From the Lawrence Daily World for June 12, 1907: “When the World recently published a piece about the prosperity in Wakarusa Township, it believed it would be hard to find another township as well off. Now we find that Willow Springs claims to be just as prosperous as Wakarusa. Willow Springs has a population of 1,191 and every man, woman and child represents about $200 worth of property valuation. The entire area seems to be doing quite well. : Elaborate plans are being made here for a local July 4 celebration headed by the county fair board, which also is promoting a giant county fair for this fall. : A horse hitched in the downtown became frightened and bolted onto a sidewalk here, endangering several. But someone caught the animal before it ran back into the street and collided with a vehicle. : An explosion of a boiler on the Battleship Minnesota is believed to have killed at least 11 men. All were from the naval academy and the loss of such fine young men with such bright futures is tragic. They were in summer training. : Prof. Hunter of the university did a great job of helping to knock out the green bug in wheat fields. Now we hope he can attack the weather bug and make this a great summer.”