Written by Beth Mitchell and originally published in the Wilmington News Journal, December 2025
Do you still read the paper? I do. I miss the morning paper with my cup of coffee. Oh well!!!! I guess we will have to get used to reading the paper “on-line” and hope we don’t spill the coffee on the lap-top. I have chosen some news from the Wilmington News Journal in 1913 and it has been only one hundred twelve years.
The first article appears to be a hotly contested election for the office of the village marshal of Clarksville. The two candidates for marshal were Tom Smith and Frank Gray. Mr. Gray was declared the winner by one vote. Mr. Smith alleges that there were ballots thrown out that should have been counted. Members of the non-partisan committee chosen to review the ballots were Fred Mitchell, Republican: Wilbur S. Oglesbee, Democrat; and W. S. Wallace, Progressive. The Board of Elections ordered Clarksville not to destroy the ballots until the issue is resolved.
The next item may be mostly for the ladies. The question becomes how many is enough? The ad said, “You will never regret getting a plentiful supply of nightgowns at forty-nine cents each.” We may imagine a husband asking how many she would need. After all, you could wear only one at a time.
The County Commissioners and the Infirmary Superintendent are well-pleased over their success with potatoes this year which has been a very poor year for most folks. The Infirmary has stored away 375 bushels of fine Irish potatoes and over 50 bushels of sweet potatoes.
Did you know that almost every child has worms? Paleness, sometimes having a flushed face, hunger, and picking the nose can indicate this condition. Kickapoo Worm Killer is a reliable, thorough medicine for the removal of all kinds of worms from children and adults. It comes in a pleasant candy form, aids digestion, and increases the action of the liver. Kickapoo Worm Killer makes children happy and healthy. Check with your local druggist for availability.
If you have purchased an automobile it is now going to cost extra says the local tax department. Judge Kinkead has handed down a decision to the effect that the law licensing automobiles is unconstitutional. The judge feels the legislature “blundered ridiculously” in passing such a tax law. The income from such tax law is to be used for the building and maintenance of roads. Does this mean they may be able to tax horses according to their weight or wagons by how much they are hauling?
Kitty Foos was the wife of Rodney Foos who worked in our courthouse for many years. We have her family history here in the library and is part of the lineage of the Abraham Ellis family. In her article she mentions that it was illegal to publish the English Bible in the colonies as the King’s printers had a monopoly on the printing of the English Bible. The first edition of the German Lutheran Bible was printed in Germantown, Pennsylvania by Christopher Saur in 1743. John Eliot printed the Bible for the Indians in 1764.
