Did you know?
Tomorrow marks the 60th anniversary of day Uniontown native Gen. George C. Marshall accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
He was pictured on the front page of the Uniontown Evening Standard on Dec. 11, 1953, with the caption, in part, saying 鈥淭he ceremony was marred by noisy Communist demonstrations in and outside of University Hall as the presentation was being made.鈥�
Of course, Gen. Marshall was known for many things during his long life of service to the country. But hardly little was known about another aspect of his life 鈥� he was considered quite the athlete.
Uniontown Morning Herald鈥檚 sports editor in December of 1945, Jimmy Gismondi, wrote an interesting item about a time when Marshall, then a student at Virginia Military Institute, had shown valor, not on a battlefield, but on a football field.
According to Gismondi鈥檚 account, Marshall had made the VMI football team. But he鈥檇 been hospitalized after he was stabbed with a bayonet during 鈥渄rilling maneuvers.鈥�
According to the account, Marshall didn鈥檛 let a thing like a life-threatening accident keep him down.
Instead, he started 鈥渄rawing pictures on the white bedsheets.鈥�
When his football coach visited him in the hospital, he was apparently shocked to discover Marshall hadn鈥檛 been following his doctor鈥檚 orders.
鈥淕ee, coach, it鈥檚 good to see you. Aw, they can鈥檛 kill a tough guy like me. Look, I鈥檝e been making some diagrams of football plays and they can鈥檛 help scoring touchdowns,鈥� he was quoted as saying.
He鈥檇 soon be back on his football team, and, according to Gismondi, 鈥淢arshall went on to become one of the greatest tackles in the history of the South.鈥�
I鈥檝e found another item on the Morning Herald sports page that was also written by Gismondi, which certainly must have been of great interest to Pittsburgh Pirates fans on Dec. 12th, 1945.
Crooner Bing Crosby was entertaining the notion of becoming a part-owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Gismondi humorously pondered where the story should be covered by a sportswriter or a music critic.
As it turns out, Crosby did become a part-owner of the Pirates starting in 1946, and he maintained that part-ownership until he died in October of 1977.
Over a hundred years ago this week, it seems it was mighty tough pleasing local theatre patrons.
鈥溾�楾he Champagne Belles mobbed by crowd of 200,鈥� read a headline on the front page of the Dec. 16, 1911 edition of the Morning Herald.
That crowd of 200 was comprised only of disgruntled men, who鈥檇 gotten less than they bargained for at the Grand Theatre in Uniontown the previous night.
I used the word 鈥榣ess,鈥� because of the way the sub-headline was written: 鈥淪oft pedal show fails to meet approval of audience and curtain is rung down following repeated outbreaks.鈥�
According to the report, 鈥淭he Champagne Belles鈥� had to be hustled out of the Grand during their second act, when, 鈥淟oud yells and hoots greeted the appearance of the actors on the stage.鈥�
The irate men decided to follow the women along Pittsburgh Street to Main Street, until they reached the St. Charles Hotel.
The crowd finally dispersed once city police officers arrived, but not before those 鈥渉oots and yells could have been heard for several blocks.鈥�
There are times when headlines can tell the complete story.
That鈥檚 the case of one headline I found on the front page of the Dec. 1, 1911 edition of the Morning Herald.
鈥淏oy-dynamite cap-hammer-hospital-two finger lost,鈥� was all that was needed.
The article did try to make some sense of how such a dreadful thing could happen.
It was reported that a 10-year-old boy from Grindstone had found the dynamite in his backyard, and he proceeded to get a hammer and start pounding it.
On Dec. 13, 1911, it was reported that the wife of a clergy member in Waynesburg had filed for divorce, under some rather unusual circumstances.
鈥淧arson鈥檚 wife follows advice; hubby kicks,鈥� read the headline said on the front page of that day鈥檚 Morning Herald.
It seems Mrs. Minnie E. Rockwell was encouraged by her husband to be 鈥減leasant to the members of the flock.鈥�
Unfortunately, it appears he didn鈥檛 mean THAT 鈥減leasant.鈥�
When Mrs. Rockwell decided she鈥檇 be more congenial to the male members of the church, her preacher husband, it was alleged, 鈥渦pbraided and threatened her for being courteous to masculine members of the flock.鈥�
The reverend鈥檚 response, caused another one. His wife filed for divorce.
But that鈥檚 not the worst of it, while she thought she was acting in proper accord with her husband鈥檚 wishes, he 鈥渇requently struck her and on several occasions threatened her, warning her that sudden death awaited someone.鈥�
Well, I guess you can鈥檛 please everybody!