Good and evil are things we deal with almost every day, but some cases became very newsworthy in our region during the winter of 1926.
They called them the “roaring 20s” for a reason. An Oneonta justice was making news in Binghamton, but still got the attention of our city, as readers of The Oneonta Star of Feb. 3 learned, “‘Is it the dance hall, with the young men trying to get together enough money to take these short-skirted girls to these scandalous dances, or is it the fault of the parents at home?’ asked Justice Abraham L. Kellogg of Oneonta in supreme court Tuesday afternoon as he sentenced ten men, nearly all youths, to prison terms.
“This was swift justice indeed. ‘The people of Broome county will know I have been here and they will know what swift justice really means,’ exclaimed the court.
“Justice Kellogg in pronouncing sentences upon the young men said that his duty was a hard one and was taken only after long and careful consideration.
“‘The courts cannot reform the dresses or the dance halls, but something must be done to curb the universal crime wave among the young men and women and unless it becomes known there is a law to reclaim them from the commission of crime, and that law is respected, I fail to see where we are coming.’
“Attention was drawn to a statement of the district attorney of Erie county who had declared that crime waves were growing in each county in the state, primarily among the young and in the rural sections. It is so in this county as well, Justice Kellogg declared.
“In commenting on the conditions, Justice Kellogg said the Sunday night dances that are being held all over this section at least are corrupting the youth of the land and starting our girls on the road to ruin. Mere boys, with a flask in their pockets, rush off to these dance halls and the boys and girls are started head-on for perdition.”
Oneonta native Fred G. Beale was already in enough trouble that month, but things only got worse for him.
In a nutshell, Beale in 1925 had robbed a grave in Deposit, faked a fiery automobile accident, and used the corpse to be identified as himself. Beale then fled to Florida, to start a new life. The problem was, the law had caught up to him, and he was brought back to Delaware County to face justice. Additional bad behavior led to his downfall.
According to The Star of Feb. 16, “When Fred G. Beale brought a second woman into the hectic triangle detouring of his domestic life, the wrath of the woman scorned proved his undoing.” Beale was married, his wife believing he had died in that crash. “That is the first statement made by A.L. O’Connor of Hobart, district attorney of Delaware county, upon his return from Miami, Fla., yesterday.
“Mrs. Dorothy Bolger, former stenographer in the offices of Mobilco Brokerage company in Binghamton, of which Beale was president, became enraged when she learned that Beale, within two or three days after his arrival in Florida, three months ago, had taken another woman into his affection.” Bolger tipped state police investigators, and the hunt went to the South. Beale served time in state prison for his poor choice of morals.
On the other end of the moral spectrum, The Star of Feb. 3 reported, “A group of nearly 500 enthusiastic men and women from Oneonta and the vicinity did their bit last evening to swell the crowd that completely filled the tabernacle in Binghamton, where Billy Sunday, the well-known evangelist, had been holding daily meetings for the last two weeks.
“Taking advantage of the special train service and the cut rate fare offered by the D.&H. company through the efforts of the local Y.M.C.A., the group who made the excursion to the service were well repaid for the tedium of the journey by the vigorous personality of the evangelist which permeated his sermon and stimulated either agreement or disagreement in the minds of his hearers, seldom apathy.”
That train excursion was so popular, and Billy Sunday was in Binghamton for a few weeks, another local excursion took place the following week.
On Tuesday, the war in Korea had many effects on our area in 1951.