Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — May 1922

The New York Central Railway has brought suit for $500,000 against the C.N.E. road for breach of contract in failing to operate trains over the Boston and Albany line between Agawam Junction and Springfield, Mass. The C.N.E. road made a contract to operate trains on this stretch of road for the sum of $15,000 a year, but in December, 1921, ceased to use the B. and A. tracks.

The Journal is issued one day late this week due to a broken gear in our printing press which made a delay of some hours for repairs.

LIME ROCK — Charles Vosburgh is having his house covered with new stain. Mr. Hapeman is doing the work.

Mr. L.L. Borden is driving a new Peerless Eight.

50 years ago — May 1972

A 50-mile stretch of the Housatonic River Valley will be studied for possible inclusion under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act if Congress passes legislation introduced Tuesday by Sen. Abraham Ribicoff and Rep. Ella Grasso. The Connecticut legislators propose the federal government work with local and state governments in an effort to clean up the upper Housatonic and to protect the river and its valley from further pollution and uncontrolled development.

Francis J. Knuffke, 22, of Bostwick Street, Lakeville, was reported in “poor” condition Wednesday morning at Sharon Hospital, after being seriously injured in a tractor accident about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. Mr. Knuffke was mowing grass on a steep bank near the golf course at The Hotchkiss School, when the tractor he was driving rolled over, pinning him underneath. Dr. Peter Gott treated the victim at the scene, after which he was taken to the hospital by the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance.

A number of local residents played a part in last week’s auction to raise funds for Connecticut Public Television. John Briscoe of Lakeville, who agreed to auction off four calves, reports that the studio was crowded with volunteers and staff members of Channel 24 and the objects to be offered for sale. There were paintings, television sets, a bicycle built for two, and a baseball autographed by Steve Blass of Canaan, which sold for $60. Many goods and services also were auctioned.

Eight members of The Lakeville Journal staff were entertained Thursday by E.D. Fales Jr. of Falls Village and Richard Wardell, executive vice president of the National Iron Bank, at a luncheon thanking them for their work on a booklet commemorating the bank’s 125th anniversary. Entitled Iron Country, the work written by Mr. Fales traces the story of Falls Village, the Great Falls of the Housatonic, and other components in the history of the iron era in Northwest Connecticut from 1720 to the present day. Mr. Fales is a past president of the Falls Village- Canaan Historical Society.

25 years ago — May 1997

Reports poured in this week of sightings of what appears to be a wild boar — or perhaps of more than one! Several very reliable people — such as Gordon Whitbeck, David Clark and Beth Kaltman, all of Salisbury, Tom Blakey in Canaan, and hikers on the Appalachian Trail — all report having seen a wild boar this week. Gail and David Clark on Sugar Hill Road in the Amesville section of Salisbury saw a big black animal that “looks like a bear but with longer fur and a big nose” in the pasture with their cows on Monday of this week, according to neighbor Carl “Zeke” Hermann. The animal had apparently gone right through the Clarks’ electric fence. And the sheriff’s office in Rhinebeck on the New York side of the border reported that a wild boar had been “dispatched” on Livingston Street in that city where it was “roaming” on May 13.

Town crew members and Chris Toomey of Peerless Tree Service were busy this week planting about two dozen trees, part of the ongoing “greening of Canaan” efforts by the Beautification Committee and Canaan Community Trust. Plantings included flowering pear trees near the pavilion and American sycamores along Main Street.

The thunderstorm that rumbled through Canaan last July 14 was brief, but it left behind months of rebuilding for one local family business. On Saturday afternoon, family, friends and neighbors gathered at an open house in the bright new warehouse of William Perotti and Sons Plumbing and Heating. The new steel-frame structure sits on the Furnace Hill Road site of the building partially destroyed by a raging fire ignited by lightning that traveled inside along an electrical cable.

A large black bear has joined the influx of tourists who come to Kent when spring does. A resident on Seger Mountain Road found her metal bird feeder on the ground and bent. She reasonably concluded this could not be accomplished by a dog, cat or squirrel. In fact, she couldn’t have done it herself. She also saw the tracks. An actual sighting occurred on Highland Road and Spooner Hill. The bear was described as “very big.”

These items were taken from The Lakeville Journal archives at Salisbury’s Scoville Memorial Library, keeping the original wording intact as possible.