Friday, April 25, 2025

Bit of History -- April 23, 2025

“He was just a dog.  Mister-- that’s all;
And all of us boys called him Pug;
He was black, crippled and not very tall,
But he’d fight at the drop of hat for us all.”

On April 18, 1912, the Ridgeway Journal published the sad obituary of a dog named Pug.   Pug, an “old black dog known to all in Ridgeway and a friend to everybody who was kind to him.”  He lived at the home of his masters, the Spragg family.  “Speaking in a way, the old dog has raised every boy in the town; everybody swore by him and in his death we lose a friend that cannot be replaced.”

One evening, he was shot by a man “because he had a grudge against Pug’s owners” and because the dog had been barking in the street by his home.  

The poor pup survived for several days.  He was cared for by the boys on a bed of straw and rags in the back of the Ridgeway Journal office.  Many inquired after his welfare during the next several days, but Pug continued to suffer until a boy,“one of Pug’s best friends”, ended Pug’s suffering as an act of kindness.

The editor of the paper described the man “(we hate to refer to him as a man)” as a brute, “lower by far than the dog he killed.”  The writer went on to say that the “old faithful dog stands a much better change of reaching that spiritual mansion” than the one who shot him.  The article ended with “This is written with no apologies, to anyone.” 




Friday, April 18, 2025

Bit of History - April 16, 2025

A few items from the front page of the Ridgeway Journal dated April 10, 1941:

Mr. and Mrs. H. S. Roberson opened a new funeral home in the house they rented from the estate of the late J. W. Leazenby.  Originally from Moberly, Missouri, they had just moved from Eagleville to Ridgeway when the house they rented there was sold.  Mr. Roberson was a licensed embalmer and his wife was his assistant. 

James Prather’s thirteen ewes produced a total of twenty one lambs that month.  There were nine sets of twin in the bunch.  “That’s a record that will give the other fellows something to shoot at”, said Mr. Prather.

Mr. Quillin’s high school music class presented the operetta “Oh, Doctor” in the school auditorium “that delighted a large and appreciative audience.”

Dean Williams lased the J. W. Leazenby farm “on the north side of the gravel road west of town.”  He planned to farm the land and sub leased the house to James Prather.  He also planned “to farm another tract of land south of town.”

Gilbert Claycomb narrowly escaped death while cleaning a well on the James Prather farm in Trail Creek. When he was about twenty feet down the well, a large rock weighing about fifty two pounds dislodged at the surface, hitting him on the head and leaving him with a five inch gash.  “One theory of why he was not killed by the rock was that ricocheted from wall to wall in the course of its descent” which would have slowed it down.







Friday, April 11, 2025

Bit of History -- April 6, 2025

The Ridgeway Journal published Town Ordinance No. XXVIII in which the Board of Trustees listed some new misdemeanors effective as of April 6, 1893Along with more serious rules, there were several that we might find amusing today. For example, if you kept a “male horse or jack for teasing and serving mares”, you had to stay 300 feet from any school, college or church or you had to have a barrier to keep the horses from being seen. If you didn’t, you could be fined up to $100.

If you played “card or games of any kind, include base ball and marbles” on Sundays, you could be fined up to $10. 

If a minor climbed on or held or “or any manner attach himself to any locomotive, engine or car while the same has been in motion” or stood in the tracks with a locomotive attached, the person could be fined up to $50. Minors under the age of 15 “found lounging around places of business or upon the streets or alleys” without having a “lawful errand” after 10 pm could be fined up to $10.

If you forgot to tie up your horses or decided to ride one on the sidewalks, you could be fined between $2 and $10 and if you tied tin cans or any “other thing calculated to make a noise” to the tail of an animal, you could be find up to $25.



Friday, April 4, 2025

Bit of History -- April 2, 2025

From the front page of the Ridgeway Journal dated April 2, 1936: Someone in Harrison County was poisoning dogs. As of this issue, fourteen dogs had been poisoned to death including “Wolf”, the dog belonging to Ridgeway nightwatchman Noah Lawrence. The dog was “fine German police dog” who accompanied Lawrence on his rounds, a “gentle animal but an ever-read help to Noah in dealing with unruly prowlers. “Marshall Will Crosby collected the poisoned animals and buried them on Witt Hill.” (As far as I could find, the poisoner was never caught though at least one more dog died at his/her hands.)

Lloyd Spragg, WPA project director of Harrison County, announced that the city of Ridgeway would receive a grant from the WPA for $1200 for improving the city hall. The work of “improving the ancient building” (city hall was built in 1914, so only 22 years old) would start soon and would include remodeling the interior and other improvements. The grant required the inclusion of an assembly room where “meetings of various kinds can be held.” They also intended to build an addition “to house the fire apparatus.”

There was a lot of local entertainment noted in the paper that week. A “declamatory contest” was held in the high school assembly hall which included performers of all ages. The program included “readings, songs and extemporaneous speaking” followed by a speaking contest.

The senior class sponsored another night of entertainment with an amateur contest at the Palace Theatre. There were twenty-six numbers in this program which included acts such as a trumpet solo by Don Waddilove and a duet by Comer sisters Wanda and Fleeta.

The junior class was planning to present a play entitled “Always” at the Palace Theatre the next week.

The 4-H members had the opportunity to receive free trees if they paid the cost of transportation from the United States Forest Service. The trees included black locusts and catalpas and were part of an effort to conserve soil.