From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for April 12, 1916:

• “The movement to build a concrete road from Lawrence to Tonganoxie received a decided impetus at a meeting held Saturday night in the Robinson school house northeast of Lawrence. The meeting was attended by Grant township farmers interested in the construction of such a road. A committee was appointed at the meeting to make plans for a road district…. A telephone message from Tonganoxie today brought the news that the work has progressed so far in Tonganoxie and the country south to Douglas county that it is felt sure the hard surface road can be put through. A movement is on foot to build a similar road from Leavenworth to Tonganoxie, and the entire project when completed will give a hard surface road all the way from Lawrence to Leavenworth.”
• “The Junior Civic League was organized at the Woodlawn school in North Lawrence this morning with eighty-two members…. Meetings will be held once a month and the meetings will be devoted to the beautification of the city and the protection of bird life. Additional interest was given to the meeting this morning by the announcement that the Civic League will install a drinking fountain in North Lawrence. The announcement was received with great enthusiasm.”
• “Baldwin has the oil fever. A few days ago an enthusiastic meeting of farmers was held at the home of S. C. Barriclaw, the purpose being to discuss the oil prospects around Baldwin. It was decided that there were excellent opportunities for oil in this vicinity and it was voted to co-operate with the promoters in the leasing of land. This has been done and already over 2000 acres of land have been leased. The contracts call for work to begin on them before the first of January…. It has long been thought by many that there was an abundance of oil and gas around Baldwin. No work has ever been done in this vicinity. Several good gas wells have lately been brought in around Wellsville which is only ten miles east of here. A number of good oil wells are found at Rantoul which is about thirty miles south of Baldwin.”
• “Henry M. Payne, a prominent consulting engineer of New York City, was the principal speaker on the program of the first annual mining day program at the University today…. Mr. Payne gave an illustrated lecture at the University club last night and interested the members greatly with his account of social conditions in the Klondike and in Siberia…. Old Saturday Evening Posts and even daily papers two years old are highly prized in Alaska, Mr. Payne told his audience. It is almost a crime, he said, to throw away any reading matter. Many persons are saved from insanity by having something to read through the long Arctic night.”