92 Years Ago
The June 7, 1934 Colorado Transcript summarized life (and several deaths) in Golden that week.
- The Avenue Flashes column informed us that the cottonwoods were shedding: "A cotton snowstorm is raging with every gust of wind."
- A new clock on Woods Mortuary was proving popular with the locals: "Everybody is driving down to the corner of 11th and Washington to check their watches with the beautiful new cathedral faced neon-clock O. A. Saunders has placed in the front doorway of Woods mortuary."
- Mrs. Mattie Pyle of Pleasant View was being held in the Jefferson County Jail, on the charge of murdering her husband. When Mr. Pyle returned from work at noon, the two had an argument about the car, since he had left it locked and taken the keys with him. According to Mrs. Pyle, he handed her his rifle, butt-first, and it accidentally discharged, hitting him in the groin. Death was nearly instantaneous. She was later found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, with a penalty of one to eight years in the penitentiary. Despite this, she was awarded $500 from his life insurance policy.
- J.M. Morris had died the previous week at the age of 84. Mr. Morris had come to Golden in 1877. He was a builder and owned a lumber yard. The funeral was held at Woods Mortuary and he was buried in the Golden Cemetery.
- Jean Lindgren's body had been found in Clear Creek. She had left home the previous day, after a disagreement with her husband. She had handed a letter to the streetcar operator, to be posted in Golden. The letter, addressed to her husband, informed him of her plan to kill herself. An inquest was held at Woods Mortuary and the conclusion was that she had drowned herself.
- Members of the National Guard were arriving at Camp George West for their annual two-week training session. Golden businessmen planned to dine with the officers that week. General Neil West Kimball, grandson of Transcript founder George West, would host the gathering. General Kimball's regular column, "Colorado Press Association's Capitol Comment," appeared in the same issue.
- Mayor Jones had received a letter from the Colorado Division of Public Health, telling Golden to desist from dumping sewage into Clear Creek. Their charge was valid: Golden did pipe its sewage untreated, straight into the creek. This was standard practice at the time. Every city along the creek was doing the same thing, making Clear Creek a filthy, disgusting mess.
This was the middle of the Great Depression, and none of the municipalities had money to build sewage treatment plants, so the problem continued for many years. Golden was finally rescued from our culpability when Coors began treating our sewage in 1953.
