Days Gone By In Staunton

Thursday, July 26, 1923 -- OPINION PIECES-- The hot weather of the past few days has once more emphasized the presence of "The River" within our city. Hasten the day when the sewage system will be in operation and the vile smelling stream an unpleasant memory.

Watch for a big payroll robbery, bank looting or mail haul in this general vicinity within a very few days. The payroll gang are getting hard pressed. Five more were sent to jail at Springfield this week and their bonds range from $40,000 to $50,000. Several are still in jail in St. Louis, and some are out on bond, pending appeal. They need money to fight their cases. They know only one way to get it. Watch for the next stunt. -Edwardsville Intelligencer.

Once more the Star-Times wishes to suggest to the base ball enthusiasts of our community the advisability of establishing a ball park in our city where games could be held regularly. There is not the slightest doubt that Staunton has the material for one of the best ball teams to be found in this part of the state and if the proper encouragement were held out to the young men who are adept in the national game, there is no reason why such an undertaking could not be made a real success.

Among the fans who saw the game at Gillespie Sunday afternoon quite a number were from Staunton and they were surprised to see how efficient the Buckeyes are. The game there really was a battle between Staunton players Goeckel of our city pitching for Gillespie, and Oettel, who drove in the winning run with his homer, also being a Staunton man. Why let our neighbor cities claim credit for work actually done by Staunton men? Why not keep those men at home by giving them an opportunity to play on a real, all-home-town team? The expenses of establishing a ball park need not be excessive and with a real team putting on good games each Sunday the matter of attendance would well nigh take care of itself. Chances are that if such a proposition were carried through the men comprising the team would at the close of the season find themselves much better off financially than they are now, playing wherever the opportunity presents itself. Aside from the purely sporting or pleasure side of the matter, a good baseball team is a wonderful advertisement for a community and should therefore receive the financial support and moral encouragement of the business men. Come on, ye ball sports, get together and start something.

LOAD OF MEAT BURNED -- A load of meat and lard, consigned from an East St. Louis packing house to a Staunton dealer, burned Monday afternoon a short distance out of Edwardsville when the truck caught fire and was consumed by the flames. The lard in the shipment served as excellent fuel for the blaze and the two men in charge of the truck were powerless to fight the fire demon. A new shipment was sent out by the packing house later in the afternoon.

Thursday, Aug. 2, 1923 -- STANDARD FILLING STATION HELD UP -- Thieves slug Henry Niedernhofer, attendant; many people nearby-- For the fifth time since its opening in our city the Standard Oil Co.'s filling station has been robbed of its cash on hand. The latest robbery staged Sunday evening and different from its predecessors in that it was a hold-up, Henry Niedernhofer, night man, still being on the job when the thieves arrived.

At about 9:30 o'clock Mr. Niedernhofer prepared to close up for the night and had just turned off his lights when a car carrying two men drove up. The fellows ordered some gasoline and Henry switched on the lights and proceeded to serve them.

As he was in the act of making change after having filled their tank, one of the culprits leveled a revolver at him and backed him in the toilet room in the station, where he relieved Henry of all the cash he had on him and then asked if there was any more money in the safe. Mr. Niedernhofer replied in the affirmative. The thief then took the keys to open the safe from Mr. Niedernhofer's pockets and evidently thinking that Henry would be of no further service to them and so as not to be disturbed, they slugged him over the head with a hard instrument, presumably the butt of a revolver. The first blow rendered Mr. Niedernhofer groggy. He was hit a second time and left lying on the floor in the toilet room in an unconscious condition, where he was found shortly before 11 o'clock by two men from Springfield, who drove up to get some supplies. The police and a physician were immediately notified and quite a bit of effort was necessary to restore Mr. Niedernhofer to consciousness. A large hump on the left side of his head is evidence of the fact that the thieves did not handle him any too gently.

The thieves, who carried an Illinois license on their car, secured two days' receipts at the station, amounting to several hundred dollars. While all this was happening a large number of people were within a few hundred feet of the station. Practically every bench in the city park was occupied and Mr. Pranz was sitting out in front of his garage. Those who saw the men about the station thought they were patrons and had no idea of what was transpiring, so that they made their escape without interference.

ROBBERIES AT LIVINGSTON -- Sometime during the night from Sunday to Monday two stores at Livingston were robbed of merchandise. One of these places was the hardware store of Geo. Skamenca & Co. and the other A. Farhath's general store. At the Skamenca store the thieves effected their entrance through a rear window and stole a shot gun, some shells, several pocket knives and a small quantity of change left in the cash register.

At the Farhath store the culprits threw a rock through one of the front windows and stole a shot gun which was in display there. The loss sustained by Skamenca & Co. is estimated at about $70. By breaking the large plate glass window in Farhath's store the thieves caused damage which far exceeded the value of the weapon stolen. It is said that the robberies were committed during the storm which visited Livingston Sunday night at about midnight. Up to the present no clue to the identity of the thieves has been secured.

PRESIDENT HARDING ILL -- President Harding, while on his tour of the country, fell ill and is at present at San Francisco, Cal., where he is receiving the best medical attention the country is able to provide. Broncho-pneumonia has set in and the chief executive's condition is said to be grave, although the crisis is believed to have passed. Ptomaine poisoning, which developed while the President was in Alaska, started the illness which has now taken a serious turn. Mrs. Harding is constantly at the President's bedside and her faith in his early recovery is complete and unshaken.