The Shadow
Echoes of the Past is a collection of historical articles curated from The Virginian Review and other publications archived since 1914. You may be exposed to content that you find offensive or objectionable. For historical purposes and accuracy, articles are reprinted in their original, unedited form, and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of the publisher.
MAY 1923
100 Years ago
Says he hired
“Death Wagon”
The Wall Street bomb explosion was recalled again Saturday night when police arrested Noah Lerner, 23, an electrician, on a charge of homicide in connection with the disaster which killed more than 30 persons on September 16, 1920.
Lerner is charged with having hired the wagon that carried the explosion to Wall Street, the police announced.
The information that brought his arrest was said to have been given to the district attorney by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Doyle of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They returned recently from a Kuzbas colony in Russia, where they found conditions entirely different from what had been represented to them by its New York agents.
Lerner was a resident of the Kuzbas colony in Russia to which the Doyles were sent from New York. It was said and they reported to have told the district attorney that he boasted openly of his part in the Wall Street tragedy and said: “I am the man who hired the little red wagon that exploded in Wall Street.”
Popular C&O
engineer passed
away at 4 o’clock
in Clifton Forge
George E. Showalter, a well-known engineer on the C&O Railway, died yesterday morning at about 4 o’clock in his residence on McCormick Street after an extended illness with a complication of troubles.
Mr. Showalter had a passenger run between Clifton Forge and Hinton for more than two decades and made his home here.
Mr. Showalter was born at Mount Crawford, Rockingham County, May 27, 1856, and entered the service of the C&O Railway on May 1, 1874.
Mr. Showalter is survived by his wife and two sons.
The funeral of the deceased will take place tomorrow morning at 11 o’clock from St. Joseph’s Church.
MAY 1938
85 Years ago
Convict escapes
from prison camp
The escape of a convict from the prison camp on the Cowpasture River Road was reported to the Clifton Forge authorities late this morning.
The man, still at large early this afternoon, is Claude Jones and is described as being 26 years old and 5 feet, 6 inches tall with dark brown hair black eyes, and a three-quarter-inch scar in the corner of his left eye.
MAY 1968
55 Years ago
Callaghan First
Graders enjoy
a field trip
Members of the first-grade class of Mrs. Odell Groves and Mrs. Evelyn Gillespie of Callaghan School stopped for a picture on the steps of the county courthouse during a tour of several places in the city.
They had previously visited the Kroger Store and Leggett’s Department Store where they rode the elevator; they had lunch at the city playground before coming to the courthouse tour.
Another field trip is planned for next week when the students will go to a puppet show at the Charles P. Jones Memorial Library, ride the train from Covington to Clifton Forge, watch the bottling of milk at a Clifton Forge plant and return to school.
MAY 2008
15 Year Ago
Clifton Forge Council Ponders Tax Hike
Clifton Forge Town Council and the public, at Tuesday night’s council meeting, got a look at the proposed 2008-2009 budget for the year beginning July 1 and found the budget contains an increase of four cents in the real estate tax rate, from 17 cents to 21 cents per $100 of assessed value.
The budget also includes an increase in the sewer charge of $8 per month and the water rate of $2 per month, making the total $60 per month.
The present charge is $50 per month for water and sewerage.
Interim Town Manager LeeAnna Tyler told the Council the increase in the water and sewerage rate will help pay for a month of revenue that the town will lose when the water meters come online.
Personal property tax remains the same as last year, with level funding for outside agencies. There is a 1.2% increase in the total general fund budget.
