Looking Back with Lora Stull
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One Hundred Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News, Thursday, November 24, 1920.)
Roy Jiricek found not guilty of attempted murder of his father in Ringgold County district court last week.
Edison Devices Aided US Navy- “Listener” warned of torpedoes and “Drag” enabled ships to make quick turns to escape. The Sunday New York American publishes the following dispatch from Washington: The part of American ingenuity played in winning the war is disclosed in a history of the Naval Consulting Board of the United States, made public by Secretary Daniels today. The volume reveals achievements which, if projected a decade ago, probably would have been ridiculed as “visionary.” Chief among these was a device by which the launching of a torpedo could be heard on shipboard 4,000 yards away-or further than a torpedo can be effectively launched from a submarine. This invention was but one of a score or more contributed by Thomas Edison, president of the board. Mr. Edison appears to have been the moving spirit of the board. Forsaking his laboratories at the out-break of the war, he practically became a naval officer. He spent most of his time in the Navy Department offices here and took long deep sea cruises that he might be in closer touch with the problems to be solved. Because of the German submarine menace, ship protection claimed most of the attention of the board. To this problem Mr. Edison devoted his traditional twenty-four hour working days and after overcoming many obstacles finally perfected his listening device. This contrivance was in the form of an outrigger suspended from the bowsprit of a vessel and containing an immense phonograph diaphragm. By means of compensators, the noise of the vessel’s engines was obliterated thus making it possible for the device to work perfectly even when the ship was plowing at full speed through the roughest seas. With this device boats moving 1,700 yards away could be readily heard while the vessel was going full speed. A submarine bell 5 1/2 miles away could also be heard while a storm was in progress and the boat also proceeding at full speed. Mr. Edison followed this invention with a device from the quick turning of a vessel whenever the detector indicated that a torpedo was coming in the vessel’s direction.
Obituaries in this edition were: Warren C. Higgins, and T.B. Thompson, Cynthia A. Pierson Clemons.
Seventy-Five
Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, December 20, 1945.)
The Mount Ayr Amvets, Post #9, held their initial meeting December 13. During the meeting Claude Moore, Jr., made the motion to inaugurate the Jack Dailey fund in this community. The motion was seconded and approved. Jars for the purpose of receiving donations to the fund have been placed in the various business houses in Mount Ayr. The following statement is made by a committee of the Post concerning the purpose of the fund: “Jack Dailey, former Mount Ayr boy, did not receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, nor did he receive an abundance of publicity, but he left both feet when his tank ran over and exploded a land mine in Italy. He gave his feet and later his legs for freedom and peace. Now it is up to us who enjoy that freedom and peace to return the favor in a very small way by contributing to a friend to furnish him a home and aid him in starting a new and harder life, a life on artificial limbs. He did his part and made a very personal contribution. Now we must do ours.”
The board of supervisors of Ringgold County has designated 3 roads to be surfaced with rock under the federal government-county post-war program for the improvement of secondary roads. Roads designated are as follows: From Delphos south to Hwy. No. 169; from Wishard Chapel west to Hwy. No. 66 and from Blackmore Corner south to Hwy. 2.
Marriages: December 17, Jessie Beede and Will Corll…December 11, Pauline Hilebran and George Blunck.
Births: December 17, a daughter, Sue, to Mr. and Mrs. W.F. Shidler…December 13, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Darryl Wagoner.
Obituaries in this edition were: Ida May Cooper Weirick, Maggie Mae Jackson Miller, Harrison Ray Crecelius and Allie Warden Smith.
Fifty Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, December 3, 1970.)
Interstate Hwy. 35 from Hwy. 2 to the Missouri State line was opened yesterday with special ceremonies at the southbound I-35 bridge south of Lamoni. Governor Robert Ray was guest of honor at the traditional ribbon cutting, sponsored by the Lamoni chamber of commerce. With the opening of this 12.75 mile segment, I-35 now stretches 142.5 miles from the Missouri line to US 20 in north central Iowa. When completed, the highway will run from Laredo, TX on the Mexican border to Duluth, MN, on Lake Superior, a distance of 1,572 miles.
Births: November 22, a son, Mr. and Mrs. Phil Franklin…November 24, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Anderson…November 24, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Alan Campbell…November 24, a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Larry Dannar…December 1, a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Minnick.
Twenty Five Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, November 30, 1995.)
In a protest that was mostly symbolic, a group of people protesting large hog production facilities made their feelings known at the Iowa Select Farms facility a mile west of Maloy Monday morning.
The snow storm that blanketed Ringgold County Monday morning made the news in New York City. A cameraman from WOI-TV news apparently took some pictures of cleanup efforts around the Mount Ayr square Monday morning while in the county to cover Maloy demonstration. The pictures were then included in a satellite feed across the country about the storm. The pictures showed up on TV in New York City, NY where Talley Sue Hohlfeld, a former resident, saw them and reported them to her father, William Hohlfeld of Mount Ayr.
Marriages: April 25, Marcia Stamper and Brant Snook…August 19, Laurel Bennett and Michael Gardenhire.
Obituary in this edition was, Nola Marie Stahl Reynolds.
Ten Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, November 25, 2010.)
Members of the Ringgold County Citizens Corps, a group of volunteers from a community who provide support for local First Responders, disaster relief groups and community safety organizations, were given disaster response backpacks at a meeting in Mount Ayr recently. The group helps with the four stages of emergency management at the local level-preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery.
Two MACHS football players were selected as 2010 Class 1A all-state second team. They are Dustin Pritchett by the Iowa Newspaper Association and Cade Lambson by the Des Moines Register.
Obituaries: Edna May Roach Baker, Rue Ray Nickle.