Digital Extra: The Journal's 175th Anniversary

07.21.2004

The passing news

Stranded on Block Island without a physician, Mrs. John Collins, 25, wife of a coastguardman, began to experience the usual signs of an imminent baby Sunday night. Heavy seas prevented a transfer to the mainland by water.

When her distress increased Monday, the Navy came to the rescue with a helicopter and raced the stork to the Fall River Airport. Her husband met her there and drove her to Truesdale Hospital.

But nothing happened at the hospital.

Mrs. Collins was discharged yesterday to await further developments at the home of relatives in Bristol.

Oct. 9, 1957

The 10-cent beer got a kick in the head yesterday and may not live longer than the rest of the month. . . . Virtually all major national breweries reported their wholesale price for beer will be increased on Oct. 1 and the James Hanley Co. of Providence announced it will follow suit. . . . The wholesale increases will be about 18 to 20 cents for a case of 24 bottles . . . Some barmen said they might try to get a little higher head on their glasses of beer to offset the increase and still sell for a dime.

Page One, Sept. 12, 1953 [10 cents in 1953 equals about 70 cents in 2004.]

Some fine old Providence landmarks slowly disappeared from view last night as the lovely legs of the girls who serve in the Bacchante Room of the Sheraton-Biltmore Hotel were sheathed in opaque skirts.

It was the first time since 1933 that the girls, a continuing tradition not unlike the more famous Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall, have had their legs shielded from the public view.

The girls themselves are not in favor of the new gowns, which are quite similar to those you might see at the country club any Saturday night. There is something about the sight of a pretty pair of legs combined with a few scotch and sodas which results in a chemical formula known as "the fat tip."

June 20, 1956

Dean John F. Quinn of the University of Rhode Island said yesterday he will "definitely" take action against two university students who raided a fruit stand yesterday if police do not lodge charges against them.

Gerald E. Lubusky, 18, of 23 Exeter St., Providence, one of the students, received bird shot in a leg when he and a fraternity brother, Richard C. Treistman, 20, of 145 Ausdale Road, Cranston, stole pumpkins and apples from the stand.

Police Chief Joseph B. Congdon said last night he has not decided whether he will charge James Reed, son of Clarence Reed, owner of the stand at Route 138 and Old Depot Road, in the shooting.

Oct. 8, 1957

Number, number who has the number?

The Lymansville Fire Co. of North Providence last night appealed to the Town Council to settle a problem that has plagued the Lymansville and Fruit Hill Fire Companies for many years. Which fire company and rescue squad is officially designated as the town's number one fire company? Both groups use the numeral one.

Oct. 8, 1957