Past Pages for Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015

150 Years Ago

Rock formation: Near West Gate on the Overland Road, Col. Curry found a white sandstone specimen, made of lime arsenic, sand and salt — that is what Curry thinks — and he calls it lava. It is said to be incombustible and may be good material for firebricks and crucibles.

130 Years Ago

Fire: The stable belonging to Prof. Howe burned including the contents — a buggy, harness and buckboard. At 1 o’clock Mrs. Howe was awakened by the striking of the alarm clock, and she sprang from the bed quite excited — seeing the barn in flames. (A curious thing is that the clock had not been wound up for over six months.) The total loss is $500, and there was no insurance.

110 Years Ago

Bullfrog: Population of that community has increased over 1,000 now that the Tonopah railroad is extended to run. Real estate at Bullfrog, Gold Center, Beatty and Rhyolite is trebling in price and mining property at an enormous figure — tents and dugouts are being erected.

70 Years Ago

GAR Convention: Barely more than a dozen of the blue-clad Grand Army showed up to talk about the past. The Grand Old Army’s membership has dwindled to 162 from thousands who answered Abraham Lincoln’s call to keep the union from crumbling.

50 Years Ago

TV Guide for Friday, Channel 2: Rocky and Friends, Death Valley Days, Outer Limits, Science Fiction, Wrestling, News, Groucho, “Beat Generation.”

20 Years Ago

Photo caption: Pope John Paul II greets World Youth Day participants as he arrives for a Mass at Cherry Creek Park in Colorado. Thousands of youths from across the country flocked to the event — testimony to the pontiff’s U.S. popularity.

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