100 years ago: Bones of ‘early settler’ discovered at construction site

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for April 20, 1913:

  • “REMAINS OF EARLY SETTLER — Workmen excavating at 1305 Tennessee street, dug up the skeleton of a buffalo yesterday. The bones were so near decayed that the form could not be kept, but the horns of the animal are still preserved and can be plainly distinguished as those of a buffalo. The skeleton was found about 15 or 18 inches beneath the surface and it is thought that at one time this spot was a ‘lick’ for the buffaloes roaming over the plains of Kansas. The building is being erected by H. B. Sparks and the remains of the ancient buffalo can be seen by any one who cares to view them.”
  • “A bit of very general knowledge in Lawrence became official information last night at the session of the city council when Engineer E. H. Dunmire and Fire Chief W. F. Reinisch made their report on the recent tests of the city hydrants, namely that the city is not adequately protected against fire. The report of the two officials shows that at the time the tests were made it was apparently impossible for the Lawrence Water Company to furnish the amount of water required in the franchise granted the company by the City of Lawrence. This ordinance requires that the company shall be able to furnish a pressure in time of fire sufficient to raise six streams of water 100 feet high. The report shows that the streams furnished run from a maximum height of 61 feet to a minimum of 5. The first figure was obtained as a result of the test of the hydrant at the corner of Henry and New Jersey and the low mark was reached in North Lawrence on Kansas Avenue close to Locust street. The tests showed that only 20 of the 170 fire hydrants located in the city are in first class condition and five are declared to be absolutely unfit for use…. The council decided that there should be immediate action taken to remedy these conditions and the Committee on Water, Gas and Electric Light was instructed to notify the Water Company of these conditions and to demand that the Water Company make the necessary improvements as required by the franchise.”
  • “Rev. A. J. Ross was very much surprised this morning when he received through the mail a photograph of his daughter, Miss Gladys Ross, taken when she was only six years old. The letter had been addressed to Berlin, Nebraska, Rev. Ross’ former home, and had been forwarded to this city. The letter explained that the picture had been found in a field, 18 miles from Council Bluffs, Iowa, shortly after the storm which wrecked Omaha and other Nebraska cities. Rev. Ross does not know the person signed in the letter, nor the person named as having identified it as the Ross girl. However, this person evidently knew the family. Evidently the picture was one which had been given some one in Berlin whose home was wrecked in the storm. The mounting is slightly scratched, but otherwise there are no visible signs of the long journey which it must have taken on that eventful Easter evening.”