In 1911, the Jamestown police department was called shortly after 6 o'clock Friday evening to suppress a billiard ball battle at the Brooklyn House billiard room. Strictly speaking, it was not a battle, for Leo Prather was the assailant and Gunnard Nelson, the party of the second part, merely dodged the missiles. There was some uncertainty at the time regarding events that led up to this episode, but it was clear that the two men engaged in a quarrel, the outcome of which was a volley of billiard balls fired by Prather at Nelson. Two of the balls hit Nelson on the head, inflicting wounds. Bystanders stopped the fight. It was claimed that Prather had a mania for throwing billiard balls when intoxicated.
Staff Captain J. Garabed or Joe the Turk, the far-eastern Salvation Army enthusiast, who had been in Jamestown for several days, appeared before another very large crowd Friday evening, after which he gave a sacred concert in the Salvation Army citadel, East Third Street. His Turkish costume and great umbrella were picturesque features of his work. He played a large number of musical instruments perfectly, showing himself a real genius along this line. His songs as well as his instrumental selections were highly enjoyed by the large audience which gathered in the hall, despite the oppressive heat of the evening.
In 1936, by its decisions against administration laws, the Supreme Court had stayed the destructive forces of Communism which New Deal leaders had in mind, Representative Daniel A. Reed of Dunkirk told house members in Washington. In a speech which blasted the idea of "the more abundant life" and "the new order," Reed said, in part: "What was the purpose and motive in presenting such legislation for the pretended benefits to farmers, miners, wage earners and others? It was to arouse the hopes and expectations of these groups, once the legislation was enacted, that they would receive money from the United States government."
Of the eight youngsters who the previous night earned number one ranking on the U.S. Olympic boxing squad which would battle the rest of the world for Olympic pugilistic honors at Berlin in August, three were from Cleveland, two from Chicago and one each from Detroit and Omaha, Neb. The eighth position would be looked after by Jimmy Clark, Jamestown, the only outstanding puncher in the lot. Clark gave the only convincing demonstration of punching power by scoring a one-sided victory over Ord King, a game youngster from Syracuse University. Clark dropped King in the first round with a crushing right to the jaw.
In 1986, two area citizen organizations were opposing the West Valley Demonstration Project's plans to bury low level radioactive waste at the site. The Coalition on West Valley Nuclear Waste and the Concerned Citizens of Ashford announced their bipartisan opposition following a meeting the previous evening. In the past week the West Valley Demonstration Project, a subsidiary of Westinghouse, announced plans to bury three classes of low-level radioactive waste at the site.
"We received our (spraying) permit but we're not happy with it," Helen Mae Smith, executive director of Chautauqua Lake Association, said. She related that "it came from Hank Williams' office by registered mail." Henry Williams was commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Mrs. Smith said the permit did not lift a 14-day restriction on use of the herbicide Diquat, and would not permit spraying in the upper lake.