Bit of History - January 17, 2024

One hundred years ago today on January 17, 1924, the Ridgeway Journal printed these items on the front page:  the Rex Theatre advertised that the Emma May Cook Stock Company would be performing all week.  The feature for that Friday night was “The Spider and the Fly” which the ad said was “A Play Every Mother Should See!”  The Saturday matinee was free thanks to a list of merchants who sponsored tickets.  

G. M. (Tommy) Neff was “mourning the loss of his Studebaker touring car”.  It was stolen from his garage the week prior.  As of the publication of the article, he had found no trace of the vehicle and no idea about who could have taken it.  The loss of the car was fully covered by insurance.

In the report from the Ridgeway Elementary School, teachers hoped that everyone was reading the essays being published in the Journal each week as they were all either prizewinners or honorable mentions in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union contest.  The school also reported that there was “very little illness” in the school but reminded parents not to send their sick children to school to prevent illness from spreading.  The boys were enjoying participating in boxing matches.  Another note mentioned that ten wagons b
rought children to the school every day which traveled a total of 115.5 miles and that the school spent over $400 every nine months to supply the grade school students with pencils.