LOOKING BACK in the Early Files by Lora Stull

The town of Diagonal has leased the ground for the water works system from the Great Western Railroad Company and the Lane-Western Company of Kansas City, who has the work as soon as the casings and sand screens for the well arrive.

Monday when the carrier on route 2 was making his regular trip on the route and came to the Platte River bridge west of the John Getz farm he found it had been washed out as had every bridge between the bridge which crosses Platte River on the Clearfield road and the one on primary 3. The rain Sunday had melted the ice and washed out the bridges. This is an unusual occurance at this time of year. Carrier Barlow had to drive about thirty miles before he could get back home.

Smallpox, which recently assumed epidemic proportions in Tampa, has  become prevalent on the Florida coast. In Miami alone health authorities admit there are so many cases, while it is unofficially reported that numerous cases are scattered throughout towns and villages in the Florida Keys between here and Key West.

Fear lest the disease to communicated to the Bahama Islands has cause British government to notify Lewis A. Bates, vice consul here, that pending further  orders all communication between the Bahamas and Florida ports is prohibited.

Marriage: January20, Grace McCullough and T.J. Mahan.

Births: January 21, a  daughter, Luella, to Mr. and Mrs. A.M. Rubida..January 21 a baby to Mr. and Mrs. Earl Ogier..January 17, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Swank.

Obituaries in this edition were: Mary Warren Brownell, Elizabeth Jane Zollman Miller and James Milikin.

The Diagonal Maroons, winners of the Ringgold County basketball championship 13 out of 32 years, regained the title at the annual tournament held last week.

Ricker of Diagonal won all the scoring honors by counting 23 points against Mount Ayr, 22 points against Tingley, and 18 points against Ellston. Grose of Ellston tied for second place by scoring 22 against Diagonal. White of Kellerton, shared second place by scoring 22 against Delphos. Johnson, of Tingley, racked up 19 against Beaconsfield and Culver, of Maloy, made 18 against Redding.

Ricker scored 71 points in four games for a 17.78 points per game average. White made 38 points in two games for a 19 points per game. Johnson, of Tingley, tallied 41 points in three games for a 13.67 average per game, Bryant, of Beaconsfield. sunk 37 points in three games to take home a 12.33 game average.

Marriage: January 26, Maxine Groves and LeRoy Bucy..January 20, Rita Blakey and Hugh Walters..January 14, Mary Tamerius and Richard Saville.

Births: January 25, a son, David, to Mr. and Mrs. Don Mehl..January 12, a daughter, Karla, to Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Kimball..January 24, a daughter, Diane Marie, to Mr. and Mrs. John Sickels..January 24, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Harry Haley.

Obituaries in this edition were: Sarah I. Law Faris, Jennie Reasoner Collings, Joseph Edward Primmer, Orva Samuel Bagley and Jim McLourie.

Mount Ayr adopts new salary base of $8,500. Mount Ayr Community school board of directors at a special meeting Thursday, January 22, adopted $8,500 as the new starting base salary schedule.

The $8,500 base is for a starting teacher with a bachelor of arts degree. The new figure represents an increase of $500 over this school year’s base and $1,200 over last year’s base.

A new business will open its doors in Mount Ayr Saturday, January 21.

Brand’s TV located at 206 N. Taylor Street will open under the proprietorship of Jim  and Ruth Brand. A new building addition has been constructed on the lot just south of Brand Standard station and will house the new business.

Newly elected directors of the Ringgold County Cattlemens’s Association are Doyle Richards, Royce Nelson, Bob Andrews and Frank Hunt.

Announcement is made in of the sale of the Patty-Lynn Cafe, located on the north side of the square.

New owners of the cafe are Rick and Lora Stull and Carey and Lana Crowson, who will take over the operation Monday, February 2 having purchased the business from Raymond Umbarger and his daughters, Patty Still and Diane Lynn Farrell.

The new owners have announced they will change the name of the business to Dan-Dee’s Cafe.

Births: January 25, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Max Pottorff..January 26, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Byrnes..January 27, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Bastow.

Obituary in this edition was, George Franklin Green.

A Ridgeway, MO, woman was bound over for trial for the murder of Larry White, 39, of Mount Ayr following a preliminary hearing in Harrison County, MO.

After hearing testimony from two prosecution witnesses, associate circuit judge Thomas Alley found that there was probable cause to believe that Pamela S. Foley, 40, had shot and killed White in an incident in early November at her residence near the Rock House Lake, east of Ridgeway.

Mount Ayr city crews were back at the big job of cleaning up a snowfall Monday morning, something which has taken much more time this winter than in the past few years. A snow storm with some six inces of snow fell across the county Sunday, followed by rain and sleet, making an unwelcome winter mix of precipitation.

Births: January 22, a son, to Kendra and James Walker..Januray 25, a son, Nicholas, to Dan and Aimee Dredge..January 28, a daughter, Olivia, to Todd and Lisa Carlson.

Obituaries in this edition were: Dorothy Fern Webb Giles and Janice Christine Overholstzer.

Republican presidental candidate Dr. Ben Carson made a campaign stop in Mount Ayr Friday, January 22.

A remote controlled flag was given as a gift from the South Central Iowa Community Foundation to the Mount Ayr Community School to be placed in the school gymnasium.

Births: January 24, a son, Nicholas, to Shea Hall and Justin Kopet..December 23, a daughter, Alice, to Brad and Abby Elliott.

Obituaries in this edition were Virginia Ann Barnes Stephenson, Loren Spencer Elliott, Lois Elaine Beirlein Smith, Deidre L. Davidson Hunt.