100 years ago

When a man retires from the political field he should get into some business that will keep him busy most of the 24 hours of the day so he won’t have time to be lonesome. This theory is held by G. L. Dunning, who will retire the first of the year as county commissioner after a service of four years, and in order to live up to his theory, Mr. Dunning has picked the dairy business as the one he will specialize in.

The member from Stanfield is on a deal now for the purchase of a dairy herd of 31 individuals which he expects to bring to his Stanfield ranch. The purchase is made subject to tests for tuberculosis and contagious abortion which are yet to be conducted.

“I’ve been planning for some time to have several head of cows on the place,” Mr. Dunning said recently, “and when I got an opportunity to buy this herd I figured I might just as well buy it and get enough cows to keep one man busy all of the time.”

50 years ago

Harry S. Truman died today, conquered finally by the infirmities of his 88 years.

President Nixon led the mourning for the nation’s 33rd president, calling him “a fighter who was best when the going was toughest.” The President also proclaimed Thursday a day of national mourning and ordered flags at federal buildings flown at half staff for 30 days.

Lyndon B. Johnson, now the only surviving former president, lamented the passing of “a 20th century giant.”

Truman’s wife of 53 years, and his daughter who saw him for a final 20 minutes Christmas Day, were at home in nearby Independence when death came at 7:50 a.m. CST.

Truman was the last of the great World War II figures, preceded in death by Dwight D. Eisenhower, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin.

25 years ago

As the nation prepares to destroy remaining stockpiles of chemical weapons, one local politician hopes a legislative study group can stop state and county governments from having to reinvent the wheel at each demilitarization site.

As co-chairman of the Study Group on Demilitarization of Chemical Weapons, Sen. David Nelson, D-Pendleton, sees the group’s goal as lending common ground to an issue that has site-specific problems.

“The purpose is to get legislators from each of the states involved together with the U.S. Army to create a template or plan so each state doesn’t have to jump through all the hoops,” Nelson said.

Problems Nelson hopes to address include the negotiation of storage fees to counties affected by the projects, safety issues involving workers and the public, funding for disaster planning, and technologies available to accomplish the demilitarization task.