HOMETOWN HISTORY, November 22, 2013

125 Years Ago
At 2 p.m. Tuesday, the new First Presbyterian Church was filled with a devout congregation, the occasion being the dedication of the edifice. The building is built of brick and stone, in the English gothic style. The total seating capacity of the church is 900. Other divisions of the church are an infant classroom, a kitchen, library room, closets, and parlor. The windows are of stained glass, three being memorials.
November 1888
100 Years Ago
The national debts of the world now aggregate 42 billion dollars, having increased 20 percent in the last decade and doubled in the last 40 years. The interest and other annual charges amounted in 1912 to $1,732 million dollars, or an average of slightly more than four percent.
Joseph O’Brien, the one-armed baton and rifle juggler, who is spending a month at his home in this city before starting out on another engagement, has been secured by Manager George Roberts of the Oneonta Theatre to give his act here on the first three days of next week.
Manager Collar of the Five of Diamonds basketball team has arranged two games for the last of the month. On Wednesday night, November 25, the team will play the Morris high school team at Morris and on November 28 they will play the Cooperstown high school team at Cooperstown.
November 1913
80 Years Ago
Former New York State Governor Alfred E. Smith urged private citizens to unite in stamping out bootlegging after prohibition repeal by conforming strictly to state regulations for the purchase of liquor. “It behooves every patriotic citizen to secure his supplies after December 5 in a thoroughly legal manner. It is inherent in every good citizen to desire to be obedient to the law. The people now have the opportunity not only to be law-abiding, but the opportunity to help their country by increasing the taxation revenue so that the budget can be balanced. Realizing that the government needs more revenue and that he can do his part only by buying his supplies legally, no good citizen will patronize a bootlegger after repeal.”
November 1933
60 Years Ago
Milford firemen, taking a call at 1 p.m. went to the Portlandville house and found a neighbor named Bliss fighting the blaze alone with a garden hose. At 1:20 p.m., Milford called on Oneonta for help. The two departments halted the fire which began near the kitchen stove and crept through the partition into the attic and worked its way into the roof. Damage was estimated at $1,500. Mr. Meyers is employed in the Linn Coach and Truck Division plant in the West End.
November 1953

40 Years Ago
Specialists from Cornell University conducted an excellent seminar in Oneonta last week on natural disasters. The contention – natural disasters result in many different repercussions. For example, if Oneonta were flooded, we could expect fatalities, personal injuries, extensive property damage, power failures, disease epidemics and loss of water supply, to name a few outcomes. The question was asked: How would Oneonta cope?
November 1973
30 Years Ago
Thomas G. Currie, 37, of 18 Elm Street, Oneonta, was arrested Friday after a “very intensive and extensive” investigation and charged with threatening the life of President Ronald Reagan. The charge is a felony under federal law. Currie is alleged to have scrawled death threats against President Reagan in a book at the Huntington Memorial Library.
November 1983
10 Years Ago
Burger King’s corporate policy now allows women to breast-feed their babies in its restaurants. The change comes just a day before a threatened “nurse-in” in a Salt Lake City Burger King.
November 2003