In 1912, the water department of the city of Jamestown took formal possession of the unfinished work on the new reservoir on English Hill and at an unusual hour, a gang of men were set to work on the job. The work would be rushed as rapidly as possible but there was little prospect of finishing it in the fall. Albert C. Bame, who was awarded the contract the past spring for $59,000, some days ago formally notified the water commissioners he had abandoned the job .
There was genuine excitement at Irvine, Pa., the past Sunday when it became known that a large bear had been seen in the community. John Singleton was the first one to see bruin just in the act of getting over a high orchard fence on one of Mrs. Biddle's farms only a short distance from the house occupied by Everett Beck. Some men started in pursuit of the bear who wasn't long getting into the woods nearby. After four hours of diligent searching they concluded bruin had made good his escape. Singleton said this was the largest bear he ever saw and he had seen a number of them. The residents were much excited and it was presumed that a good gun and a generous supply of salt would accompany each traveler hereafter.
In 1937, popular airs of the Gay Nineties - After the Ball, Annie Rooney, Two Little Girls in Blue, Comrades, The Bowery and The Sidewalks of New York - played by the Company E Military band featured the annual Spanish-American War night of the Fenton Guards Veteran Association at the state armory Tuesday evening as nearly 100 men gathered at the invitation of the association members who served in the army and the navy back in the stirring days of 1898. Early in the evening a spaghetti and meatball supper was served to the group under the direction of William Bendo. Samuel L. Willard, Civil War veteran, well along in the 90s, was introduced and given an ovation.
The work of the Chautauqua County public health nurses was described to the board of supervisors meeting at Mayville, by Miss Agnes C. Peterson, nurse in charge of district 1 of the county. Miss Peterson stressed the value of the pre-natal clinics conducted under sponsorship of the state health department. The infant and preschool program had been featured by well baby clinics, which were designed to prevent the development of defects. She pointed out that one of the chief concerns of the nurses was providing proper care for premature babies.
In 1962, a heavy downpour of rain the previous evening and through the night poured .75 inch of precipitation on Jamestown, an inch or more in Dunkirk and created hazardous driving conditions at times. The heavy rainfall resulted in some flooding of streets in the vicinity of WCA Hospital. The trouble was caused by an accumulation of leaves, washed into storm sewer catch basins by the rain. Paradoxically, although the rain fell in torrents in Dunkirk during the night, the level of Lake Erie there fell to the lowest point in the memory of veteran police officers. The sharp drop in the lake level was attributed to heavy winds out of the east and northeast, which backed up the lake's waters. At one time, Dunkirk Harbor was virtually drained of water.
Two huge elm trees, landmarks in the village of Sinclairville since its founding, had been removed by contractors hired by the village. The trees were located on the east and north sides of the post office and measured nearly 7 feet in diameter at their bases. They were estimated to be well over 100 years old, and did not appear to have grown appreciably in the past 25 years. The large elms fell victim to what was believed to have been Dutch elm disease during the past several years and were nearly completely dead by the past summer.
In 1987, after four years of trying to renovate the former Euclid Avenue School, WCA Services Corp was seeking to demolish the building. The empty building, long considered an eyesore by neighbors, was originally to be made into an apartment complex. But WCA Services sought historic status to decrease taxes on the building and the rigid requirements for renovations to historic sites made the project financially impossible. A public hearing would be held to determine whether the building should be demolished.
Lead singer and lyricist Natalie Merchant and guitarist Robert Buck of 10,000 Maniacs, were scheduled to appear Nov. 20, on Late Night With David Letterman. Laurie Guthrie, talent researcher for Late Night, said she had seen the band open for the group R.E.M. at Radio City Music Hall. "A number of people on the show have been fans of theirs and followed them," she said. "We always try to break new bands." The other three members of the band - Jerome Augustyniak, Steven Gustafson and Dennis Drew - would be watching from the audience.