1925 – 100 Years Ago

What was first thought to have been a break in a water main from the coal chutes, long out of commission, was ground to have been a break in a water main to the American Steel & Wire company plant on Monday when water near the Kennedy building did some damage to the basement of the new building. The first signs of the break in the water main occurred about Monday noon when water was seen gushing out of the ground east of the southern corner of the new Kennedy building.

Work on the repair of the railroad crossing at Fourth Street and Lincoln Highway has been about half completed and at a present time traffic over the crossing is directed over the part that has been finished. It will be another two or three weeks before the other section of the crossing is finished, judging from the length of time required to complete the first section. When the work is completed, the crossing will be one of the best in this section of the country, and will be the best in this city. It may be that all of the railroad crossings in DeKalb will be repaired in the same manner.

Members of the police force are beginning to receive reports from all sections of the city, stating that the kids who think Halloween is a time to do damage have been in action. In some sections of the city the damage done by the youngsters has greatly provoked the residents and should the youngsters be caught, they may have the experience of going to jail. The police will endeavor to keep order among the kids who want to play practical pranks on residents during the Halloween season and if a boy is caught doing damage he will be arrested and brought to the police station.

Jack Rose, formerly a printer in the Chronicle press room and now working in LaSalle, on Sunday night had the unusual experience of having a tire from his car stolen while his car was in motion. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Rose were returning to LaSalle last Sunday evening, after visiting here, and the experience they had occurred between Malta and Creston. While driving along the highway a tire on the Rose car left the rim while the car was in motion. Driving along and following the tire, which rolled down the road, Mr. Rose had the experience of seeing another motorist stop and take the tire before he could arrive at the spot where the tire stopped rolling. The motorist stealing the tire made good his escape and Jack had to buy a new tire.

1950– 75 Years Ago

Contracts for the last two DeKalb Township bridges to be constructed under the bond issue approved by voters last spring were let Friday at the courthouse. There were three contractors bidding on the two jobs, the Gurler bridge southwest of DeKalb on the township line, and the High School bridge on North First Street.

DeKalb’s Fire Department yesterday accepted delivery on a pickup truck, new to the department, which will be used to replaced the old pickup that has been used for several years. Chief Clayton Kennedy says there is some work to be done on the truck before it is put into service, the details including some lettering on the truck body and installation of special brackets to hold racks that are sometimes required. The truck will be used by members of the department of official business, such as electrical inspections and for hauling fire extinguishers to the department for regular inspection and checks.

Full use of Sycamore’s 70-room hospital addition begun nearly two years ago is scheduled to become a reality in the very near future, Charles B. Townsend, president of the hospital board, announced Friday. With total occupancy of the new facilities awaiting only the completion of the equipment list, plans are going ahead for an open house soon.

Two calls were answered by the DeKalb fire department in the past 24 hours, although neither required more than one truck.

A fine job in repair work and improvements on the Clare Lumber Yard has been completed and the driveways graded and repaired. This week a large double box railroad car was trucked to Clare from the east and placed east of the elevator to be used as a warehouse.

The problem of burning of leaves is again at hand and attention is called to the fact that burning leaves on macadamized streets caused severed damages to the roadways. Burning of leaves on these streets is a violation of a city ordinance and persons responsible are subject to arrest and prosecution. It has been necessary for the fire department to make several trips to areas where leaves have been burning on macadamized streets.

1975 – 50 Years Ago

Today is “Alice Doesn’t” day. Across the nation and in DeKalb, women reportedly are refusing to work, cook, shop and to do other activities as part of a nationwide feminist strike.

Strong-arm tactics being used by trick-or-treaters? Outrageous! The show of force may only be in appearance, but super heroes are definitely the “in thing” in Halloween costumes this year. Superman may indeed by destined to late afternoon reruns on television, but he’s number one with DeKalb’s Halloween set.

If you haven’t been getting TV 10 News or Cable 8 television programs on your television set, don’t call the repairman. A lead-in cable for both stations was apparently accidentally cut last Wednesday or Thursday during repair work on Rich Road.

From learning how to tackle local governmental problems to learning how to be a Boy Scout leader is the theme behind a new Kishwaukee College program. The Community Leadership Development Program will begin with a Dec. 6 luncheon in DeKalb and run through mid-March.

Little evidence is left of the record crowd which packed Sycamore Sunday for the Pumpkin Festival Parade. Working in the early hours Monday, the city Street Department had debris scattered by an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 persons cleaned up by downtown opening hours.

2000 – 25 Years Ago

A 501-pound pumpkin sat inside Blain’s Farm & Fleet for about a week. The pumpkin pulled up in the bed of its own 1982 Didge Ram pickup, also painted in pumpkin colors. The Atlantic Grant-variety pumpkin rode to Shabbona Health care Center for a visit with its owner’s 101-year-old grandmother. After that trip, the pumpkin traveled to Buffalo grove for a second-place finish in a giant pumpkin contest.

Concerns about traffic congestion and pedestrian safety led to another delay Wednesday in plant to built a new gas station/convenience store/drive-through pizza restaurant on West Lincoln Highway just east of Annie Glidden Road. Last night was the second time in two weeks developer First Ranger Group has come before the Plan Commission with a proposal to construct a Road Ranger convenience store and gas station and a Donato’s pizza restaurant on the 1.7-acre plot of land.

What appears to be the first must-have item of this year’s holiday season went on sale today to long lines of video-game fanatics. The Sony PlayStation2 is the latest video-game system to make its debut in stores. It features enhanced graphics and a built-in DVD player.

Compiled by Sue Breese