George Dixon, my grandfather, wasn’t even born yet when Anderson, Indiana made the newspaper in Albion. On June 9, 1887, The Albion Journal reprinted an article from the Vincennes paper about an environmental disaster in Anderson. I don’t think they used the word environment, actually. This is a great example of the coverage of wider events in the Midwest and nation that The Albion Journal provided it’s readers via reprints of articles from other papers.
A natural gas well leaked gas into the White River in Anderson, causing a massive fish kill. A little Exxon-Valdez (again, ask your parents!) of our own.
Recall that George Dixon went to Anderson when the Albion Bank failed in 1929 to work in the burgeoning car parts industry. Delco-Remy was started in Anderson when the Remy brothers moved their electrical car starter manufacturing to Anderson, which offered cheap, abundant natural gas. Remy merged with Dayton Electric Company and Delco-Remy was history. At one time, almost every adult in the extended Dixon family worked at Delco-Remy or Guide Lamp. The gas was burned off and wasted within a few years in the whole east central Indiana region.
Anderson folks will recognize the name Moss Island, as in Moss Island Road.
Were you surprised to see that the culprit was actually arrested? I bet that folks still depended to some small degree on catching those fish he killed.
No comments:
Post a Comment