125 Years Ago

The Northfield News

March 5, 1885 3 cents a copy/ $1.50 a year

Geo. H Richmond, editor

The laws of Vermont are very lightly enforced when an man and woman, or rather two human devils, who have beat, bruised, ill treated and almost killed an innocent little girl, are only fined $5. It makes the blood run cold to read the distressing details of the fiendish deeds of the White family, of Wallingford, toward their little adopted daughter and we do not wonder that the enraged people drove him from home by threatening lynching.

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Congress has adjourned. Let all give thanks. Republicans especially, that it was not a Republican Congress, for a more shiftless, do-nothing body has never disgraced this free Republic. The House has worked from first to last to insure democratic success. It has judged every public measure, no matter how pressing or important, by its probable effect upon that party. It has not dared to take decided ground upon any of the great vital questions before the country... in fact it has wholly failed to pass any measure of real benefit to the people. Think of it, voters. This is what a democratic majority of over half a hundred can do.

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It requires some time and patience to become acquainted with a strange cat, and often involves some unpleasant interviews. But when friendly relations have been established they will stick to you closer than a brother - especially their hairs. Cats are animals. In this they differ from sun-flowers. There is another difference; they don't shut up at night...Cats do not kick as a method of attack or a means of self defense. In this they differ from cows. There is another difference, they don't have horns, and their fur is much softer and their teeth sharper. Cats purr instead of chewing the cud. There is one point of resemblance; they both give milk, though cats are not often kept for dairy purposes... Most cats have tails. In this they differ from some writers, who, in spite of all pretence, can ne'er a tale unfold...Cats are called domestic animals, because they are permitted to hang about the house, smell of the breakfast, stick their noses into the cream, carry a slice of meat out through the window when the cook's back is turned...Cats are sometimes kept to sleep in the hired girl's lap. It rests the cat and gives the hired girl a season for meditation. Cats feel soft, almost as soft as the girls that make pets of them. There are considerable many cats in the world, the precise number has never been ascertained. There are difficulties in taking a census of cats that are not easily overcome...On a mild summer day, when the wind breathes softly among the trees, only here and there will a cat be seen stepping daintily along the garden path, but when the full moon of May or June lets fall its pale beams upon that same garden, the very air is resonant with the music of unnumbered cats. It is like the breaking up of a woman suffrage convention into which the apple of discord has been unwittingly thrown.

100 Years Ago

The Northfield News

March 1, 1910 3 cents a copy/$1.25 year

Fred N. Whitney, editor

As usual the principal general interest in town meetings throughout Vermont today centered on the result of the liquor license vote. The returns make it evident that license has hardly held up even its scanty hold on Vermont...In Washington county, not a town has gone license - at last "Lilly White."... Northfield gets back into the dry column again by a majority of 22. The vote was no 299; yes 277.

75 Years Ago NEWS AND ADVERTISER

March 7, 1935

5 cents a copy, $2 a year

John E. Mazuzan, editor

Sale of whiskey in Northfield was nearly counted out at Tuesday's town meeting. By the narrow margin of four votes, it was decided that its sale should be continued. The liquor question, coupled with some spirited contests for town offices, brought a large crowd to town meeting.

• The debate between Randolph High School and Northfield High which was held in the assembly hall of Northfield High last weekend resulted in a unanimous decision for the affirmative, upheld by Northfield. The question debated was: "Resolved, that the federal government should adopt the policy of equalizing educational opportunity throughout the nation by means of annual grants to various states for education.

50 Years Ago

NEWS AND ADVERTISER

February 4, 1960

5 cents a copy, $2 a year

John E. Mazuzan, editor

Northfield was listed among 17 Vermont towns found to by the State Department of Health to have no contamination in their water systems. Northfield shared honors with Morrisville as the only two with no contamination in a group of 14 towns with a population between 2,000 and 5,000.

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Is it true that a certain health inspector is making a lot more money from inspecting restaurants than his state salary shows? He may not be the only one, if the reports we hear are true.

25 Years Ago

NORTHFIELD NEWS

March 7, 1985 25 cents a copy, $2 a year

Erik Nelson, editor

The Northfield Board of Selectmen decided Feb. 26 to reject a petition the town received from the International Brotherhood of Electrical workers. The IBEW, which represents village electric department employees, has made a bid to be the collective bargaining agent for town employees..."We ought to make sure we know who is in the proposed unit," said Selectman Richmond Moot. "The onus is on them (the union) to go before the Labor Relations Board and request a hearing," said Dave MacDougall, chief of the board. "The onus is on them. Let them go their route and we do nothing."

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The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) passed the House on a 124 to 24 vote. A referendum is required. Vermonters will have the opportunity in November of 1986 to vote yes or no on this issue.

As is becoming almost traditional, town meeting day 1985 was snowy, wet and slippery. The road conditions and weather didn't prevent the approximately 350 persons who attended the meeting from coming to the high school gym...The voters decided not to approve a nonbinding article which would show support for the idea of giving the Center School building to the Northfield Historical Society.