It was a busy news day 100 years ago

One hundred years ago today, Feb. 28 fell on a Tuesday. Reading a newspaper from yesteryear can show what life was like and give a sense of what was important to the pioneer citizen.

A check of The Oklahoman for Wednesday, March 1, 1911, gives indication that Tuesday was a busy news day.

On the front page we find that U.S. Sen. Thomas P. Gore’s accusations that he and others had been offered bribes to influence the vote on the sale of Indian lands were substantiated and that a Senate resolution passed in the state House of Representatives to submit an amendment to change a section of the state Constitution barring railroad building in the state.

Inside the newspaper, then as now, the weather was important to Oklahoma’s residents, and 100 years ago, the state was having its first blizzard of the year with an ice storm in Oklahoma City and 8 to 10 inches of snow in some areas of the state.

Other items of note on the inside pages:

Chicken stealing was made a felony, if the bird was worth more than $5.

An arsonist was burning buildings in Stilwell and Snyder.

A bridegroom dropped his gun and shot himself in the leg on his way home after the wedding.

February was considered a slow month because only 74 marriage licenses had been issued.

The post office was booming, announcing a 32 percent increase in the sales of stamps and stamped envelopes, compared to 1910.

The conduct of the Legislature has not improved much judging by the story appearing on Page 14 in 1911, a part of which follows: “There was a lapse in the dignity of the House of Representatives Tuesday night, and toward adjournment at 11 o’clock the session reminded one slightly more of a farcical burlesque on the stage than the solemn deliberations of the dignified lawmakers of Oklahoma. This was so especially during a heated controversy between Speaker Durant and Representative Ed Clark, right in the midst of a roll call, when Mr. Clark arose and started to make a talk when his name was called. The speaker banged his gavel so viciously that the head flew off, and the two men together indulged in some language not exactly parliamentary.”