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Show In The good Old Bays 20 YEARS AGO December 31, 1959 A survey of the most exciting stories 0 events in the Vernal area during 1959 I sli0w that the groundbreaking of the i -ernal Project in Stanaker Draw edged uut Flaming Gorge for the top spot. In 1958 the bid opening for Flaming Gorge as ra'ed by local newsmen as the top event. A total of 23 families were assured of , a good Christmas last week due to the efforts of Vernal Lions Club members wt)o rose at 4 a.m. Wednesday to jssetnble and distribute Christmas I baskets. A Vernal telephone service man Saturday, disconnecting a phone in an empty house was able to prevent what likely would have been a disastrous ire. Wayne Swett, local telephone i employee, was about to take out the : phone in the Glen Chivers home in ', Jensen when he noticed that the house ;,as full of smoke. He located the ' source of the smoke in the basement : and found that an explosion had blown the door off the furnace and scattered : not ashes over the floor. The coal bin ; (ad begun to burn and the pipe from the stoker to the furnace was red hot. The automatic stoker was in operation. Mr. Swett extinguished the fire and contacted con-tacted Mrs. Acel Chivers. ; A veteran reporter for a Hong Kong : newspaper visited the Vernal Express j last week and explained some of the differences between publishing a newspaper in the states and in China. Hower J. Hsia, 33, whose last name ; sounds like the tailend of a sneeze and the nearest English equivalent is "Shaw," is presently doing graduate nork at Brigham Young university. He as accompanied to Vernal by Dr. Oliver Smith head of the journalism jepartment at the Y. Farmers and stockmen thought that he best Christmas gift they had was about 18 inches of snow that fell during he Christmas holidays and helped a great deal in alieviating the current nater shortage. Uintah Scout District, Utah National Parks Council, will offer boy scouts and ?xplorers a three-week first aid course, limed towards instruction for the first lid merit badge, the last three Wed-lesdays Wed-lesdays in January, it was learned this teek from Dr. John Shimmin, Uintah district Health and Safety Chairman. No one knows for sure why we noderns think it necessary to make as nuch noise as we can on New Year's Eve, unless, like some of our ancestors, e believe that evil influences will be Tightened away by all the noise and touting. A laying match has been going on in he poultry flock of Mr. and Mrs. Lorin Hatch of Maeser. While collecting eggs ecently, Mr. Hatch found an oversized ?gg that weighed l'j pounds. To those uninitiated to poultry farming, let us say that the average large egg weighs about 2 ozs. Next dav. the hen either outdid herself, or another hen, not to be outdone, laid an even bigger egg. This ne tipped the scales at lr,n pounds and measured a whopping 6 inches around. Thirty-four students from Uintah lOunty attended the University of Utah luring fall quarter, according to a recent report from the U. registrar's if f ice. They were among 13,538 tudents enrolled at the school this fall. 30 YEARS AGO December 28, 1949 Snows more than three-feet deep in the Brush Creek area and north to Island and Rainbow parks have created a serious situation for many hundred cattle and an estimated six thousand sheep. Roads to the ranches were still closed Saturday and some ranchers had enough feed to last from a week to six weeks, but snows are so deep and animals widely spread that it may be impossible to feed them. Horses used by the men sometimes "high center" and legs and belly become a sheath of ice. Rider's feet drag in the snow and travel even by the trusty equine is difficult. A brand new 1949 Chevrolet sedan was the "price" of shopping in Vernal for L.A. King of Rangely, production manager for Stanolind Oil Co. "Not hard to take," he averred, proudly claiming the award, Saturday. Grand climax to Vernal Chamber of Commerce Com-merce sponsored Million Dollar Days, award was made Friday evening during a gala dance at Imperial Hall at which a capacity crowd was in attendance. at-tendance. Highlighting the Christmas season entertainment, the band and glee concert of Uintah High School, held Wednesday evening, Dec. 21, was a delightfully "listenable" occasion. In spite of record snowfall, a crowd of loyal concert-goers braved the wild weather to almost fill the high school auditorium. Numbers of range livestock have decreased in Uintah county the past few years, but as compensation, the quality of the animals has been improved im-proved considerably, Clair Acord, county agent said Thursday. Almost simultaneously with the passing of an ordinance Wednesday by the Vernal city council, legal papers were being drawn up to fight it. The ordinance will require professional men and public service businessmen to pay $10 per six months license fee for operation of an office. If an office is not operated the license will not be required. An amendment to the ordinance also states that plumbers and electricians, who formerly were required to have a license whether they operated an office or not, will not need a license unless they, operate an office. Concensus at the meeting showed that these professional men and public service men reaped benefits from the city, such as garbage collection, fire protection and therefore are a part of the city and should pay a fee for its operation. Christmas over, Vernal post office employees leaned back and sighed it had been a record year for the number of letters, cards and parcels delivered and processed. As Vernal Chamber of Commerce is an infant organization it first might be well to note some of its purposes. The club is to advance civic, commercial, industrial and agricultural interests of Vernal City and surrounding territory. The chamber now has membership of 170. Interesting note is the many Ashley Valley area farmers who now are members. Day ' to day business is conducted by an executive secretary, with offices located in the Utah Field House of Natural History, and by the board of directors. This board is composed of 15 local merchants and farmers and holds regular weekly meetings. Evidence shows the last three fires in Vernal to be caused by defective stoves. The last of these was Monday of last week when a two room house near the Carl Searle home was burned with a loss of $800. Cause was a defective flue. Water on house eaves like water on the brain, is a danger signal and should be dealt with accordingly. As yet there is not enough snow on roofs in Vernal to actually cause houses to cave in, but serious damage can be caused by ice forming on roof edges. 70 YEARS AGO December 24, 1909 The store and contents of the Jensen Mercantile Company, at Jensen, were destroyed by fire Wednesday night. The loss was almost total. The building and goods were partially insured in the Home Fire Insurance company, of New York, one of the first class companies belonging to the underwriters association. The stock of goods was valued at $10,000 and the building at about $2,500. A small portion of the goods were saved from burning, though they were damaged by water and snow, the grainery, about forty feet back of the store, which was filled with small grain, was not burned. Just how the fire started is hard to tell, but it must have originated from the flue either in the ceiling or roof. It was first discovered about 7 o'clock, from a half to three quarters of an hour after closing time. Gus Emert, the manager, who lives only a short distance away, hurried to the scene as quickly as possible and was joined by two or three others. The upper part of the building, where the fire was located, was filled with smoke, to suffocation, and it was impossible to gain access. The chimney or flue was large and thick and was made of brick. Just last summer it had been plastered and otherwise repaired. In fact, it was almost a fireproof structure and as stated above, the origin of the fire is surely a mystery, though it must have originated in the flue somewhere in the upper part of the store. The Jensen Mercantile company was owned by the Coltharp Mercantile company of Vernal. Business will be resumed as soon as a suitable building can be found. Fred G. Bingham has been in Theodore for a few weeks, attending to some business for A.M. Murdock. Mr. Bingham says the main reason the stage service to Colton has been discontinued is that it does not pay to run a stage in winter time inasmuch as only passengers were carried. J.L. Workman and family are here from Raymond, Canada, to spend the holidays with their many relatives in the Ashley Valley. Jake had an idea that cedar posts and carrots were still legal tender in Ashley valley, as he sauntered into the Express sanctum and asked if he could turn in a load of posts on his subscription account. It is not always the big acreage of grain or hay that pays best. Many farmers are deluded with the idea that they must do something on a large scale in order to make big money. Frequently only a few acres, well tilled and taken care of, gives more profit than a whole quarter section that is only partly cared for. The past season J.M. Allred planted three quarters of an acre of onions. He gathered and sold about 400 bushels. He sold them at from one to two and one- hall cents a pound, according to quality and has received a little over $500 in cash for the crop, grown on less than one acre of ground, and the best part of it is, that it is very nearly all profit, as the crop of onions were planted, taken care of, harvested, and marketed by himself and bovs. |