The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

The Way We Were




Clips from available Mountain Eagle pages since our founding in 1907

Thursday, July 29, 1926 The first political speech made by a woman in Letcher County drew a large crowd to the courthouse in Whitesburg last night (July 28) to hear Mrs. John W. Langley, who is seeking election to U.S. Congress in Kentucky’s 10th Congressional District. Later last night, Mrs. Langley addressed the largest crowd ever assembled in Neon.

. Calling this period in history the “day of riotous and reckless living, and of vice and viciousness,” a front-page editorial in The Mountain Eagle calls for a return to the way things used to be. “Our schools and churches have turned away from the high ideals of half a century ago and are now looking to pure commercialism for success,” says the editorial, reprinted from the Gate City Herald.

. The Kentucky Game and Fish Commission will send a game and fish car to Whitesburg for educational purposes. The car will be on the L&N Railroad tracks at the depot all day Thursday.

. The big lot sale at Roxana is being termed a success, but some people though the sale prices were too low. Still, a front-page report says, “for the good of the prospective city which is destined to be built in the next year or two they brought high enough prices.” A total of $12,000 was paid for the lots that were sold, about half of those available. “With the public now having a chance, you will see Roxana spring up overnight,” the report says. .

The state highway department has rejected all bids submitted for the hard-surfacing of the road from Pound Gap to Seco. This means another long wait before work on the needed improvements can begin.

. Dr. Ison of Blackey bought a fine Studebaker from the Miners Motor Company of Whitesburg.

. Robert T. Lincoln, the only surviving son of the first martyred president, Abraham Lincoln, was found dead in his bed Monday at his summer home in Manchester, Vermont. He was 83 and had served as Secretary of War, Minister to Great Britain, and other high positions.

. Apex Coal Company at Bastin is looking for small mine mules about 54 inches high and in good condition.

. Cameo Coal Mining Company of Mayking will soon start shipping coal.

. Jeff Ison’s sawmill at the head of Bull Creek is being sold to satisfy a court judgment W.R. Case & Sons Cutlery Company won against the sawmill over a debt of $33.33.

Thursday, August 1, 1946 Two railroad companies, the L&N and the C&O, are surveying land on the Right Fork of Beaver Creek and Caney Creek in Knott County for the purpose of extending the railroad into these regions. The two railroads together when built will be about 40 miles long and used for the purpose of hauling coal from Rockhouse, Beaver, Carr’s Fork and Caney Creek. The coal is owned by Consolidation Coal Company of Jenkins and the Elk Horn Coal Corporation of Wayland.

. Mrs. Nannie Morgan Potter of Kona, wife of Elcaney Potter, was killed instantly Wednesday afternoon when the Chevrolet truck she was driving collided with a Codell Construction Company truck on the highway between Thornton and Millstone. The Codell truck was driven by a young man who was hired to drive the truck only a few hours earlier in the day. He said the truck’s new type of brakes caused him to lose control on the wet highway. He was arrested pending further investigation. Mrs. Potter was employed at the local draft board office in Whitesburg and was on her way after work to help her husband at Potter’s Store in Neon when the wreck occurred.

. A front-page photograph taken during the Veterans Universal Banquet at the Whitesburg Methodist Church shows wounded war veteran W.L. Stallard Jr. receiving the first Prosthetic Appliance Service Card to be presented in Letcher County. The card entitles amputee veterans to immediate repair service up to $35 without prior authority from the Veterans Administration.

. Members of the U.S. Congress have voted to move forward with legislation that would give them a $5,000 annual pay raise. The Senate voted a straight salary boost to $15,000. The House decided on $12,500 salary, plus $2,500 expense money.

. McRoberts residents were shocked to learn of the death of friend and neighbor Vincenzo DeSimone, 63, an Italian immigrant who worked at Consolidation Coal Company’s Mine 214 for many years.

. Effective August 1, all stores, recreation units, and manufacturing plants owned by Consolidation Coal Company will be merged into Champion Stores Inc. The properties are located in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The headquarters of Champion Stores will be located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Thursday, August 4, 1966 “Mirage” starring Gregory Peck is playing at the Alene Theater in Whitesburg.

. This issue of The Mountain Eagle was printed early in order that the Eagle staff could attend a conference on “Great Societies and Quiet Revolutions” at Lake Couchiching, Ontario, Canada. The week-long conference is sponsored by the Canadian Institute on Public Affairs and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Thursday, August 5, 1976 Failure of four eastern Kentucky counties and eight cities to pay their share for the upkeep of area landfills may force the closure of the dumps within the week, according to the chairman of the board of the Kentucky River Area Garbage and Refuse Disposal District. The district runs the only three legal landfills in Letcher County and seven other southeastern Kentucky counties.

. Beginning August 6, telephone users in Whitesburg will have to dial all seven digits to reach another telephone number, according to Art Willett, South Central Bell manager. Adding more than 2,400 telephones in Whitesburg in just six years has forced South Central Bell to install equipment which requires seven-digit dialing, Willett said.

. Congressman Carl D. Perkins will be the principal speaker at 1:20 p.m. Saturday for the dedication of Carr Fork Lake in Knott County.

Wednesday, August 6, 1986 Fish and Wildlife officials used a “Have-a-Heart” live trap to catch a baby caiman that had been living in Boone Fork, Game Warden Jerry Coots said.

. Fleming-Neon Mayor James Seals has been charged

with second-degree wanton endangerment after a weekend dispute with a member of his city’s police force. Seals is charged in a warrant taken by former Fleming-Neon city patrolman Gregory Sergent, whom Seals fired late Friday night after he arrested the mayor’s 19-year-old son on drunk driving charges. Seals allegedly attempted to tear off the badge from Sergent’s uniform after the two men exchanged words over the arrest, according to the warrant.

. When the newest wing of the Whitesburg hospital unveiled this week, says nurse Peggy Prunty, Letcher Countians for the first time will have quick access to true emergency care. “It won’t just be a first-aid station,” Prunty said of the new Emergency/Ambulatory Care Center which will be dedicated today. “We now can give emergency care.”

Wednesday, August 7, 1996 Jailer Gary Cornett says women inmates will no longer be housed in the Letcher County Jail if the county government doesn’t agree to pay the cost of hiring more jail employees. Two female prisoners still being held in the jail on Monday were taken to the Floyd County Jail, where Cornett said they will be housed “until the Letcher County Jail is in proper condition.”

. A petition filed Monday in the offices of Letcher County Judge/Executive Carroll Smith lists the names of more than 100 registered voters — the minimum number required by law — who are requesting a referendum on whether the Letcher County Fiscal Court should be made up of a judge/executive and three commissioners or continue in its present form of a judge/executive and five magistrates.

. The Jenkins City Council may soon start restricting traffic over several bridges and streets within the city. The council is considering a new ordinance designed to prevent heavy vehicles from damaging city property, hoping to keep all trucks with two or more axles from traveling over the old, weakening bridges. Crossing a posted bridge may result in a $500 fine and 30 days imprisonment.

Wednesday, August 2, 2006 Fewer than 100 black bears have been documented in Kentucky, says Dave Maehr, an associate professor who coordinates the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture’s research of black bears in the state. “Certain bears move around a lot, so 20 bear sightings in a small area over a short time is not to mean there are 20 bears,” said Maehr. “It may be one bear.”

. The Whitesburg Veterans of Foreign Wars and the VFW Ladies’ Auxiliary are giving free phone cards to members of the armed forces serving away from home — overseas or in the United States.

. Letcher Countian Willis Ring Jr. continued his battle with Craig Reasor for the points title of the Greater Kingsport Golf Association at the annual Ridgefields Invitational in Kingsport.

. Matthew Hall, a son of William Hall of Whitesburg and grandson of Ivan and Shirley Hall of Lexington, has received a scholarship to play college football at Emory & Henry University in Virginia. Hall, who attended high school in Coeburn, Va., led the Lonesome Pine District in touchdown receptions and receiving yards.



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