25 Years Ago
North Carroll High School Land Bought – County officials announced this week the purchase of 60 acres of land for the proposed North Carroll High School. The purchase ends about 3
months of negotiations, according to commissioner John D. Meyer, and more than a year of haggling among parents and officials over various sites. The land, which was bought from the Carroll County General Hospital and from Mr. and Mrs. Elwood Michael is located just south of Hampstead on the east side of Route 482. The land will have access from Route 482 and a planned extension of Shiloh road. The planned Route 30 bypass will form the other border of the school property. The approximate cost of the 60 acres of land is $147,750. Commissioners’ president G. Herbert Rice said the cost could vary slightly depending on the final survey. The land will cost approximately $2,200 per acre. The commissioners felt this was a good price to pay for the land, they said at a joint press conference with school board officials. Democratic Advocate , October 14, 1971.
50 Years Ago
RECOMMENDED FOR SHERIFF – You got to have real stuff to face a knife situation at a county fair. Candidate Ray Yohn for Democratic sheriff was invited by a knife thrower at the Carroll County Fair, Taneytown last week, to have a cigar the sheriff was smoking to be amputated close to his mouth as an exhibition. Mr. Yohn accepted the invitation. He stood sideways at a distance with his cigar close to a wooden barrier. The first knife shaved the ashes from the cigar. The second cut the cigar in two, the knife sticking the board. In some way Wesley Mathias, the Republican candidate for sheriff was invited to perform the same act. But he refused to do so. The knife thrower learning that the two were opponents in the coming election remarked, “You should elect Mr. Yohn sheriff, who has the courage to perform his duty without fear,” it is said. Democratic Advocate, October 11, 1946.
75 Years Ago
DOG EATS WIRE MUZZLES – Owner Can’t Give Him Away, Either—He Always Comes Back He Tells Court. – New York—George Lear of Brooklyn appeared in the Fifth Avenue court to answer a summons for allowing his dog to roam the street unmuzzled. “Judge, as soon as I put a muzzle on him he eats it up,” said the defendant. “Do you mean to say he eats the wire ones, too?” asked the magistrate. “Yes, your honor. I have tried all kinds,” replied Lear. “Have you tried one made of reinforced concrete?” queried the magistrate. “If he ate his way through the concrete he would probably be too tired to tackle the steel.” Magistrate Gelsmar told Lear he would have to keep the dog muzzled or get rid of it. “Judge, I have tried that, too. Several times I’ve tied him up and sent for the S.P.C.A., but somehow or other, by the time they arrived the dog was missing only to return after the dog catchers had left.” “One dollar fine,” said the court. As Lear walked over to the clerk to pay his fine he remarked: “This is easy. I thought I was going to get life.”Union Bridge Pilot, October 14, 1921.
100 Years Ago
Charles Johnson, who has made one or more trips from the Carroll County Jail to the Penitentiary, arrived in Westminster Wednesday night. On Thursday morning he went to the Jail and
told the Sheriff’s wife that he was Sheriff Tracy of Baltimore. He also said that he had seen Sheriff Murray and that he told him to come over. Johnson said he wanted to look at the prisoners, and Mrs. Murray let him in the Jail. The Sheriff arrived shortly after and the door was locked on Johnson. Democratic Advocate, October 10, 1896.