100 Years Ago Today - January 2020

Look at these statements from headline articles in the La Porte Argus in January 1920. Terminology, capitalization, and what makes headline news can be different. Yet accidents, business, crime, and war still make headlines. Want to read the whole article? It’s on microfilm in the Indiana Room at the Main Library. Staff will be glad to help you access it. 

January 2-11 

Enumeration in La Porte for the U. S. census begins at 9 o’clock this morning. Work is expected to be completed in two weeks. 
 

The La Porte Telephone company will file for an increase of rates. The necessity for the action is due to the rapid advance in the cost of construction materials, equipment and other supplies. 
 

The harvest of ice on Fish Lake was held up when 67 men went on strike, demanding a wage increase from 50 to 60 cents an hour. The strikers were shipped back to Swift & Co., Chicago. 
 

About 125 members meet to elect officers for the booming Hanna Shipping Association which will purchase a weighing scale for the Hanna Stockyards. 
 

La Porte factories are ready to employ several thousand more men. However, hundreds of houses must be provided for them. 
 

January 13-18 

The annual business meeting of St. Paul’s Evangelical church was held. The congregation places itself on an individual membership basis, so the ladies are granted the right of suffrage there. 
 

The city will have a candy paradise on Lincolnway. Work was started on what promises to be the best confectionery this side of Chicago. 

 

A La Porte man leaves his wife and elopes with his friend’s sweetheart. They are arrested in Michigan City and sent to jail. 

 

January 20-25 

Chicago is in the grip of a combined epidemic of influenza and pneumonia. In the last week there were 4,095 cases of flu with 33 deaths and 891 cases of pneumonia with 159 deaths. 
 

The board of public safety says punch boards must go and minors are not allowed in pool rooms. Violators, who may be hauled into court, will be prosecuted without fear or favor. 
 

Three Chicago lads who wanted one glimpse of the world take seats under the steps of a train. Nearly frozen, they are rescued by trainmen near Gary and lodged in jail. 

 

January 27-31 

To build La Porte to 25,000 people by 1925, 8,000 people, 1500 more houses, and 25 more miles of paved streets are needed. 

 

A shortage of operators through sickness among themselves and families has reduced the force of the La Porte Telephone Co. Normally, there are about 35 girls employed to handle the day work. 

The La Porte Chamber of Commerce fixes a quota of 300 houses built in 1920 and 300 built every year for five years. 

 

Two prominent La Porte businessmen just bought at Lows’ Clothing store suits for $24.75. Three other prominent men bought suits at $48.75, which they had waited for for nearly a year. 

 

Pilgrimages to La Porte seem to be quite the fashion these days among the younger set of the country. Three girls and one boy are taken into custody by La Porte patrolmen at an early hour.