Past Pages March 23

130 YEARS AGO

Excitement in Virginia: A story reaching the Appeal from Virginia City that a valuable trotting horse presented to Dan DeQuille by John Mackay strayed up the side of Mount Davidson and became so frightened that it could not get down. Dan borrowed a hot-air balloon from John Piper and tying a rope around the horse, carried the other end to the balloon which he inflated about 50 yards away. The balloon sailed majestically in the air, while the snorting steed pawed the untrodden pathway of the clouds. The strange sight brought out the entire population supposedly seen from the California Observatory. Dan has already telegraphed to Mackay for a fresh steed.

120 YEARS AGO

Signs of spring: Teams belonging to Fred Sargent, Morrison Fellows and Chas Schultz participated in runaways. Sargent's team ran through the alley back of the Ozark distributing things considerably. M. Fellows' team took little exercise about town and went home going through a closed gate and smashing things and Schultz's outfit took in most of the back streets without serious result.

70 YEARS AGO

Five thousand trees: The CCC enrollees of the Carson City spike camp planted 5000 Jeffrey pine trees at Clear Creek on national forest land. The trees are being planted in brush fields where fires have destroyed all of the trees and a new crop is needed for watershed protection.

50 YEARS AGO

Advertisement: 1961 Mercury, priced right in the heart of the low price field $2,542.00. Pozzi Motor Co.

20 YEARS AGO

Assembly members support a bill to protect state employees who report alleged improper actions in their agencies. The "whistle blower" bill is necessary because state employees are afraid to even talk with legislators.

• Sue Ballew is the daughter of Bill Dolan, who wrote this column for the Nevada Appeal from 1947 until his death in 2006.