On January 2, 1926, the Mendocino Beacon published its first edition of the New Year. New Years Day had landed on a Friday, and the Beacon included a small column on the town’s holiday celebrations. Most businesses were closed, and “the day was warm and delightful, and many took advantage of it to spend the greater part of it outdoors.”
There weren’t any great town-wide parties thrown, and many chose to gather with their families instead. The church bells did not even ring at the stroke of midnight. Perhaps to the annoyance of some (at least to the annoyance of the writers at the Beacon, it seems), some people chose to “raise a racket by discharging firearms” to ring in 1926. People with radios could listen into “the street racket and din” in San Francisco.
Despite the holiday, life continued, and news of New Year celebrations were largely overshadowed in the paper by regular news. Reports included three wedding announcements from the previous week: Grace Bean and John Mackey, Emilio Moretti and Agnes Eklund, and Jennie Dahl and R.F. Berndt. The Bean/Mackey union included a full column, which detailed Grace’s life before the marriage. She was born in Navarro and moved to Mendocino as a young girl. She trained as a nurse at Mount Zion Hospital, working there for five years after and rising to the position of night superintendent. When World War I erupted, Grace enrolled and served two years overseas.
Another article noted that a former teacher at Mendocino High School, Miss Clare Grubb, wrote a play titled “The Outlaw King,” an operetta based on the tales of Robin Hood. The Stauer Chevrolet Company in Fort Bragg reported its year-end sales: 104 new cars and 70 used cars sold in 1925.
In Caspar, Harry Bevans, Harry Day, George Finney, B.L. Elliott, and Sheriff Byrnes killed the fourth bear they came across in two weeks. Bears had been entering an apple orchard there and coming too close to residents for their comfort. Further north, Mr. and Mrs. Elkerton from Humboldt were visiting the Grants of Fort Bragg. They were sightseeing, sitting on a ledge 20 or so feet above the ocean. A swell rose up and pulled the couple into the ocean, where Mr. Elkerton unfortunately drowned. Mr. Grant saw the sad event and raced home to retrieve a rope. He was able to throw the rope out and pull Mrs. Elkerton to the shore, after she floated for over 30 minutes unable to swim back herself.
The Beacon reported on news outside of the coast as well. In Santa Monica, Professor A.A. Merrill successfully completed test flights of a tailless biplane. The plane weighed less than 600 pounds and had a wingspan of 22 feet. The headline read “New Craft May Revolutionize Art of Flying.”
January 1926 continued, and history continued to be made. Perhaps most notably in January, Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated a mechanical television system, a “televisor,” on January 26th. His invention has significant impacts on our daily lives 100 years later. Who knows what may be newsworthy this January.
The Kelley House Museum is now operating in our winter hours, open Friday-Sunday from 11am-3pm. Visit the Kelley House Event Calendar for a Walking Tour schedule.