125 years ago

april 1, 1887

Pioneer Steam Print

This issue of the RECORD has been “run off” by our fine new steam engine—the first steam printing ever done in Marion county. The new machine arrived Wednesday afternoon, and with the aid of L.W. Folsom, Henry Kable, Walter Sharp, John Williams and a host of others, a new engine house has been built, the engine and boiler placed in position, shafting, etc., adjusted, all in two days. The new engine is a daisy and runs like a sewing machine.

Our Telephone Exchange

Skeptical people, who have imagined or feared that the new telephone enterprise might even yet prove a failure, may quiet themselves by visiting the depot and gazing upon the poles which arrived yesterday. They will soon be set and it will not be long till the city will be a network of telephone wires, and “Hello, central” will be flashing from nearly a hundred, possibly more than a hundred, phones.

Sunday was another of those days which contrast so conspicuously with the usual good weather with which sunny Kansas favors its inhabitants. A dust storm, which filled the air with flying farms, blinded the eyes of the people, and filtered through every crevice of human habitation, swooped down upon us from—we don’t know where.

Preparations are being made for the erection of a new bridge across the Luta south of town, connecting the present town site with the former farm of Uncle George Griffith.