EAST FAREWELL
NEWS
Thursday, July
3, 1958 Vol. C679
LOCAL
NEWS
MISSING TROLLEY CAR MYSTERY
SOLVED
East Farewell – The strange, strange case of the missing trolley
car has been solved. The trolley car was reported
missing from the East Farewell Transit Authority railyard on Monday, June 5th.
It was found in tact on the abandoned Iron Works spur on June 10th.
There was no indication of intended theft or salvage and the car was actually
able to be powered back to the yard under its own power since the spur is
connected to the main transit system through a disabled switch. Police have
been searching for clues and following various leads as to why and how the car
ended up where it ended up. Several different theories came out as to the
mystery running from and intended strip and sale deal gone bad to an outrageous
prank played by unknown perpetrators.
As it turns out, the second theory,
outrageous prank, seems to have been the correct theory. On Wednesday Detective
Frank O’Hara announced the police had received a confession from the entire Regional
High Senior Motor Club. Club monitor, Luther McKenzie, insists he knew nothing
of the plot and the police have said they do not consider him a suspect. Club
president and recent Regional High graduate, Sam Wendell, came forth with a
statement from the entire club admitting they had snuck into the train yard and
completely disassembled the car that was stored on the far end of the yard. The
car was not currently in service and was scheduled for repair. After
disassembling the car the club members transported the parts to the spur line
and reassembled the car there. In reality the car was in better shape after it
was reassembled because it worked as if it would be able to be put in service
on the line. Wendell said in his statement the action was more of a challenge
than a prank and said many of the members had spoken about the intricacies of
the trolley car system during meetings. Many members rode the system daily and
were enthralled with the workings of the car itself.
“It wasn’t really all that hard to
take the car apart. Most of the guys had the tools and almost everyone knew how
to work on it. Johnson (Joseph Johnson, graduate club member) somehow got a
schematic for the car and after that it was a piece of cake to break it down
and build it back up. The hard part was transporting all the parts over to the
spur line. We thought we might roll the trucks along the track but decided to
take them apart too because we didn’t want to leave a trail,” said Wendell when
interviewed after the statement release.
After much consideration and
deliberation the police and the Transit Authority have decided to merely fine
the club members for trespassing and moving transit property from the yard.
Since there was no robbery, destruction of property or malicious intent
involved the department decided that a $25 fine to each member of the club
would be sufficient punishment. The Transit Authority will not pursue further
penalties mostly because the cost of repairing the car would have run into the
thousands of dollars and the club members did it for free. The only expense the
Transit Authority may have incurred is the cost of repairing the disabled
switch on the spur line to get the car back to the yard. It has been said but
not verified that the club members also contributed in repairing the disabled
switch again saving the Transit Authority money.
The Motor Club seems to have pulled
off one of the most outrageous year-end pranks in the history of East Farewell.
While the Police Department, the Regional High School administration, and
almost every adult in town have spoken out against the prank there have been
reports that in private the snickers and downright admiration have been
frequent and all encompassing. While publicly the Motor Club has been denounced
and reprimanded in private many people hold them in very high esteem.
The Police Department has publicly
stated they will not tolerate another prank of this magnitude. They said the
amount of time spent on the investigation and the resources that were tied up
will be totaled up and charged to the members of the club at a future date.
Privately, they are hoping that youthful ingenuity and hubris that was shown by
the Motor Club will not be repeated in the near future.
SPORTS
TRAVELERS IN A DOWNWARD SPIRAL
East Farewell – The Travelers are experiencing their first
extended losing streak in two seasons as they sunk to the bottom of the league
standings after losing to Mountain View on Saturday, 7 to 2. Even though Explorers
pitching ace, Joe “Freight” Trane did not pitch their super slugger, Bobby “Hammer”
Taxen was more than enough for the Travelers to handle. Taxen drove in five of
the seven runs by hitting two home runs in four at bats. Traveler’s pitcher,
Joe Nagy was not on his game giving up 13 hits and walking 5. The Travelers
defense committed three errors to boot.
The game
started off strong for the Travelers after Nagy was able to keep the Explorers
scoreless in the first, letting only Taxen get a hit. Then in the bottom of the
first Francis started things off with a single followed by a short double by
Dunham moving Francis to third. Watson struck out but Johnny Cloos was able to
smash a good solid double into the right field corner scoring both Francis and
Dunham. Things were looking good for the Travelers. Dimero then walked and Joey
Brown hit into an inning ending double play. That was as good as it got for the
Travelers Saturday. They were only able to get three more hits the rest of the
game and they never had more than two men on base in any inning.
The Exploders’,
on the other hand, had a man on base every inning and in most cases two or
three. After the first inning the Explorers came alive were able to score three
in the third thanks to Taxen’s first homer, two in fifth on a five hit inning
and then two more in the eighth with Taxen’s second homer.
This loss puts
the Travelers in the very unusual position of last place in the league
standings. They have only occupied this place once before in their history, way
back in 1950 in their second season. They have never stayed in last place for
more than three weeks and this new position is technically a tie with the
Monticello Vikings but the Travelers are not happy.
Next week the
Travelers stay home and host Slate Mountain for yet another tough game with the
Miners and their ace, Tony “Michael” Angelo. The game is an afternoon game at Travelers
Ball Park. The Travelers expect to have a full house with fans from both sides
due to the 4th of July celebration in town that weekend.
NATIONAL NEWS
KHRUSHCHEV RIDICULES WEST – DANCE
ASSOCIATION SAYS ROCK & ROLL IS ON THE WAY OUT – BIG FIRE AT GOLDWYN STUDIO
Premier Khrushchev ridicules
what he called the West’s “orange-size” earth satellites and defied the West’s
system of atomic and rocket bases in a Leningrad speech. He told a mass rally
of steel workers, the West is “playing with fire and trying to frighten the
Soviet Union with its bases. Such tactics are extremely dangerous.” They are
similar to the efforts of someone trying to warm his hands by setting fire to
his neighbor’s house… The imperialists still hope somehow to frighten the
Socialist camp with atomic weapons and rocket bases. It is time they understood
how useless such calculations are. Our Sputniks proclaim what heights are
attained by the world of Socialism. These achievements can be seen without the
large telescopes needed to see the orange-size Sputniks of the United States.”
Arthur
Bergh, president of the National Association of dance and Affiliated Artists
says rock ‘n’ roll is on the way out and that youth is turning to “Modified
Swing.” a more conservative dance involving rock ‘n’ roll steps but eliminating
the hypnotically ritualized body movements which have reminded worried
anthropologists, among others, of a Watusi ramble. New variations of the Cha Cha Cha, an amalgam of mambo, rhumba and fox
trot still are #1 in national ballroom popularity after three years.
In
Hollywood a fire roared through a Goldwyn sound stage, reducing it to rubble.
The fire destroyed a lavish “Porgy and Bess” set as well as costumes,
electrical equipment and a collection of props.
Birthdays Today; 1567-Samuel de
Champlain-explorer, 1886-Raymond A. Spruance-admiral/fleet commander, 1906-George
Sanders-actor, 1958-Elizabeth Ann Carroll-great person.
Many, many
thanks to www.mrpopculture.com for
contributing to this section of the East Farewell News.
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