MOUNT VERNON — As we all know, the Good Ol’ Days were better, everything was perfect, and people never misbehaved.
Well, maybe never except on this one occasion in October of 1912 when someone tried to wreak havoc on the streets of Mount Vernon.
If you look in the newspapers of Mount Vernon for a few years after 1910, one name you’ll encounter frequently is officer Walter George. George was born in the area and worked in a metal foundry for a number of years before applying to join the Mount Vernon police department.
Once hired, George was kept busy as a patrolman.
On the morning of Sunday, Oct. 20, 1912, George was crossing the intersection of Main and Gambier Streets when he glanced down and noticed several sharp tacks on the ground. As the report in the Democratic Banner had it: “The position of the tacks gave every reason for the belief that the tacks had been carefully deposited in a good position to puncture automobile tires.”
The report also added that the way the tacks were positioned, they could have done damage to a horse’s hoof as well. The tacks were collected, and the incident was investigated, but the perpetrator wasn’t found.
Mischievous kids? Saturday night drunks? A tire dealer whose sales had been a little slow?
No one knows.
An even more exciting fracas came the following April when Officer George and Deputy Sheriff Mossholder were called to the Camp Glass Factory where a fight had broken out among employees. According to the report in the Banner, the dispute quickly escalated.
Employees Herman Dial and Porter Bullock were doing their work when Bullock pushed against a pile of material that was in his way. Dial was working on the other side of the stock and sharply told Bullock to stop pushing it.
Bullock replied by calling Dial a very rude word, which the newspaper declined to identify, though I’m sure we’ll have a good time imagining what it might have been.
Infuriated, Dial picked up the hammer he had been working with and knocked Bullock on the head with it. Bullock protested that was no fair and challenged Dial to fight with his fists, which the two men proceeded to do, with gusto.
Another employee was afraid Dial might have a knife, so he jumped into the fray and attempted to subdue Dial by punching him in the head. Said action dislocated the third employee’s finger.
Dial claimed afterward that he hardly even knew he had been struck.
At any rate, Officer George and Deputy Mossholder arrived on the scene and pulled the combatants apart. Dial and Bullock were fined $5 plus court costs for fighting, and that was that.
Peace returned to the streets patrolled by Officer George.
Okay, so, two occasions when people misbehaved. Other than these anomalies, the past was completely idyllic and everyone was always happy. (Except when they had to walk to and from school uphill through 10 feet of snow.)
