Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1921: On a wager that he could do the trick, without sustaining injury, Samuel Miller, Linwood Heights, jumped off the top of a 35-foot tank at the plant of the Pure Oil Co., Marcus Hook, yesterday. Fifteen or 20 fellow employees advised him not to attempt what they expected to result in the man’s injury or death. Their attempt at dissuasion was of no avail. Miller mounted the point he had selected, have a lunge forward and in a few seconds alighted on the ground on his feet, as though he were “flying on the wings of the morning.” He went about his work as usual.
75 Years Ago – 1946: James Wolfenden, Delaware County’s representative in Congress, was reported to be in “grave but not critical” condition in the Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, today. Wolfenden, who is 56, was transferred to the hospital yesterday from a nursing home in Hammonton, N.J., for special treatment for burns suffered in an explosion of a cabin cruiser at Ocean City, N.J., May 23.
50 Years Ago – 1971: Nearly all the Wyeths bubbled enthusiastically about the opening of the new Brandywine River Museum at Thursday night’s preview party. Commenting on the ultra-modern museum facilities hidden behind the ancient brick of the reconstructed Civil War grist mill near the intersection Route 1 and 100, Andrew J. Wyeth, today’s king of the Brandywine tradition artists, said, “I hope it will do something to bring a better understanding of both the art and ecological heritage of this area.”
25 Years Ago – 1996: Councilman Dominic Pileggi was named chairman of the Chester Republican Party’s Executive Committee at the group’s annual reorganization meeting last night. Pileggi, elected to a two-year term, replaces Michael Koterba, a former city councilman, who held the chairmanship for many years.
10 Years Ago – 2011: The United States Postal Service is counting its losses in dollars and cents. But the closing of the Manoa Post Office in the Manoa Shopping Center didn’t make sense to many customers Friday. The post office inside the 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby also closed earlier Friday morning. Postal employees will be transferred, but at least one clerk feels a sense of loss because he won’t be seeing familiar faces.