100 YEARS AGO — 1918

Homer Harmon, one of the Danville Messenger’s valued employees, passed an exam in Lexington for service in the U.S. Navy and left for Louisville this morning for his final examination. He is the son of J.M Harmon of Danville and has worked at this newspaper for five years. It is with deep regret that we give him up, but realize that his country needs him. Here’s hoping he will fire the gun that will put a stop to the war.

At this time it is most fitting that “America the Beautiful” be chosen as the processional to be used at the commencement exercises of Kentucky College for Women on June 12. Everyone is asked to join in the singing of this song and make it a patriotic hymn.

There will be a total eclipse of the sun on June 8 visible as a partial eclipse all over North America and the northeastern portion of Asia. At Danville, about five-sixths of the sun’s disk will be eclipsed, the northern portion of the sun not being obscured. Here the eclipse will begin at 5:30 p.m. A good way to watch the eclipse is by looking through a flat, colored glass or a piece of window glass smoked over a candle or lamp flame.

Sheriff M.J. Farris and Jailer Frank Timoney made a raid on a crap game at Faulkner Station, four miles north of Danville, Sunday afternoon when they found four white men and 15 negroes engaged in “rolling the bones” in an old vacant house. When the crap shooters saw the officers, they made a break for the windows and doors. A white man drew out a gun on the officers but was too slow and he was placed under arrest.

Julian Riffe, son of John Riffe of Hustonville, was a member of the crew of the American troop transport ship, President Lincoln, which was torpedoed by a German submarine while in the naval zone last Friday.

75 YEARS AGO — 1943

The new school-sponsored government community cannery will open on June 14 under the supervision of Mary Adams, head of the home economics department of Danville High School. Miss Adams will proceed next week with setting up the local cannery for householders to can vegetables and fruits under a time schedule to be worked out. All foods will be canned in quart containers for a charge of three cents each, plus a 2-cent fee for processing of each quart canned. Miss Adams and a janitor will be in charge of the processing, but householders will prepare and place foods in the cans. It will be necessary for the housewife to plan and state in advance how many varieties of vegetables and fruits she will want to can, since different types of cans will be used for different foods.

Colossus, the 55-foot whale, is due to arrive in Danville on June 7 and stay for two days. The monster, whose mouth is large enough for a child to stand in, will be exhibited on a railroad siding at Southern Passenger Depot on a specially constructed railroad car. The exhibition will be from noon until 11 p.m. and all children 12 years or younger, when with an adult, will be admitted free. Captain David Barnett, veteran whaling skipper, heads the crew of 20 lecturers that accompany the big whale.

The farm woman at war is truly depicted by Mrs. A. L. Norvell of Perryville Pike who is carrying on more than her share of work at the farm with her husband as are many other Boyle County farm women whose sons are at the battlefronts and farm labor is a thing of the past. Mrs. Norvell’s latest accomplishment was raising a full litter of 10 pigs on goat milk after the sow had died shortly after the piglets were born. She has brought them along in good shape and several hundred pounds of pork will be available for the armed forces and civilians where otherwise it might have been lost.

50 YEARS AGO — 1968

Centre College’s annual June graduation exercises have been held for many years at Farris Stadium on the campus. But this year’s ceremony at 7:30 tonight will take place directly in front of historic Old Centre building. It is believed to be the first time in Centre’s 149-year history that Centre graduation exercises will have been held in front of the building which was erected in 1820, one year after the college’s founding in Danville.

The children of Mrs. William Cook’s Day Nursery were honored with a party-luncheon on May 22. Pre-schoolers enrolled for the year were Ronald Pike, Mark Evans, Harold Mattingly, Mary Mattingly, Melisa Evans, Tommy Hastie and George Coomer. Visitors were Susan Pattie, Kim Webb and Charles Wolfe.

The Boyle County Board of Education has selected Barney Miller’s of Lexington, as the firm to install the educational television system in Boyle County High School, East End, Junction City, Parksville and Perryville schools. The Miller bid was $9,258.89 and the project is being financed by a grant from the Corning Glass Works and ESEA Title 1 Funds.

Danville Mayor Eben Henson asked for the resignation of the members of the planning and Zoning Commission so that he would be able to appoint new members. “…I feel that all of you will agree that as your duly elected mayor I should have the opportunity to appoint the various boards and commissions in my administration. Therefore I would sincerely appreciate it if he present city members of the Planning and Zoning Commission would tender me their resignations at this time.”

25 YEARS AGO — 1993

Two Danville officials vowed that they would oppose locating a park behind Streamland subdivision. Nearly 80 residents confronted Mayor John Bowling following a quickly called meeting after residents had heard there was a drawing at city hall showing entrances through Streamland to a proposed park. Bowling said he would vote against buying 118 acres owned by Clemons Caldwell. The property in question is bounded by Streamland subdivision, Caldwell Manor and Jackson Park. Bowling said the site selection committee is also looking at a site on Perryville Road which is owned by Georgeanne Sigwald.

The population of Danville is officially 14,454 instead of the 12,302 reported in the 1990 Census. The increase represents the areas Danville annexed in June 1990.

Alternatives for improving Baughman Avenue will be considered by the Danville City Commission. City Engineer Luther Galloway has prepared a cost estimate on five choices for improving Baughman, which connects Gose Pike with Hustonville Road. Prices range from $40,000 for replacing a bridge to $407,000 for widening the street, putting in curbs and gutters and installing sidewalks on both sides of the from Hustonville Road to the bridge near Imperial Trailer Park.