But as the front page of the Sept. 3, 1953 Lorain Journal notes, there was serious concern about a possible water shortage. "Dry faucets by Sunday threatened Lorain today as water consumption here set another all-time record Tuesday," stated the lead article.
"Appealing to residents to curb use, Service Director Wallace Chapla pointed out that when the reservoir goes dry, the waterworks will be able to deliver approximately two million gallons less per day than the city has been drinking and sprinkling for better than a week.
"So far this week the reservoir has lost two feet a day.
"If that loss continues, Thursday will see the reserve at four feet, Friday will be two feet and Saturday will see the four-million-gallon reservoir merely damp. Sunday it will be dry."
The lack of rain and high temperatures were taking a toll on the area farms. "Crops as well as people are suffering from desert-like weather conditions which brought plus-90 degree temperatures to Lorain and the county for the 15th straight day.
"Tomatoes are being cooked on the vines, peaches are ripening much too fast, peppers are wilting and drying up and sweet corn is being blistered, Charles Coles, Lorain County agricultural agent, reported today.
"Ripening of apples is being far advanced by the extreme temperatures and will be a burden for the pickers, Coles stated. The young melon crop may never reach the market if the heat continues and the same is true of cauliflower."
Fortunately, the good citizens of Lorain cooperated by curtailing water use, and by Thursday, Sept. 3, the city reservoir had gained a foot – or 250,000 gallons. By Friday, the reserve level was at 9.4 feet, a gain of 2. 2 feet over the previous day. More good news followed, with scattered showers in the forecast and cooler temperatures predicted for the weekend.
****
Elsewhere on that Sept. 2, 1953 front page: a mention of the upcoming Ohio Sesquicentennial; the return of Lester "Baby Face" Brown to the Lorain city jail after his extradition from Texas (a story you'll find in Don Hilton's Murders, Mysteries and History of Lorain County, Ohio, 1824 - 1956); a man yanks his own tooth with a pair of pliers in Oklahoma; and an update on the GI POW swap with Korea.
"Baby Face" Brown must have beaten the rap; he was a numbers runner in my neighborhood when I was a kid, who used to buy all us kids candy. I remember hearing the Grone Folx talking about him when we weren't supposed to be listening. He was one of those colorful neighborhood characters that were (sometimes) a bit dodgy, but were part of the local landscape. A lot of Elyria Avenue residents "played the numbers" (not my mother and grandfather), and they played them with "Baby Face". I think he did eventually wind up going to prison, although I don't know for what.
ReplyDeleteBabyface (32) was a numbers runner *before* he killed Jackson (24) at the corner of 28th & Vine with a gunshot to the guts with a .38 pistol, too.
ReplyDeleteOnce nabbed in El Paso, on a charge of possessing a dozen joints, He had a compelling enough story to have the charges reduced to manslaughter. He was indicted on that charge by the October '53 Grand Jury.
Brown pled guilty and Judge D.A. Cook (g-g-father of present judge D. Chris Cook) sent him off with an indeterminant sentence of one-to-twenty. From what you say he didn't spend too much time in the slammer for the killing. I didn't track him after that.
So interesting that you knew him.
Thanks, Don!
DeleteIf "Baby Face" shot someone at 28th and Vine, he might have been out there for pleasure, not business; 28th and Vine would have had the Bolita, not the "numbers" .
DeleteI like the story of the man, the tooth and the pliers, especially how he replaced the implement when he was done with it. (Not that I believe a word of this yarn.)
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents played the horses and poker year-round and nearly non-stop. No numbers or Bolita where we lived. Today gambling is pervasive; instead of "Baby Face" and my grandpa's bookies, we have large corporations. I don't think it's good.
ReplyDeleteIs the water reservoir the mound at the corner of North Ridge Rd and Elyria Ave?
ReplyDeleteNever heard of "Bolita" until now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for enabling me to learn something new!
I'll have to work it into my next murder mystery.
My family has always been too tight-fisted to gamble.
Better to spend it on booze and cars!
"Bolita" is basically the Hispanic version of the numbers or "policy" racket, played, as one would imagine, in largely Hispanic areas, such as South Lorain.
DeleteHi Dennis,
ReplyDeleteMy understanding was that the reservoir referred to in the story was/is at the actual plant. An article in the Dec. 31, 1952 Lorain Journal noted that, "In 1917, a four-million gallon treated water reservoir was constructed for the purpose of leveling off peak-loads at the treatment plant proper and to provide for the eventuality of a plant breakdown." And as the story in the above article noted, Lorain gets its water from the lake, and the problem was pumping enough to meet the needs.
But that's a good question as to the purpose of the mound near the water tower at Elyria Ave. and North Ridge. Perhaps someone in the know will leave a comment
Driving by the corner of North Ridge Rd and Elyria Ave via Google Maps reveals a sign on the gate stating, "Lorain Reservoir, 5300 Elyria Ave". The mound has several turrets sticking up. There is also a concrete building attached to the north side where you can enter. Maybe you can get a tour?
ReplyDeleteAhh, found it. The May 31, 1947 Journal reported the first 78 yards of concrete were poured at the new 4,000,000 Lorain reservoir at North Ridge and Elyria.
ReplyDeleteHi Dennis,
ReplyDeleteThanks for digging up those articles. Do you think that's the reservoir mentioned in the article, then? It's the right size.