From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 30, 1911:

• “Marshal Carter yesterday made a trip of inspection through every alley on the west side following the instructions of Mayor Bishop that the town must be kept clean. Mr. Carter said this morning that he found the alleys to be in pretty good shape, but according to the strict interpretation of the ordinance there was hardly an alley on the west side that did not need a little cleaning up. At a few places there could be no fault found at all and nearly all of the people made it a business to clean out their waste cans daily. He found some places where the condition was very uncleanly, rubbish and manure in the alley. In all Mr. Carter says he found about 27 manure piles in the alleys. This is strictly against the ordinances and the police are going to try to put a stop to this habit that so many of the people of Lawrence have fallen into.”
• “Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Ober left today for the markets of the East to purchase the fall stock for the Ober Clothing store. They will go by train to Chicago, where they will take the boat for Buffalo and other market centers. They expect to be gone over a month. Mr. Ober is promising Lawrence buyers that he will purchase the best line of clothing that the markets afford.”
• “Thirteen miles northwest of Abilene in the Ridings pasture, while drilling a well a vein of natural gas was found about 70 feet below the surface. At first the escaping gas was thought to be water, but when none appeared a lighted match was thrown into the well and an explosion followed, flames shooting several feet into the air. The well can be lighted at intervals of about one minute. No doubt there is an abundance of gas in the reservoir from which the small vein is fed and probably it is no deeper than a thousand feet. There is talk of organizing a company to prospect for more gas.”