MARY BRASWELL: Looking back at Oct. 1907

Each week Albany Herald researcher Mary Braswell looks for interesting events, places and people from the past. You can contact her at (229) 888-9371 or [email protected]. Follow @ABH_MBraswell on Twitter.

This week is a look back through the pages of the October 1907 Albany Herald.

— A 12-year-old Baker County boy was out in a field with his gun. His 17-year-old sister came up behind him, startling the boy. He shot and killed her saying, “I thought she was a rabid dog.”

— Mrs. Jarley’s Waxworks and the Merry Masqueraders performed at the Rawlins Theatre. The show was a fundraiser for the Presbyterian Church.The program began promptly at 8:30 in the evening and carriages were ordered to return at 11 p.m.

— New legislation in Georgia required that a prescription be presented to the pharmacist before even a small amount of codeine could be purchased. Previously, someone with a cold could just walk in and by a quarter-grain codeine pill.

— Owl’s 10-cent store at 228 Broad St. had s 30-piece blue azalea dinner set for just $4.50. A 42-piece set in the same pattern was higher at $6.25.

— Steamer ship the “Raymond H.” burned while traveling the Flint River. The engineer stated the fire was “no bigger than his hand” when it started. He started the fire pump and called for the hose from his crew members. The men, however, became frightened and jumped overboard. Two drowned. The cargo included 94 bales of cotton, 140 sacks of cotton seed and 14 casks of spirits of turpentine. When the ship ran ashore in Mitchell County, the cotton floated to the surface and, although damaged, was partially salvaged.

— A large bazaar was held at the City Auditorium by the ladies of Albany to raise money for a charity hospital. Booths filled the auditorium showcasing many items donated by local merchants as well as one-of-a kind items. Of the latter were paintings, hand embroidered articles and much more. Many items were expected to go quickly, especially with Christmas coming soon. The Hospital League had already purchased a house for the hospital, but much more money was needed to transform it into a hospital.

— For sale, cheap: One McCormick mower, three Deering mowers — $15 each.

— R.L. Jones, Rosenberg’s and Churchewell’s held the opening day of “new hat season.” The latest styles for fall and winter went on display bringing droves of women from all over the region to look and buy. All three merchants declared the millinery opening day a great success.

— A reward was offered for an escapee from McConnell’s camp in Baker County. The great sum of $50 would be paid to the person who caught the man and turned him in.

— For sale: Three nice building lots, each 45 by 100 feet, at the corner of Jefferson and Eighth streets. Cash price for all — $275.

— A gigantic pine tree was delivered from Tifton to Albany’s sawmill. The tree measured 48 inches at the base and 31 inches at the top. It’s length was 66 feet. From this one pine tree, came nearly 3,000 feet of lumber. The largest piece of lumber from the tree measured 16 by 16 feet and was 63 feet long.

— While the lady of the house and her baby were enjoying the fall weather in their backyard on Washington Street, a thief took a purse with $22, a diamond scarf pin and a diamond ring from her home. Shortly afterwards, a 12-year-old girl was arrested and charged.

— The cotton mill committee of the Albany Business League announced that, before next year’s cotton was in, there would be a new mill for it right here in town. A 10,000-spindle mill was proposed which would bring with it a 250-room village for operators. With family members, Albany could see an increase of 700 in population.

— Pomegranates were big sellers in South Georgia. One Lee County farmer brought a wagon-load to town, sold them to a grocer and, by late afternoon, all were gone.

— Lonsberg’s Book and Music House was appointed the Dougherty County school book depository. Owing to the contract made with the book publishers, no books could be sold on credit.

— Among the many presentments of the grand jury, it was reported that the poor house had six residents, five men and one woman. All appeared clean, healthy and well cared for. Also the report of the 40 men on the chain gang reflected that all were well-fed and clothed.

— Albany was on the verge of having yet another national bank. With paid-up capital of $50,000, the Fifth National Bank was soon to open for business.

— Two men entered into a rather large brawl while drinking at Altman’s Whiskey House on Broad Street. Apparently one called the other a liar and fists began flying. The time of day was about 10 a.m.

— Since the city’s electrical current began using the Albany Power and Manufacturing Plant, outages were rare. One Thursday night, however, all lights in the city went out for no obvious reason. Less than two hours later, the same lights came back on, much to the surprise of the power plant.

— Rawlins Theatre was proud to announce the presentation of Richard Wagner’s mystic festival drama, “Parsifal” (in English), based on the legends of the Holy Grail. There was to be no two-hour dinner intermission. All patrons were required to be in their seats when the curtains rose at 7:45 sharp. No person, even with a ticket, would be seated during the show.

QUIK QUIZ ANSWER: b) Distribution of drug samples. Apparently the samples included drugs considered dangerous and were often simply tossed in yards where anyone, including children, could find and take them.