Excerpts and summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They focus on events in the county's past that were noteworthy, newsworthy or just strange. Full versions are available on microfilm at Lancaster Public Library, 125 N. Duke St.
Also, during the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, excerpts from Lancaster's Civil War-era newspapers, as well as new stories, can be found on the "Lancaster County and the Civil War" blog.
25 years ago
ELEPHANT!: The New Era reported on a publicity stunt that caused quite a stir in downtown Lancaster:
"Friday morning rush hour in Lancaster. Cars clog Penn Square. Pedestrians surge across Orange Street. An elephant marches up Queen Street. …
"Nellie, all 7,720 pounds of her, came to town this morning to promote the annual peanut sale of the Boys Club & Girls Club of Lancaster County."
The elephant, brought to Lancaster from Connecticut, strolled around the downtown area, shaking people's hands with her trunk, eating peanuts, posing for photos and generally causing a hubbub:
"Grown men gasped. Women with briefcases stopped dead in their tracks and stared. Bank employees stopped counting money and rushed to their windows. A man got out of a Red Rose Transit bus, slapped his head in disbelief, pointed and yelled, 'Elephant!'" (May 1, 1987)
DISAPPOINTED: A year after the event, local social service agencies were frustrated with the results of the Hands Across America charity effort.
The 1986 event, in which people paid to stand in a human chain of linked hands across the country, raised $80,000 from Lancaster County residents. However, none of the approximately $30 million raised by the event nationwide to aid the hungry and homeless returned to the county.
Local social service officials also were critical of the fact that nearly 40 percent of the money raised went toward administrative costs for the event. (May 6, 1987)
75 years ago
DIRT TRACK DEATH: Thousands of spectators witnessed a fatal crash at a Lancaster County racetrack, the Intelligencer Journal reported:
"Three thousand rabid racing fans saw two cars pile up at the Bird-in-Hand auto speedway Sunday afternoon, bringing sudden death to one 'outlaw' driver and injury to another. …
"Tearing into the second turn of the half-mile dirt track shortly after the race started, a car driven by Dave Wilt of this city went into a spin. Close on his heels were Joseph Bob, 32, of Richmond Hills, New York, and Leonard Koenig, 26, of Reading, giving the gun to their gasoline mounts."
The two following cars collided and flipped. Koenig suffered a broken arm.
"Bob was instantly killed, according to Dr. Harry Barbarian, Elizabethtown, a member of the first aid crew on the field.
"The race was halted for an hour, but the death of a comrade did not stop the demons of the track from continuing with the race, and it was later won by Mark Light of Lebanon." (May 3, 1937)
NORTHERN LIGHTS: An unusual celestial display was visible here, according to the Intell.
The Aurora Borealis, normally only seen much farther north than Lancaster, was clearly seen here by many county residents.
Experts attributed the unusual event to increased sunspot activity. (May 5, 1937)
DREAM JOB?: The intell reported on the city's appointment of its first official Ice Cream Inspector.
City council voted to appoint Dr. Victor Ballou of Chambersburg to the position, with a salary fixed at $2,400 per year.
The inspector was to ensure that all ice cream produced in Lancaster was done so at the highest standards of health and sanitation. (May 5, 1937)
Flashback Lancaster is compiled from the Lancaster Newspapers archives by Jed Reinert.
