Out and About
“TELL IT TO THEM (Yes- it was in all caps) Next time you hear a citizen of Milton yelping about a typographical error in his home paper, or in any other paper, just hand him these few figures to stop his (or her – added by Sandi) tongue: In an ordinary column there are 10,000 pieces of type: there are seven possible wrong positions for each letter; there are 70,000 chances to man an error, and millions of possible transpositions. In this one sentence, ‘To be or not to be’ by transpositions alone, it has been figured out, 2,759,022 errors can be made. Newspaper people from the ‘devil’ up to the boss, and other high officials, are merely human, and liable to err. Don’t be nosing around for errors but read for the information you can get and good you can get. You’ll find errors enough in your daily walk-through life without having to hunt for them in a newspaper.”
I believe we are printing the front page from the May 1 issue- and you will see it has the early beginnings of “Facebook,” with notes from the Rural Route. Apparently, the newspaper printed “gossip” from the postal routes – by each postal route. They knew who was visiting whom, who was sick, where they went for the weekend, and more…and printed it in the paper. In the May 1, 1925, issue, it was Rural Route “C” and they even have the name of the person reporting the “news,” Mrs. Ruth Hicks. Coincidentally, she starts out by apologizing for getting it wrong and for publishing a “false report.”
There is also a column titled “Wanted” where people put in items they are looking to buy – not sell. My brother thought that was his idea, but it looks like someone thought of it before him. Here is a sample: “Wanted – Saw Mill Labor – We are running day and night and can use saw mill labor of all kinds. Free quarters, extra healthful location in the hills and lake region. Come ready for work. J. Ray Arnold Lumber Co., Groveland, Florida.”
In the March 20, 1925, issue, the population gains of Santa Rosa County were reported. “Tallahassee, March 17 – the 1925 population of Santa Rosa County is 14,599, a gain of 929 or 6.9 percent increase over 1920 when the total was 13,670, it was announced today at the census office. Milton, the county seat, showed a gain of 596 or 37.6 percent over the five-year period, the figures for 1925 being 2,190, compared with 1,594 five years ago.” Santa Rosa County currently has a reported population of 203,166.
I’m spending a lot of time looking at newspapers from 100 years ago because Navarre is celebrating a Centennial this year. There have been many events commemorating this momentous occasion so far, including the turtle drop, the Mardi Gras Parade theme this year, and a birthday party at the Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. The next event is the “Centennial Ball” on June 21. The $100 tickets are limited and there are special commemorative metal tickets that are limited to only 100 lucky collectors, at $100 each if you also buy a ticket to the ball, (yes – there is a theme here) or $150 if you aren’t going to the ball. The band for the ball is “Six Piece Suits” and they are phenomenal. Also, there will be a special guest speaker, Jonathan Crider, PhD, who will have a very entertaining walk-through history to include the founding of Navarre. There will also be voices of the past on video reminiscing of the early days of Navarre.
Quote of the Week: Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Solomon 1010 BCE(ish) – 931 BCE (ish)