Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1917: Anarchists are believed to have caused the explosions at the Eddystone Ammunition Corp.’s plant April 10, which sacrificed the lives of 130 men and women. Testimony was disclosed this morning at the J. Lewis Crozer Hospital, where the jury is holding a special session, that the Russian inspectors in the plant wore socialist badges and extended invitations to the workmen to attend the meetings held in Chester.
75 Years Ago – 1942: A Chester man had a neat truck to solve the auto, gas and rubber shortage. That is, while it lasted. According to his own admission, the man “borrowed” cars parked by employees of Sun Shipyard, always being careful to return them after the joyride before the owner was through work. Because of complaints of shipyard workers that
somehow their cars ran up a lot of mileage and the gas tank was down while supposedly being parked, guards began to check up on things.
50 Years Ago – 1967: Longawaited ground-breaking ceremonies for Delaware County’s three vocational-technical high schools will be May 8, with separate ceremonies at each of the school sites in Aston, Marple and Folcroft. Actual construction on the $9.8 million project should begin “within that week,” with first classes scheduled for September 1968.
25 Years Ago – 1992: The Newport News Shipbuilding facility in Morton will close this week, throwing 147 white-collar employees out of work. Located in the old Boeing Vertol Plant, the office opened 11 years ago, hiring a large number of former Westinghouse Corp. and Sun Ship and Pennsylvania Shipbuilding companies employees.
10 Years Ago – 2007: The Christian Coalition Against Violence of Chester and Vicinity is continuing “Hot Spot Walks” every Friday night around the city of Chester. The walks begin at Freedom Baptist Church at 1095 Morton Ave. every first and second Friday of the month, to pray and witness in the street. On third and fourth Fridays, the walk begins at St. Luke’s Christian Community, Fourth Street and Central Avenue Aston commissioners, via proclamation, recognized township resident Eileen Nelson for being named Engineer of the Year by the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers.