Following an eventful Leap Year day, local news came in like a lion in March 1924.
Workers on the Delaware & Hudson Railroad locally were feeling good about themselves, considering the dangerous nature of their occupation.
As The Oneonta Star of March 4 reported, “Departments of the Delaware and Hudson railroad repair forces completed nearly half-a-million working hours in February without a reportable accident, regarded as a record, the company announced. The record, it was said, is the second established by the railroad employees, the Colonie force completing a total of 200,000 hours in January without a reportable accident.”
Unfortunately, all good things came to an end, as Star readers of March 11 learned, “Agostino Maddalone, 23, of Maryland, was fatally injured while at work on a section gang a mile this side of Maryland yesterday morning, dying while being brought to the Fox Memorial hospital in the city. His chest was badly crushed and death must have occurred but a few minutes after the accident. Maddalone was helping unload cinders from a dump car on work extra 789.”
Residents of Oneonta’s West End had their voices heard during recent weeks, as The Star of March 27 reported, “Mail service by city carrier twice daily is to commence in the West End section beyond the city limits on April 16, according to instructions from the post office department at Washington, received by Postmaster Frank G. Sherman yesterday.
“The action of the department follows the presentation of a petition for this service by practically every resident of the section interested and presented to Postmaster Sherman early the present month. It was forwarded to Washington with the favorable endorsement of Postmaster Sherman on March 11, and two weeks later, or March 26th, an order of the department granting the request and directing Postmaster Sherman to arrange to start the service, was received here.” Oneonta’s West End was growing rapidly during the early 1920s.
Improvements were in store for the Colliers Dam on Goodyear Lake that year.
As The Star of March 7 reported, “In anticipation of the time when the electricity used in all this section of the state will be generated by water power and as a step to make the Colliers power plant as productive as possible of electric energy, there have been completed plans for the construction of a new re-enforced concrete canal to convey the water from Goodyear lake to the power plant below, which with the additional turbine added during the past year will increase the annual output from the Colliers plant from 3,700,000 kilowatt hours to 6,000,000 or at least to assure ability to develop that amount whenever there are outgoing feeders capable of absorbing that amount during the year.
“In construction of the new structure 180 tons of re-enforcing steel will be required and 1,200 cubic yards of concrete will be used.”
An enhancement in the appearance of Oneonta’s Wilber Park was also in the works. Those who have walked the trail from Spruce Street to the upper level of the park near the big pavilion will be familiar about the following.
From The Star’s March 12 edition came news, “At the regular meeting of Oneonta chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, which was held yesterday with Mrs. H.M. Goldsmith, Chestnut street, it was decided to purchase and plant in Wilber park a sufficient number of elm trees to form an avenue extending from the Spruce street bridge on Oneonta creek to the top of the hill near the pavilion, the same to be known as the Road of Remembrance in memory of deceased members of the chapter. While the arrangements have not yet been completed, the matter will be taken up at once by the committee in charge, and further announcements will be made.
Returning briefly to the Leap Year Day 1924, the name Wilber was also making memorable news elsewhere.
Merchants in downtown Oneonta happened to have held a Dollar Day on Feb. 29, and had a promotion to assemble a package of baby goods to the first baby born in either Otsego or Delaware counties on Friday, Feb. 29.
The Star of March 3 reported, the goods would be going to Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Wilber of East Sidney, as their son Lester Hiram Wilber was born at 2:37 p.m. on Leap Day.
On Wednesday, our local life and times in March 1964.
Oneonta City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area before 1950. His Wednesday columns address local history 1950 and later. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is oneontanyhistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/opinion/columns/.