100 YEARS AGO — 1919

One of the most exciting experiences the Boyle County officers have ever had took place last Saturday when a man went on a rampage at Junction City and refused to be arrested. The police judge was shot in the right cheek; a bystander was shot and slightly wounded; another man was struck in the face with the gun and the desperado was shot in the arm and leg and his clothes were riddled with bullet holes. He will recover. What happened is that an officer arrested the man on a charge of loitering and he was taken before the judge Saturday afternoon. The man showed signs that he was planning an escape. He had backed up against a wall and the judge, believing that he intended to draw his gun, had the marshal search him. He immediately pointed his gun at the marshal, who knocked the gun to one side just as it was fired. A fight ensued and the man fled the building. The sheriff was called and officers searched for the man for three hours, searching every house in the vicinity. When the man was found in a cabin on the road between Shelby City and Stanford Road, he ran out the back door and continued firing at the officers and started running through fields. Two people who saw the chase rode their horses to try and capture the man, but had to dismount because of the wire fencing. The sheriff finally caught a loose horse on Phelps Cobb’s farm and galloped toward the disappearing desperado. The horse was bridleless but the sheriff, being tired out from his long chase was determined to catch the man. The fugitive hid in a barn and was soon surrounded so came out with his hands up. This was when he was found to have been shot in the arm and leg. His wounds were dressed and he was going to be held before the county judge next Saturday.

 

A meteor fell, presumably in northeast Russell County and caused a severe shock which was felt in Danville, Liberty, Somerset and Jamestown. People in Danville and Jamestown reported seeing the meteor like a flaming ball flying through the sky, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

 

Private S. A. Foster, son of John Foster of Hedgeville, is spending a brief furlough with relatives and friends here. Young Foster went “over the top” 11 times; made four bayonet charges and went through the battles of Ballou Wood, Chateau Thierry, Soissons and the Argonne Forest. He was gassed on two or three occasions, received three machine gun bullet wounds and in a hand-to-hand fight with a German that had run his bayonet through Foster’s leg. However, before the German soldier could withdraw the weapon, Mr. Foster put him out of business.

 

75 YEARS AGO — 1944

 

Students in the Danville and Boyle County school systems are cooperating today in the state-wide clothes for Russia drive by bringing five pounds of warm clothing and one pair of shoes each, to the school buildings. There they will be collected and sent to Russian War Relief headquarters to be distributed for use among our Russian allies.

 

Showing at Danville’s Kentucky Theatre this week includes: “The Good Fellows,” “Swingtime Johnny,” “Son of Dracula” featuring Lon Chaney; and “The Mad Ghoul.”

 

The public will witness the first ceremony of its kind at Darnall General Hospital this afternoon when Paul Howard of Kettle Island, Kentucky, is awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action at a formal retreat parade. The preservation of the Silver Star will be made by Colonel Cleve Odom, commanding officer of the Darnall post, who will review the troops with Private Howard on the parade grounds.

 

50 YEARS AGO — 1969

 

Observing April as the Anti-Litter and Beautification Month in Kentucky, the Garden Club of Danville and the Little Garden Club are sponsoring a series of events to help Danville become more beautiful. A poster contest was held in Mrs. Harold Reynierson’s art classes at Danville High School with the following awards: “Happiness Is,” by Lynn Akin, first; “Don’t Just Stand There,” Suzanne Korb, second; and “Sock It to the Trash Can,” John Leake, third.

 

All of the schools in Danville City school system will be closed on Thursday and Friday of this week during the regular convention of the Kentucky Education Association in Louisville. It is expected that all of the administrators and members of the faculties will attend some or all sessions of KEA during the two-day absence from their classrooms.

 

Since last August, the Danville Business and Professional Women’s Club has been preparing the way to sponsor a much-needed day care program in this city. The centers, to be located in the municipal housing areas, will be open in the near future. They will be licensed by the state of Kentucky and will be operated according to the standards and regulations set up by the State Welfare Department.

 

25 YEARS AGO — 1994

 

More than one Civil War soldier left his mark on Perryville during the October 1862 battle that was fought in that area. Some of those marks are more visible than others, like those that have been uncovered in the Lattimore House at 216 South Bragg Street. Union soldier Werner Boell, left his signature on a wall of one of the rooms used as a hospital during the Battle of Perryville. His signature is just one of the many historic markings in the house now owned by Perryville native Ken Harmon and his wife June. The house was originally the home of J.H.B. Lattimore, who owned Lattimore’s General Store on Merchant’s Row. There are also drawings of landscapes on the walls. Harmon said he remembers when the first signatures were uncovered in the 1960s. The home’s then owner, Annie Robertson, found them when she removed wallpaper from two upstairs back bedrooms. Harmon recently removed more wallpaper from another bedroom and found more drawings and signatures.

 

The new McDonald’s under construction in Harrodsburg will be roomier and more colorful than the old one. The blue on the building’s exterior reflects a trend toward more colorful McDonald’s restaurants. “As you drive around the country, you might see a red McDonald’s a blue McDonald’s and an orange McDonalds’s” said a construction supervisor.