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An expanded library, logging a lot of miles and learning about other cultures. These were just a few things going on across our region in April 1959.
Huntington Library grows
As readers of The Oneonta Star learned on April 3, “The library board of Huntington Memorial Library has completed its plans for an addition to the building, and is advertising for bids.
“The Rev. Louis van Ess, chairman of the board, said he hopes the cost will be under $20,000. The plan is to use what funds are available now and borrow the remainder for amortization in five years.
“The library is one of the most extensively used among cities of Oneonta’s size, and it is open more hours each week than the average public library.
“Already a new children’s room has been created by enclosing the front porch. Now, more space is needed elsewhere.
“‘The new children’s room has been a very great success,’ he said, ‘and has convinced us that the old building, with some renovations, will be useful for many years to come, if we can make certain changes in it.
“‘The alternative would be to erect a new building, which would probably cost $250,000. We are very much attached to the old building … as the public is … therefore the board is most anxious to preserve and make fuller use of the Huntington homestead.’”
Oneonta’s Common Council approved the expenditure for the addition at their April 28 meeting.
Trucks, trains kept rolling along
Interstate highways were still fairly limited in the late 1950s, so the going was a bit slower than it is today.
With a dateline of Stamford, The Star of April 6 reported about a “public service” made by Horace Burns.
“But up here in Stamford is a man who drives his tractor-trailer to Tampa, Fla., a round trip distance of 2,800 miles every other week, from the first of December until the middle of May, every year.”
“Now, Mr. Burns trucks oranges, grapefruits, tangerines and temple oranges, exclusively, from Florida. ‘Temple oranges,’ he said, ‘are a cross between tangerines and oranges. They’re the best they have in Florida. They’re the cream of the crop.’
All this produce made the way to the local markets. He didn’t drive empty on the way south. Burns stopped in New York City to pick up a load of potatoes, and he delivered them to the Norfolk Navy Yard.
While Burns was logging miles by truck, a local man had done the same by rails.
As The Star also reported on April 6, “When a train travels over rails, there is a ‘click-click-click’ sound and John A. MaGee has heard that sound for 43 years … long enough to travel almost a million miles.”
MaGee started with the D&H in Oneonta, working in the roundhouse, but was assigned to work with a fireman on board of trains traveling the lines. He retired as an engineer.
Locals learned from visitors from other cultures
What was then called the Oneonta State University Teachers College, hosted visitors from far away, who spoke of their countries.
As The Star of April 7 reported, “‘Communism is incompatible with Buddhism … it clashes with the needs of people … at least that’s the case in Burma,’” known today as Myanmar.
“Thus spoke The Venerable U Thittila, the foremost Buddhist leader in Burma and one of the world’s foremost authorities on Buddhism.
“The 60-year-old Buddhist monk will be in Oneonta until April 16. He will conduct classes at Oneonta SUTC and speak to other groups during his stay.”
Communism was a hot topic at the time, and as The Star of April 11 reported, “The Chinese mainland, Yu-chi Hsueh, Deputy permanent representative of the Republic of China to the United Nations, said Thursday in Oneonta, has been turned into a huge slave labor camp.” Mr. Hsueh was also a visitor to the SUTC and other places in Oneonta for a few days.
In another cultural exchange, Star readers found out, “Dr. and Mrs. Carroll E. Rusch and their family, 35 Cedar Street, have been approved by the American Field Service as the first Oneonta family to receive a foreign students under the auspices of the AFS.” It wasn’t known yet when a student would be announced.
This weekend, local farming hit a dismal low in early 1924.