100 YEARS AGO — 1919

At about noon, an airplane accident occurred on the farm of Robert Quisenberry off the Perryville Pike, about two miles from Danville. The two aviators who were injured were Lloyd Taylor, 24, and John Pursley, 20. The men were taken to the Danville and Boyle County Hospital. Taylor’s left leg was crushed below the knee; Pursley had one of his eyes badly cut. Both will recover. The airplane, a large Curtis ship was almost a total wreck, but it will be sent to Detroit for repairs. Taylor and Pursley had gotten only about 50 feet in the air when something went wrong with the engine and it came down to the ground with great force.

 

Members of the Boyle County Fiscal Court request the traveling public to keep off of the new road now being constructed on the Perryville road near Danville, and drive around the sides until the road is completed. When the road is finished, it will be one of the best in the country, if drivers of vehicles will stay off of it a while.

 

The Harrodsburg Herald says James S. Hatch, of Plano, Illinois, a veteran of the Union Army, visited Perryville Battlefield last week, where he fought 57 years ago. Mr. Hatch said it was his first visit back. “My stay on the initial trip was not so pleasant as it is now,” he said. “I was a member of the 36th Illinois Infantry. The Perryville battle, in which I took part, was much more severe than many think, and being anxious to see again the scene of the conflict prompted me to make this trip.”

 

Owing to the high price and scarcity of newsprint paper, as well as the increased cost of everything that goes toward the publication of a good newspaper, the Daily Messenger is compelled to make a small increase to the subscription rates. They are as follows: one year, $4; six months, $2.25; three months, $1.25; one month, .50 cents; and single copy, 5 cents. The managers of this paper were forced to make a change in the subscription rates or see the paper go out of business.

 

75 YEARS AGO — 1944

 

Sadie Turner and George Ann Allen, representing the colored cemetery committee, appeared before Danville City council about the condition of the burying ground. Following a lengthy discussion, it was moved and seconded that the cemetery committee of Danville, together with the colored cemetery committee, composed of Craig Tolliver, Nash Raum, Sadie Turner and George Ann Allen, investigate the cost of erecting a stone entrance and putting the cemetery in good condition with a thorough cleaning. The council also requested a report to the civic body at its December meeting in order that costs might be included in the future budget.

 

The Danville High School cheerleaders will lead all local fans in a rip roaring hollering contest on the Maple Avenue school grounds. After all the shouting has subsided, there will be a snake dance through the main streets that will finally end in front of the Kentucky Theatre, where manager Jimmy Toombs will let all high school students in to see the movie at a special price. Cheerleaders, like football players don’t get any money for what they do and it takes a lot of will power and courage to get out on a muddy field, get down on your knees and lead a crowd of water-soaked fans in a yell. The DHS cheerleaders are Georgia Frenz, Jo Ann Cooper, Betty Taylor, David Horner, John Lee West and Joe Kirkpatrick.

 

Residents of Danville and Boyle County have prepared to dig deeper than ever into their pockets to produce the quota of $750,000 assigned to Boyle County for the Sixth War Loan. The nine sales agents which have operated in the same capacity for previous loans, and members of the Chamber of Commerce, Lions, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs were lined up this morning to function on the selling side of the current campaign with the remainder of the local population of 18,000.

 

Lost: $20 bill by Courier-Journal newsboy, downtown section or Maple Avenue. Reward offered.

 

Plans were drawn up for a thorough study of the business and employment conditions of Danville with a view to determining the ways and means of supplying enough jobs for returning servicemen, service workers and war production workers in the post-war era, at a meeting of local citizens at city hall.

 

50 YEARS AGO — 1969

 

The Danville Free Preschool has been in session for one month with a staff of some 80 volunteers in the areas of teaching, storytelling, teacher’s aides, language development, and others. Sessions are held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. each weekday at the First Baptist Church, Walnut Street.

 

A carefully-placed “rumor” that a $5,000 donation would be made to help cover expenses of the Danville High School Band at the Tangerine Bowl is making the rounds in the city and injuring efforts by proud local residents to find financial support. The “rumor” has been emphatically put to rest by band parents. The Marching Admirals are already drawing attention from other parts of the nation. Pan American Airways announced that it was donating a flight bag to each member of the Danville competitive band, despite the fact that the band will be taken by a chartered plane not belonging to Pan Am. Also more than two dozen of the nation’s top cartoon artists have donated original drawings estimated to be worth hundreds of dollars for use in an art show and sale to be held for the band’s benefit.

 

Danville’s Louisville Store, which has been closed for two weeks because of the fall of a portion of the ceiling while plans were being finalized for a grand opening of expanded facilities and a new front, will reopen next week, said manager Ben Baer. All merchandise that was in any way damaged when the ceiling fell has been removed from the store and all the merchandise being offered is new, clean and of the usual Louisville Store quality.

 

A Christmas in November service will be held at Centenary United Methodist Church during which displays of various Yule customs, crafts, books and recipes will be on display as highlights in the special family night of sharing. The service, being held one week prior to the beginning of Advent, is aimed at helping interested persons learn more about Christmas and its customs throughout the world.

 

25 YEARS AGO — 1994

 

The water was running, the floors were dry and all was well when a state jail inspector was there. Still present are the problems of overcrowding, a low number of isolation cells and a lack of technology that would have kept blankets and sheets from being flushed down toilets and clogging the lines.

 

The Danville Children’s Choir has been selected to participate in the International Children’s Choir Festival that will be held in May at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Bruce Richardson, director of the 50-member choir, said the historic hall is where nearly every major musician or musical ensemble has performed over the past 100 years.

 

In an effort to ensure that Danville’s downtown doesn’t become a commercial ghost town, five local financial institutions have banded together to create a pool of $1 million for an unprecedented downtown business retention and recruitment loan program. It will be administered by Heart of Danville and will provide loans of $10,000 to $100,000 at below market interest rates to property owners who want to rehabilitate or redesign interiors or exteriors of their buildings, to purchase equipment, or to expand inventory and add product lines.