Other days

100 YEARS AGO March 14, 1912 While excavating in the southwest corner of the basement at the city hall preparatory to laying the concrete floors for the rooms to be devoted to the use of the United Charities Association, yesterday the workmen found a large moccasin snake in the rubbish. The snake had evidently gone into winter quarters in the basement and was waiting the return of spring. The workmen disposed of everything but the memory of him, which has served to make them more careful in their work. 50 YEARS AGO March 14, 1962 Leroy Sparrow of Rte. 3 had just scraped and painted his 12-foot plywood boat. Monday night, a thief made off with the boat. Sparrow didn’t seem too concerned with the loss. But he got a telephone call yesterday. It was the thief calling to see if Sparrow wouldn’t leave a bucket of paint outside — like the boat — so he could steal that, too. 25 YEARS AGO March 14, 1987 No state laws were broken by state Education Department Director Tommy Venters or his staff when they gave five private administrations of the basic skills teacher test, Attorney General Steve Clark said Friday. “There were no laws violated,” Clark said at a news conference. “Criminal violations did not occur; civil violations did not occur.” He also said he did not believe the spirit of the law was violated. It was reported last month that five educators were tested privately because they were unable to take or complete the test during regular testing sessions because of emotional trauma, deaths in the family or being out of the country. 10 YEARS AGO March 14, 2002 Two historic U. S. Navy wartime vessels are targets of North Little Rock’s development plans for riverfront property across from the Clinton presidential library complex. Mayor Patrick Hays will ask the North Little Rock City Council at 7 p.m. today to support his efforts to acquire and establish a riverfront museum for the tugboat USS Hoga and the submarine USS Razorback. Both played historic roles in World War II.