Lorain Journal Front Page – March 2, 1926

One hundred years ago today there was a lot going on in the March 2, 1926 Lorain Journal. 

As seen above, there was some fashion news – namely a preview of the latest style in men’s pajamas and robes being promoted at the Illinois Clothiers convention in Chicago. But the big story as noted in the screaming headline was the possibility of Logan Gas Company (predecessor of the Ohio Fuel Gas Co.) justifying a rate of more than $1 a thousand cubic feet. 

Also on the front page: a tragic accident in Elyria on the East Avenue bridge over the Black River; two Cleveland gambling kingpins that were driven out of that city setting up new operations in the former Avon Island Park dance hall; a Wakeman boy gets a tooth extracted from his lung by way of a vacuum; and the arrest of the first traffic law violator of the year (he was driving his “machine” at 35 or 40 miles an hour).

John Wayne Article – Feb. 15, 1976

The Duke as he looked in his final movie, "The Shootist"

The two Western cable channels – GRIT and Outlaw – have been playing a lot of great John Wayne movies lately (True Grit, Rio Bravo, The Searchers, Three Godfathers, McClintock, Chisum) so it's a good time for me to post this article from the Feb. 15, 1976 edition of the Journal. It's an interview with the Duke at the time he was filming his last movie, The Shootist.

As noted in past blog posts, I can't emphasize enough how much my brothers and I idolized John Wayne when we were growing up. Mom and Dad took us to see all of his new movies (including The War Wagon, Chisum, The Undefeated, The Cowboys, True Grit, etc.) beginning in the mid-1960s, usually at Amherst Theatre. A few we saw as part of the Summer Movie program (such as Hellfighters). Consequently, we first became familiar with him when he was already older (and fatter). Gradually we were able to catch his old movies on TV and see him at his best.

One of my recent favorites is El Dorado, with Robert Mitchum and James Caan (who is hilarious). It's often criticized as being just a rework of Rio Bravo, but I don't agree with that at all. The Duke is a sheriff in one and a gruff gunfighter in the other. But both movies have a dance hall girl as love interest for the John Wayne character, a drunken law officer, a grizzled deputy type, and a younger man helping in the fight against the bad guys.

Anyway, here is the Feb. 1976 interview. It's interesting that he was planning another sequel to Rooster Cogburn, which was already a sequel to True Grit. But sadly, he passed away before he was able to make another film.

It was great seeing James Stewart as the doctor who gives
John Wayne's character the bad news about his health.
Two film greats.

Railroader Retires After 49 Years With the B&O– Feb. 26, 1946

 

For many people nearing the end of their working careers, the idea of retirement is a no-brainer. They can hardly wait to retire, and will even quit working before reaching full retirement age despite the considerable reduction in Social Security benefits. Perhaps they are looking forward to enjoying some leisure time; traveling; pursuing some hobby; or just spending time with their grandchildren.

Other people enjoy their jobs so much – and working in general – that they delay their retirement long after they are fully vested.

George W. Ristine of Lorain was apparently one of those people. As noted in the interesting article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal back on Feb. 26, 1946 – 80 years ago today – he had just retired at the age of 72 after 49 years with the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. 

"Beginning in 1897 as a fireman, the bottom at which all aspiring railroad men must start, he was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1901 and held that post with the B. and O. until his final journey on Jan. 31 this year," it notes.

That's a nice long career. 

So why did he stay on so long?

As the story notes, "Ristine has been eligible for retirement for the past seven years, but stayed on during the war because of the manpower shortage and because he was "in no mood to retire."

I love his comment about finding time heavy on his hands after retirement. "I'm not used to loafing," he chuckled.

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Mr. Ristine was mentioned in the "Log of Lorain" column on April 28, 1942.

Sadly, he passed away on August 14, 1953 only seven years after retiring.

At least he spent his life at a vocation that was the fulfillment of a boyhood dream. How many of us can say that?

"When Lorain County Stone Helped Rebuild Chicago" Article – Feb. 28, 1940

Here's an interesting article from the February 28, 1940 edition of the Lorain Journal. It tells the story of how the Amherst quarries played a big role in the rebuilding of Chicago after the devastating fire that started on the west side of the Windy City on October 8, 1871.

It notes,"When Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over the lantern more than half a century ago and touched off the dangerous conflagration which wiped out three and a half square miles of Chicago's most flourishing districts, the seed was sown for an unprecedented boom in activities about which the growth of young Lorain-co was then centering.

"Mute evidence of this can be seen in the abandoned quarry holes, near Brownhelm, the iron streak of rusty rails occasionally seen thru the woods north of Amherst and the piers of Oak Point.

"The Sandstone Center of the World," then a community larger than its neighboring village of Charleston, now Lorain, played a most important part in the rebuilding of the fire-ravaged city thru its unlimited supply of stone.

'Faced with the Herculean task of reconstructing the city, the undaunted people of the midwest metropolis discovered in Lorain-co the closest available spot where a sufficient supply of stone building materials could be obtained.

"Amherst sandstone was especially well fitted since it was easily worked, but hardened on exposure to air after construction.

"Shrewd business men, sensing the opportunity and also anxious to have this district play its part in rehabilitating the burned area, exerted every possible effort to turn out stone from the numerous quarries around Amherst at a rapid pace.

"The success and volume of this enterprise rested on cheap transportation which was provided by constructing a railroad from the quarries to Oak Point and a stone landing pier, projecting into the lake, from which stone was transferred off tiny cars into vessels Chicago-bound.

"The Clough Stone Co. was the owner of this railroad. It was a little, narrow-gauge road that ran from their quarry to Oak Point, just west of Lorain, where the company had the wharf.

"Besides stimulating the stone industry at Amherst, Charleston, the village to which shipbuilding was already bringing fame among Great Lakes communities benefited to a large extent thru the increase in vessel tonnage during the boom in stone business."

The boom in business lasted two years. But as the article concludes, "With Chicago rebuilt, normalcy returned to the "limestone center," many of the quarries were abandoned and the railroad to Oak Point together with the old piers were allowed to disintegrate.

"But the road kept running until the Lake Shore railroad made its rates so low that it was cheaper to ship by rail than water. Then the whole narrow-gauge outfit was sold to a Michigan lumber concern where the little engine continued its usefulness by pulling logs instead of stone.

"Amherst, however, has continued with its thriving stone industry which is known thruout the United States and Canada. Amherst sandstone many be found in some of the finest buildings in the nation."

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Interested in learning more about Oak Point?

Several well-known local historians undertook a Herculean task of their own by researching and compiling the definitive history of "Mysterious Oak Point."

Why 'Mysterious'?

As noted in Oak Point, Ohio - Beaver Park, Ohio - and Its Environs (which you can download here), Oak Point was a popular resort spot with facilities for boating, bathing, fishing, ball playing, dancing, and bowling. But that all changed in 1905 when a Columbus businessman came to town and began buying up nearby farms. What was planned for Oak Point? It was never revealed. 

But in Oak Point, Ohio - Beaver Park, Ohio - and Its Environs you'll find an incredible collection of articles, vintage photos, newspaper clippings, souvenirs, maps, then-and-now photos and biographical profiles of the people involved that will simply amaze you.

Be sure to download a copy and thank Matthew Weisman and Paula Brosky Shorf for all their hard work.

But you're not done downloading yet!

Historian and archivist Dennis Lamont personally created an Oak Point manuscript (which you can download here) in Word by transcribing a selection of vintage (and sometimes hard to read) newspaper articles in chronological order from 1890 to 2021 – including the 1940 article at the top of this post. I'll bet Dennis went through several bottles of Murine.

And if you're still in the mood for all things Oak Point, be sure to visit Drew Penfield's "Lake Shore Rail Maps" website where you'll find a nice capsule history of the resort on this page.

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Finally – waaaaaaay back in 2010 I wrote about the Oak Point Mystery back here.

Ice Fishing – Feb. 1976

It's winter again (ugh) so it's a good time to post some more articles about ice fishing.

Back here, I posted a full-page article from the Feb. 3, 1966 Lorain Journal about Journal Staff Writer Hank Kozlosk's first ice fishing trip. In his article he told about his trip to Middle Bass Island on the ancient "Tin Goose" Ford Tri-Motor and his fishing as part of a group at a 'shanty town.' He mentioned that he couldn't wait to go ice fishing again.

Ten years later, Mr. Kozloski went ice fishing again, and wrote about the experience in the Feb. 15, 1976 Journal. He had another ride over to Middle Bass Island on the Tin Goose but this time, well... I'll let you read his article.

Just a few days earlier on Feb. 13, 1976, the Journal ran a story on ice fishing on Sandusky Bay. The full-page article featured interesting quotes by ice fishermen Lloyd Pellerin, Louis Shukait, Kenneth Williams and George Boston.

As the article notes, "The ice fishing fever has turned into an epidemic. The reason is simple. Experienced fishermen say the ice from the Sandusky area to Port Clinton and the islands is the first solid formation in three to six years. In most places it's 12 to 18 inches thick, but melting this week with the warmer weather.

"Even "ice buggies' – cars stripped of just about anything which isn't necessary to make them run – have been driven over the white-gray crust from South Bass Island to Port Clinton.

"On any given day, but mostly on weekends as the sun rises, hundreds of men, women and children are lured onto the always mysterious ice in stalk of smelt, perch, crappie, blue gill, bass... and excitement."

Anyways, it's too bad that Kozloski had a 'crappie' day ice fishing.

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At the bottom of the page with Hank Kozloski's article, there's a Uniroyal ad with a little graphic showing Uni, Roy and Al – the stunt drivers in those well-remembered commercials. Remember them?

Here's a great little promo film about Uni, Roy and Al – uploaded by the wife of Cliff Cudney, who portrayed 'Al.'

"Miracle on Ice" Hockey Game – Feb. 22, 1980

The U. S. Men's Hockey team celebrating their victory
over the Soviets in Feb. 1980

The U.S. Men's Hockey team beat Canada yesterday to win Olympic gold for the first time since the famous 1980 "Miracle on Ice" game in which the U.S. defeated the Soviet Union. 

It was exactly forty-six years to the day. Unbelievable.

Remembering the last time we won a gold medal in hockey brought back a lot of memories for me. I remember watching the 1980 game in my dorm room at Ohio State. It was a four-man room (we called it "the Quad"). We had a room full of people on that Friday night. I still have several photos from that get together. And I'm still very close friends with two of my roomies.

The U.S. victory in 1980 caused my roommates and me to experience a brief hockey frenzy, and we started going to OSU hockey games at the Ohio State University Ice Rink. They had a great team and season that year. Good times.

Anyway back in Lorain, here's the front page of the Lorain Journal from Feb. 23, 1980 the day after the U. S. men's hockey team defeated the Soviets.

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Here's a nice account on the AARP website about the 40th anniversary of the "Miracle on Ice" in 2020.

Washington's Birthday – Feb. 22, 1926

One hundred years ago, George Washington's Birthday was still celebrated on the actual day: Feb. 22nd.  I think that's the way it should be, so its importance isn't diluted.

Below you see the front page of the Lorain Journal for that day in 1926. As you can see, it was a day to truly honor the Father of Our Country. (My apologies for the rather unpleasant headline and accompanying story.)

Next to the portrait of the President is a great story about his penknife – what it meant to him, and how it kept him from resigning from the Army.

(The most important part of the story is a little hard to read so here it is: Knox knew Its story, and without any utterance, gently pushed the keepsake under the clenched hands of General Washington. Washington flushed. Knox said: “You were always 1 to obey your superiors. No one has commanded you to cease leading this army.” Within half an hour the resignation was tossed into the log fire, and the great Washington carried on. The hatchet showed the truth-stuff of the boy; the penknife showed the stability of the man.— The knife should replace the hatchet, Dr. Bloomhardt says.)

Washington is also featured in the sidebar listing some of his famous statements, as well as in a story at the bottom of the page. That article debunks some of the attacks on his character (which seems to have been the subject of news stories at that time).

Also on the page: Lorain celebrates Washington's Birthday with no school, and with banks, courts and municipal buildings closed; a sad story out of Athens about two moonshiners who lost their lives as a result of being trapped in a cave; and a story about Lorain's third annual Auto Show.

The funniest story was that of Charles Baswell in Elyria, who needed a place to sleep after a night of drinking and found a cozy spot in a hog pen between two big pigs.