Our Past: The Telegraph headlines for July 9 over past 100 years
Here are the top headlines from the July 9 editions of The Telegraph over the years:
20 years ago
July 9, 2006
A fire at a fuel distribution company along Illinois Route 3 in Hartford sent thick black smoke into the sky, visible from as far as 30 miles away. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the fire at Piasa Motor Fuels. Five firefighting departments responded to the blaze, which they determined broke out when diesel fuel and liquid asphalt ignited inside a building used for storage and maintenance.
25 years ago
July 9, 2001
The 2001 Jersey County Fair opened on July 7 with harness racing as the sole event. The nine-day fair was scheduled to run through July 15. It marked the 133rd Jersey County Fair, which was founded in 1868. The fair had been suspended only four times, all during World War II.
35 years ago
July 9, 1991
A committee of the Alton City Council voted to recommend an ordinance requiring horses pulling carriages in the city to wear diapers. Two local carriage companies and a St. Louis entrepreneur reportedly contacted City Treasurer Dan Beiser about licensing horse-drawn carriages to carry tourists on Alton's streets. Beiser said the licenses would require the horses to wear leather diapers and the carriage operators to clean up any "accidents."
50 years ago
July 9, 1976
A judge in Madison County Circuit Court ruled that Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville could exclude Black people from membership. Attorney Dick Mudge Jr. of Edwardsville sued the club's board of directors, the Madison County liquor control commissioner, and the Illinois Liquor Control Commission on behalf of Emil Jason, a Black man who was assistant vice president at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The club's board gave no reason for denying Jason's membership application, and Mudge argued it was a case of discrimination. Circuit Judge Robert Francis ruled that the club was private and cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that the government may not tell a person whom his associates may be. Mudge planned to appeal the ruling.
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The South Roxana Village Board was accused of playing "Scrooge" when it cited a resident for "abandoned junk material" in his backyard. David Hanbaum of the 400 block of Roxana Avenue protested the "junk" was his 20-foot-tall, 7-foot-wide fiberglass Santa Claus, which was merely "resting" in the back yard until the holiday season, when the homeowner planned to display Jolly Ol' St. Nick in the front yard as he did every year. Hanbaum was ordered to appear in court July 29, 1976, to defend himself against the misdemeanor citation.
75 years ago
July 9, 1951
Illinois State Police seized 17 illegal slot machines in a series of raids in Macoupin County. Capt. Thomas O'Connor led 24 state troopers in seizing the devices on the night of July 7, 1951, including 12 in Benld and five in Mount Olive. No arrests were made. Authorities said they would seek a court order authorizing destruction of the machines.
100 years ago
July 9, 1926
Two "flappers" from Alton were jailed in Springfield, Illinois, after they were caught riding a freight train without tickets. A 21-year-old woman and her 18-year-old sister were wearing silk stockings and silk dresses, sported fashionable "bobbed" hair, and carried money. The young women told police "wages in Alton were too small," so they decided to go to Chicago. They sneaked inside an empty boxcar on the Chicago & Alton Railroad at an Alton siding but were nabbed when they jumped out at the Springfield station.
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