Bound Volumes, Hometown History

September 25, 2025

110 YEARS AGO

Murderous Assault—Awakened from a sound sleep by the slash of a razor across her face and her infuriated husband standing over the bed making further attempts to carry out his fiendish motives was the experience of Mrs. Mary Bovenzi at the home at 63 Main Street, a 5:30 o’clock Tuesday morning. The attention of neighbors residing in the vicinity of the viaduct was attracted by the screams of the injured woman, among them Ira Silliman, who hurriedly dressed and went to the Bovenzi home. There he found the woman on the steps bleeding from a gash across her face. She told him the circumstances and pointed to her husband who was disappearing down Market Street towards Broad. Silliman rushed to the telephone and got in touch with Officer Shaffer, who in turn notified Chief Blizard and in less than 20 minutes the whole police force, including both day and night officers, together with four special D. & H. officers, were on the scene. Automobiles were at once dispatched to Emmons crossing and Glenn Bridge and by telephone all exits to the city were soon covered. Officers Brown and Parshall (who were at Glenn Bridge) got on track of the man and caught him as he was about to enter a barn about two miles this side of Otego. Mrs. Bovenzi was taken in an automobile to Fox Memorial Hospital where her wounds and injuries were treated by D. G.W. Augustin.

September 1915

50 YEARS AGO

A growing number of Americans are getting unlisted phone numbers to protect themselves against criminals, cut down nuisance calls and, in some cases, evade bill collectors. The price of privacy varies from state to state, however, and the barrier against unwanted calls is far from foolproof. American Telephone & Telegraph Corp., owner and operator of 80 percent of the nation’s telephones, says about 12 percent of all phone numbers are unlisted. The rate in big cities is higher. Monthly charges for unlisted numbers range from 15 cents in San Francisco to over a dollar in New York City. About half of the 50 states also have initial fees ranging from $5 to $15. Why an unlisted number? “I don’t want to get obscene phone calls,” says one young woman. “Listing your phone number under your initials isn’t protection enough.” Another telephone subscriber said he did not want burglars to learn when and when he was not at home. Can the police get an unlisted number? No, according to an ATT&T spokesman, although there are exceptions in case of an emergency. The A.C. Nielsen Co., which compiles viewer ratings for television shows, uses a system known as “random digit dialing” that will reach unlisted numbers. The technique is also used by salesmen and poll takers.

September 1975

40 YEARS AGO

Jim Spence is a spry 81-year-old who could have walked his beat at the Oneonta high school for another three years. Or, so he thought until last Thursday morning. That’s when a doctor examined Spence’s sore left leg and asked him to call an end to the 20-year career as custodian and weekend watchman that touched the lives of hundreds of youngsters. Spence has bone cancer which has weakened his leg, forcing him to walk with a cane. The weekend problems at the school were few when Jim Spence was in charge.

September 1985

20 YEARS AGO

The mystery surrounding what sent 15 people at Oneonta High School to the hospital on September 16 has been solved. Oneonta police said the incident was caused by pepper spray taken into the school by one of the students. Thirteen students in a ninth-grade earth science class, their teacher and a school nurse, were taken to A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital after many in the group complained of shortness of breath and sore throats.

September 2005