From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for April 9, 1912:

• “Lawrence has long been known as a city of beautiful homes and in the last few years many new and modern residences have been erected here…. The new home of J. B. Watkins is nearing completion on Mount Oread. Added to the beauty of the architecture of the building are the surroundings and the pleasant view that one sees from this elevation…. There at the foot of the hill is the city, only the tops of the buildings visible through the tops of the trees. To the west are the buildings of Kansas University and the green campus. Looking further away there are hills and the farms, the river, the trees…. Following the course of the Kansas river one can see for many miles and on clear days looking from the back porch the city of Eudora can be seen by the naked eye…. Mr. Watkins standing on the site of his new home saw all of this and immediately he christened his place as ‘The Outlook.’… Standing on the site of the historic Lawrence fort this residence seems the perfection of the builder’s art…. To add to this exterior beauty Mr. Watkins is planning to convert the five acres into a beautiful park…. Every convenience known to modern times has been installed in this residence, even to the new vacuum cleaning system. This is a novel scheme, the pipes being laid in the walls similar to gas pipes and leading to a tank in the basement to catch the dust…. The hot water system is used for heating the house while each room is also provided with a fireplace equipped for burning gas. The house is wired throughout for electricity for lighting purposes.”
• “It was for Roosevelt. The Douglas County Republicans endorsed the ex-president in the first presidential primary ever held here by a majority of 429 votes over William H. Taft…. The total vote in the county reached the large figure of 1638, divided as follows: Roosevelt 1032, Taft 603, LaFollette 2, Cummins 1.”