Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1918: Plans are underway for tremendous extensions and improvements at the Sun Shipbuilding Co. These additions will not only greatly increase the capacity of this up-to-date and efficient ship construction plant, but will mean a great deal to Chester in the permanence of the industry. The Emergency Fleet Corp. has decided to advance funds for the construction, in connection with the Sun plant, of an enormous boiler shop.
75 Years Ago – 1943: The condition of Mrs. Lottie Smith, 59, newly appointed matron at the Juvenile Detention Home in Chester, who was shot twice by a 15-year-old zootsuited thief Saturday afternoon, was reported “good” by Chester Hospital physicians this morning. The search for the thief, who shot his way out of the detention home, where he was
taken after arrest by Lansdowne police, was spread over a wide area over the weekend in the tenements of South Philadelphia and along the roads leading south.
50 Years Ago – 1968: The Housing Development Corp. of Chester said it is having some difficulty in moving ahead with its plans to purchase and rehabilitate dwellings for low-income persons. HDCC members were told a “lack of personnel and too few people pushing toward getting us enough properties is the major problem right now,” said William J. Coopersmith, director of the Chester Model Cities Agency. 25 Years Ago – 1993: Chester City Council unanimously voted to approve a lease-purchase agreement for 10 new police patrol cars and one fire department vehicle and to hire two new police officers. Council hired Otis Blair of the 500 block of West 13th Street and Regina White of the 800 block of McDonald Street as patrolmen. Council hired 21 officers earlier this month, but a female recruit decided to drop out. That, and the recent slaying of Officer Connie Hawkins, necessitated the new hirings.
10 Years Ago – 2008: Magisterial District Judge Harry Karapalides ordered a towing company to reimburse several McDonald’s customers whose cars were towed recently from the restaurant’s lot on 69th Street, Upper Darby. The company has recently come under fire for its exorbitant fees and aggressiveness in towing illegally parked cars from the fastfood restaurant’s lot.