100 YEARS AGO — 1917

Only one graduate who has enlisted to fight for his country was able to secure a leave a absence to receive his diploma on Sunday at Centre College. Teddy Caldwell was the fortunate man. This is the first time that a graduating exercise at Centre has been interfered with by war. Caldwell was given a rousing welcome by his many friends. Dressed in the uniform of a United States soldier, he presented a novel appearance in the history of the college, as he stepped forward to receive his diploma, and had not the event taken place in a church, the audience would have cheered him.

In an advertisement, Danville Light, Power & Traction Company says, “The perfect work of the electric iron is a woman’s first surprise. A sufficient, steady, constant heat leaves nothing to do but iron! The electric iron is the way. No woman who has ever used it ever went back to the ‘old sad iron.’”

All telephone poles will be off Main Street in Danville by the first of August. The wires are being run through alleys in rear of the business houses.

A squad of men from the Third Kentucky regiment motored into Danville yesterday, pitched a tent in the courthouse yard and quickly mounted a machine gun. Residents were glad to learn that the boys did not mean to open fire, but merely demonstrate the gun and offer inducements to young men to enlist and fight for Uncle Sam. The gun is a wonderful piece of mechanism and attracted much attention. The squad left in the afternoon and headed toward Stanford.

75 YEARS AGO — 1942

A crowd numbering close to 3,000 people is expected to be on hand early Friday morning when a big send off party planned by the Chamber of Commerce for the men leaving for Army duty will be held. The send off party will be held on the post office steps for the more than 30 local men who will be boarding buses heading for Louisville and induction. Several local banks, businesses and individuals made donations so that each of the boys will receive a goodly number of cartons of cigarettes to take with them.

Officials of the local Rationing Board said that persons wishing to get sugar for canning would be able to purchase permits during the entire summer. The announcement was made to correct a rumor that sugar could be obtained only this week.

Julia Adams, 90, former slave, died at her home in Atoka early this morning. She was born in Boyle County and had lived here her entire life. The funeral will be at Atoka Baptist Church.

50 YEARS AGO — 1967

With many inquires received in the Danville area for quite some time concerning the feasibility of a local YMCA, a first meeting for the discussion will be held later this week. The YMCA is proposed as a community project.

In simple ceremonies in the conference room of the 4th Military Airlift Squadron, McChord Air Force Base, Washington, Senior M1 Sgt. Roy E. Shults Jr. received posthumously the Air Force Commendation Medal. Sergeant Shults was killed in a crash of the C-41 on which he served as flight engineer at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, April 12. The serviceman was a native of Danville.

Herbert Boyd, who was mowing on the farm of Billy Norvell, off of Perryville Road, was struck on the left side of his face and head by a bullet from a .22 rifle. He was taken by private car to the Ephraim McDowell Memorial Hospital, where the bullet was removed and he returned home. Sheriff Walter Clem urged all persons using guns to hunt groundhogs or other animals to be careful. A bullet from a long, high-powered rifle can travel as far as a mile. The incident has upset residents of rural areas who are worried about being shot.

25 YEARS AGO — 1992

A mid-morning explosion in the boiler room of Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center sent black smoke billowing and people rushing from the hospital, but caused no serious injuries or damage. The explosion apparently occurred when a hospital maintenance employee was conducting a routine check. When the the check is done, the boiler shuts off temporarily, then turns back on automatically. This time, however, the malfunctioning boiler didn’t turn back on.

Billing it as a major jobs producing economic development plan for the community, Wal-Mart Inc. unveiled a massive $4.5 million project to construct a 98,000-square-foot store with room for future expansion into a 141,000-square-foot super center that would include a large grocery department.

Four police officers were injured trying to break up fights early Sunday morning at the National Guard Armory on Stanford Road, and a Danville man was stabbed during the incident. No arrests have been made yet. Officers Robin Vest, Carol Pike, J.T. Thomas and Larry Roberts were injured while breaking up a fight that lingered after most of the crowd of about 400 people left the armory. During one of the six fights that occurred, Thomas Yantis was stabbed in the leg.