Newspaper Article

Hazen Memorial Library in Bon Air, Virginia   -  Circa 1935

Few villages of 200 inhabitants can boast of 3,000 volumes.

The village of Bon Air, Chesterfield County,Virginia, only eight miles from the City of Richmond, may well be proud of this fact, also of its lovely little granite building which houses those volumes and provides a comfortable reading room as well as a central meeting place where kindred spirits may come and spend pleasant hours chatting over a cup of tea.

Lowly Dime Novel Rises to High Estate   -  Circa 1935

Do you remember Nick Carter, Diamond Dick, Old Sleuth, Young King Brady, Frank Reade, Bowery Billy, Frank Merriwell, the Liberty Boys and others of that host of heroes of yesterday's paperback fiction?

Did you ever sneak up into the hayloft or the attic to revel in their fabulous deeds of heroism?

If you are over forty you almost certainly did, and if you aren't you surely have heard of the dime novel eulogized by your dad with a genuine nostalgic touch in his voice.

Book Preservation by Virginia State Library - Circa 1935

There are the land books and personal property books for all the counties beginning in 1783, in which you may see the amount of taxes your ancestors paid or didn't pay. And, then, there are the deed books and will books, the survey books and the order books, the journals of the council and the "executive papers," and the many thousands of letters which compose the second largest manuscript library in the United States. Only the collection in the Library of Congress in Washington is larger.

FoXo Reardon's "Bozo" comic strip - Circa 1935

Bozo is merely a "nobody" in the eyes of his creator, Francis Xavier Reardon, 40-year-old father of eight children. But Bozo is a most important "nobody" for the Reardon family, and particularly for Foxo Reardon.

Patrick Henry's Desk - Circa 1935

Mrs. Carrington uses the bookcase of the old secretary to display to advantage some rare old china plates which came into her possession from the estate of former Governor John Carroll of Maryland. The old plate was made in England and carries the old English "C" of he Carroll name prominently in the center of the pieces.

Judge Sends Aunt Hetty Into Exile - January 6, 1935

Mountain woman climbs highest peak to peer into her beloved Virginia she's barred from by her given promise.

The incidents in this story might have happened at any county seat in Southwest Virginia years ago. But they will never happen again!

J. L. Sherrard Tells Story of McNeil's Raid during the Civil War - January 6, 1935

Today in a rambling old Colonial residence at 3207 Seminary Avenue in Ginter Park the student-warrior of 74 years ago, now silvered and glad to rest in his easy chair before a fire, reviews those stirring days of his youth with a mental relish undimmed by the passing time. But of all the epochal events of those four years of war the one that burns brightest in his memory is that least recorded by historians, yet paradoxically acclaimed the most daring feat of either side--the capture of two Union generals within their own lines--the Cumberland raid of McNeil's Rangers.

Edgar Allan Poe's Life in Richmond, Virginia, Part 1 - January 6, 1935

In this classic old Southern city Edgar Allan Poe spent the most important and impressionistic years of his life--years that were to see him pass from babyhood to boyhood and from boyhood to manhood.

Edgar Allan Poe's Life in Richmond, Virginia, Part 2- January 13, 1935

Honest John' Letcher, Wartime Governor - January 13, 1935

All Virginians are so familiar with the great deeds and illustrious names of those who played the leading roles in the tragic drama of the War Between the States that a number of the participators are today as truly living personalities as they were when here in the flesh. But there is one who served his State faithfully and well, yet toward whom the historians have been somewhat stingy in the space they have allotted to him. That man is John Letcher, who was Governor of Virginia from 1860 to 1864. What we are told about him is very much in his favor, but the pages given over to his story are all too few.

Milepost in Virginia Transportation - January 13, 1935

America has become increasingly Richmond-minded with the passing years. Transportation effectiveness has helped turn Richmond-mindedness into visitor interestedness.

The prologue to this started 328 years ago when Captain Newport and more than 20 other colonist left Jamestown in the emerald month of May on a trip of discovery.

The Old Dispatch Building:   Progress Dooms Another Landmark- January 13, 1935

A landmark identified with the newspaper life of Richmond 40 years ago will pass into memory when the old Dispatch Building at the corner of Twelfth and Main Streets is torn down to make room for the new parcel post building, part of which is to occupy the site.

Eustis Transient Camp - January 13, 1935

"I can put any man who applies here to work at his own job."

Perhaps in no better words, surely not more simply, could the magnitude of the Fort Eustis transient camp project be described than in those of Director Paul B. Murphy. And Director Murphy, like Ripley, can prove it.

Henricopolis, America's First University - January 13, 1935

It was not destined to live and grow into the great universtity planned for it by its founders, this College of Henricopolis. Perhaps in their eagerness, they attempted too soon to found a university in the struggling young colony, but for three years it existed and was a part of the life of the colony, when in 1622 it was ruthlessly destroyed by the Indians in the great massacre of that year; and, to this college, though short lived, belongs the distinction of being the first to be founded in America.

President Roosevelt celebrates his 53rd birthday with his "Old Gang" - January 27, 1935

Early next month, in belated celebration of the President's birthday, the White House rafters will echo with the songs and stories and skits of "the gang" which, more than any other group, kept alive Mr. Roosevelt's public interests and political ambitions through the years when he was exiled to a bedroom. For 14 years now they have been joshing him, inspiring him, informing him and aiding him, always nursing his early expectation that some day he would dwell in the White House. The "gang"--his name for it--consists of half a dozen men who were associated with him in the 1920 presidential campaign--his three secretaries, other newspapermen and ex-newspapermen. Neither his smashing defeat in 1920 nor his subsequent paralysis robbed them of hope that some day---.

Ancestors of Franklin Delano Roosevelt- January 27, 1935

Fifty-third anniversary of nation's executive brings thoughts of part Virginia played in the careers
of the illustrious forbears of Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Richmond's Nolley School of Yesteryear - January 27, 1935

Most any winter day from 1894 to 1908 if you were in the vicinity of Belvidere and Grace Streets at noontime you could see a yelling frantic group of boys kicking a black rugby football along a triangular shaped lot.

"Stonewall" Jackson at V. M. I. - January 27, 1935

It was rather a dismal afternoon and the clouds were hanging low over the Virginia Military Institute barracks, but Major Jackson's cadets drilled on. There were no horses, and the cadets pulled the heavy artillery carriages through movement after movement as Major Jackson put the full force of his deep voice into his commands. A cloud, blacker than the rest, appeared and released a torrent that seemed as if it would wash away the very guns and caissons themselves. But still Major Jackson's cadets drilled on.

Confederate Women's Home  - January 27, 1935

A home of gleaming white Indiana limestone, beautiful in its simplicity, emulating in its pillared front and classic lines the First Home of the nation, a home of hundred rooms, a home for the Confederacy's brave women--that is the Southland's "House of Memories."

Sidney Lanier - Poet and Musician - February 3, 1935

Today is the anniversary of the birth of a Southern poet and musician who is known as the "Sir Galahad of American letters." Sidney Lanier was the son of a Virginia woman and his father was but a few generations removed from the Old Dominion. Sidney Lanier, born in Macon, Ga., February 3, 1842, was the son of Robert Sampson Lanier and Mary J. Anderson.

The loves of John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson - February 10, 1935

Not only in politics did their lives meet, but there is also a strange connection in their love affairs. By some ironical twist of fate, John Marshall married the daughter of the woman who "turned down" Thomas Jefferson. And for the finishing touch, Jefferson, as Governor of Virginia, had to sign their wedding license!

Napolean Might have Held Court on the James - February 10, 1935

What really prevented Napoleon III, former Emperor of France, from purchasing one of the great estates on the lower James River where, with his consort, the lovely Empress Eugenie, he probably would have established a semi-imperial court?

There was only a slight hitch, apparently, in negotiations between representatives of the leader of the Bonapartists and a Richmond real estate firm, but it stopped the setting up of a residence in one of those ancient counties named for the royal family of England.

Circuit Rider, by The Circuit Rider's Wife- February 24, 1935

"When I arrive in heaven," Corra Harris said to me in her last lengthy and formal interview, "I shall be more anxious to know what Lundy thinks of me than what my Heavenly Father thinks, who probably never thought very highly of me anyway, and will know better how to make allowances for my infirmities. But if he still idolizes me as he did in life, it is going to be an embarrassing moment for me when he searches me with that calm, blue gaze of spirit he always had. I know I shall be full of apologies and excuses, though I really have tried to live somewhere on the rungs of Jacob's ladder."

Elliott Roosevelt Finds Health in Virginia Hills - February 24, 1935

In 1892 Elliott Roosevelt came from his business in New York and his home on Long Island to Abingdon. He had left his young wife and his three little children, Eleonor, Elliott Jr. and Hall, in New York. He came searching for health and the restoration of shattered nerves. He was then 32 years old. The heavy strain of his work and his gay social and sporting life had combined with a smashup from a fall riding in an amateur circus to undermine a constitution already seriously impaired by fever contracted while hunting tigers in India.

Robert E. Lee, a Biography by Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman - February 24, 1935

The concluding volumes of Dr. Freeman's monumental work on Robert E. Lee have just issued from the press and have received remarkable notices by reviewers the country over. There are several reasons for this acclaim. In the first place the work is the first detailed life of Lee and in the second place (and more important) it is exceedingly readable.

Half-Way House: The famous tavern is restored - February 24, 1935

In the distance looms the Half-Way House. Being tired from a long ride, and deciding this is the better of all the ordinaries vying with one another for his patronage, he calls his horse to a halt before a welcoming door. Inside, he is greeted by a cordial host, and to him he makes known his wishes of lodging for himself and horse. Preliminaries over and before supper, he visits the tap room (bar room) where he is served, possibly, a mint julep.

George Washington Monument erected in Capitol Square - February 24, 1935

February 22, 1935, was the 203rd birthday of George Washington, the man who will ever rank as the greatest character of his time and the first in the hearts of his countrymen. So much has been written about him that it would be almost impossible to write of his personality or life without repeating what has been recorded. But anything connected with his life, or associated with his name, is always interesting, especially on the anniversary of his birth.

The following story, that takes us back 116 years, when the State of Virginia planned a monument to his memory, which, even today, ranks as one of the handsomest memorials ever erected, is both interesting and new.

Adele Clark - A pioneer of the Arts - March 14, 1935

Robert Henry, one of the greatest teachers of art, once said: "Art is simply a question of doing things, anything, well. It is not an outside, extra thing. When the artist is alive in any person...that person becomes interesting to other people...because he is interesting to himself. He becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressing creature."

Adele Clark, who studied under Henri, in New York, must have listened well. Because, although she is an artist in the strict interpretation of the word, she is also an artist as Henri defined one. She is essentially a person; her interest in painting serves not only as a supplement to her life but as a well-spring of it.

Pocahontas' Earrings - March 17, 1935

Who knows anything about the Sedgeford Portrait of Pocahontas and her little son, Thomas Rolfe?

This is the question now being asked earnestly by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. So says Miss Ellen Bagby, chairman of the Jamestown committee of that organization, and therefore the ex-officio guardian angel of all that pertains to the memory of the Indian princess. The portrait itself is fairly well known, but its story is lost in the dim and mysterious shadows of antiquity.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Opening Soon. Will Thomas C. Parker by the new curator? - March 17, 1935

At the turn of the century few people took active interest in painting, architecture, the graphic arts or the crafts. Within the last decade, however, there have been many evidences of an awakening, until organized activities now are lifting their heads everywhere, like flowers in the spring time, and Thomas C. Parker is the gardener.

Major John Pelham - March 26, 1935

Seventy-six years ago, March 17, 1863, Major John Pelham, "The great cannoneer," died at Culpeper Courthouse, Va. He doubtless possessed more natural skill at artillery practice than any other gunner on either the Confederate or Federal armies. He had just been wounded about six miles away at a fight where he was technically a spectator. A girl, perhaps the chief cause of his then being in Culpeper County, watched him die. "The gallant Pelham," so named in official reports, would never again come calling to the Shackelford house after he left it this time. He was 24 years old, surely too young to die, Bessie Shackelford must have thought.

The Trail that Led to Appomattox - March 31, 1935

Two unforgettable events in the annals of Virginia's history, and that of the South's and nation's as well, will pass in review before the minds of all theose who cherish Confederate traditions, when the seventieth anniversary of the burning of Richmond is commemorated on April 3 --- and that of General Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9.

Theodore "Teddy" Greenberg, Boy Genius - April 14, 1935

Richmond is now the home of a young mathematical genius whose mystifying acumen with figures was accidentally discovered by his parents about a year and a half ago when the boy was about 5 years old, and before he had entered school or had any visual knowledge of figures. The little wizard is Theodore Edward Greenberg, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Greenberg, who moved to this city from New York in 1931, and who now lives at 2304 Lakeview Avenue.

Newspaper Article: The Oldest Masonic Hall - April 21, 1935

It is doubtful if there is another Masonic building in America which has had beneath its roof as many distinguished men. The late King Edward of England, then the Prince of Wale, was among the visitors, as was also General George Washington, General LaFayette and his son, George Washington LaFayette, and several other Frenchmen--all of whom were formally elected to honorary membership in Richmond-Randolph Lodge.

Transylvania, the Fourteenth American State

On October 12 of the present year at Boonesborough, Ky., will be held a memorial celebration in honor of four important events in American history.

First, the cutting of the Transylvania Trail, sometimes called the Wilderness Trail, commissioned by the Transylvania Company and executed by Daniel Boone, Richard Callaway and other pioneers, thirty strong.

Second, the building of the great palisaded fort from plans drawn by the president of the Transylvania Company, on Otter Creek, the site of present Boonesborough.

Third, the convening of the Legislature of Transylvania on May 23, 1775, the first legislative assembly of free-born American citizens to convene on the Continent west of the Alleghanies.

Fourth, the founding of the State of Transylvania, which had a short life of but 18 months, but exercised a profound influence on the course of American history.

Re-enactment of the Battle of Chancellorsville - April 28, 1935

"Sunday morning, April 28, 1863, Lee went with Jackson to a religious service, attended by a throng of soldiers. That evening, on both sides of the Rappahannock, regimental adjutants were beginning to put together the returns of the personnel of the army, due on the 30th."

Douglas Southall Freeman's R. E. Lee, Vol. II., p. 506.

This morning, exactly 72 years later, a throng of Virginia Military Institute cadets clad in Confederate gray will attend services at the Lexington churches of which Lee and Jackson were members. Tonight their regimental adjutant will begin to work on his personnel report, due on the 30th, for on May 2, 1935, "Stonewall" Jackson's men will march again!"

Charity Dances - April 28, 1935

Surer signs of spring in Richmond than first robins or April showers are the preparation of the round of dancing revues in which more than 2,000 Richmond children will step and sing for sweet charity's sake.

Colonial Churches of Old Dominion - April 28, 1935

One of the oldest of Virginia's Colonial Churches--after St. Luke's in Isle of Wight County--is a little brick church of marked simplicity, known as Merchant's Hope--set deep among the pines in the wider angle of the James and Appomattox Rivers, in what is today Prince George County.

Colonel George Hancock - The Man Who Was Buried Sitting Up - April 28, 1935

Mystery probably shrouds no member of Virginia's illustrious Revolutionary War hero's last resting place with more curiosity than that of Colonel George Hancock, soldier and member of Congress, whose tomb is situated between Elliston and Shawsville, Va.

Moorish Dagger is Battle Trophy - May 5, 1935

Virginia's roster of heroic sons, voluminous and unending as it is, would forever by incomplete did it not include the name of Midshipman John D. Henley and an account of his hand-to-hand battle with the captain of a Tripolitan gunboat during the battle of Tripoli on August 3, 1804. With Acting Lieutenant John Trippe of Maryland, the 19-year-old Virginian with only nine men captured a Moorish vessel manned by four times their small number.

Another First for the First President - May 5, 1935

George Washington is often spoken of as "First in War, First in Peace and First in the Hearts of His Countrymen." Now we find another first to add to his credit. He was the first large landowner to advertise his property in "The Maryland and Baltimore Journal, The Advertiser."

JEB Stuart's Boxwood Trees Still Stand - June 2, 1935

Visitors to the Stuart homeplace in Patrick County, Va., where once lived the widowed mother of the gallant General, "Jeb," always carry away with them a strong realization of earnest living, true worth and greatness.

John Paul Jones Once Invaded Britain - June 30, 1935

John Paul Jones Was Little Fellow, a Sailor at 12, the Friend of Great Men Before 30 and He Feared Nothing

It's Tercentenary Time in Hopewell - June 30, 1935

Three hundred years of progress--progress from the day in August, 1635, when the little ship Hopewell landed its passengers on the point at the junction of the Appomattox and James Rivers where Captain Francis Eppes established "Hopewell Plantation;" through the years to 1885 when this little town became for a brief period virtually the capital of the nation; to the war boom days of '17 when thousands taxed the new city's capacity, to the present era of a thriving little city---that is what Hopewell, Va., looks back upon next August and is the glorious record of achievement it plants to fete with a gala celebration.

Governor Fauquier's Influence on Thomas Jefferson - July 7, 1935

Of Francis Fauquier, royal Governor of Virginia from 1758 to 1768, Thomas Jefferson wrote that he was the "ablest man who had ever filled that office." Historians may disagree with Jefferson's superlative praise, colored by the memory of a youthful friendship. Yet none should deny Fauquier's ability and vivid personality. Certainly he was a "compleat gentleman" and deserved the respect and admiration accorded him by his contemporaries.

Windy Point Club - July 7, 1935

No organization in the City of Richmond attained a greater reputation than the famous Windy Point Club, which held sway on Libby Hill, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-Ninth, Franklin and Main Streets, being the boundaries of that organization, where weekly meetings were held, summer and winter, spring and fall.

William James Hubard, His Hidden Talent - July 7, 1935

Seventy-three years after his death the secret that William James Hubard guarded so carefully during his life in Virginia has been revealed. Not that the secret was a guilty one. By no means that. As a matter of fact, the secret was something of which Hubard should have been proud. It was a secret only because the fact that he was a cutter of excellent silhouettes was full of unpleasant associations for Mr. Hubard.

Dr. Archibald Henderson - July 21, 1935

Dr. Archibald Henderson, historian of North Carolina, hailed as the leading Southern intellectual of this age
by foremost educators and writers of the nation.

Mrs. Robinson's Cement Statues - July 21, 1935

What would you think if every time you looked out of the window you were to see Greta Garbo sitting in your garden? Not costumed to represent any of those characters that have given her world-wide fame, but clad merely in a very modern bathing suit and reclining in nonchalant ease on the edge of your lily pool, gazing pensively into its depths?

This is just what greets the eyes of Hylah Edwards Robinson at "Fontainbleau," her home in King William County, and it is she who is solely responsible for having the enchantress from Hollywood as an addition to her household.

Virginia Beaches - July 21, 1935

Thousands of tourists visit this section of the Old Dominion annually, and literally descend on it like flocks of seagulls during the summer season when the siren call of the sea is heard far inland. For along the Southeastern tip of Virginia there lies a 25 mile stretch of sand-beach as beautiful as the Southland owns, where rugged green pines protude from sand-dunes milky-white, and the blue of sky and sea meet at what is sometimes an undistinguishable horizon.

Questions and Answers - July 21, 1935

How Many States Have a State Bird? What Did the Mellon Church in Pittsburgh Cost? Do All Cats Purr? What is the Origin of "Cheerio"?

A Woman Bosses an Ironworks - July 21, 1935

The clue to the business was in a far corner where two anvils stood in front of round stove-live affairs with funnel-pipes suspended above. Near a table, holding "forms" against which the hot iron was hammered into shape, stood an oxygen tank. On the floor and on the walls were various wrought-iron objects, gates, railing, long iron rods. Heat, invisible, pervasive heat, ruled with heavy hand. There were all the appurtenances connected with the thoroughly masculine trade of smithing. But apparently nothing which might hold forth allure to the feminine mind.

The work is hot, rapid, hard and dirty--as evidenced by the dress of the workmen. The material itself, used both for the sword and the plowshare, was hard, heavy, unyielding. And a woman was boss!

A New Poe Letter - July 21, 1935

Edgar Allan Poe furnishes a neverflagging source of interest to all Virginians and a hitherto unpublished letter lying perdu to Poe's biographers for many years is released today by the Valentine Museum.

Newspaper Article: Lee Chapel at Washington and Lee University - August 4, 1935

Men in grey will continue to honor the memory of the great commander, Robert E. Lee, for many a year to come, for the grey-clad cadets of Virginia Military Instutute never pass Lee Chapel in Lexington where General Lee is buried, without a reverential salute.

Sallie Partington - August 4, 1935

This is the story of Richmond's own favorite actress, Sallie Partington, whose career began here as a child, who became the idol of the soldiers of the South, who on the stage of the Richmond Theatre played leading roles opposite the great Wallack and Joe Jefferson, and many of the other stars, and in after years lived in obscurity and poverty within seven short blocks of the scene of her wartime triumphs.

Edgar Allan Poe Articles - October 6, 1935

This eighty-sixth anniversary of the death of Edgar Allan Poe is marked in Richmond by announcement of the discovery of the poet's autograph clipped from an unknown letter which reveals that a small college in Western Pennsylvania was the first such institution to officially recognize the genius of the tragedy-marked author.

Johnson Isle - Memories of a Yankee Prison Camp - October 6, 1935

The Richmond Howitzers, which had organized as a company in November 1859, became a battalion bearing the same name in May 1861. This company went on the firing line at an early date. What these men did helped to make history.

James Blythe Moore, then a boy of 17, left Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Va. (with no one's permission), and joined the Howitzers. He was assigned to a detachment of Mosby's cavalry, where he fought with the spirit of a man, and the strength of a youth, with an enthusiasm that carried him through the hardships and privations that surrounded the men who fought for "The Lost Cause."

He, as second lieutenant and drill master of Company C, in August of 1863, was captured near Orange Courthouse. Quotes from an old scrap book of his give a vivid description of life in a Union prison camp.

Stratford Hall to be Dedicated - October 6, 1935

Stratford Hall dedication ceremonies next Saturday afternoon, marking the last milestone in the long struggle of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation to offer the old Potomac River estate to the people of the United States as a debt-free national shrine, will be a truly international event. No mere Virginia achievement, no purely Southern gesture, not even just a national acquisition will be this shrine dedication, for six European countries are scheduled to have their official representatives present in commemoration of the part played by members of the Lee family in the enlightening of those nations in regard to the Colonial cause.

Crippled Children's Hospital - Bed-Ridden Orchestra Tunes Out Gloom - October 6, 1935

Who knows that Richond is the proud possessor of one of the most unique orchestras in the whole United States? Every musician in the group is bed-ridden and all are girls less than 14 years old. But those little folk can play their fiddles, drums and other instruments in a way to make mature orchestra members sit up in astonishment. Every player is a patient at the Crippled Children's Hospital, and when Dr. Hans Kindler, the distinguished conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra, comes here from Washington the first of next month to give a concert for the benefit of the hospital, it is more than likely he will want them to play for him.

Ginter Park of Other Days - November 24, 1935

Major Ginter planned and developed Lakeside Park, which included a botanical and zoological garden. This was a popular resort for Richmond people, particularly for bicycle enthusiasts who rode out to Lakeside over the Missing Link bicycle track, a cinder path designed by E. T. D. Myers, Jr. which paralleled the Boulevard from Broad Street to Hermitage Road. The Lakeside Club was organized as the Lakeside Wheel Club, the name later became the Lakeside Country Club after the nine-hole golf was built. Some of the original members of the Lakeside Wheel Club still residing in Richmond are: R. H . Meade, Charles R. Burnett, William H. Palmer, W. P. Wood, W. D. Duke and Charles R. Winston. The Lakeside Trolley, one of the early electric lines, ran from the city to Lakeside by way of Barton Heights and North Richmond.

Photographer Saves Charm of Virginia Homes for the Future - December 15, 1935

"She is saving Virginia for Virginians and the World."

It is a woman's mission achieved; a woman's vision of an erst-while glory that must be salvaged from ruthless Progress and Neglect; a woman's love of a fine heritage carelessly spurned, that those words eulogize.

Frances Benjamin Johnston is the woman, and the all-seeing lens of her camera is the medium through which an imperishable record of the finest legacy bequeathed by our Colonial ancestors--their homes--is being snatched in the eleventh hour and saved for posterity.

Richmond Theatre Guild - December 15, 1935

The Richmond Theatre Guild, which succeeded the Little Theatre League, is continually on the lookout for talent. It gives you, the amateur, a chance.

Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South - December 15, 1935

To the Benefit Fund for Retired Ministers, all of the profits of the Methodist Publishing House go. Having given their lives toward the spread of the Gospel, without stint of time, energy or patience, many pastors find that when the occasion comes for their retirement, they are handicapped in the competitive business world to support themselves and their families. Having expended their best years in interests of others, it is neither fair nor just to neglect these fine men when they are compelled to restrain their activity and give way to younger seminary graduates. It is a wonderful work, therefore, that this printing establishment is doing in seeing to it that everyday troubles shall not descend upon the heads of their chosen leaders.

Rose Water Still 200 Years Old - December 15, 1935

A fragrance that has lingered more than half a century!

Pie-size cakes of rose petals with an indescribable sweetness are among the earliest and most cherished memories of J. C. Fields, 70-year-old owner of perhaps the most unusual still that never vexed the conscience of a prohibition sleuth.

Richmond Police - December 15, 1935

Here's an unfriendly warning to the criminal element--particularly those who are quick on the trigger and consider a "copper" a big, untrained watchman who makes an excellent target when he stands between them and escape:

"Keep away from Richmond if you want to stay healthy!"

For today there are men on the local police force who can pick up a machine gun and write the names of Mais and Legenza in letters a foot high on a wall 25 yards away.

Happy Days Are Back Again in Hollywood December 15, 1935

I know that people have been saying a lot about the depression being over, and prosperity having been found lurking behind that famous corner--but I never really believed it until just a few weeks ago. Life seemed just about as difficult, and the pennies had to be squeezed just as hard, of course, I thought everyone was in the same fix--just being brave about it, or pretending not to care, or something like that. Now, I find, that the world is definitely a happier place to live in, and money is being spent gayly and foolishly once more and, in short, happy days are here again.

Frank J. Sprague, Father of the Trolley - December 29, 1935

While the entire credit for the development of such an epochal invention as electric traction belongs to no one individual, the late Frank J. Sprague's achievements in this city proved so successful that he was rightfully called "The Father of the Trolley Line."

New Years Echos Have Auld Lang Chime - December 29, 1935

Three days from now Richmond will join the nation and the rest of the world in the celebration of a new year--1936--a year that finds millions out of the Slough of Despond, looking confidently toward more health, more happiness than they have enjoyed since the gay days of synthetic prosperity.

When the infant arrives at the stroke of 12 Tuesday night, amid the blare of trumpets, the shriek of whistles, the yells of multitudes, he will find that depression is but an unpleasant memory--licked by the no decrepit hero, 1935, in 12 strenuous rounds.

Plea to Save Two Old Landmarks - December 29, 1935

The square behind the John Marshall High School about to be acquired by the city for use as an athletic field consists for the most part in small houses of little interest the destruction of which will be no loss. Among them, however, are two buildings unique in their associations, which should be preserved if possible. Each has played a role far greater than its modest appearance would suggest.

On Leigh Street, near the corner of Ninth, stands the old studio of Edward Virginius Valentine, an art center for students and noted visitors to Richmond for more than 50 years; and on Clay Street, three doors from the corner of Eighth, is the only house now standing intact in which, during his various sojourns in Richmond, Edgar Allan Poe actually lived.