Bound Volumes, Hometown History

January 16, 2025

90 YEARS AGO

January 1935

50 YEARS AGO

Almost one-third of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad’s New York derailments last year occurred in Otsego and Schoharie counties. According to State Department of Transportation (DOT) files, the D. & H. had 37 derailments in 1974, 10 of them in Otsego County and one in Schoharie County. Included was the derailment of a train pulling propane cars that subsequently exploded injuring 55 firemen and onlookers on February 12, 1974. In 1973, the D. & H. also had 37 derailments. The most recent derailment was a 25-car upset at Worcester last Sunday. A spokesman for the D. & H. said the railroad has not determined yet the cause of that derailment, but added that more derailments occur in the winter. Since the beginning of January, derailments have increased. Expansion of equipment and rails due to thawing after cold spells generally causes more malfunctions.

January 1975

40 YEARS AGO

Opinion: When our forefathers wrote the Constitution of the United States, it was to secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and their posterity, and that the right of citizens to vote should not be denied. Where was our right to vote when the seat belt law was passed? The seat belt law has taken away my constitutional right to freedom of choice. If my friend chooses to wear a seatbelt, fine. I would like to have the choice not to wear mine. The Supreme Court has sometimes reversed its own decisions. Why can’t our legislators do the same? They are eliminating our freedoms one by one. How can anyone approve of freedom of choice on abortion, which is murder, and not believe in freedom of choice in relation to wearing seatbelts?

January 1985

30 YEARS AGO

Temperatures usually experienced in May rather than January brought a false spring to the Oneonta area over the weekend. People shed winter coats and some plants budded. The moderate weather is expected to continue through the week. Oneonta thermometers reached a high of 63 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday with an overnight low of 58. Sunday also saw a high of 63 degrees. Since last November 18, Oneonta has not recorded a sub-zero temperature and snowfall has amounted to less than a foot. The lack of moisture with warmer temperatures has been a blessing in that no flooding has occurred from rapid melting and run-off. Golfers were out on the snow-free Oneonta Country Club course on Saturday.

January 1995

20 YEARS AGO

For the past three years, Dr. Paul Koenig, 52, his wife Elizabeth, and their son John Paul, have lived in New Zealand where Dr. Koenig is head of the Emergency Department at Taranaki Base Hospital. Koenig originally accepted a one-year appointment to New Zealand. Koenig graduated from Oneonta High School, attended the State University at Albany and medical school in Buffalo. Dr. Koenig worked at Fox Memorial Hospital for ten years.

January 2005