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.
100 Years Ago
August, 1923
Largest Plane Makes Flight: Huge Craft Took to the Air Gracefully and Landed Under Control
The Barling Bomber, world’s largest airplane, took off from Wilbur Wright Field Wednesday after several minutes preliminary tuning of the six Liberty motors by mechanics. The big plane rose easily from the ground after a comparatively short run and in a few minutes was about 2,000
feet in the air. Aerial experts who witnessed the flight said the big ship appeared to respond perfectly to the control and the motors seemed to be functioning smoothly.
The ship, after circling over the field, apparently well in hand, started off in flight toward Dayton. First plans were for the plane to sail immediately above the field on its test flight, to be ready for an immediate landing in an emergency, but the pilot was apparently so confident that he took the big craft over the city. The plane traveled at the rate of 90 miles an hour, experts said. The bomber, following a 23-mile swing through the air, made a perfect landing.
August, 1923
Sheriff Dyche Gets Two Stills: Captures Man in Nine Mile Post, in Longdale Neighborhood
Sheriff R.E. Dyche, accompanied by Deputy Sheriff Sam Brown and State Prohibition Officer McManaway, made a raid in the Longdale neighborhood, what is called the Nine-Mile Post, where they found two large stills, one of which had the capacity of 100 gallons, while the other
had a capacity of 20 gallons.
A man by the name of W.B. Woodson was captured with the stills. The officers did not find any mash, but destroyed 100 gallons of fruit juice, which was ready to be run through the stills again. Both still and the prisoner were brought to the local jail, where they were locked up for safekeeping.
75 Years Ago
August, 1948
Woods Expects to Have 400 Fish in Pool for Saturday’s Rodeo
The Alleghany Game and Fish Protective Association has received over 100 fish for the Fish Rodeo, 64 of them yesterday, R.C. Woods, president of the Association said this morning.
He said the offer of two prizes for the men who bring in the most fish to be used Saturday still goes. “We expect to have 400 to 500 fish by Saturday,” he said. He asked that, after today, anyone who has fish to contribute bring them directly to the pool. It will be cleaned out today, and the fish will be put in tomorrow. “We’ll let the children take care of feeding them Saturday,” he said.
Peter A. Reavis, executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, repeated the rules this morning. The rodeo is open to all children between the ages of two and 13 who can bring their own fishing tackle, he said.
50 Years Ago
August, 1973
Paper Shortage Affects Virginian
On Saturday, Dec. 1, 1951 the Covington Virginian printed a six-page newspaper. This was printed on the press, which was installed in July 1928, and was the last six-page issue printed until today, Aug. 25, 1973.
The Covington Virginian purchased a rotary press in December, 1951 and this press went into operation on Dec. 21, 1951. From that date on, the minimum number of pages for publication has been eight.
The rotary press is capable of printing any number of pages up to 16 at one time, in any number divisible by two. This step of reducing the number of pages has been necessitated by an acute shortage of paper (newsprint).
The shortage has been developing for sometime and has been due to an increase in the A.S. population, which means more people buying more newspapers, increasing circulation of papers and advertising in them.
25 Years Ago
August, 1998
2 New Schools To Be Built On Gleason Land
The Alleghany Highlands School board voted Monday to build two new schools on the Gleason Property near Low Moor.
The property, donated to the school system earlier this year for construction of a new middle school, contains 30 acres. The School Board now plans to use the property for construction of a middle school and an elementary school. The new 750-student elementary school would replace aging school buildings in Clifton Forge and Low Moor.
August, 1998
Wal-Mart Complex To Include Several Retail Chain Outlets
The new Wal-Mart supercenter in Covington is scheduled to open in mid-September and several other retail chains have committed to opening stores in a nearby strip mall. Hibbett Sports, Dollar Tree, Friedman’s Jewelers, Sally Beauty Supply, Shoe Show, General Nutrition Center and Cato’s have decided to open stores in the River Bend Shopping Center. The strip mall is being built next to Wal-Mart in the Jamison Commerce Center.
