100 YEARS AGO....
It was front page news in The Reporter when former president Theodore Roosevelt died in his sleep in his home in Oyster Bay, New York. The former president had been in failing health since the death of his son, Lt. Quentin Roosevelt, in World War I combat.
Arch Foster, still a lieutenant in the U. S. Army, was named the new principal of Rockdale High School, succeeding a principal who had moved from town.
Just as Rockdale schools re-opened from Christmas break, a second round of the flu pandemic struck. The Reporter listed the flu deaths of four people during the week, one of whom was businessman John Hop Davis. His wife Myra had previously died from influenza “There is now left only a seven-month-old baby (in the family),” The Reporter noted.
With the war over, items like this began to appear: 100 head of government horses and mules will be sold at public auction in Cameron. Liberty Bonds will be accepted as cash.”
FORTY YEARS AGO....
With Rockdale’s water system on the verge of losing its “approved” status, the city council called a $2.8-million bond election. Items were to not only address the water system but also street repair, paving and drainage.
Council members lowered Rockdale’s minimum monthly water rate from $4.50 to $2.25 for the first 2,000 gallons.
Milam County commissioners appointed a 24-member Historical Commission charged with “surveying, marking and preserving the county’s heritage.
Duane Vincent’s Tiger basketball team was carrying a 16-1 record into district play. Big Blue had lost its first game of the season then reeled off 16 straight wins.
TWENTY YEARS AGO....
A Hearne couple was awarded $2.11-million by a 20th District Court jury after successfully arguing that the wife contracted lung cancer from laundering the work clothes of her husband, an employee of Alcoa’s Rock-dale Works.
A successful class-action lawsuit against tobacco companies resulted in a payment of $312,795 to Milam County and $92,455 to Richards Memorial Hospital.
On a 4-2 split vote, city council members okayed the final payment for the drilling company which brought in Rockdale’s newest water well.
The annual Central Texas Cow-Calf Clinic drew 165 persons to the Milano Livestock Exchange arena.
TEN YEARS AGO....
Members of the Rockdale Police Department, and other law enforcement agencies, were attempting to lift DNA evidence, and fingerprints, from a burgled Little River Clinic safe when a 39-year-old man walked into the police department and confessed to the crime.
The Milam County Sheriff’s Department was investigating an incident in which a Dallas-area man drove almost to Waco for medical treatment after sustaining burns at a deer camp fire east of Cameron.
With Texas legislators apparently holding the funding fate of a proposed 8.3-mile highway loop in their hands, Milam County commissioners were not pursuing options to fund the county’s part of the project.
Rockdale’s Stryker Sulak, who had just completed a standout college football career at Missouri, was selected to play in the east-West Shrine All-Star game.
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