Here are some newspaper stories published this week in years past.
25 Years Ago
Man shoots brother, ignites home
One dead in Christmas Day tragedy
By Roger H. Aylworth
It wasn’t holiday lights but a funeral pyre that lit Redding Drive in Chico on Christmas night.
The tragedy began with a burst of gunfire at about 4 p.m. A man identified as Lloyd Barton shot his brother in the chest at the brother’s home at 15 Redding Drive.
The unnamed brother apparently fled the house and ran east to Floral Avenue, where he collapsed on the grass.
As the ambulance and sheriff’s deputies first arrived on the scene, shots were still being fired inside the house.
The paramedics literally dragged the wounded brother out of the fire and conducted a load and go to get the stricken man out of harm’s way.
The victim had suffered one and perhaps two wounds. He was shot in the chest … the wounds were not considered life threatening.
Deputy Jay Waanenen, one of the first to arrive, said he could hear gunshots as he pulled up.
In a handful of minutes the area was flooded with sheriff’s deputies and Chico police.
… The two agencies were well coordinated as they quickly circled the modest residence, sealing off any chance of escape. …
At about 4:17 p.m. four more loud gunshots rang out, prompting police, press and private citizens to take cover.
Sheriff’s and Chico police special weapons and tactics team members converged to surround the house and make certain Barton didn’t escape.
… Barton was a parolee from Humboldt County who had been living in the Portland area. He had come to Chico only a couple of weeks earlier. …
Assistant Sheriff Perry Reniff said there might have been bad blood between the brothers over the house being willed to the wounded sibling and not to Lloyd Barton.
A dispute over the legacy of the house might explain what happened next: At about 4:42 p.m. a deputy radioed there was smoke and fire in the house. …
Butte County fire crews rushed to the fire scene, but with an armed man in the house, they were not allowed to approach. …
At 5:02 p.m. one of the deputies broadcast he could hear somebody yelling for help in the house. …
Sheriff Grey said a body was found in the shower where Barton apparently took refuge at the end. …
— Enterprise-Record, Dec. 26, 1998
50 Years Ago
Many gifts await first baby of 1974
A bundle of gifts and prizes from 14 Paradise merchants awaits the first baby born in 1974 at Feather River Hospital. Upon verification from hospital officials, the Paradise Post will give the lucky parents an identification letter to enable them to claim their prizes at participating merchants.
Businesses who will award gifts are: Paradise Drug, a one-pound jar of A&D ointment; Harriet’s Home Fashions, a $5 gift certificate; Mode-O-Day, a $5 gift certificate; Skyway Photo-tronics, a black and white 8 by 10 photograph of the new baby; Rasco, a $5 gift certificate.
Other participating merchants are Fuller’s Wildwood Florist, a gift of flowers; The Bobcat, a pair of size “O” Levis; Stratton’s Market, a case of baby food; Reed Retail Electronics, a two-way baby listening intercom set.
Also giving prizes to the parents of the first baby of the new year will be Pinocchio’s, a $5 gift certificate; La Comida, a complete dinner for the baby’s parents; Manton’s, baby’s first pair of shoes; Gillet Rexall Drugs, a case of Enfamil baby formula; and Sears, a $10 gift certificate.
— Paradise Post, Dec. 28, 1973
75 Years Ago
Real Live Santa Is Reported in Chico By Salvation Army
By Ruth Keplinger
A very real Santa Claus was in Chico yesterday.
A Santa Claus who didn’t wear the conventional red suit nor sport a shaggy white beard. He didn’t even have a sleigh or reindeer and he came bearing no sack filled with gifts.
Instead, he had a piggy bank into which, during this past year, he dropped pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
Late yesterday evening, the benevolent Santa Claus stopped by the Salvation Army stand to set up in front of Woolworth’s and presented the piggy bank to the Salvation Army worker.
Without fanfare or leaving a name or address, the man wished the worker a “Merry Christmas” and disappeared into the crowd of shoppers.
Total contents of the piggy bank: $148.
— Enterprise-Record, Dec. 22, 1948
100 Years Ago
Getting Phoned Over 2300 Miles
Christmas greetings were sent two-thirds across the continent this week by John Burdon in a direct telephone call to his brother, Dr. R. M. Burdon, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, an approximate distance of 2300 miles.
Burdon ordered the call from the local exchange at 10:30 p.m., and went to bed. At 12:30 a.m. the operator called the phone in Burdon’s room and announced that the party was on the line.
When Burdon said, “Hello,” Dr. Burdon recognized his brother’s voice and asked what place he was calling.
“From my room in Chico,” answered Burdon.
Dr. Burdon had to be convinced that his brother was not in the east, so clear was the voice. Burdon conversed with both his brother and sister-in-law.
“It sounded as though they were only across the street,” said Burdon.
As a result of Burdon’s experiment, George Vadney told Burdon that he plans to send New Year’s greetings to his brother by telephone to New York State.
— The Chico Enterprise, Dec. 26, 1923
125 Years Ago
Gave Marysville Her Name
J. H. Washburn died at Santa Cruz Friday night. He came to California in 1849. He suggested the name of the city of Marysville. When the pioneers decided to name that place he advocated naming it after the first white woman there, whose name was Mary. The deceased was a native of Rhode Island, aged 77.
— Chico Weekly Enterprise, Dec. 23, 1898
150 Years Ago
“A Happy New Year!”
What a world of meaning there in this brief salutation! Conventional and common place as the tenure is, it has more sincerity and whole-heartedness than any other popular sentiment extant …
For the 21st time the RECORD extends the congratulations to the citizens of Butte County, and to its patrons and friends …
During the 20 years past, the county has made rapid advancement in all that constitutes true wealth and greatness. The well directed affairs of those who go to the bedrock to bring forth the precious metals of earth to contribute to the happiness and comfort of man, have not been unavailing.
The intelligently expended labor of the husband man has been rewarded with abundant harvests and plethoric granaries. Other branches of business, dependent of the success of the miner and farmer have been prosperous and the county has contributed its quota towards sustaining the State Government, and extensive commercial relations of the Pacific Coast. …
In our family relationship, the dearest and most lasting on earth, the morning salutation of “a Happy New Year,” involves that confidence and development of that harmony and love which renders the home circle the source of unalloyed enjoyment — the haven of rest and contentment for the mind bewildered by the anxieties and fatigues of business — the place where the heart’s purest sympathies find encouragement and expansion.
New hopes, new projects, new resolves are ushered into existence, and furnish renewed energy for the prosecution of the duties of the ensuing year, in the store and counting room, the factory and the warehouse, on the farm, and in the mine, the hallowing influence of these home associations presents itself in a thousand inviting and unexpected ways …
And so with “a Happy New Year” to all, let us again enter upon the duties of life with renewed hopes and unfaltering courage.
— The Weekly Butte Record, Dec. 27, 1973