THOSE WEREN'T THE GOOD OLD DAYS. DeKalb's MidWeek has been printing a Looking Back column. (In the linked column, the player piano factory illustrated still stands, the railroad tracks in the foreground are gone.) The paper quickly moves older material off its servers, so I have taken the liberty of transcribing a few items from the April 28, 2010 edition.

April 27, 1935

The calm of North Avenue's colored district, often spoken of as Sycamore's "Little Harlem," was shattered suddenly yesterday afternoon about 2 o'clock when Oscar Robinson, aged 15, stabbed Frank Winfrey, aged 13, in the climax of a fight between the two. Winfrey ran screaming to his home and was rushed to a surgeon ... His wound is not thought to be serious. Following that episode, Mrs Pearl Winfrey, mother of the victim of the stabbing, grabbed a double barreled shotgun from a corner of her home and started out in search of Mrs. Lee Robinson, mother of the boy who is said to have done the stabbing. However, she never reached the point where she might have done harm with the gun. She was carrying it in such a manner that the barrels pointed back of her as she hurried down the street. Suddenly, she cannot explain how, the gun fired and the explosion coming so unexpectedly nearly caused her to faint of fear.

April 28, 1910

Fine progress is being made at the present writing on the line of the Chicago, Aurora & DeKalb railroad which at present rate ought to be shooting cars across the country within a very few weeks.

[Superintendent's note: definitely a bubble economy property, which began operation in the summer of 1910 and filed for bankruptcy in 1913.]

Miss Anna S. Swanson will deliver a lecture next Sunday afternoon at 2:30 at Davy's Hall on "Socialism." Miss Swanson is a working girl and a lecturer and writer of wide experience. Everyone should hear her.

[The mind boggles at the possibilities in that "working girl" and "wide experience".]

April 26, 1890

Burglars are abroad in the city. Have your gun handy.

[I thought that was the Hollywood version of the wild west.]

"That Swede" at the Opera House April 29. Those who were pleased with "Ole Olson" will be more than pleased with "That Swede." It is the funniest dialect comedy on the boards.

[Py yumpin' yiminy I should be offended, ya sure.]