100 Years Ago, 1924: Irving Goldberg and Lewis Sohat, 919 Simpson St., Eddystone, were arrested Thursday night in a raid made by County Detective John O’Toole, Sergeant Kaufman and State Troopers Walsh and Powell, and Detective James Meli. A 125-gallon still was found on the third floor, with 70 barrels of mash, and 20 gallons of whiskey. Prior to the raid, David Scrigler was arrested on the Chester Pike. Between 30 and 40 gallons of rum was found in his possession.
75 Years Ago, 1949: Delaware County’s long July 4 holiday weekend was marred by traffic accidents and other mishaps, and many persons had to be sent to local hospitals for treatment of their injuries. A belated rush, however, caused a snarl today at the Bridgeport terminal of Chester-Bridgeport Ferry Co. Beginning at 6 a.m. homeward-bound motorists were lined up for several blocks and crossings were delayed as much as 15 minutes. Louis J. Kapelski, executive manager, said that during the night, when the peak of traffic was believed over, one of the ferry boats was taken out of operation and the crew given a day off.
50 Years Ago, 1974: Thursday’s heat came from more than the fireworks on our nation’s 198th birthday. Temperatures soared to 94, six degrees short of the July 4 record of 100 set in 1919. The sunny skies and hot and humid weather of this morning has a 50 percent chance of turning into thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. The storms may be accompanied by some hail and high winds, according to the National Weather Service in Philadelphia.
25 Years Ago, 1999: Kenn Stark, a reporter for Town Talk newspaper, was recently named a winner in Journal Register Company’s Editorial Excellence Awards. Stark, of Aston, won third place in the Community Human Interest Division for a personal commentary called “Big Brother Is Watching You … And Your Little Dog, Too.” The article was about a controversial policy for licensing pets in the county.
10 Years Ago, 2014: Legislation sponsored by state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi to freeze school property taxes for senior citizens will be one of the first bills to be debated when state lawmakers return from summer recess later this year. Pileggi, R-9 of Chester, wants to freeze property taxes for homeowners age 65 and older. His bill, Senate Bill 299, is known as the Taxpayer Relief Act, but it does not specifically address ways to pay for the freeze. One possibility mentioned by Pileggi is legalizing keno-style lottery games. Keno is an electronic numbers game.
— COLIN AINSWORTH
