100 YEARS AGO — 1919

Large crowds of people are taking part in the Victory Loan parade today, following the jazz and military bands, baby tank and military officers to the post office. The airplanes were unable to fly in the rain, much to the disappointment of hundreds of people who have never seen one.

A Danville woman is in jail awaiting trial on a charge of malicious shooting. The defendant is alleged to have shot her husband one day last week. He is suffering from a bullet wound in the back, but is getting along nicely at the hospital.

Within the next few days each of the three banks in Harrodsburg will install a night watchman’s clock. The nightwatchman will make an hourly visit and punch each hour. This is a splendid arrangement as the night police will have to visit each of these three banks every hour in the night in order to punch the clock and it will not be so hard to locate him, should he be needed. Before now, there has been no central place where he could be called, but now, should he be needed in any part of town, he may be reached about the end of every hour at one of the three banks.

Jailer Frank Timoney and Deputy Sheriff Critchfield arrested a Burgin man on Seventh Street. The man came to Danville last night to see his wife in regard to a divorce and a quarrel occurred which resulted in gun fire. The man’s wife swore out a warrant for his arrest and the two officers went to Seventh Street to arrest him. After getting him in the car and starting to town the man jumped out and escaped, but was soon found at his old haunts on Seventh Street. After a great struggle, he was placed in the car again but grabbed Critchfield’s pistol. He would have shot both officers had the pistol fired instead of having snapped. The man was brought before Judge Coulter and two more charges were lodged against him and his bond was fixed at $250. He is now the guest of Jailer Timoney.

75 YEARS AGO — 1944

The residence of the late Raymond Flaig on West Walnut Street was sold to Mrs. A.B. Marshall. The property is one of Danville’s landmarks and is said to be the oldest house in the city. The lot has a frontage of 80 feet on Walnut and a depth of 200 feet.

Spoonamore’s Drug Store announces that it will give a box of candy to anyone who guesses the day of the invasion correctly. Entries in the contest are being received at the Advocate-Messenger office. The deadline is any time prior to D-Day.

In the middle of Danville’s Old Cemetery is the grave of a native hero who deserves more singing. The tombstone inscription relates in short, the tragic story of John G. Talbot Jr., who had his 26-year-old life ended in the service of his country’s Navy. Born in 1844, Talbot attended the U.S. Naval Academy. On Oc. 29, 1870, the U.S.S. Saginaw, bearing Lt. Talbot and a full crew, was wrecked near Ocean Island in the Pacific, which was a barren and uninhabited coast. Fearing death by starvation, Lt. Talbot and four seamen volunteered to try to rescue the Saginaw crew by sailing in a quest for help in a small boat they made out of the wreckage. Their destination was 1,500 miles away. Thirty one days later, the five men sighted Kauai, an island in the Hawaiian group. Weary and sick from poor rations, they were overwhelmed by surf as they tried to land, and all but one were drowned. The lone survivor was found by the natives and his story, along with the location of the shipwreck on Ocean Island was found on a log and a ship found its way and transported the remaining members of the crew to safety. Mrs. J.A. Cheek and Mrs. James Letcher, both of Danville were relatives of Lt. Talbot. While the sluggish flow of gasoline doesn’t allow for Sunday driving during this war time, a walk to the middle of Danville’s Old Cemetery is an excellent substitute.

50 YEARS AGO — 1969

Danville’s purple martin colonies are coming back to the area. Martin lovers and landlords of martin boxes were in a dither this morning as the appealing chirp of the little messengers and summer visitors was heard in various areas of the city. By mid-morning, several of the boxes in Danville were adorned with the presence of a martin sitting on, exploring and investigating.

Some members of the deer herd in Boyle County are becoming domesticated and unafraid of man, according to the actions of a young doe that has been visiting the Marion Simpson farm (a part of the old Irvine place on Perryville Road.) The doe runs with the cattle Simpson said, and has often been seen by motorists traveling on Perryville Road. Simpson has also recently watched her as she drank from a farm pond.

Danville High School has been selected as one of the five finalists in Gov. Louie B. Nunn’s Innovation Education Award for high schools. The program was initiated by Nunn earlier this year to “encourage and recognize innovative programs in Kentucky education.” DHS won its district championship due to innovations including weekly exposure to college life through free university programs with Centre College; a graphic arts program made possible by American Greetings; educational TV and teletype, made possible by Corning Glass; and enlarged science program, made possible by Jackson Chair; a weekly radio program through WHIR; the ROTC, an art gallery and many other innovations.

25 YEARS AGO — 1994

Plans for a new health department in Boyle County have been put back on the shelf for now. Local supporters think the delay in adopting the state budget hurt the project’s chances. The financing depended on a $275,000 Community Development Block Grant, $350,000 from the state Department for Health Services, $315,000 from the Boyle County Health Department and $30,000 from Boyle Fiscal Court. The request for the block grant has been denied, in effect killing the project for now.

A view of Danville’s history will be presented next week as part of the community’s observation of Preservation Week. Local activities include a display of Indian artifacts found on the hill across from Kmart. The arrowheads and tools were found when an archaeological evaluation of the site was done before Danville built a water storage tower there. The artifacts date from the Archaic period, which ran from 7000 to 1000 BC, indicate prehistoric Indians used the knoll as a temporary camping site.

Reflecting a trend of hospitals shifting their focus from inpatient care to outpatient services, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center will soon break ground on a project to add 63,000 square feet and renovate 30,000 square feet of existing space. The plan was approved last year and provides more space for the emergency department and services including physical therapy, occupational therapy, radiology, laboratory, surgery, nutrition and education services. The current emergency department, completed in 1978, was designed for 11,000 patients a year, but it now handles nearly 20,000 patients annually.