167. Courthouse News and A Fried Egg.

Winchester News And Journal-Herald, Sept. 15, 1956.


  Why the remodeling of the courthouse? Why wasn't a new one built? What's it all about anyway? These questions have been put many times and this newspaper has tried factually to make suitable, clarifying explanations, but some still don't know the reasoning behind it. So--The News and Journal-Herald asked the board of commissioners of Randolph county, the group responsible for the decision, to make a report. This is it:

  In view of the fact that the part of the remodeling and renovation of the courthouse which was scheduled to be done this year is nearing completion, the county commissioners are pleased to release the following report on the progress and results of construction:
  The project began with the removal of the clock tower: all structural changes in the building have now been completed. Remaining yet to be done are partitions, ceilings, etc. for the west end of the third floor, renovation of the downstairs offices and pointing up and decorating the exterior of the building. Part of this remaining work is tentatively scheduled for 1957 and the balance shortly afterwards.
  To date $156,380 has been spent and an estimated $44,000 will be required for completion, actual cost of approximately $200,000. When this is all done, enough room will have been provided for all county offices and for badly needed storage space for public records and files, and it is believed will meet all requirements for many years to come.
  When this project was commenced, there were two pressing needs. When the courthouse was built there were no such offices as county agricultural agent and welfare department, both of which could only be housed in quarters taken off other offices which were already suffering from lack of space. Every county office was compelled to seek more room for records and other facilities not contemplated or needed 75 years ago, but there was no place to get this space in the building as it stood. So more room was an important consideration.
  Another point was the dangerous condition, from fire and storm, to which the attention of boards of commissioners had been directed for several years by the state fire marshal and the administrative building council. Leakage through the roof was a constant source of expense as well as damage, and the wiring, heating and plumbing were all antiquated. All of these sources of danger, damage and expense have now been eliminated.
  It has been said that the building should have been torn down and a new structure erected, and serious consideration was given to it. Careful inspection of the walls and foundations indicated that they were sound. Wilson, Terwilliger & Van Voorhis, architects, of Richmond, Indiana, pointed out that a very conservative estimate of the cost of demolishing the old building and erecting a new one, with floor space and facilities comparable to those of the remodeled building, would be considerably in excess of $500,000.
  To finance the new building would have required a half million dollar bond issue spread over 20 years. The interest alone would have been $100,000. From 18 months to two years would have been required for the construction and in the meantime all county offices, with their records would have to be moved into temporary quarters all over the community, not only at great cost but at great inconvenience to the general public.
  The rental for such quarters, if indeed they could be found at all, and the expenses of moving back and forth, would have been no small item. The business of the court would have been virtually at a standstill, and all of the county's business in confusion. The commissioners believe that by following the present program instead of rebuilding they will have saved the tax payers of Randolph county at least $400,000.
  There has been some inconvenience; some dust and dirt has been unavoidable; the project has stretched into years and things have not looked too inviting with work going on all the time. But no books or records have had to be moved out of the building, no office has had to be shut down a day; the business of the court has been inconvenienced but not interrupted.
  Not a cent has been borrowed, nor a cent of rent paid, there will be no interest to pay and the county does not owe a dollar for what has been done.
  Unfortunately only a small number of the citizens of Randolph county have business with the county offices on the second and third floors. One who has not used the elevator in preference to climbing the steps to the second or third floors, or has not visited the new court facilities on the third floor, or the offices on the second, cannot justly appreciate the improvement that has been made thus far. Lawyers from out of town without exception have commented upon the efficient and dignified court room and the efficient court facilities.
  These will be further improved with additional library and conference facilities on the completion of the third floor, as well as locating more conveniently other county activity closely related to the functioning of the court. Although with the renovation of the first floor offices, many more people will personally see the benefits from this project, it is to be hoped that others will personally inspect the work thus far done.

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1948. A Nickel's Worth Of Cheese.


  Do you recall the days when a stranger in town would go to the grocery store at mealtime and buy a nickel's worth of cheese, a nickel's worth of crackers and perhaps a nickel's worth of bologna, and then set down by the old pot-bellied stove and eat his lunch? With restaurants in every town and hot meals served at all times, you don't see much of the cheese-and-crackers dining anymore. But the other day I heard a fellow tell a curious tale about a man who ate his lunch almost home-style in a grocery store. He said years ago he went to Huntsville to work on a new house somebody was building, and the weather being kind of raw, he would take his lunch bucket over to the store and eat his noon meal behind the stove. One day a stranger came in and bought his nickel's worth of cheese and crackers, and asked the store keeper for a small piece of brown paper. The proprietor, being an obliging person, told him to help himself. The stranger carefully tore off a piece of wrapping paper about a foot square. He then came back to the stove, and set his cheese and crackers on the bench ready to eat. From his inside coat pocket he produced a fork, which he carefully polished on his coat sleeve and laid it down beside the cheese and crackers. he then took his square of brown paper and lair it carefully on the flat top of the hot stove and then stood watching it while it became browner still from the heat. Suddenly his hand dove into his greatcoat pocket and came out with two fine, white eggs. He deftly cracked the eggs together, broke their shells and dumped them out upon the brown paper. In the space of a breath his eggs were nicely fried and the gentleman removed his overcoat and sat down to enjoy his meal. Salt? I don't know, my friend didn't mention that.
(Edith Odle, Karl's wife, is the only person I ever saw fry an egg on paper. They had a wood burning cook stove and she would tear a piece of brown paper from a grocery sack, lay it on one of the iron plates and cracked the eggs. No skillet or plate to wash. mh)

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