Daniel Sandoval

There's a lot of writing in a newspaper that looks like news but really isn't by journalistic standards, things a news story needs like timeliness, locality, importance, interest and conflict, among others. Nuance was in the news for the first days of December.

100 years ago

Say one was traveling and found him or herself in Casper on Dec. 2, 1908, and if he looked at the front page of the Natrona County Tribune hot off the press, she would have no idea where on Earth he or she was.

The first article was a short essay about the importance of education from the Boston Globe. The second article was from London Tit-Bits.

Location warp: The setting is Holborn, England, October 1648, when a young courier arrived at a country in called the George and Blue Boar. The youth put up his tired horse and went in for food and rest.

The youth had no idea the fate of England turned upon a single letter in his bag of dispatches. He was also being followed. He took a nap.

Agents of Oliver Cromwell were able to search the courier's bag and found a letter from King Charles I. In the letter, King Charles is asking Scottish generals to ride to his rescue during the English Civil War.

King Charles I was convicted of treason and beheaded Jan. 30, 1649.

Finger food: One of the standalone articles in the Dec. 2, 1908, Tribune was a personal account of eating poi in Hawaii from Leslie's Weekly. The article described the taro root as a cross between the sweet potato and the turnip.

According to the writer, hours are needed to grind the root to the proper degree of viscosity. Water is added and the mixture is allowed to ferment. When ready, the poi is served in a big wooden bowl called a "calabash."

Competition: For local news, the reader of the Tribune would have to search the inside pages. High school football teams from Casper and Douglas met for a Thanksgiving Day game.

The team from Casper defeated Douglas, in Douglas, 26-5. Announcing this lopsided victory in the subhead wasn't enough because the article covered minutia of the game for a full column, and then some.

75 years ago

Above the fold, prime space in a newspaper, of the front page of the Dec. 1, 1933, Casper Tribune-Herald, dateline Cheyenne, a short article makes the point that "WYOMING SKIES ARE OVERCAST."

Native costume: Paul Hass, superintendent of the Shoshone reservation, said that he didn't believe a band of about 75 people who were causing trouble in St. Petersburg, Fla., were members of the Shoshone tribe.

Hass speculated that it would be unlikely members of the Shoshone or Arapahoe tribe would stray so far from their homes and that the trouble makers were probably gypsies of some sort masquerading as Wyoming Shoshone.

The "Shoshone" in St. Petersburg were disturbing residents with gatherings and ceremonial drumming until the authorities made them disband.

Man of cloth: The Rev. John Panos, a Greek Orthodox priest, was approached in Cheyenne by a man on a dark corner. The stranger asked for money and Panos offered the man a coin.

The man said he had a gun and wanted more money. The priest reportedly punched the would-be robber in the face, knocking him down and affecting an escape for Panos.

Authorities also learned of another incident where Panos was abducted by two men, robbed of $25 and personal items, and left blindfolded on the prairie outside Cheyenne.

50 years ago

There was no nuance to the tragedy on the front page of the Dec. 2, 1958, Casper Morning Star, which published a photo of Our Lady of Angels elementary school with smoke billowing out the windows and empty ladders propped against the building.

With an unofficial death toll of 89, most of the victims were children lost in the pandemonium when a fire broke out 18 minutes before classes were dismissed. Arson was suspected.

Nuclear power: The Pentagon was shrugging off rumors that the Soviets were closer to developing an atomic powered aircraft than was the United States. Defense Secretary Neil H. McElroy admitted that the Soviets may have had a "slight lead."

Indications: Casper Postmaster George Hicks was urging voters to pass a bond issue for the local schools. His reasoning was that mail volume picked up 15 percent in a year - more mail meant more people, which meant more kids in the schools.

25 years ago

The first article in the Dec. 1, 1983, Casper Star-Tribune reported that Wyoming's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dipped to 6.9 percent.

Light fingers: Linda Bean reported that the Christmas shopping season also brought on a seasonal spate of shoplifting. Casper Police Lt. Bill Barnes recounted one arrest where a woman tried to conceal a television in maternity clothes.

No changes: The water in Yesness Pond was not poisoned. Tests were run after a barrel containing solvent was fished out of the pond and the early results showed that the pond water was not contaminated.

"A Look Back in Time" is made possible with the help of Western History Archivist Kevin S. Anderson at the Casper College Western History Center, which is open to the public.