December 21, 1899… Page one has a description of the law governing the contest for the governorship. The General Assembly is slated to meet on Jan. 24, 1900 and on the third day of its meeting, in case of a contest, the Senate shall select by lot three of its members and the House shall select eight and the 11 selected shall constitute a board of election, with seven having the power to act. Members of the Democratic State Central, Executive and Campaign committee, in a meeting chaired by J.C.S. Blackburn, voted to make a contest before the legislature in seeking the two top offices to which William Goebel and J.C.W. Beckham believe they were elected. Former Gov. James B. McCreary is listed as one of the Democratic signers of the resolution. Hon. June Gayle is congressman-elect for the Ashland district as a result of a nearly 4,000 vote majority over former congressman W.C. Owens. The contest was for the vacancy created by the sudden death of Congressman Evan Settle. Gayle defeated Owens in Woodford by 188-157 and carried all other counties in the district except Fayette, which Owens won by 51 votes. The unofficial Gayle majority of 3,776 compares to Goebel’s majority in the same eight counties of 3,245. In the race for governor in the Ashland district, Goebel polled 17,638 to 13,512 for Taylor and 881 for Brown. Taylor carried Bourbon County by 26; Goebel barely won Woodford and easily won in Fayette, Franklin, Henry, Oldham, Owen and Scott. The Mt. Olivet Advance tells of the cruel winter of 1855-56 when the Ohio River was frozen over in mid-December and remained so until the night of Feb. 22, 1856. That winter was the longest and most severe within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. The river was not bridged as it is now, and it was an everyday sight to see four horse teams crossing over at Cincinnati on the ice. The weather was below zero most of the time, and the winter was of unparalleled severity and hardship. F.B. Harper has purchased from J.E. Madden the 10-year-old bay stallion, Long Beach, by Longfellow, dam Semper Idem. Mr. Harper will place him at the head of Nantura Stud to take the place of his illustrious predecessor, the immortal Longfellow. This horse is a full brother to the great racehorse and sire, Longstreet, now at the celebrated Belle Meade Stud in Tennessee. Miss Ethel Witherspoon was called home from Hollins Institute by the death of her brother, Lister Witherspoon Jr. Funeral services were held Dec. 20 at the residence of Breck Viley. Ralph Greenbaum was painfully injured while testing his new electric dynamo. The belt broke and was drawn across his foot, tearing the shoe off and cutting the foot considerably. R.J. Sacra fell from a scaffold at Tyrone Tuesday and sustained serious injuries. He was hurt about the head and spine. His son, Allen Sacra, went over to bring him home, but he was unable to make the trip. The first Mormon woman to enter polygamy died at Salt Lake City this week. Born in Ohio in 1824, she was the widow of two prophets. She married Joseph Smith, the first Mormon prophet, in Illinois with the consent of his wife. This was shortly after the revelation commanding polygamy was handed down. After the death of Smith, she married Brigham Young. W.L. Cannon, of Midway, defeated for state representative by G.B. Stout by 109 votes, has filed to contest the election, charging fraud in several of the precincts. December 22, 1921… The Clipper will not be published next week, Dec. 29, on account of vacation for the staff. William H. Edwards Jr., who has been county road engineer for 17 years, has resigned to take a similar post in Fayette county. Midway schools will be closed from Dec. 23 to Jan. 3. Thackery Louis Berry, local Negro physician, has confessed to selling 90 signed prescriptions to Ike Stevens, who has been acting as a whiskey broker. W.B. Carter, a Negro physician of Versailles, was also implicated in the confession, but has denied all. Bond for Stevens was set at $1,000 and for the two doctors at $500 each. David J. Howard, of Versailles, who has been in the Kentucky House continuously since 1915, is one of the veteran legislators now. Howard was born in Woodford on Feb. 14, 1889 and was educated in the public schools, Jesse’s Academy, Transylvania and the University of Michigan. His parents were David V. and Mary E. Howard. He is a lawyer, farmer and member of the Methodist church, A.G. Sebree purchased the Doggins property on Higgins Street at auction Saturday, paying $900. The Sleet property on Winter Street was sold at auction Tuesday in three parts. The residence was purchased by Miss Margaret Martin for $4,000; the lot adjoining on the South went to Lyman Sleet for $1,025; and the lot in the rear to W.G. Lehman for $310, making a total of $5,335. The second half of this issue is missing.