Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1917: Failure of a revolver to work at a critical moment prevented the shooting of two safe-blowers a few minutes before last midnight, when William Bowen, the watchman, discovered two men working on the safe in the office of the J.E. Mitchell lumber yard at Glenolden. Bowen pluckily rushed the pair and in the struggle attempted to shoot but the cartridge failed to explore and the men made their escape. The watchman succeeded in getting the revolver in working condition, and chased the thieves some distance, discharging several rounds at the fleeing forms.
75 Years Ago – 1942: Chester volunteer workers for the Red Cross War Fund are campaigning strenuously to surpass other communities at the third report luncheon this week. Walter Wasselius, Red Cross director of China Relief for many years, who was in Honolulu on Dec. 7 when the Japanese launched their attack, will be the principle speaker at the luncheon. The Southeastern Red Cross is raising $2,500,000 as its share of the national $65,000,000 War Fund.
50 Years Ago – 1967: A 43-year-old double amputee, arrested in Chester, has been returned to Delaware and ordered held without bail on charges that he murdered his nextdoor neighbor and shot his wife and stepdaughter. Killed in the Saturday night shooting melee in the man’s home, in the 2000 block of Naamans Road, was his 18-year-old neighbor.
25 Years Ago – 1992: A 17-year-old Chester boy was fatally shot outside a new club for teens Saturday night and a 16-year-old has been charged with his murder, authorities said. The Pine Lane youth suffered a single gunshot wound at 10:05 p.m. outside of the News Sensations Club at Ninth and Sproul streets. Police said the victim and the defendant had an argument in the club and had been thrown out.
10 Years Ago – 2007: Officials in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District are offering a more detailed explanation for the proposed elimination of foreign language instruction in the district’s three elementary schools. Budgetary pressures are believed to be a primary consideration, with school board President Jennifer Cheung describing the program at a recent meeting as a “luxury item” difficult to justify in the face of the state’s Act 1 tax reform law.