From the Lawrence Daily World for May 26, 1910: “O. H. Ayer, of Fairview, was in the city yesterday. Mr. Ayer although eighty-eight years old is still active, physically and mentally, and looks after his own affairs. He says that he remembers distinctly having seen Halley’s comet when it appeared seventh-five years ago. … Last Friday night about midnight lightning struck the barn on J. C. Hogg’s farm, and in a short time it burned to the ground. … The management of the Parker Shows wish to announce that the grounds will be thoroughly protected this evening by three kinds of sawdust so there will be no trouble with mud or any considerable dampness.”