BIG THRILL: Jack Foster writes to us from Duke Center about
another chapter in the William Piper Sr. story.

“Mr. Piper was also prominent in business as he also owned oil
property in Duke Center. My father Lloyd Foster worked for Piper
& Martin Oil for 35 years,” he writes.

“About 1941, I was 8 years old and my parents Lloyd and Ethyl
went to Lock Haven. Dad took my brother Bob and myself to Piper
Aircraft.

“Dad was asked who was calling and said, ‘Lloyd Foster.’ Bill
Piper came right down and showed us around, asked if Bob and I had
ever been up in a plane and we said no. Mr. Piper took the three of
us up and flew all over Lock Haven in his private plane.

“Big thrill for our first plane ride.”

LONG AGO: What was happening in Bradford 100 years ago? You’d be
surprised.

The June edition of the Bradford Landmark Society’s newsletter,
“The Inkwell,” provides a smattering of news from the year 1906.
The first half of the year today:

Jan. 31 – Eugene Debs, Socialist past leader, spoke at Bradford
Theater on Jan. 30. Attendance was light.

Feb. 8 – Actress Sarah Bernhardt appears in “La Sorciere” at the
Bradford Theater.

Feb. 19 – Prospects of the erection of a handsome YMCA building
are very bright, and construction will commence in the early
spring.

March 6 -ðJohn L. Sullivan, in a letter to the editor of The
Bradford Era, says that he will be appearing in Bradford in
vaudeville and will give $1,000 to any man that he cannot stop in
four rounds.

March 22 – A gas accumulation caused an explosion in the kitchen
of the Option House, shattering a number of windows.

April 19 – Stanford University was practically demolished by the
San Francisco earthquake. A Bradford student, Junius Robert Hanna,
was killed by the quake.

April 28 – John Paul Jones was finally laid to rest in the
armory at Annapolis after his body was recovered by Gen. Horace
Porter. President Roosevelt and 10,000 cheering men and women were
at the ceremony.

April 30 – Three hobos camped on Sherman Street were
arrested.

May 22 – A new stone reservoir with a capacity of about 150
barrels is being constructed by the City Poor Department at Degolia
to supply water for the poor farm.