Past Pages for Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014

140 Years Ago

A spanking and drenching rain came down on the just and unjust. A young and dripping young lady came along in the edge of the shower and remarked, “She’s a snollygoster, ain’t she?” meaning the rain, and attributing the feminine gender to the same.

130 Years Ago

Chinese funeral, ritual for the dead (Part 3) — “Joss men,” or clerical functionaries, were dressed in green muslin circled with red and white flour sacks tied about their heads. They chanted the antiphonal responses. Next came priests in red robes, deacons in pink, and singers in yellow.

120 Years Ago

All sorts: Another snowstorm set in last night. There are four feet of snow at the Lake summit. The precipitation for the last two days has amounted to 1.41 inches.

70 Years Ago

Wedding rate: Ormsby County noticed a slump in the marriage rate and a slight increase in divorces granted in 1943. Many couples come from California to be married and now, due to the gasoline rationing, motorcar travel over the Sierra has been all but abolished.

50 Years Ago

Nuclear blast: The Atomic Energy Commission warned that it plans a nuclear blast that may create a slight earth tremor. The blast will take place outside the Nevada test site. It is a low intermediate underground test and described as equal to 20 to 200 kilotons.

30 Years Ago

Photo caption: Pigeons flock around the clock tower of the Nevada State Library. The historic red brick building was Carson City’s first federal building. Constructed in 1889, it is one of the new examples in the West of the old Victorian federal post office design standard in New England cities 100 years ago (now the Laxalt Building).

Sue Ballew is the daughter of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.