Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1917: A northbound Park Place trolley, shortly after two o’clock yesterday afternoon, collided with a team of horses owned and driven by Thomas Anderson, at 12th and Edgmont Avenue, with the result that one of the horses was slightly injured. Motorman Thomas Brown was running at a rapid rate of speed and was fortunate in not killing of the animals. The accident attracted much attention from pedestrians and tied up six trolleys for nearly half an hour.
75 Years Ago – 1942: It was a quiet Halloween as far as police were concerned. Chief George J. Feeney remarked this morning that Mischief Night and Halloween were the most undemonstrative in 30 years. He complimented the youth of the city in their determination not to destroy property as a patriotic gesture. 50 Years Ago – 1967: Carl Hasenfuss, who was celebrating his 14th birthday, and Linda Wasilchick, 9, were riding their bikes past the home of Mrs. and Mrs. Kenneth Gillmore, 2041 Woodside Lane in Marple Township, when they smelled smoke. Inside the home, Mrs. Marilyn Gillmore, 49, was sickened by smoke inhalation as a fire in the rear television rooms sent thick smoke through the home. Linda sent Carl to the Wasilchick home and he returned with her mother Emo Jean and brother John, 17. They returned to find Mrs. Gillmore semi-conscious on her living room floor and pulled her from the home. Township patrolmen John Anderson and Raymond Castaldi arrived and used a fire extinguisher and garden hose to fight the flames.
25 Years Ago – 1992: The Democratic candidate in the 9th Senatorial district, Mary Ellen McLaughlin, thinks 78-year-old incumbent Clarence D. Bell is old and in the way. The Legislature’s senior member, however, says the 29-year-old challenger would eat his dust if she tried to keep up with his frantic pace on the Senate floor. Bell’s record of bringing state funding into the district has frequently been criticized by McLaughlin, daughter of Chester Councilman Charles McLaughlin, during the race. “I don’t know what she’s talking about, and, to be frank, I don’t think she does either,” Bell said.
10 Years Ago – 2007: Construction on the $7.5 million sound barrier project along 7,000 feet of Interstate 95 will begin in the spring, according to a report at a recent Ridley Park Council meeting. Councilman Nick Miccarelli said representatives of borough council and Ridley Township commissioners met at the office of state Rep. Ron Raymond, R-162, where the community project was reviewed. The wall will run from Stewart Avenue along I-95 north to Darby creek and will be 10 to 14 feet in height.