January 19, 1899… A Kansas City grocer, who lost $2,800 by the failure of a bank, decided to be his own banker. In the ground, six feet below the floor of his store, he buried an iron box. He ran a two-inch iron tube from the floor through the top of the box, and through this tube he drops his profits of $10 per day. The top of the tube he plugs with a wooden cork, which looks like an ordinary knob. J.N. Camden and wife took the C&0 train out of Versailles Jan. 18 en-route to Baltimore. Miss M.E. Gore, of Carlisle, has been made manager of the Blue Grass Grocery at Midway. Miss Gore replaces George A. Harper, who managed the grocery for the past year. Mr. Harper and family have returned to Paris. M/M James C. Hawkins moved last week from Midway to Versailles. Mr. Hawkins is a mechanic of marked ability. Thomas J. Zeysing, of Woodford County, and Miss Lucy Sinclair, of Scott County, were married Jan. 11. By this union, the groom becomes the brother-in-law of his own father, J.W. Zeysing, whose second wife, Miss Mollie Sinclair, is a sister of the recent bride. Since its establishment, 13,345 persons have been buried in the Lexington Cemetery. Last year 327 were buried there, and of that number 20 were soldiers. Howard W. Nutter killed on Tuesday a very large hawk measuring 52 inches from tip to tip. He is a beautiful specimen and Mr. Nutter will have it mounted. Herring, Jenkins & Company will discontinue their Midway store after March 1. The store began in Midway on March 1, 1898 and enjoyed a good trade, but health matters and the Georgetown interests of its owners have brought about the decision to discontinue the Midway operation. The great railway race against time across the continent in order to rush the U.S. mail to the Pacific Coast is attracting a great deal of attention. A major contest exists between the Burlington and Northwestern roads to determine which shall carry the mail between Chicago and Omaha. Despite the Union Pacific being an hour and two minutes late in a recent test, the Burlington made the run to Chicago from Omaha in nine hours and 32 minutes and was still able to arrive on scheduled time. The distance from Council Bluffs to Chicago by the Burlington is 500 miles, and from Burlington to Chicago is 206 miles. The average speed was above a mile a minute, considering stops. Some portions of the run, especially between Mendota and Chicago, were made at a rate of 90 miles per hour. Fast mails to the West are increasingly important considering that the U.S. now has important possessions well beyond California in the capture of the Philippines and the annexation of Hawaii.
January 20, 1921… Some weeks ago, Tom May brought to the Clipper office an animal which resembled a mink that he caught in a steel trap on the farm occupied by Fred Smith, just north of the city. Tom Race, who represents a Huntington, West Virginia hide firm, was unable to identify the animal, which was about the size of a house cat, and sent it to the Smithsonian Institute for identification. The word has come back that the animal is a mongoose or mungoos, and that it is strange indeed for it to be in this area. It usually lives in Africa or India. H.A. Schoberth will address the local Chamber of Commerce at the Donovan Hotel tonight. Sixty-five merchants and professional people have been invited. Midway Graded and High School students excused from examinations at mid-term, those who have averages of 90 or above, include: Elizabeth Bruen, senior; Sallie Logan, senior; Ashlin Logan, sophmore; Lottie Featherstone, Virginia Featherstone and Lucile Gardner, 8th grade; Adelle Logan, Winifred Starks and Mary Lewis Marvin, 7th grade; Louise McKinney, Julia Marvin, Lizzie Horsley, Bessie James and Charles Donovan, 5th grade; John Ernest Harmon and Nellie Newman, 4th grade; Oscar Langly, Frances Rose, Sue Farmer Rogers, Katherine Wagner, Edna Bootze, Florence Stephens, Mary Katherine Wilson, Kathleen Mitchell, Austin Brophy and William Ford, 3rd grade. Steps are being taken for the organization of a junior high school next September. This will mean the annexation of mathematics and Latin to the studies of the 7th to the 9th grades. Citizens Bank officers reelected were H.L. Martin, president; Jonthan A. Steele, vice president; C.B. Patterson, vice president; J.R. Weiler, cashier; M.D. Offutt, assistant cashier; Arthur Graves, bookkeeper. Directors elected, in addition to Martin, Steele, Patterson and Weiler, include H.L. Martin Jr., B.F. Parrish, W.G. Lehman, M.D. Offutt, M.M. Davis, Breckinridge Viley and J.S.Durrett. Miss Grace P. Thomas is suffering severely from a fracture of the arm received Sunday evening when she fell on the ice in front of the residence of Harry Frazier on Turner Street. Farms hands in Kentucky are receiving an average of $2.13 per day and board in 108 of the counties, according to the Commissioner of Agriculture. Farm hands who do not receive board as part of their pay receive an average of $2.68 per day in 106 of the counties. Twelve counties did not report on the wages paid farm hands with board and 14 failed to report the sum paid without board. The average record for the Midway Public School from 1916 through 1919 shows a census enrollment of 353 pupils but an actual school enrollment of 261 pupils. The total cost of teaching each pupil based on average daily attendance was $47.83; the average daily attendance was 48.3 percent. For the year 1919-20 the census was 308 and the enrollment was 345. The total cost of teaching each pupil was $27.03 and attendance was 80 percent. Frank Bohannon is a candidate for sheriff with W.B. Cogar and James Lewis on his ticket. He is running against a ticket headed by J.R. Bond and including G.T. McKinney and A.B. Dawson. John M. Gray is a candidate for county clerk and James Ed Bond is a candidate for tax commissioner. B.W. Brittingham, manager of the Home House Furnishing Co., announces a public auction of $25,000 worth of furniture on Jan. 22 and 24. The store is located on Main Street in Versailles, between Prillaman’s 5¢ & 10¢ store and the Lyric Theatre. Versailles Sheriff R.S. Hawkins renewed his bond of office as required by law in the amount of $100,000. Roy Knabell and Mrs. Knabell, Louisville, are rejoicing over the birth of a son born at Woodford Hospital Monday night. Mrs. Knabell was formerly Miss Henrietta Jackson. Claimed by death were Mrs. Anna Mattingly 79, Walter Gray 68, Dr. William Wasson of Montgomery Ave., 83. The remains of Pvt. Breck Reed, who was killed in France, were brought back to this country and interred in the Versailles Cemetery Saturday. Thirty soldiers and sailors marched behind the casket.