THE PAST 100 YEARS

From The Santa Fe New Mexican: March 24, 1924: “I am posting one of our few policemen for an hour or so in the evening at the postoffice,” says Chief Jim Baca today. The idea is to put a stop to hoodlumism that has prevailed in the postoffice lobby, accompanied by serious damage to the premises. Baca says that with only a few men it will be impossible to station a man there permanently, but he hopes to put a stop the trouble by this emergency measure.

March 24, 1949: With nickel-day almost a week off, the first of 500 parking meters have been installed along some streets north of the Plaza this morning. About 150 were put up.

The original schedule outlined by Charles Baker, the Karpark Co. installation engineer, has been knocked into a cocked hat. If his plan had panned out, the meters would be in operation today.

As it is, the ordinance the city council passed last night is not enforceable until five days after publication in a newspaper. The earliest the ordinance can become effective will be next Wednesday.

March 24, 1974: Occidental Minerals Corporation has been quietly investigating the possibility of mining copper from a site about two miles from the town of Cerrillos.

The residents of the town are fearful a bonanza could bring disquieting results, namely blasting and sulphuric acid.

“Many of us would like to stop it,” said Ernest Tedlock, a gray-bearded ex-professor who “dropped-out” to the tranquility of the Cerrillos hill country.

March 24, 1999: Despite a dry winter, city officials don’t expect to impose emergency water-use restrictions as they prepare for the increased water demands of summer.

Nonetheless, snow-pack levels in Santa Fe Canyon are roughly 50 percent below normal — nearly as bad as the drought year of 1996 — and water-watchers say it might be a good summer to let your Kentucky bluegrass wither and die.