From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 14, 1915:

• “‘Torpedoed’ by a misjudged charge of dynamite, one of the barges used by the Missouri Valley Bridge company in the construction of the new bridge across the Kaw River, listed to port and sank to the bottom of the river this forenoon. The barge did not sink out of sight, the river being shallow where it is anchored. The river comes just to the edge of the body of the barge and has done no damage to the engine mounted there for the purpose of pumping sand from the river…. The charge of dynamite was intended to loosen the sand in the river. Whether it did that is not known for it loosed the boards in the bottom of the barge and let the river in at such a rate that the workmen’s attention was immediately taken up with saving the craft. The barge settled to the bottom and the workmen are busy this afternoon making arrangements to float it again.”
• “S. S. McCann of North Lawrence had the satisfaction of driving the first spike in the interurban line inside the city limits at 11 o’clock today. The workmen reached the city boundary just at that time and a few moments afterward the first rail was spiked fast to the right of way inside the town. It is expected that the track will be laid to the switch on Locust street by tomorrow evening and this will for the present be the terminus of the road.”
• “C. C. Pickard, bridge watchman, has felt the weight of his cares increase since the work on the new bridge started. Mr. Pickard asked the city commissioners today to assist him in enforcing more strictly the bridge regulations, in order that accidents to pedestrians may be avoided. The new danger arises from the increased number of people who spend time on the bridge watching the construction of the new piers. Mr. Pickard complains that drivers of motor cars have been careless about the speed regulations while crossing the bridge. He fears an accident will result if more care is not used. The commissioners agreed that the authority of the bridge watchman should be maintained.”
• “This has been the best year the Lawrence Business College has ever known. The classes have been larger, new equipment has been added, and additional teachers added to care for the growth in attendance. The fact that business firms demand trained workers has of course been largely responsible for this. In any line of business this holds true, and if a young man has the proper technical training upon which to build, then he can go ahead just as fast as his industry warrants. A man can hold a minor position by simply being a hard worker, but if he wants to get to the top, he must be a trained man…. By a comparison of the various big business schools of the country, the Lawrence Business College stands in the front rank. There are 65 typewriters in the stenographic department of the school, and in the bookkeeping department the pupil is drilled in the use of the adding machine and other appliances. In the office division students are taught the use of all the filing systems, indexing, carbon work, mimeograph and multigraph…. The best thing about the Business College is the fact that a boy or girl with ambition and but little money can receive a training at so small a cost as to be almost negligible, considering results obtained. Many a young man or woman who would have been doomed to a life of drudgery, is now the recipient of a fine position with a good salary as result of taking a course in the Lawrence Business College.”