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25/50/100

1904 was a presidential election year. Wire reports from the national conventions filled the newspaper’s front page, and local citizens published their candidacy announcements for city and county positions. This human-interest item suggests Aspen’s influence in state politics was more than verbal convincing.Bill Platt, Aspen’s candy man returned yesterday from Denver where he had been sweetening the state Democratic convention until he got ’em to his way of thinking. A change of seasons in Aspen means a change in businesses. The paper reported the new location of an established store, and remarked on the town’s already well-rooted sense of style. Aspen is not only noted for its handsome women but for its well-dressed men, and the latter owe much to the artistic touches to that prince of tailors, Charles Wagner. For many years Mr. Wagner has been a leading factor in the business life of Aspen and has long won deserved recognition in his particular line. He has recently removed to a more commodious and attractive location at 416 Hyman avenue and his display of fall and winter goods is exceedingly attractive. His facilities for supplying uptodate garments for gentlemen are much better than ever before and friends will meet a cordial reception.Autumn also means hunting season. The paper commented, Never in the history of Aspen was hunting such a boon or so many people taking advantage of the open season to enjoy this excellent sport. Already 205 hunting licenses have been issued and the season for hunting big game has just opened.Now that the hunting season is at its height and game of all kinds can be found, a number of hunting parties are leaving this city for the regions where game best thrives. [A group] left the city for the White river country to enjoy a short time hunting. They are all good marksmen and their friends can look forward to some good wild meat in the near future.Mountain weather in autumn brings summer one day and winter the next, attested by these reports only four days apart.Sunday was an ideal day for picnics and as the season is drawing towards its close for outings, numerous parties hied to the woods to spend the day. Some went up Conundrum, some up Maroon, Ashcroft and Roaring Fork. One of the largest and jolliest parties to enjoy the day communing with nature was a crowd of some twenty people who went to the Devil’s Punch Bowl up Roaring Fork. The Punch Bowl is an interesting work of nature, the sight of which is well worth the trip. But to visit an old river bed under solid rock, a narrow opening running from the bed up to the surface letting the light into the opening which is as big as a house and apparently divided off into rooms is a greater sight. The rocks are worn smooth as glass and projections in various parts are large enough to hold ten to twelve people. A natural lake also forms a part of the wonderful old river bed under the rocks.

Yesterday a current topic of the street was the present weather, everybody predicting a heavy snow fall before the week ends and if it comes it will prove that Aspen has some real weather prophets. Yesterday before the atmosphere became misty, snow could be seen at Independence and it will be no surprise to see the streets of Aspen covered with the beautiful any of these mornings.

A special hunting season rewarded this longtime Aspenite (and co-founder and owner of Aspen Sports with John Oakes) a fabulous trophy.Gale (Spider) Spence was the first of the six permitees in the Aspen area to kill his Bighorn sheep. Last week Spider killed his ram at extremely high altitude in the East Maroon Creek drainage. The head was presented to the Bilology class of the Aspen school.The ranching tradition of livestock, horses and guns was alive and well in the valley. The paper announced,The Pitkin County 4-H Club and the Aspen Riding Club are sponsoring the First Annual Aspen 4-H Horse Show Saturday at the Aspen Saddle and Bridle Club Rodeo grounds. …Auction of all 4-H stock is the feature event of the whole day. There will be offered for sale 3 fat steers, 4 to 6 fat lambs, one fat hog, and some wool blankets from wool shorn from 4-H sheep. The 4-H animals have been fed and pampered for several months and should furnish excellent meet.One of the important events of the Golden Aspen Festival week will be the trap shoot to be held by the Aspen Trap Club, the Western Slope Fall Championships. …Five electric traps will be in operation at all times during the shoot and one of them will be used exclusively for practice and impromptu shoots. …The Colorado Open Handicap will be shot Sunday with 100 targets thrown in the morning and 100 in the afternoon with the Calcutta based on the afternoon’s 100 targets. The hospital’s financial situation was a very different matter 50 years ago.The Trustees of the Pitkin County Public Hospital have announced that no general or house-to-house solicitation of funds for the hospital will be necessary this fall.”We are glad to report,” said William Field, President of the Board, “that the Hospital operated in 1953 without a deficit. We cannot of course assume that we will be as fortunate in 1954 but naturally we hope so.”



The obituary of a remarkable man, the founder of an organization that was later incorporated into Challenge Aspen, appeared in the paper 25 years ago.Jean Eymere, blind skier, mountain climber and founder of BOLD (Blind Outdoor Leisure Development) died at the age of 43, on Sept. 14 of an apparent stroke, complicated with diabetes in Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs. …Eymere was born in Monte carlo, Monaco. … He began ski racing in his youth and was a member of the French National B Ski Team. …Eymere came to Aspen in 1966 to manage a lodge and he eventually purchased the Coachlight Chalet, which he and his wife, Wils, operated for many years.Stricken with diabetes as a child, he became blind in 1970 as an outcome of the illness. At the urging of friends, he began skiing again and founded BOLD in 1971. The group brings blind people to Aspen to ski, horseback ride, ice skate, mountain climb or do river rafting. BOLD was later incorporated and expanded into a national program.A novel tax was being considered to permanently fund Aspen’s new employee housing program.If Aspen wants an ongoing housing program it needs an additional source of revenue which could be an addition to the real estate transfer tax of another 1/2%, the city council was told at a study session. …”Although housing is a critical need within the City of Aspen, and a priority of the city council, there seems to be no money available to budget even minor projects within 1980,” a memo from the city manager stated. “I strongly recommend that council consider going to a special election in early December to create the additional revenue source necessary to fund a comprehensive housing program for the City of Aspen.”A future editor in chief at The Aspen Times published a book 25 years ago. Andy Stone has written his first novel entitled Song of the Kingdom.It’s not the book most of us expected from him.Many of his friends thought it would be weird and crazy. The way he often acts.But it wasn’t.Many of us who worked with him at The Aspen Times thought it would be like his journalism. Stone is best when his writing has a cutting edge. …But it isn’t journalism. However, we shouldn’t be surprised because the book is Stone too.Andy Stone of the bluest eyes, the quickest tongue, the saddest face and the easiest laugh.It is a gentle and philosophic book. A fairy tale. A story that tells his love of music.It is the story of a land that is stern and ugly, where music and love and beauty are gone, locked up as the Song of the Kingdom inside a mountain.And young people go on a quest to release that song and bring it back to the world. …Why a book?”Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?” he laughs.