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I can't believe it is 2024 already. My wife and I were just commenting on how fast everything seems to go. Days move into weeks, months and years seem to move so fast. This year I am going to try to make it a point to slow down and take things day by day, especially when it comes to the kids. They grow so fast and when I mentioned this to my 4-year-old she said, "Daddy we have to grow." That is true but I would like to hold on a little tighter some days.
I always find it interesting to look back at where we have come from occasionally. Looking back gives us a better sense of the future. Usually in the paper there is a section that is just that, a look back, reviewing the events over the past year and sometimes further into the past. Looking back over the years, our area has endured a tremendous amount of change so there is always a lot to report from the previous years.
Looking back 50 years ago to January 1974 is an interesting affair. The headline of the Weirton Daily Times on Jan. 2, 1974, was the announcement that President Richard Nixon signed a 55-mph speed bill as a gasoline saving measure. States had 60 days to implement the measure or else they risked losing federal highway money.
In other news, Weirton's first baby that year was Ronald Chad May, born at 5:24 a.m. at Weirton General Hospital. There was also a wonderful article about the history of Holliday's Cove written by Mary Ferguson in collaboration with Mary Campbell Bowman. Mary did articles on local history just like I do, and they were eventually published in a book called "History of Holliday's Cove," written in the 1970s. This book is worth a read as it gives a fantastic historical narrative of life in our area.
In Steubenville, 50 years ago, the headlines focused on Israel as they voted for Golda Meir. Also of note was that the Weirton Steel Maintenance department had worked 1 million-man hours without any lost time due to accidents. This was a proud record to be sure.
In our area 50 years ago, our residents had a lot of options when it came to movies. The first week of January there was a lot to choose from. At the Winter Drive-In, one could see Charles Bronson in "The Stone Killers" and at the Ohio Valley Drive-in, one could see the movie "Kung Fu" or "Duel of the Iron Fist." Both of these drive-ins would supply you with a free heater to warm up the car rather than keeping your engine running.
At the Grand Theater in downtown Steubenville, you could see "The Seven-Ups," starring Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco and Victor Arnold. At Hollywood Plaza at the Cinemette, one could see "Magnum Force," staring Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry. At the Paramount, "American Graffiti" was playing staring Ron Howard and Richard Dreyfuss. At Weirton, the Plaza was showing "The Way We Were," starring Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford. The Plaza is the only theater left of this list today.
The news of New Year's Day in 1924 was considerably more interesting as most of the headlines from the Steubenville Herald-Star revolved around the cleaning up of the city from crime, especially as it dealt with prohibition. The headline from the paper on Jan. 4 explained that on that day, there would be a series of raids on "alleged" speakeasies in the city where illegal hootch was being produced. Evidence was gathered based on sales of alcohol confiscated by agents. The newspaper reported that the entire police force in Steubenville was on the case.
All in all, 13 illegal bootleggers and hootch-makers were caught by Steubenville Mayor Hawkins and the police force.
Hawkins tried hard in that year to curb crime. Later in January, he issued an anti-gambling decree. This order demanded that all gambling stop in the city of Steubenville. All gambling paraphernalia was to be removed from the city within 48 hours. After that time, the police had the power to confiscate and prosecute anyone violating the order. Police were sent on raids to collect illegal gambling equipment and all would be subject to the "axe and the bonfire" if found.
On Jan. 14, two gambling establishments were raided in the city as reported in the Jan. 14 newspaper. An establishment run by Chester Lilly at 330 S. Sixth Street was raided with seven players arrested, and a place at South Street and Sixth was also raided with five players arrested. Other gambling places known to the police were on the list to be raided, but had evidently heard of the operation and were closed up tight that night.
Another crime that made headlines 100 years ago was the theft of a small safe from the Buehler Brothers Meat Dealers store on South Fourth Street. Two miles north of the city it was found along the river with the door blown off. According to reports, nitroglycerin was used as the explosive. The door was found some 12 feet away from the body of the safe and about $120 was missing. That is the equivalent to about $2,000 in today's money.
Steubenville in the 1920s seems to have been a happening place to be sure.
Looking back even further to 1874, 150 years ago, news was slow in Steubenville on New Year's Day. But later on in that year, the anti-alcohol movement or the temperance movement was gaining traction in Steubenville. On April 1, 1874, all the bells in the city rang from the area churches and all saloons in the city were ordered to be closed by order of the municipality. Power to regulate these issues was given to local government by the state legislature. By the fall of that year, power at the statehouse turned over from the Republicans, who supported temperance, to the Democrats, who opposed the measure. Once again, Steubenville's saloons were wide open. Little did they know that in 50 years, prohibition would be the law of the land.
Time marches on, and today in 2024 we have the luxury of hindsight, and not to mention a legal glass of New Year's champagne. It's always neat to look back on the past and see where we have come from in our community. For right now anyway, I just want to hold on especially to my kids, maybe a little tighter this year.
(Zuros is the Hancock County administrator) (Zuros is Hancock County administrator.)