- Hamilton, Kansas 1919 - (Part 1 of 3) -
The following are articles from the 1919 Hamilton Grit paper.
“John Saniter, who made the tax assessment for Janesville township this year has shared the following figures from it: Janesville consists of 92,160 acres or measures approximately 15 miles from east to west and 10 miles from north to south. There were 6,435 acres in wheat, 4,415 acres in corn, 305 acres in rye, 2,358 acres in alfalfa, 299 acres in sweet clover and 1,100 acres in wild timber. He found 1,684 horses, 344 mules, 8,670 cattle, 71 sheep and 1,078 hogs. There were 38 autos in Hamilton and 97 in the township outside of town.
From the Severyite reprinted in the Grit. How is Severy fixed to take care of a carload of bank robbers if they should take a notion to hold up one of our banks? Don’t you think it would be a good idea to get prepared for such a raid as this by supplying a number of the merchants with shotguns loaded with buckshot and a few rifles, and maybe we could at least make it interesting for bank robbers if they should happen along. Both our banks are using the round rotary door safes which is next thing to impossible to get into until they are opened by bank officials, but the bank robbers are onto this and are making their visits to the banks about 8:30 in the morning, about the time that the money safes are being opened, and so far, they have been getting away with the goods.
Hamilton post office has been raised from 4th class, to a third-class post office, or what is known as a Presidential office, that is the appointments are made by the President and confirmed by the Senate. However, all such offices have been put under civil service of late years.
The raise has come about largely through the efficient management of the present post-master, A.F. Dove, who has done all in his power to keep cancellation up, as this is what the rating is made from. He seldom missed going to the trains when thereby he could save a few cents in cancellation to this office. The salary for 3rd class is based on the year’s business and is fixed for a period of years at a time. This office will pay $1,100 to start with, a raise of $100 in salary.
Monday morning Sheriff Colvin phoned marshal Harman to be on the lookout for four bank robbers in a Cadillac car, who had robbed an El Dorado bank an hour before. While in the City Meat Market talking on the phone to the sheriff a car answering the description went through town going up MainStreet at a good fifty miles an hour clip. They were perfectly safe here as they were miles on their way north before people grasped the situation.
Tuesday’s dailies located the robbery at Benton, 20 miles west of El Dorado, and report from $30,000 to $40,000 in Liberty bonds, and $8,000 in cash stolen. At latest report the robbers had not been caught.
The first hard surfaced road to be built in the county under new law, will probably be a stretch of 14 miles from Eureka to Reece, the preliminary steps having been taken, and more than half the names of owners of land in the district benefited having been secured.”
