Selected from the pages of the Windsor Locks Journal and lightly annotated by Wendy Taylor, Kent Memorial Library.
May 7
The Mapleton Hall Association will give a May festival and strawberry supper in Mapleton hall… Strawberry shortcake, strawberries and cream, salads, col meats, etc., will be served. This supper will take the place of the May breakfast which has been omitted for the past two or three years.
Franklin Brockett, 11 years’ old son of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin N. Brockett of Mapleton, was struck and run over by a Hartford and Springfield bus… The boy had just stopped off a bus and was going around the bus to go to his home when he was struck by another bus. He suffered a compound fracture of the leg below the knee. Medical assistance was summoned and the fracture reduced. The boy is said to be improving.
The barn of Philip Doughney of Boston Neck was struck by lightning during the shower of Sunday night. The building did not catch fire and the only damage was the ripping off of a few boards and the smashing of a fork handle that was standing on the barn floor.
Mrs. Ray Bugbee is quite ill at her home with an attack of gravel. [kidney stones]
May 14
Notwithstanding the cool nights and days, many of the tobacco growers report that the plants in the beds are making good progress and are not much behind last year. The general opinion among the farmers is that when the warm weather arrives it will continue and that growing crops will make rapid strides toward maturity. Vegetation is at least two weeks behind normal seasons. May years at this date the apple blossoms have nearly gone by while this year the tops of the buds are just beginning to show. Even the grass in the files is no further advanced than it is sometimes before the first of May. The farmers are preparing their land for the crops, hoping that the warm weather is not far off.
Mrs. Ray Bugbee, who has been confined to her home with an attack of gravel, is somewhat improved. [spoiler alert: Mary (King) Bugbee is 44 at the time and lives to 88.]
May 21
A.W. Elcock has opened a filling station at Dunn’s corner and has also erected a rest room for the use of tourists.
Mrs. Arthur Sikes has returned to her home in Mapleton after spending the winter in Orlando, Fla.
May 28
A large barn at the rear of the Barnett property on Main street was totally destroyed by fire with its contents…The barn was owned by John F. Barnett, Jr., and the loss is estimated at $3,500. When the fire was discovered, the interior of the building was a mass of flames and all that the fire company could [do] was to keep the blaze from spreading to adjoining property. The barn contained a large quantity of lumber, which was a total loss. The origin of the fire is unknown. The loss is partially covered by insurance.
Mrs. Leroy H Sikes of Mapleton was painfully injured last Friday night by the explosion of a fulminate cap used to explode dynamite. Mrs. Sikes found the cap about the house and it is said was picking out the explosive element with a pin, when it exploded mangling her hand so that it was found necessary to amputate one finger. Mrs. Sikes was prostrated for at time by the pain and shock, but is reported to be improving.
Some of the growers have started the work of transplanting tobacco plants in order to save the plants in the beds. In spite of the cold weather the beds have done very well this year and the work of transplanting is not more than a week behind.
During the Barnett fire, Tuesday, the pumper again burned out its bearing and is now laid up for repairs.