Some of the “young old folks” brought into service articles of apparel that were in fashion and use in the preceding century.
On Monday last 190 “Hop girls,”
mostly Germans, came over the Cooperstown railroad from Albany.
September 3, 1869

125 YEARS AGO
Local – This year, among the hundreds of hop pickers who were in town on Sunday, the absence of intoxicated persons was noticeable – due partly to the closed bars and more to the fact that a good class of people are doing the work in the hop yards.
Among the oldest and well preserved buildings in the Village is that of the old Masonic Hall, corner of Lake and Pioneer Streets, the frame of which was raised
June 25, 1797.
September 6, 1894

75 YEARS AGO
Thirty-five hundred people attended the fifth and last of the 1944 Cooperstown
Victory Sings on the Otesaga Hotel grounds Sunday afternoon and listened to an address
by Quentin Reynolds, radio’s star war commentator in his most moving vein, and lifted their voices in a great and harmonious chorus under the direction of Dr. Elmer A. Tidmarsh. Reynolds spoke of Russia, which he has visited twice, and found it confusing. “No one knows much about Russia,”
he declared, “not even the Russians themselves.” He said it is a “strange and paradoxical country.” Reynolds declared that the “spirit of the Russian is a spirit that the rest of us haven’t got. They feel that they are fighting beasts and will accomplish feats that seem impossible to other nations. After the war, I feel that Russia will be a friendly neighbor and a great customer of the United States for at least 25 years while she is rebuilding her cities.”
September 6, 1944

50 YEARS AGO
An informal opening ceremony will be held at Cooperstown’s new sewage treatment plant south of the village Friday afternoon. Several state and county officials have been invited, along with members of the village government. The new plant was placed in operation last November. Among the guests will be Board of Education President Dr. M.M. Jasremski, Dr. William H. Hermann, administrator of Bassett Hospital, Frederick L. Rath, Jr., Chairman of the Village Planning Commission and Robert C. Smullins, president of the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce.
September 3, 1969

25 YEARS AGO
It is only a trickle right now, but some worry that the exodus of downtown Cooperstown businesses may become a stream, carrying away much of the village service providers residents desire. Cooperstown Optical moved its Pioneer Street office to the former New York State Electric and Gas customer service center just south of the village on Route 28. Also, the Leatherstocking Education on Alcohol/Addiction Foundation (LEAF) is set to move to the Hyde Park office complex. “It could be a potential tide,” said village Trustee Giles Russell, who also serves as Chair of the Village Planning Commission.
September 7, 1994