From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 26, 1916:

• “City Commissioner W. W. Holyfield and Fire Chief William Reinisch were in Topeka today discussing with State Fire Insurance Commissioner Charles E. Eldridge the advisability of purchasing another fire truck for the city of Lawrence. The conference today is one of the preliminaries necessary to the making of the budget. If it is finally decided that this item shall be included, the expenditure for the purpose will be about $5,000. The arrangements for buying the truck may be made, but the actual purchase must be delayed until the taxes are in process of collection. One probable advantage that is put forward on behalf of the truck is that the expense of keeping the horses would be cut off. The truck which the city now has makes good time in reaching fires, but it is regarded as unwise to dispose of the horses at present; because if anything should go wrong with the single truck, there would be nothing for the firemen to fall back on.”
• “As the fire department raced down Massachusetts street this morning in answer to an alarm at the corner in front of the Innes store there was a street car and a Ford car going south about in the center of the west half of the street. The driver of the fire auto saw that the only open spot was between the Ford and the curb and dashed through scratching the curb with the rim and missing an iron lamp post by inches. It was a dangerous chance but the only one he could take and fortunately came out well. Had the auto collided with the post the ending would have been different.”
• “Regular service across the new temporary interurban bridge will start tomorrow morning unless the utilities commission fails to approve the work. The tracks have been laid, the flooring replaced and the overhead wire strung so that regular service can start any time the commission gives its consent…. The track is level with the floor of the bridge and as soon as the workmen move their tools off the bridge the only interruptions in the bridge traffic will be the hourly service of the cars. The officials in the north side are moving today and tomorrow morning they will have all their belongings over on the south side ready to do business in the new station. The waiting room and the express rooms are ready and the first car to the south side tomorrow will find everything on this side ready for business. The comforts of a real depot will be found in the new station and the patrons of the road will be well cared for.”
• “The weather man is independent. He continues to send out little cards announcing that the weather will be generally fair and continued warm. No relief from the dry spell is seen in the near future so your guess is as good as anyone’s in regard to the date of the next rain. The point has been reached in Douglas county where a rain is badly needed. If it fails to come within a week, serious damage to the crops is sure to result. Up to the present time, the crops generally have not been hurt, but further prolongation of the dry weather will cost the farmers in this county many dollars. The last general rain fell on June 25 and since that time the hottest days of the year have been recorded. Which have put the corn and other crops to a severe test…. In Lawrence the lawns and gardens are suffering badly. The ground is cracked in many places causing the property owners to draw heavily on the water supply of the city. The little patches of garden that have survived to the present times are just about in their last stages except where they are being watered daily.”