February 27, 1902… The average longevity in the United States was about 35.2 years in 1900. A serious cutting affray occurred at Millville last week between Sade Collins and Clarence Brightwell in which Brightwell was dangerously wounded in the abdomen and is not expected to live. Both men were engaged at Taylor’s Distillery. L.A. Nuckols has been appointed Master Commissioner of the Circuit Court. L.C. Nave and family will move to town early in March and will occupy the Baptist parsonage on Turner Street. Ben Dixon, who leaves Midway this week for Lexington, has been notified that he will be motorman on the electric railway between Lexington and Georgetown. The smallpox patients have been sent to the county pest house, where they will be confined until all danger is over. The Odd Fellows of Midway presented a minstrel show Tuesday night, featuring local talent, and the Opera House was packed, and the applause was sustained. Hundreds of cords of wood are being hauled away from the Harris farm (formerly the Dey Place) near Spring Station. The owner is fast getting rid of the timber preparatory to raising tobacco and other crops. During the past year, hundreds of mighty forest trees have been felled there, and at the Southern Depot in Midway there is now an immense pile of logs from that place awaiting shipment to the sawmills near Nicholasville and along the Kentucky River. It is estimated that Mr. Harris will sell enough timber off the farm to get the price he paid for it. An investigation discloses that during the recent sleet there were five ounces of ice on every lineal foot of telephone wire, and that a square foot of the ice taken from a flat board weighed three and half pounds. It was also learned that the spruce, sycamore, plum, chestnut, hawthorn and elm trees withstood the sleet much better than other varieties. Greenbaum’s Distillery, after making 10,000 barrels of whiskey, closed down for the season last week. A comparison of the county assessor’s tax lists in 1882 with those for 1902 shows that the colored people in Midway and Woodford County are making very creditable progress in the accumulation of wealth. Twenty years ago, Negroes owned 1,175 acres valued at $28,255. Today, they hold 1,758 acres valued at $54,785. In 1882, they had 240 town lots worth $36,450 and now they own 478 town lots at $142,950. The total valuation of all property in the county held by colored people 20 years ago was $74,895, while today, it is $204,547, an increase of 300 percent. The building and loan associations have been of great value to the Negroes in enabling them to secure homes of their own. County Attorney W.O. Davis has been selected to deliver the address of welcome to the visiting Knights at the State Temple Encampment to be held in Versailles in May. He is an eloquent and pleasing speaker and will doubtless amply sustain his reputation. March 1, 1923… Fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth grades gave a Washington’s birthday program Thursday night at the high school. Entertainment was under the direction of Miss Willie May Watson, with Miss Marjorie Watson, Miss Elizabeth Robinson and Miss Catherine Parrish assisting. Those appearing in the various sketches included Margaret Steele, Lelia Mitchell, Frances Whitaker, Louisa Adams, Sarah Jane Osborne, Donald Turner, Elmo Baldwin, Ernest Thomas, Leroy Ward, Frances Rose, “Sweets” Riddle, Josephine Dunn, Kathleen Mitchell, Oscar Langley, John Parker, William Ford, Frank Courtney, Joe Hill, Mary K. Wilson, Sue Rodgers, Stanley Green, Edna Bootze, Halford Eichelburg, Nellie Newman, Henry Clark, Elizabeth Dunn, Julia Marvin, Lucile Wiley, Lucile Wise, Charles Donovan, John Harmon, Milton Lacefield, Louise McKinney, Minnie F. Gatrell, Katherine McKinnivan, Gladys Childers, Katherine Ford, Mary Osborne, William Thomas, George Wise, Craig Starks, Henry Lacefield, C.B. Wilson, R.B. Shannon, Elizabeth Thomas, Rose Maddox, Beulah Abrams, Grace Yocum, Rose Wiley, Lillian Phillips, Viola Hammond, Emma Tate, Clyde Baldwin, Anna Green and Foster Rose. A tenant house on the farm of W.E. Simms, southeast of Midway, caught fire Friday about noon from a defective flue. The house was occupied by a Mr. Willis. Only the bathroom was saved. W.S. Sutherland of Versailles sold to M.M. Todd a lot at Milner for $800. W.I. Arnold sold to John W. Newman a lot near the Southern Depot for $1,500. Mrs. Cordie Lee Buckley sold to R.J. Lewis 63-3/4 acres on Clifton Pike for $9,000. John J. Gregory sold to James and Joseph Drennon lots in Laval Heights for $1 and other considerations. The Samuel D. Elmore estate sold to Ben R. Robinson 82-1/4 acres on Military Pike for $23,000. Miss Mary C. Wentland has been appointed county nurse to fill the vacancy caused by Miss Kittie Baird’s resignation. The 162-acre A.A. Delong farm, 2-1/2 miles from Versailles on Aiken Pike, was sold Wednesday at $211 per acre to Randolph R. Fishback. The 59th anniversary of Knights of Pythias was held Monday at the courthouse by Gray Lodge #27. Thirty-seven Versailles Optimist Club members had a Washington’s birthday lunch at Dean’s Café. Chorister A.B. Chandler led the singing of “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Gov. E.P. Morrow has appointed H. Clay Howard as circuit judge and Clerk Claude Witt has been informed that the February term will be held this week. Judge Shackelford had now drawn any jurors. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell Carpenter and sons of Louisiana, who have been guests of relatives, will locate here. R. Quinn Cogar has returned from New Orleans after spending the winter there.