A warm, literally, and Western howdy to you, you travelers of local time and space. And, I think I owe you an apology. I was ruminating last week about how pleasant this 2010 summer has been so far and ka-blooey, we get hit with a 108 on the thermometer. I must have jinxed the weather gods. Well. Let’s get to business here. C’mon. I borrowed several thousand steeds from Liz Faranelli up San Francisquito Canyon at her Don-E-Brook Farms and we’ve got to return them before she gets back from breakfast.

This morning, we’ll be riding back to check up on a Newhall grocery-stealing mob, low-down ornery cow poisoners, a fire caused by an elephant and yet more idiot hunters.

We’re in such a hurry this morning; I don’t have time to tell each of you the particular names of your horses. So, this morning, everyone’s riding Lucky. Except for our pal, Tom Frew. We’ve prepared a special Bureau of Land Management/Recalcitrant Rodeo Contestant mount for him.

I’ll say, “Yee.” You say, “Ha.” And here we go…

AUGUST 19, 1920 —

— I think another phrase for this was Goody Two Shoes. On this date, The Busy Bee Club was formed. It was made up of Sunday School male youths

— The Auto Club was in town, passing out pamphlets on a new phenomenon called “The Traffic Signal.” “The signals are three in number, simple to learn and practically impossible to forget. Five months close study may save five months in the hospital,” the pamphlet cheerily warned.

— A local newspaper warned residents to watch their barbers to make sure they used a fresh towel on every face they shaved. Ditto with the bath sheets as well because the local barber shop was also a place where you could get a private hot bath.

— Hot weather was blamed for spoiling food and the spoiled food was blamed for several local cases of dysentery. The Tataviams, by the way, used to use red ants to cure the malady. Ants were swallowed whole and some were spread on the victim’s stomach where they were encouraged to bite the patient.

— The State Railroad Commission on this date took over all operations of local power companies. Seems the water and electric firms were having trouble delivering both H2O and juice to businesses and residences.  

AUGUST 19, 1930 —

— Joe Borgilieri lost his brakes coming down the Newhall grade. His truck went faster and faster, eventually hitting a tree and a telephone pole. Borgilieri wasn’t hurt seriously, but his rig spilt a wide variety of groceries all over the road. Instead of helping Borgilieri, motorists quickly scrambled to pick up everything from canned goods to cigarettes. When local sheriff’s deputies arrived, they had to fire off warning shots to disperse the crowd.

— Fred Condit was in charge of a 12-man crew to restore the Standard Oil Refinery on old Railroad Canyon/Pine Street.

— The Standard Oil gas station was wowing locals with a relatively new device — the hydraulic lube rack.

— Some local monster or plural thereof poisoned two milking cows of John Olsen. The cows, valued at $150 each in early Depression-era money (about $600 would buy you a new house) were killed via arsenic. The Agua Dulcean had been ill himself and depended on the milk and butter income from his two pets. Do you think if we went back in history and lynched some of these bozos, would the world now be a better place?

AUGUST 19, 1940 —

— The big California Conservation Corps camp up Sand Canyon had just closed and we were short of man power to fight several blazes. Adding to the problem, an arsonist set a fire at the Double V Ranch in Weldon Canyon. Another fire had been started in Val Verde when a driver had to throw a burning blanket from his truck. He had driven his truck from another fire and the blanket in the back had caught a spark.

— Forest Service official O.M. Thurston was nearly killed by a high-caliber cartridge. A careless hunter had been target practicing and his bullet traveled nearly a half-mile, coming within inches of Thurston’s head. The alleged hunter got a severe tongue lashing but no beating.

— “Idiot” and “Hunter” are sometimes synonymous. On this date, rancher Frank LeBrun up Sawmill Mountain reported that hunters had killed three of his steers — on purpose. The beeves were shot in the head at short range.

— After burning to the ground a few months earlier, the New French Village held its grand re-opening on this date.

— Mrs. Algera Ramsey, Saugus postmistress, lost her index finger on this date. She stuck it in an electric fan. That was operational. 

AUGUST 19, 1947 —

— I used to be able to sing, “Happy Birthday to Newhall Hardware, one of the SCV’s oldest businesses. The little nuts and bolts boutique on San Fernando Road opened on this date in 1947. Had it stayed open, it would have been 63 this week. And so sorry that I can’t ask you time travelers to mosey in and ask about the status of your special 75 percent off Time Ranger discount. Sure miss that place and it’s an absolute sin it’s not around any more. You know, that was the same week I left the local newspaper… 

AUGUST 19, 1950 —

— On this date, Major Hatton organized a local chapter of the Junior National Rifle Association. HQed in Saugus, it consisted of 33 boys ranging in age from 8 to 18 and one girl.

— Ouch. It was 108 a half-century back on this date, two degrees cooler than Aug. 19th at 110. 

AUGUST 19, 1960 —

— On this date, the little Sheriff’s sub-station #6 was named the official 313th Military Censorship Detachment by the county Board of Supervisors. The office was only to be used in time of war or serious emergency. I guess if asteroid to A-bomb hit, you’d go there to get things censored…

— Words sure had a different meaning 40 years back. The local paper ran a rather large photo in the Bercaw Market ad of their new butcher. Under the big pix was the huge word, “GAY.” No. It had nothing to do with the attempt to repeal Proposition 8, banning homosexual marriages. The Signal wasn’t advertising the gentlemen’s behind-closed-doors love-that-has-no-name preferences. “Gay” was just the name of the butcher. By the way. The first item advertised in the ad was for “Boneless Sirloin.” 

AUGUST 19, 1967 —

— The community of Valencia was formerly dedicated 33 years ago today. Some long-forgotten first yuppie crashed a bottle of champagne on an oak tree and there we went… 

AUGUST 19, 1970 —

— The week before, the SCV was the hottest spot in America. This week 30 years ago, we were the smoggiest with a .39 level — .12 notches above San Gabriel and twice as much as downtown L.A. Ironically, the Chamber of Commerce had just chosen a new pro-SCV slogan: “Move to Smog-Free Newhall.” Back to the drawing board.

— Reverend Sam Dixon received an unfriendly farewell to Val Verde, the community he had served so well for so many years. Sam also owned a hamburger stand there and the day he left to take over a parish in Little Rock, burglars ransacked his cafe, taking about 50 pounds of hot dogs and hamburgers.

— The year 1970 may have been the most violent in SCV history. There were many spectacular murders, the latest of which was when two SFV young men visited a Walnut Street home, stuck a shot gun through an open window and killed a man. Drugs were suspected as motive. 

AUGUST 19, 1980 —

— I’m not making up the following. An elephant up Soledad Canyon started a fire that caused $40,000. The trained pachyderm, housed at Noel Marshall’s wild animal compound (formerly Africa USA) was goofing around, playfully bouncing in the elephant barn, when he broke through a fence and leaned against a big propane tank. The tank caught fire and so did the elephant barn. No critters were hurt but Bill Dow, a worker and photographer there, had his lab burn down. Adding insult to injury, the following week, Mr. Dow was mauled by a lion.

Darn fine morning to be riding with you, saddlepals. Shall we try this again next week under the guiding light of The West Ranch Beacon? Vayan con Dios, amigos!