MID-SOUTH MEMORIES
25 years ago — 1993
Many subscribers to The Commercial Appeal should find envelopes in their newspaper today seeking donations to a statewide effort to pay for literacy programs for functionally illiterate adult Tennesseans. The Support Tennessee Adult Readers (STAR) campaign, sponsored by the Tennessee Press Association and the Tennessee Literacy Coalition, hopes to raise $3 million by the end of the year.
50 years ago — 1968
The Memphis Public Library is answering patrons’ questions at the rate of one every 45 seconds or almost 1,000 questions a day — a total of 305,759 requests in the fiscal year that ended June 30. The figures came out in the annual report of the library director, C. Lamar Wallis, to the Board of Directors. Reference questions, some requiring considerable time, effort and know-how on the part of librarians, totaled 41,633 for the same period, or an average of one about every five minutes.
75 years ago — 1943
Six Flying Fortresses, their bomb bays bulging with two-ton “block busters” and an escort of a dozen deadly Thunderbolts — A bombing flight that big figuratively roared out of Memphis straight for Berlin yesterday when Plough Inc. bought $4,000,000 in War Savings Bonds, the largest purchase here thus far in the Third War Loan Drive.
100 years ago — 1918
ST. LOUIS — The entire plant of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Co. was offered to the government for the manufacture of munitions during the war yesterday. The plant has 4,000 employees, many of whom are skilled machinists and would need little training for ordnance production, August Busch said.
125 years ago — 1893
Lovers of the invigorating game of handball will be pleased to learn that Mr. Lyons’ handball court on Poplar Street is open for the winter season. County Clerk P.J. Quigley wears the champion’s belt from last season and says he is prepared for all comers. Commissioner Kelly is making book and offering odds of 10 to 1 on Squire Winters and even money on B.H. Carberry to place.