Excerpts from The News Journal from March 22-28 include info on the animals at the Brandywine Park zoo in 1926.
Delaware Senate hopes more money for renovations at Sussex prison can settle lawsuit in 1976.
Delaware National Guardsman tells of lack of supplies at Iraqi civilian clinic in 2006, but help is on the way from a pharmacy business.
The Delaware history column features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
March 22, 1926, The Evening Journal
Crowds in Wilmington park enjoy zoo on first day of spring
The official arrival of spring lured thousands of fireside-hunters from their homes yesterday. Throughout the day, the streets and parks swarmed with spring promenaders, glad to be out-of-doors without shivering.
Spring arrived officially at 4:02 o’clock yesterday morning, and the weather that prevailed throughout the day was in keeping with spring. The highest temperature yesterday was 53, registered early in the afternoon. …
Hundreds of automobiles that had been jacked up for the winter were given their first spring tryout.
There were thousands of visitors in the Brandywine Park. The monkeys and bears are still the chief attraction, although the bison, “Samuel H.” and “Susie,” while testing their strength against tree trunks, lured many onlookers.
Along with six monkeys, also in the monkey house are 26 young rabbits and 14 grown-ups, a new lot of 80 guinea pigs, eight parrots, three doves and two groundhogs. …
A racoon, peacock, two goats, two deer, four elk, ducks and alligators comprise the remainer of the zoo inhabitants. …
As a playground, promenade, zoo and outdoor studio for amateur photographers, Brandywine Park is increasing in popularity every year. …
More recent zoo news: Mornings with lemurs: Visit early to see baby lemur at Brandywine Zoo
March 24, 1976, The Morning News
Delaware Senate passes bond bill for prison repairs, subject of lawsuit
The Delaware Senate yesterday moved a step closer to the April 8 deadline for starting repairs at the Sussex Correctional Institute by passing an additional $1.5 million bond bill.
The money, if it is also approved by the House, will be added to $2 million approved last year for repairs to the decrepit prison near Georgetown. When the bids for the project were opened earlier this month, they were higher than budgeted for, and the low bidder was persuaded to extend his bid until April 8 for the General Assembly to appropriate more money.
Senate Majority Leader Richard S. Cordrey, D-Millsboro, sponsor of S.B. 601, said the money will be used to build a new kitchen and gym and renovate every cell in the prison. He wants the House to pass the bill this week so the contractor can begin work as soon as possible….
The 45-year-old prison is the subject of a pending suit in the U.S. District Court. Several inmates charge in a class action suit that conditions are so bad, confinement there is cruel and unusual punishment.
The case has been argued and a decision is expected soon. Cordrey hopes an agreement can be reached among the lawyers so the repairs and remodeling will be an acceptable settlement to the suit.
If they aren’t, the state may have to build a new prison which Cordrey said would cost double or triple the amount now appropriated….
March 26, 2006, Sunday News Journal
Delaware Guardsman works double duty in Iraq, soon with help from state business
They work all day in one of the busiest military hospitals in Baghdad, treating coalition soldiers, airmen and Iraqi police for everything from flu symptoms to gunshot wounds.
It’s exhausting work for the doctors, nurses and medics who staff the Victory Base Complex, but for many of them, the end of their shifts doesn’t mean the end of their workday. Instead of hitting their bunks, they go to special clinics that have been set up to treat Iraqi villagers.
“Our soldiers and airmen over here are very well-cared for by Uncle Sam, but the poverty we see in these Iraqi villages is profound,” said Col. Dean Winslow, a Delaware Air National Guard flight surgeon.
“The [village clinic program] is under the direction of U.S. Army Civil Affairs, but it is a 100 percent volunteer effort,” Winslow said.
Getting volunteers isn’t a problem. Getting drugs and medical supplies is, however. Because the U.S. government doesn’t supply any of those items for the clinics, the doctors, nurses and medics must rely on donations.
More recent war news: Dover Air Force Base hiring to help process overseas casualties
That prompted Winslow to e-mail Maj. Gen. Frank Vavala, adjutant general of the Delaware National Guard, explaining the situation.
Vavala e-mailed Alan Levin, CEO of Happy Harry’s Discount Drugs. Levin, a longtime Guard supporter, did not hesitate. Within minutes of reading that e-mail, he wrote back to Vavala, promising to get the drugs and medical supplies Winslow requested and ship them to Baghdad.
“Col. Winslow and his team are doing heroic work treating not only the soldiers but also the Iraqi civilians and they don’t have the tools they need to do that,” Levin said. “They need our support and any way that we can help, we will.”
The fact that they have the energy to do volunteer work in Iraqi villages is remarkable because Winslow and the rest of the staff at the hospital get plenty of work on a daily basis.
“We have the only surgical capability here in the complex, which comprises six military bases and over 30,000 coalition troops,” Winslow said….
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
