From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Aug. 8, 1915:

• “Driftwood lodged against the piers of the Massachusetts street bridge across the Kaw has been causing the county commissioners a lot of trouble all year and the expense of clearing it all away has been an appreciable item in the county’s expenses. The continued high water and the many changes in the stream have made the drift the worst in many years. ‘We no sooner get one lot cleared away than more floats down and lodges against the piers,’ said Commissioner Green the other day, ‘and to keep the stuff away seems an unending job.’ The commissioners had a man hired to clear the rubbish loose after the last big raise and the job required several days. A complete telephone pole, which had floated down from somewhere up stream, caused considerable attention last week, and one man was going to get a block and tackle and remove it…. Where the great amount of drift wood comes from is a mystery to rivermen who can only explain it on the theory that many small tributaries of the Kaw have been filled with debris after the dry years and that the accumulation is so great that there is much of it left after each rise. Other people say that the rains in different localities clear out different creeks each time and that the rises each have drift from many streams up the river.”
• “The boys at the fire station are proud of their red automobile and truck and they spend hours in keeping it in good condition. The chemical truck is polished twice a week and cleaned every day, if it has been used. Metal polish, piano polish, and plenty of arm power all contribute to keep the apparatus spick and span. The two fire horses, Rock and Ponco, which are used but seldom for fires now, are given weekly baths with hot water too, and they like it immensely.”
• “‘The hay and general crops near Mount Ida are looking fine,’ said Mayor W. J. Francisco this morning, ‘and I am more than satisfied with the prospects on my farm there.’ The mayor returned to Lawrence yesterday after spending several days in the country. He will ship a car load of prairie hay to Lawrence soon and says that he is confident that the farmers are going to come out in good shape in the neighborhood of his land.”
• “Washington, D. C. – American farmers are harvesting the greatest wheat crop ever grown in any one country. It may reach a billion bushels. Officials today estimated the crop at 903 million bushels, basing their calculations on the condition of the crop August 1.”
• “If you are thrifty, look over the bargains advertised by Lawrence merchants for next Wednesday. You will save money. These goods they tell you about in today’s paper are not old nor out of style. They are new, and up to the minute, and the only reason for the cut prices is to get your business. See what they offer that you need.”