MID-SOUTH MEMORIES
25 years ago — 1994 KNOXVILLE — One might be forgiven for wondering which was the real milestone at the University of Tennessee here this week: the start of the school’s bicentennial celebrations or the end of the college career of star quarterback Heath Shuler. The bicentennial celebration was complete with indoor fireworks, marching band, baton twirlers, a speech by the governor and even a Latin choral rendition of Rocky Top, but the highly rated quarterback’s campus exit for the NFL draft was still no doubt the most commonly discussed topic around here. While there was a general feeling of optimism in the air as about 2,000 faculty, students and alumni raised a glass of orange juice to toast UT, this school and the UT system are still striving for academic recognition on par with their athletic reputation. 50 years ago — 1969 The rising public concern about crime in Memphis is accented by two doorstep purse snatchings which occurred Saturday night. The pertinent question asked by one of the victims was “What’s happening in Memphis when you can’t even walk into your own home without getting robbed?” Unfortunately, there isn’t any simple answer. Obviously the 980 Memphis policemen can’t guard every home in a city of half a million people. Crime here is part of a national urban pattern which demands at least three responses — more and better-trained police, more citizen precautions and increased understanding of the sources of crime with some attempt to remove them. 75 years ago — 1944 The first Memphis-assembled military plane, a twinengine bomber trainer, has written another page in Memphis aviation history. The plane — manufactured by the duramold process, plywood with steel framing — came off the assembly lines of the Mcdonnell Aircraft Corporation here. 100 years ago — 1919 WASHINGTON — A bill to give Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt a Federal annuity of $5,000 and mail franking privileges was introduced yesterday by Senator Smoot (R, Utah). 125 years ago — 1894 The Nineteenth Century Club is perhaps the most practical and intellectual women’s organization in Memphis. The members are now engaged in taking cooking lessons from the nationally famous Mrs. Ewing. Yesterday she delivered a highly instructive talk on “Boiling.”