100 YEARS AGO Was it the food? 50 YEARS AGO 100 rings swiped from car

Fred D. Cunningham, 48, who’d just arrived in Albany days before to take over management of the aboutto-open Winchell and Douglas Drug Store on State Street, died in an Albany hospital after sharing a meal with a relative who also became violently ill. Cunningham and his brother-inlaw, Dr. Henry O’brien of Rochester, ate at a restaurant not far from the Wellington Hotel where they were staying. Soon after, they were stricken and taken to the hospital, but Cunningham quickly died. O’brien, although still ill, was declared out of danger. The coroner ordered an autopsy, the results of which proved he had died of natural causes. Further tests were planned to determine if the men’s food had been poisoned.

—Times Union, Sept. 30, 1920

The thief who stole a package from a car parked in front of St. Joseph’s School on Second and Swan streets in Albany found 100 engraved high school rings when he opened the package. The rings, engraved “Schuylerville Central School — 1972,” were stolen from the car belonging to Donal J. Nash of Greenwich two days ago. They were worth $2,800 retail (about $18,750 today) or $28 each (about $188 today) to the students. The rings were 10-carat gold and had various colored stones mounted in them, said Nash. Police said the means of entry into the car were not known. A spokesman for the school said Nash was the salesman for the ring company. He said the rings had been ordered by the students but had not yet been paid for.