City marshal’s night full of sausage and gambling

1922: Here is another example of the inconsistency of human nature. When the school board was passing upon the brick and other material for the construction of Flagstaff’s new high school building, they tested brick from a number of plants in the Southwest and decided upon those manufactured in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and the present contractors and workmen say they are of excellent quality and as good as can be procured. At Las Vegas just now there is being erected a high school building and a state normal building, and the brick for these buildings was purchased in Denver and shipped to Las Vegas at considerable expense. From this distance, it looks like Las Vegas, as well as many other towns, could do a little home missionary work to the advantage of its business interests as well as the taxpayer.

1947: Flagstaff City Marshall Neill was casually sauntering by Jesus Garcia’s place Monday night when a couple of men came out of the establishment. When they saw Neill, they entered an animated discussion as to the merits of a certain brand of sausage Jesus sold and passed on rapidly. On his walk back, Neill saw two others going in. He likes sausage, too, and concluded to go in and make a purchase. When he walked in and was recognized there was the darnedest heated conversation over the relative merits of sausage you ever heard. Jesus sold a little string to each of the newcomers, but his mind was not on the ground hog and rather carelessly tipped over a quart bottle of elicit elixir visible from the moonlight on the floor. Mystery was cleared up and Neill took another stroll along S. San Francisco Street and visited Philippe. He found a number of men there working on a set of cards in which certain combinations indicate that one man loses while another wins whatever amount previously agreed upon. Technically the game is called 21 — and sometimes blackjack. When Neill strolled here again, he discovered that San Martine on Railroad Avenue was having a card party along the same lines as that of yet another man of dubious character both were consumed by the law. Neill wandered into Jim Gutierrez in the pool hall and discovered that miners were allowed to loiter about the hall — which is illegal. Judge Gillian placed the amount of damage done by Jim, added $15 and threw in a few remarks on the side for good measure.

More than 34 tons of relief food supplies for the Navajo and Hopi tribes has arrived in Flagstaff and will be stored here pending arrangements for distribution. A shipment of 38,000 pounds of flour arrived here several days ago and is stored in northern Arizona. This afternoon, arrangements are being made for the reception of about 30,000 pounds of assorted food stuffs. The chamber of commerce is seeking storage space. Already, relief donations, gathered throughout the West by American Legion Post and other organizations, are rolling toward the vast reaches of the Native American country. The Navajo relief caravan will gather donations in California and deliver them to local agencies in the Flagstaff area.

1972: The Flagstaff City Council Wednesday agreed to the acquisition of a downtown building to be used as a new city hall annex. Council’s vote at a special meeting called late Tuesday paved the way for the city to eventually acquire the large building on N. Beaver St that once housed Harper Furniture. Acquisition of the building will be a somewhat complicated legal process and it is contingent on the appraisal of the building. In order to acquire the building, the city will have to affect a trade with Mountain Bell telephone, which will buy it from the Harper family and then trade it to the city for the Creighton building.

Sen. Barry Goldwater said today that he believes most interested groups, including the Sierra Club, the Indians and citizens, are nearing agreement on a comprehensive new bill that would enlarge the boundaries of the Grand Canyon National Park by nearly 50%. The bill, which contains several concessions not included in earlier legislation, will be introduced in the Senate shortly after the 93rd Congress convenes in January. Major features would combine the existing park with most of the Grand Canyon National Monument and Marble Canyon Monument to create an enlarged park of 960,000 acres immediately upon its enactment. In addition, the bill would allow the secretary of interior to exchange 40,000 acres of land from the present National Monument for other areas more suitable for the park. The total acreage of the new park can reach as high as $1,000,000 under the bill.

1997: A 26-year-old man died after falling from Yaki Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park on Thursday. National park service rangers responded to reports of the fall near the South Kaibab trail at about 5:30 p.m. Rangers located the victim about 400 feet below the rim where he was pronounced dead at the scene. Because of darkness and hazardous terrain, recovery efforts were put off until this morning. The body was expected to be taken to the Coconino County Medical Examiner’s Office in Flagstaff today. An investigation is being conducted by the National Park Service in cooperation with Coconino County Sheriff’s Department.

About 12,000 Flagstaff Unified School District elementary and junior high students will get a special visit this week from a bunch of muscular men and women. But these people mean the students no harm. Actually, the athletes from Northern Arizona University will be speaking to the kids about how to stay out of harm’s way by staying away from drugs. The event is part of red ribbon week sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. The event begins to educate the nation on the dangers of drug use after two federal agents were killed by drug traffickers. Athletes from all 16 Lumberjacks programs will visit schools on Monday and Thursday, and will present each student with a red ribbon and each classroom with a poster. The program is also meant to encourage kids to participate in sports. Statistics from the Institute for Athletes in Education show kids who are involved in sports have higher self-esteem, confidence, self-respect, and willpower.