From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Sept. 24, 1915:

• “Beginning with the first of January the call men in the city fire service will be paid a salary of twenty dollars a month instead of three dollars for each fire as heretofore and as at present. There are eight call men, who sleep at the fire station, but work at their various vocations during the daytime. There are four men who reside at the station – the assistant chief and three firemen…. The theory at the bottom of the change is about this. An unscrupulous man, or even an indifferent man, or a thoughtless one (and such men might get on the force), has a direct interest in as many fire alarms as possible being turned in, when he is paid three dollars a call. A scoundrel might maneuver to get calls turned in either by committing or conniving at arson; a man not overly scrupulous might observe conditions in alleys or badly constructed or old buildings that might easily result in fire. He would say to himself, ‘I won’t bother to report that,’ taking a long chance that no fire would result, but if one did, he would get his three dollars. The complement of this would be the impulse of a man to report conditions favoring a fire, because, being on a salary, he could not have direct interest in any more fires than the usual proportion from the usual unavoidable causes.”
• “Douglas County’s very best product was exhibited at the fine arts building at the county fair yesterday afternoon, when nearly fifty mothers brought their youngsters to enter them in the baby show which was one of the big special features of the day. The interest which was taken in this feature of the fair showed beyond all doubt that the subjects of agriculture, horticulture, livestock raising, and even cooking will have to take a back seat in any Douglas county gathering where the babies are introduced as a topic of discussion…. The judges labored under only one embarrassing circumstance, Mrs. Byerly told a Journal-World reporter this morning. There were so many babies who were entitled to prizes under any but the most careful comparison that the line had to be drawn exceedingly fine in several instances. The judges would have liked it better had there been more prizes to award. ‘It was surprising to find so many perfectly beautiful babies in Douglas county,’ said Mrs. Byerley this morning.”
• “There was a narrow escape from a fatal termination of the horse show at the county fair grounds last night when Mrs. George Tebbetts came near being crushed by a fractious horse. Mrs. Tebbets was riding Tammany in the five-gaited saddle class for ladies. Her mount proved unwilling to go through his part in a docile way, and had given some trouble earlier in the evening. The horse reared and fell over backward. Mrs. Tebbetts managed to fall to one side and escaped being crushed…. The accident was spectacular. Tammany rose, facing the audience, and stood on his hind legs a moment. Then he crashed over backward and there was a gasp from the spectators, who feared the rider would be crushed. But Mrs. Tebbetts managed to avoid falling directly backward. The horse did not miss her more than an inch when he crashed to the ground.”
• “C. W. Smith’s display in the automobile line in the big Agricultural Tent received a lot of attention. The two cars, the Hudson and the Ford, are the two representative cars in their respective lines and the big Hudson ‘Aristocrat’ and the little Ford ‘Universal car’ were looked over by almost all the visitors. Mr. Smith also showed Lee Puncture Proof Tires and the new Ford shock absorber.”
• “A state warrant has been issued for Arthur Houser, who is believed to have committed recent crimes at Wichita in which young women have been taken from their escorts and outraged. Houser is the degenerate who is believed to have committed a number of offenses of the sort in Lawrence within the past two years.”