From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Feb. 14, 1916:

• “With $20 at stake, Wesley Benson, Burdette Fitch and Paul Kipple, three University students, are somewhere between Lawrence and Kansas City trudging along a frozen road, swept by icy winds, munching from time to time cold sandwiches…. Penniless and encumbered by nothing but eighteen sandwiches the students left Lawrence for Kansas City last night at 9:15 o’clock. The sandwiches were to be used as refreshments should the jaunt prove fatiguing, for the terms of the bet prohibit the boys from stopping for food or sleep and provide that they must walk the entire distance…. The trip was the result of one of those strange flashes of inspiration which are common among students about midway between quiz times. It was all planned in a few minutes last night and the hikers were soon under way.”
• “The first concrete to become a part of the new Kansas river bridge was mixed this morning. With sand and crushed rock on the site the actual work of building the bridge has commenced. With a large turning crane or ‘whirley’ elevating the sand and stone into a crib continually a large amount of concrete is being turned out every hour. The concrete is being dumped into the caisson by means of the carriers on the cable, to give the caisson weight enough to sink it…. The wholesale scale upon which the concrete is being mixed presents a sight that is causing many to stand in the cold wind and watch the novel operation of the machinery…. The starting of the new work upon the bridge is hailed with much satisfaction by the laborers who have been depending upon this work for their winter support. Nearly 100 men are now employed here by the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron company.”
• “Mayor C. W. Green of Kansas City, Kansas, who spoke at the Unitarian church yesterday afternoon, thinks Lawrence couldn’t make a better move than to buy the water plant, as it will have an opportunity to March 14. The Kansas City mayor bases his opinion on the experience his own town has had since 1909, when the water plant at Kansas City, Kan., was taken over by the city. ‘If I were in your place,’ said Mayor Green to his Lawrence audience yesterday, ‘the first thing I would do would be to take over the plant. The next would be to improve it as the people of the town desired and the situation demanded.’ The taking over of the Kansas City plant was the best act Kansas City ever did, Mayor Green said yesterday. It secured good water and plenty of it for the town, and gave a real fire protection.”
• “A stranger in town who gave the name of Miller was taken in charge by the police Saturday afternoon because he seemed to be suffering from the illusion that he was being pursued by persons and animals. A hearing to determine whether or not the man is insane will be held in the probate court tomorrow morning.”