Turner's Public Spirit, October 8, 1921
A look back in time to a century ago
By Bob Oliphant
“Center. The opening meeting of the Tadmuck club will be held in the Unitarian church
parlors on next Tuesday afternoon. Mrs. Walter C. Perham, of Chelmsford, director of the sixth
district of Woman’s clubs of this state, will speak. Mrs. Adeline M. Buckshorn, of the home
club, will give a book review, ‘Main street,’ and Mrs. George S. Brown, of Lowell, will be the
soloist. There will be a club tea in charge of the reception committee….
“There will be an all-day Ladies’ Aid meeting at the home of the Misses Atwood, Thursday.
Important sewing for a family of little folks will occupy the day and it is hoped that the members
will attend early and work diligently.
“Miss Harriet Buckminster, who formerly lived in Westford, now of Arlington, has been
visiting at the Misses Atwood’s.
“Largest Taxpayers. Those paying a tax of $50 or over are as follows, based on the rate of
$25 per $1,000: …
“765 Polls [at $5 each] $3,825.00
“Personal estate 22,233.48
“Real estate 54,752.34
“Moth 1,013.42
“About Town. The heating apparatus of the weather registered 80° worth in the shade on
Wednesday of last week. This was a sudden rise from holding down to 32° worth of coolness the
previous morning.
“‘Almost October 1 and no frost on Westford hill’ says the efficient correspondent of ye
beautiful hilltop of Westford Center, and we can say come ye down from ye beautiful hilltop and
behold ye lowly village of ye beautiful Stony Brook where frost desireth to reside early and see
the bright green of ye corn October 6 on the Old Oaken Bucket farm.
“One of the new and useful novelties on exhibition at the Groton fair … was an oxless,
horseless mowing machine on exhibition by the Montgomery Hardware Company of Ayer.
“Now that our clocks have finished their annual lying about sunrise and sunset we can take
our places with the timetable of the world. Why all mankind and other folks should be disturbed
in their sleep at both ends of the day to carry out daylight saving when the same end could be
reached by an undisturbed clock and going to work at six o’clock and not compel the clock to say
seven, which is an attempt to control the sun, we haven’t ingenuity enough in our head to
understand nor have we discovered anybody that has. Daylight saving is a correct principle
incorrectly applied. How long will Massachusetts continue to attempt to make the world revolve
around her?
“Republican League Outing. ‘Bigger and better than last year’ is the way that the annual
outing of the Republican League of Massachusetts is being advertised. The 5000 persons who
attended the event last year on the Whitney playgrounds at Westford know what this means, and
those unfortunates who did not attend have heard all about it. The outing this year is to be held at
the same place on this Saturday, and the program calls for not a single [dull] minute from one
o’clock to 11:30 at night…..
“Graniteville. Chelmsford Center defeated the North Chelmsford baseball club for the
championship of Chelmsford at Abbot park here last Saturday by the score of 8 to 3. Demaris
and McElroy did the battery work for Chelmsford Center, while Bridgeford and O’Hare were on
the firing line for North Chelmsford.
“Many of the local baseball fans took in the big Groton-Ayer game that was played at Groton
on last Sunday. Groton won by the score of 1 to 0 in one of the finest and cleanest played games
of the season….
“Soccer Football. The Abbot Worsted Co. soccer team beat the Arlington Mills team of
Lawrence last Saturday afternoon at Forge Village 1 to 0. Kershaw of the Abbots was injured in
the first period of the game and was forced to retire from the game. The remainder of the game
was played with ten men….
“Following is the lineup: Abbots – McIntosh goal, Hulse r.h., W. Kelly l.b., T. Kelly r.h.,
Duncan c.h., Cosgrove, l.h., Kane r.o.f., Page r.i.f., Kershaw c.f., Ritchie l.i.f., McMaster l.o.f….
“The Abbots will play the General Electric in Lynn Saturday, October 8.
“Ayer
. The war department has communicated with the commanding officer
of Camp Devens to get in touch with all members of the command holding the congressional
medal of honor and to inform them that they were to be guests of honor of the government at the
memorial services for the unknown soldier that will be buried in Washington with full ceremonies
this month.”
The Atwood sisters, Sarah, Lillie and Mary, who lived at 4 Graniteville Road in the house built by their father, Daniel Atwood (1822-1902), in 1878, are shown feeding the pigeons in St.
Mark’s Square, Venice. Courtesy Photo / Westford Historical Society.