100 years ago: Sneaky thief milks creamery patrons of their dairy deliveries
Looking back at stories that appeared in the O’Fallon Progress 100, 75, and 50 years ago:
100 years ago, Feb. 21, 1924
The police are trying to trace the identity of a new sort of thief that has made his appearance in this city.
Operations of the sneak first came to light early Tuesday morning when customers of the O’Fallon Creamery complained that they failed to receive their regular order of milk from the driver.
Bartel Favero, driver of the route on the south side made his regular deliveries on Second South Street (present day Second Street) about 5 a.m., Tuesday. A short time later patrons began to send in complaints that they failed to receive milk and an investigation revealed that some sneak followed closely on the heels of the driver and stole the filled bottles as they were deposited on porches.
The thief visited every place in two blocks on South Second street with the exception of two, where the bottles were not visible from the sidewalk.
A thorough investigation is going on and should the guilty party be apprehended he may expect severe punishment for the offense.
75 years ago, Feb. 24, 1949
Observing the increase of new automobiles in O’Fallon and heavier vehicular traffic in the business section, this newspaper submitted the question to Chief of Police William Morton. And he came up in a hurry with an answer and also statistical information.
Here it is.
“Few people realize the amount of traffic that actually passes a given point in O’Fallon. By actual count, in a thirty-minute period there were 100 cars that passed the intersection of State Street and Lincoln Avenue.
“Every 18 seconds a car passed this intersection from one direction or other. Continuing this rate of travel for a twelve-hour period would indicate 2,400 cars would pass the intersection.
“That’s a lot of cars.
“When some of the citizens were asked to estimate the number of cars that would pass in that period only one or two of them came within 1,500 of the number estimated by count.
“Judging from the city’s motor vehicle licenses issued, the number of cars in O’Fallon is on the increase after the lean war years of hard-to-get materials.
“This year’s licenses totaled 529, just two below the peak sale of 531 in 1941. In 1939 there were 475 licenses issued. This number increased rapidly until 1941 when it hit a peak of 531. With the onset of the war the number began to decrease, slowly at first and then by leaps and bounds until a year after the end of the war when it hit a new low of 454.
“The release of some new cars, more plentiful parts for used cars, and unrationed gasoline caused a sharp break in the sales and they again began to rise. The jump went from 454 in 1946 to 519 in 1947 and in the past year to 531. The increase from 1946 to 1948 was nearly 16.5 percent.
“If this increase continues during the next two years there will be 616 cars in O’Fallon in 1950.
“Estimating the population of O’Fallon at 2,500 and the number of car owners, one out of every 4.7 persons in the city owns a car or over 21 percent. These owners paid into the city treasury $1,856.50 last year alone.”
50 years ago, Feb. 21, 1974
The O’Fallon Park Board has designated the Jaycees as the official organization to schedule recreational activities in O’Fallon Community Park.
The organization will be responsible for the time and dates of use of the park’s playing fields.
The Park Board’s decision was made known in a letter to the O’Fallon Booster Club that in the past two years has become active in competitive sports for youngsters.
O’Fallon Jaycees have for many years sponsored baseball, football, and girls’ softball. Activities sponsored by the Boosters include a number of other sports. They recently wrote the Park Board outlining their plans for 1974. Booster Club leadership have taken the position that the participating youngsters are not to be asked to contribute to the finances of their sport.
Jaycees conduct fund raising activities that include the players’ participation and often means sale of tickets to drawings. The exchange of letters on scheduling came after two leaders of the Booster Club, including its president, were barred from coaching Jaycee baseball and football. They are Charles E. King, Booster president, and Dan Krack, coach of youth teams.
The Jaycees said they voted to bar the two because they did not follow the policies of competition set forth by the Jaycee board of directors. Both are known as hard driving coaches with highly developed competitiveness.
King said he “can’t make any sense out of it” (his being barred from coaching). He said he has coached Jaycee baseball and football four years. He said he uses methods based on discipline and conditioning.
“We’ve had problems,” King said, “you can’t please every parent. I think this is a personality conflict between us and Costello (John Costello, Jaycee president). The Booster Club does not want a fight between us and the Jaycees, and we don’t plan any sports now sponsored by the Jaycees.”
Costello said he did not want to get into a personal dispute with the two. He related that the board believes that they did not handle their teams in the manner prescribed by the Jaycees.
There have been complaints by parents concerning the two and the manner they handled the boys. Krack and King have not been without their supporters.
A “letter to the Editor” was printed last week in which they were supported in their efforts.
Another letter signed “Another Devoted Baseball Coach’s Wife” was received this week. It bore no signature and will not be published unless the writer is identified. This letter holds that the Jaycees (are deciding) who is and who is not fit to coach the youth of O’Fallon. The writer said she feels the Jaycees have done them a “great injustice.”
In its letter to the Park Board, the Booster Club related its program for 1974.
They plan the following events and schedules: Boys’ basketball now in operation and supported by local businesses and the grade school; girls’ flag football; boys’ flag football for ages 16-18 who are not in the High School football program; a city-wide track meet (a 1973 meet drew 342 boys and girls); girls’ volleyball. Soccer and girls’ basketball are on the planning stages for this year.
The Booster Club letter told the Park Board that no conflict exists between it and other local organizations and thanked the Park Board for use of the park last year. The letter ended with the club requesting permission from the Park Board to use its facilities in 1974.
However, no direct answer to the scheduling request was given by the Park Board.
The board said it is “…our desire to work as closely as possible with all organizations that are engaged in sport activities for boys and girls and the utilization of our park facilities for these activities.”
The Park Board letter was written by John C. Goodman who is charged with coordinating park athletic programs.
The letter addressed to King states that the Park Board has worked closely with the Jaycees since 1955 “…wherein we authorized them the use of all our facilities within the park for the use of the community.”
Park Board minutes authorize the Booster Club use of the park as long as there is no conflict with the Jaycee program.
At the October, 1973 meeting the Park Board went a step further in authorizing use of its facilities.
The board wrote: “It was decided unanimously by a vote of all five of the Park Board members that all activities that need to utilize the park recreation facilities, must go through the O’Fallon Jaycees.
“It is our desire to have the organization that has been in existence some 20 years operating athletic programs for us, to remain as the organization that we directly deal with and in turn hold them responsible for the activities and shortcomings that might result after an athletic season in our park.
“This enables us to deal with only one organization and hold them responsible for the activities that are taking place in the citizens’ Community Park.
“In closing, it is our desire that the O’Fallon Jaycees and the O’Fallon Booster Club work closely together. However, I would reiterate that it will be necessary in 1974 to check with the O’Fallon Jaycees for use of the recreational facilities.”
This story was originally published February 21, 2024 at 6:00 AM.