100 YEARS AGO — 1920

 

Lancaster Chief of Police, Luther Herron, shot and killed Robert Strange at the depot in Lancaster about 11 o’clock yesterday morning. The officer claims that Strange was attempting to draw his pistol. A gun was found on Strange after he was killed. About five years ago Strange shot Herron who almost died from the shot. Strange was sent to the penitentiary and had been out for about two years.

 

A marriage license was issued by County Clerk John B. Nichols to Mr. Jesse W. Worthington, 32, and Miss Lillie Owens, 16, of the Parksville neighborhood. Their wedding will take place on May 18. Worthington is a well known farmer, while his bride-to-be is the attractive daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Owens.

 

Milt Cummins spent Sunday at the home of his nephew, James Cummins, in Boyle County. Among the guests were noted oldtime fiddlers, George Smith and Sam Carey, who made music on a violin, which had been stamped the year it was made, 1633. The fiddle was owned by Charles Hill, who was also present. He has been offered large sums for the old violin, but has refused to part with it as it is an heirloom in his family.

 

Mrs. E.S. Grubbs and her 11-month old son, and Mrs. J.C. Grubbs, who live on the Stanford pike about three miles from Shelby City, were riding in a horse and buggy when a large truck ran into them at the corner of Second and Walnut streets. The driver of the truck was seen speeding up Walnut Street and in attempting to turn the corner, ran into the buggy which was on the east side of Second Street. The buggy was turned over and Mrs. J.C. Grubbs and the baby were thrown out, while Mrs. E.S. Grubbs was dragged for about 100 feet. The horse ran one block and was stopped in front of Arnold’s garage on Second Street between Main and Broadway. Mrs. E.S. Grubbs suffered injuries, but the other two did not. The truck was driven by a white man and belongs to Lincoln County. It is beging used to haul rock from the rock quarry on Stanford Pike and the driver had come to the city to weigh the rock and was on his way back to Lincoln County when the accident occurred.

 

75 YEARS AGO — 1945

 

Danville Mayor Henry L. Nichols has called a city council meeting for Thursday night to discuss the establishment of a city planning and zoning commission. Citizens, clubs and other organizations, Chamber of Commerce members, the Ministers Association, and other groups are urged to be present for the meeting.

 

Pfc Chester Vaught, of Danville, was wounded in action on April 18 in South Germany, where he was serving with the Medical Corps of the Seventh Army of the United States. Private Vaught has since been hospitalized in France. The local soldier has been a member of the armed forces since Jan. 25, 1944.

 

The members of the Cironienne Club met last night at the home of Miss Jennie Rogers on the Perryville for a picnic supper.

 

Captain John S. Roberts of Danville was awarded the Navy Cross for “extraordinary heroism” as commanding officer of a warship in action against major units of the Japanese fleet in the battle of Suricao Strait.

 

Private Anne C. Bronaugh, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. T. M. Bronaugh of North Second Street, has reported for duty at the Air Technical Service Command, Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. Wright Field is the Air Forces’ engineering, procurement, maintenance and supply center. Miss Bronaugh is a graduate of Danville High School and the sister of Lieutenant Hugh James Bronaugh, who has returned from the European theater of action after long service there as a pilot.

 

50 YEARS AGO — 1970

 

Mrs. Corinna Balden has been employed as full-time librarian at the Danville Free Public Library. For the past two and a half years, Mrs. Balden has given innumerable volunteer hours to the library. The facility has been without an official librarian since Sept. 1, 1968, following the retirement of Miss Elizabeth Tunis who served in that capacity for 50 years. Mrs. Balden is a graduate of Danville High School and earned a degree in library science from the University of Kentucky. She worked at the Louisville Free Public Library for two years, served one year in the Toliver library and was librarian at First Christian Church in Danville for 12 years.

 

The first William Gosney Memorial was awarded to Rosemary Reese, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Reed Reese, of Jean Drive, during the first annual Danville High Academic Awards Banquet. Gosney was a 1960 graduate of DHS and was killed in a vehicle accident and the memorial was set up later in his name. The award is not a scholarship but to be used as the recipient sees fit and is for an outstanding student.

 

Boyle County High School will graduate 115 seniors on May 27. The Rev. Odell Leigh, minister of First Baptist Church, Broadway, will be the speaker.

 

The first Boyle County animal whose head tested positive for rabies in Frankfort was reported on Monday. The skunk was killed in Park Hills and the head was tested for the dreaded disease. A man on McBee Avenue in the Toombs Curve neighborhood on Hustonville Road reported the animal to Boyle County sanitarian Leland Conway, after he noticed its strange actions and shot it with a rifle. The skunk was crossing back and forth across the street in front of his house and was meandering on the road, even though the man and his dog tried to frighten the skunk away.

 

25 YEARS AGO — 1995

 

Owners of the Hub department store, which has been the hub in Danville for 91 years, have announced that they have plans to cease retail operations. In 1914 Emeline Gilcher had the building constructed for the Hub after the Gilcher Hotel that was on the site burned. Eventually a new hotel was built on the east side of the Hub. The Hub store, which is celebrating its 91st year, was started by Harry and Hyman Pushin, natives of Lithuania. The Frankel family has owned the store for 75 years. In 1915, Joe N. Frankel, Walter Frankel and Jake Baer joined the Pushin Brothers and in  1919, ownership went totally to the Frankels. J.N. Frankel followed in his father’s footsteps and now his children, Joe N. Frankel III and Missy Frankel have become involved in the day-to-day operations. Eventually, the Hub expanded to occupy the Gilcher Hotel site and by 1980, had expanded into the old Kentucky Theater where “The Picture Show” department was placed. One of the more distinctive features of the Hub is the pneumatic tubes that carry payments to the business office and soon return with receipts and change, if needed. Frankel, in an oral history done by this newspaper, remembered even older methods. “They had these cups, kind of like a slingshot. You pulled this thing down and it would shoot a cup up above the office. … Then later … they had these little silver cups that ran on a rope. They had a framework all the way around the store, maybe 15 or 20 feet up.” During the Depression years, Frankel said the store opened its bargain basement with lower-priced merchandise.