Turner's Public Spirit, April 15, 1922
A look back in time to a century ago
By Bob Oliphant
“Center. Work has been started on the new schoolhouse to be erected at Brookside [“Old Nab,” now Roudenbush Children’s Center]. The cost is to be about $26,000, and will accommodate all the children in the Brookside section of the town. A problem which the town will have to take up in a short time will be additional school facilities at Forge Village, a growing section of the town.
“John Wayne died on Tuesday at his home in Chelmsford at the age of eighty-three years…. He was a veteran of the civil war, having been a member of the old Sixth and 26th Massachusetts regiments. He was a member of the G.A.R. post in Acton. Mr. Wayne was a former resident of this town.
“The Board of Trade will hold an open meeting to the public in the town hall on Tuesday evening at 7:45. C. J. Leathers, manager of the telephone company in Lowell, will give an illustrated talk on ‘The marvels of telephone,’ using stereopticon views….
“The Misses May, Lillian and Carrie Atwood arrived home from St. Petersburg, Fla., a week ago Monday.
“Frank A. Wright moved his family from Lowell on last Monday in what is known as the Wylie Wright place [now 1 Wylie Wright Lane].
“About Town. Irving Wright, who has made a long and brave fight against tuberculosis, is now completely cured, we are pleased to state. He is visiting his sister, Mrs. Flora Wright Edwards, at Westford Corner.
“We would like to call the attention of every reader of this column to President Harding’s proclamation of April 22 as a golden anniversary of Arbor day. Officers of public institutions and of civic and commercial organizations are urged by the president to unite in thought and action for the preservation of our common heritage by planning such educational and instructive exercises as shall bring before the people the disastrous effects of the present waste by forest fires and the need of individual and collective efforts to conserve the forests and increase our tree growth for ornament and use.
“Wafred Olsson, of West Chelmsford, graduated Thursday from the Boston radio school. He graduated from the Chelmsford high school last year and then entered the Boston radio school from which he is now graduating when only eighteen years old….
“The strike last week at the stone quarry of the H. E. Fletcher Company on Oak hill, whereby 200 workmen volunteered to throw themselves out of work rather than have less than $1.00 an hour, is being tided over by help faster than work can be secured to employ all the help that applies…. The eagerness with which some men want to quit work and the eagerness with which others want to work is well described by Mr. Fletcher.
“Guy R Decatur has been testing apple trees for blossoms from his young orchard on Little Tadmuck hill. They answer yes.
“Fire on Monday afternoon burned over a large acreage of prairie land for J. Willard Fletcher on the line of the Stony Brook railroad. The fire is supposed to have been caused by the unintentional and unavoidable incendiarism on the part of a passing freight engine.
“Lewis P. Palmer & Son, of Graniteville, have been awarded the contract for furnishing edgestones for the city of Lowell by the new city charter government.
“Henry A. Fletcher, who is an authority on birds and wild life in general, reports having seen that white bird on the dividing stump in the water in the Brookside mill pond and instead of spelling it by that long, crooked Patagonian name, he spells it sea gull….
“At the annual meeting of the Lowell Fish and Game association on April 4, Joseph Wall, of Graniteville, was elected first vice president. He is worthy of it, for his enthusiasm for game preservation. At the same meeting J. Herbert Fletcher was elected a member.
“Graniteville. Monday gave the residents the first touch of summer weather and was a welcome relief after the winter’s storm. The local gardeners are now getting the ground in shape preparatory to early spring planting.
“The Abbot Worsted soccer team defeated the Fore River club of Quincy, three goals to one in the semifinal for the state championship in Methuen last Saturday before a crowd of 3000 people. The Abbots will meet the Falcos of Holyoke in the near future for the state championship….
“Work will soon be started in getting the Abbot playground in readiness for the baseball season, which will open early in May…. The schedule is now being arranged for the coming season and Gardner, Fitchburg, Sharon, Plant Company of Manchester, N.H., Kelly’s South Boston AA-Stars and other fast clubs are being considered for early dates….”
Look for future Museum Musings columns at museum.westford.org.
The Boston Globe, Sunday, April 9, 1922, p. 18.