I was going to do one of my standard "What was going on in Lorain 100 years ago today?" posts, but the Sept. 22, 1925 edition of the Lorain Journal wasn't available. But the same day in 1926 was – so we'll go with ninety-nine years instead.
Thus above is the Wednesday, Sept. 22, 1926 issue of the Lorain Journal.
It's a good reminder that hurricanes were big news back then too.
"With relief pouring in from other cities, southeastern Florida today was rapidly recovering from the effects of Saturday's hurricane," notes the lead article.
"Rescue workers searching ruins and wreckage left by the storm found additional bodies of dead, which brought the death list in Miami to 135.
"The known dead in the storm area today totaled 407. It was believed that by tonight practically all of the dead would be identified and the casualties definitely known."
It's interesting that Miss Harriet Root was heading to Florida to help. "Miss Harriet Root, Lorain Red Cross worker, left at midnight Tuesday for Jacksonville, Florida, where she was ordered to report for duty by National Red Cross officials in Washington," an article reported. "She will assist in the rehabilitation of the storm-swept district of Florida, working under the direction of Henry M. Baker, national director, who was in charge in Lorain after the tornado two years ago.
"The Florida hurricane will be the third major disaster in which Miss Root has served with the Red Cross. Lorain was the first."
The other night national story was the Dempsey-Tunney championship fight scheduled for Thursday morning. "Radio parties" at which to listen to the fight were to be held by various organizations, including the Elks, Masons, Knights of Columbus, Moose, Eagles and International Order of Odd Fellows. (I guess my Grandpa was going to be listening to the fight, as he was both an Elk and a Mason.)
Locally, we get stories on "the loot of the phantom burglars" (sounds like a good name for a Don Hilton crime thriller); a soft drink parlor accused of being a bootleg establishment; the conversion of Lorain High School's Scimitar into a real yearbook; a hat pin attack on a deputy sheriff lands two women in the hoosegow; and the Lorain County crop report.
"Loot of the Phantom Burglars" is an *excellent* title for a book. Maybe I'll copy the plot from the paper. Should I name one of the phantoms after you, Dan?
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