Other days

100 YEARS AGO Dec. 22, 1913 LEAD HILL - The proficiency of a pack of hounds in trailing a scent cost Lewis Smith, a trapper of Peel, Ark., at least $50 worth of hides and a badly skinned elbow early last week while Smith was en route to Lead Hill, horseback, to sell his furs. He had the bundle of hides tied to his saddle. In some way, he believes, a skunk hide became loose and dragged along the ground, held to the bale by a string. Dogs took up the scent and although he heard them yelping he paid no attention to them until they were upon him. His horse took fright at the noise the dogs made in tugging at the loose hide and Smith fell to the ground in his efforts to get off, bruising his elbow. The horse ran away, scattering hides in the mud for nearly a quarter of a mile. Few of them were fit for sale when recovered.

50 YEARS AGO Dec. 22, 1963

A record 205 new and expanded manufacturing and processing plants came into Arkansas during this past year, bringing with it $72.2 million in construction and new facilities. This was the highlight of the annual report by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce, released Saturday. Wayne A. Stone, Pine Bluff banker and president of the chamber, made the report public. When completed and in full production, these plants will create 9,666 additional jobs.

25 YEARS AGO Dec. 22, 1988

The Social Security numbers of licensed drivers in Arkansas also will serve as their driver’s license numbers under a conversion program expected to be completed by 1993. The program begins next year, when 400,000 of the state’s motorists get the numbers, said Michael D. Munns, administrator of the state Office of Driver Services. The new numbers also will mean a change in the way motorists get their licenses.10 YEARS AGO Dec. 22, 2003

The soured deal to lease two mint condition River Rail streetcars to Charlotte, N.C., isn’t going to prove harmful to either project, officials with two public transit agencies said. But at the same time, they also agree that not much good came out of nine months of futile negotiations. Because of liability risks, the Central Arkansas Transit Authority Board of Directors last week gave up on the contract with Charlotte Transit to loan the $800,000 cars for six or seven months. The concern involved CATA’s exposure to liability in any potential accident lawsuit in excess of the insurance coverage Charlotte could provide.