Mt. Wilson in The Times Archives

Nov. 22, 1957: A wildfire forces the evacuation of Mt. Wilson.

June 9, 1889: A trip up Mt. Wilson, including a visit to the temporary observatory.

Matt Weinstock, Aug. 31, 1959

Matt Weinstock is on vacation.

Paul V. Coates -- Confidential File, Aug. 31, 1959

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Comics

Aug. 31, 1979: "Drabble," in an early, crudely drawn panel, replaces "Jeff Hawke." Notice that Stan Lynde has stopped drawing "Rick O'Shay," which is being done by Mel Keefer and Marian Dern. Also notice the reference in "Apartment 3-G" to the gas shortage.

Two Blacks Killed in Fight With White Co-Workers

Aug. 31, 1899: Boston Optical has sunglasses.

A racial fight between members of a crew working on track for the Illinois Central Railroad near Rockford leaves two African Americans dead and one more injured. The contractor and his son say neither of the dead men was an employee, but the crew's cook contradicts him. After a meeting at the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the blacks of Rockford call for a thorough investigation.

Eastside Scandal

A juicy item about a "frisky grass widow" and a prominent real estate man -- with a "deluded" wife and "two or three" children.

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Comics

Aug. 30. 1978: I had forgotten about Tom K. Ryan's "Tumbleweeds" until I started going through the old comics pages. The strip is full of annoying stereotypes but the one I found the most obnoxious was Hildegard Hamhocker, the desperately man-hungry spinster who is, of course, dowdy and bucktoothed. The passage of time has, if anything, made her even more odious. Oh, is she cross-eyed too? Nice.

Study Finds Widespread Grade Inflation at L.A. County Schools

Aug. 30, 1899: Hawley, King & Co. buggies, 5th and Broadway.

The county Board of Education finds "deplorable laxness and inefficiency" in most Los Angeles County schools. By 1899, California required each county to send standardized tests to all its schools for students in fifth grade and above. The graded exams were to be returned to the county boards as a check on teachers' effectiveness. In previous years, the magnitude of the paperwork precluded a detailed study of the exams. This time, however, thorough scrutiny of the tests reveals widespread falsification of grades. "Some of the teachers have sent in correctly marked examination papers, but the great majority have marked their pupils' examination papers from 5 to 50 percent higher than deserved," says Luther G. Brown, president of the Board of Education. "In a number of instances the children of trustees were graded with very much more leniency than other pupils," Brown says

 

The Los Angeles Tribune Does Not Tell the Truth

Aug. 30, 1889: Mrs. E.C. Freeman is moving her bakery to 339 S. Spring St.

Harrison Gray Otis responds to an article in a rival paper: "The Los Angeles Tribune, as usual, does not tell the truth." The Tribune accused Otis of warning City Council President Capt. J. Frankenfield that The Times would oppose the sewer bonds in the upcoming election unless the Police Commission members were fired. Otis wrote that in a meeting several months earlier, he told Frankenfield the Police Department was so disorganized that it would be in the public interest if the Police Commission members were removed. Otis said he only alluded to the sewer bonds. In a letter to Otis, Frankenfield wrote: "What you did say is that if the council desired to win the confidence of the people and carry the bond proposition, the Police Commission should be removed; and upon that question we could not agree, as I claimed there was no cause for removal."

Matt Weinstock, Aug. 29, 1959

Matt Weinstock is on vacation.

Paul V. Coates -- Confidential File, Aug. 29, 1959

A Kinder, Simpler Time Dept.: Your Comics

Aug. 29, 1977: "Kelly" is replaced with Sydney Jordan's "Jeff Hawke," another short-lived strip.