Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1918: Mr. and Mrs. Frank Draper, 1831 W. Second St., Chester, had a thrilling experience late on Saturday night. They had retired for the night but had not gone to sleep. The report of a revolver startled them and a bullet crashed through their bedroom window, struck a closet and dropped in the bed in which they were reposing. A police investigation revealed that the bullet had been sent through the window by the gun of Deputy Sheriff Charles Lowry. Lowry, an employee of the Federal Steel Co., has been granted an extension on appearing at City Hall to offer explanation. 75 Years Ago – 1943: A petition for a writ of mandamus filed by Thomas W. Ridington at Media today to compel the Board of Elections to place his name on the September primary ballot was allowed by Judge Henry G. Sweney. Ridington, the anti-McClure Republican candidate for mayor of Chester, tried to file nominating petitions this week but was turned away because “it was too late” past deadline. Accounts on the actual time vary, but spectators agree that less than two minutes – either way – were involved.
50 Years Ago – 1968: A 26-year-old Chester man wanted on a murder charge in New York was at large today after escaping Sunday from Broadmeadows Prison, Concord, during peak visiting hours about 2 p.m. The Concord Avenue man knocked down five visitors and a guard as he bolted through an unlocked iron door to nearby fields. He was described as extremely dangerous. Guard Omando Iacono tackled the man in the prison yard, but he squirmed free.
25 Years Ago – 1993: An order for new furniture and carpeting for the office of the Chester Upland School District superintendent was canceled after board member Mattie Cunningham raised complaints about the expenditures. Incoming Superintendent JoAnn Manning placed an order through the district business office for a desk, a credenza and new carpeting. Her office was also slated for painting.
10 Years Ago – 2008: A Havertown man who posed as a lawyer to defraud an elderly couple out of more than $230,000 was sentenced to two years in federal prison. From 2001 to 2004, the 35-year-old posed as an attorney with an office on West Chester Pike in Haverford in order to scam two victims, both in their 80s, out of millions of dollars.