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This newspaper page contains 9 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
The Blackfoot Optimist
Location
Blackfoot, Idaho, United States of America
Date
Dec 21, 1916
Page
6
The article argues that free libraries and reading rooms broaden access to knowledge for rural residents, aided by towns with libraries and growing automobile accessibility. It praises summer chautauquas as affordable, broadening entertainment and instruction, offering respite from toil and a chance to broaden horizons, despite not delivering deep study.
The Blackfoot Infirmary asylum board reports about 35,000 dollars saved for the state treasury and an ability to repay 17,000 dollars of deficiencies inherited from prior administrations. The board requests 35,000 dollars for a new admin building and repairs, and 30,000 dollars for maintenance. The medical superintendent notes admission and discharge figures for July 1, 1914, with congestion due to lack of space and a goal to keep within appropriations while retiring 19,000 dollars of prior debt.
The Shelley sugar factory project by the Utah Idaho Sugar Co. nears completion with a $100,000 annual payroll and seven dollar per bushel payments to farmers, promising rapid growth for Shelley and nearby Blackfoot. An interurban railway planned by 1918 will connect the towns, mirroring other Pacific Northwest expansions. The piece also comments on Christmas observance amid wartime and cites strict lawfulness by citizens.
The piece argues for stronger national preparedness through more soldiers and military training. It advocates treating schools as miniature military camps, teaching tactics and armed defense so graduates can join the ranks as efficient soldiers, backing patriotic love with practical strength.
A delver into ancient lore recounts a legend about the dandelion tied to biblical events. In the tale told in Idaho and Scottish regions, a blind man after piercing Christ's side uses the blood and water to revive his sight and instructs Mary and John to gather dandelion leaves.
The text recounts a belief that two plants revived Christ when applied as an ointment, granting them healing power since, and that all herbs must be gathered on Sundays for full effect. It also notes dandelion’s heartwarming role in Boise, linked to a homesick territorial officer who requested the plants from the east and left a lasting local memory.
Washington reports a rise in the American Indian population to 209,224, an increase of 1,523 from last year. The Indian bureau says health and educational campaigns lowered the death rate from 35.55 to 23.33 per 100 and reduced infant deaths from 2,391 two years ago to 1,303 this year.
Ogden report notes Charles Carlberg of Arco Idaho attempted to cut his throat in a despondent bid to end his life. Deputies halted further self harm and he was placed in a padded cell. Officers say he is sane but deeply despondent. The Salt Lake Tribune column mocks press price rises and public trust.
Norah Sheppard writes in the Toronto Mail and Empire about a Christmas box sent to a soldier at the front. Gloves and scarf protect him from cold while home-made fare and candy lift spirits amid the east wind and sandbags. The scene contrasts war’s toil with festive care.
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