Bound Volumes

June 26, 2025

185 YEARS AGO

Newspapers—The man who takes no newspaper cannot reasonably expect to occupy a very high station in society. How can he expect to know what is passing in the world, what mankind is about, and what he ought to occupy himself about, unless he has access to those chronicles of the times, which disseminate intelligence, and herald in due form all earthly Monarchs, to the birth of Mrs. John Smith’s twins – from the conquest of empires to the capture of a hummingbird? How can a man expect to rank equal with the best, unless he takes a newspaper?

June 29, 1840

160 YEARS AGO

Escaped jail—James Peterson, sentenced to State Prison at the present term of the Court for horse stealing, escaped from jail on Monday morning. The evening before he made up an image and placed it in the bed in his cell, and at the same time concealing himself in a passage-way to which prisoners have access during the day. The jailer was deceived into believing that Peterson was safely locked in his cell; instead of which he was in a position quietly to walk out the next morning, when the jailer went his rounds. The Sheriff offers a reward of $200 for his capture.

June 30, 1865

110 YEARS AGO

Odds & Ends of News—Because a cow swallowed her diamond ring, Miss Worden of Copake had the animal killed. The ring is valued at $250.

John Mitchell, fourteen years old, of Rhinebeck, Dutchess County, built a pair of wings and then jumped from the roof of the barn, expecting to fly away. He will carry both arms in splints for some time.

June 23, 1915

85 YEARS AGO

Carl Sandburg, winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize in history, will give an address July 4th in Cooperstown at the Dedication of the Hall of Life Mask in the Museum of the New York State Historical Association. The dedication of the Hall of Life Masks will have patriotic significance as the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, is represented in the collection by a remarkable mask for which he sat at the age of 82.

June 26, 1940

60 YEARS AGO

A print of a 30-minute television film titled, “The Last Out,” produced by Dave von Sothen of WRC-TV, the National Broadcasting Company station in Washington, D.C. was presented to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Thursday by Mr. von Sothen who was accompanied to Cooperstown for the ceremony and viewing by Sam Rice, a member of the Hall of Fame and an all-time Washington Senators outfield great. The film is the story of fabled Griffith Stadium which until three years ago was the home of the Senators and of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. Mr. von Sothen put together film clips of famous events which took place at the stadium, and added some new footage shot last summer in the weed-grown ballpark. Rice added some commentary during an interview in the park with Jim Simpson, the film’s narrator. Ken Smith, Hall of Fame Director, accepted the film.

June 23, 1965

20 YEARS AGO

The provisions of a new dress code for students at Cooperstown Central School include the following: “Shirts may not be off the shoulder, sheer, nor low-cut; shirts worn outside the waistband must be of sufficient length that no flesh is exposed when the student fully extends one arm above the head.” Long-slung pants “exposing underwear” are outlawed as are “holes, rips or tears” in “inappropriate places.”

June 24, 2005