Vermilion In September 1925

With a new month, it is time to venture 100 years into the past to see what was going on in the community back then.

It may have been 10 decades ago, but the events of then influenced the community that exists today.

The month started off on a good note when Margaaret Roseborough of Vermilion was awarded a $1,200 bursary from the Imperial Order Daughters of Empire. Her father, Samuel Roseboroguh, served in the First World War and was injured at Ypres in 1916. He died in an Edmonton hospital a few months later.

On Sept. 4, two youths were arrested in Vermilion on six charges of theft, breaking and entering and stealing from the post office. The two boys, Paul Plisbka and Mike Koluk, implicated another youth in the incident. That same day, William McKelvie and John Arnold were severely injured when the wagon they were in turned over. Eleven days later, McKelvie died of his injuries.

On Sept. 17, the first day of duck season was recorded as being very good. The opening of the season had people out at every lake looking to bag up to 30 ducks, which was allowed by the game laws of the day. Unfortunately, some people shot 45 ducks despite the laws against taking home that many.

That same day, tragedy hit the community when the eight-year-old son of James Tattersall died after he was cut by a piece of glass that cut a vein in his leg. As the boy was put to bed, the lamp on the chimney fell over and broke over him. A piece of the glass cut the boy when he fell over after the incident and he bled to death.

On Sept. 19, A. Willis, an employee of the Town of Vermilion, was injured when the team of horses he was using in town work ran away on him. He had just finished watering the horses and was getting into the wagon when the team took off. While his injuries were painful, they were not serious.

On Sept. 24, it was announced that enrolment at the farm school in Vermilion was especially high and beyond the expectations set the previous year. Applications came in from across the province, and it was believed the good crops of the previous two years played a hand in the popularity of the school.

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