MID-SOUTH MEMORIES
25 years ago — 1994
Little Rock – President Clinton should be as liable for his personal conduct as any other citizen and a sexual harassment lawsuit against him should proceed, attorneys for Paula Jones said Friday. Jones, a former Arkansas state employee who claims Clinton sexually harassed her while he was governor in 1991, sued Clinton last May, but lawyers for Clinton contend that presidents should be immune to civil suits while in office. Otherwise, they argued, sitting presidents would be subject to all manner of nuisance suits. Attorneys for Jones, Gilbert Davis and Joseph Cammarata, both of Arlington, Va., filed their response to Clinton’s brief Friday in U.S. District Court in Little Rock. Clinton has repeatedly denied Jones’ allegations.
50 years ago — 1969
Teachers who stay off the job to support the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in its struggle with the Memphis Board of Education could lose their jobs, the board warned yesterday. In a statement delivered by board President Edgar H. Bailey and Superintendent E.C. Stimbert, the board called attention to contracts signed by the teachers and said teachers are “expected to fulfill the conditions of the contracts they signed.” Mr. Stimbert said later that no mass action is contemplated against the 674 teachers who missed school Monday, when 65,723 children were also absent.
75 years ago — 1944
The City Commission has under consideration another 15-cent tax reduction, which would be made possible by “practicing economy,” Mayor Chandler announced. It would be the third reduction in city taxes since 1943 and would bring to 33 cents the total slashed from the rate. 100 years ago — 1919
With the close of 1919, the fire horses of Memphis will pass out of existence. Early this fall the City Council decreed that the fire department should be completely motorized. The remaining 39 horses that now draw the five engines, two chemical wagons and five hose wagons will be sold to the highest bidders. Any fireman who has ridden behind a wildly galloping team in their race to a fire views the change with some degree of sentiment.
125 years ago — 1894
At the horseshoeing establishment on the corner of Union and Hernando yesterday some of the shoers became involved in a heated controversy, and it seems they were drinking too much. Tools of the trade began to fly through the sky and soon passers-by found a man lying on the pavement with his head cut badly. Police are investigating.