“The road which will make Colorado famous” was rapidly coming together this week in 1912 and reports indicated it would be open ahead of schedule. The Golden-Idaho Springs boulevard, most especially the Lookout Mountain and Mount Zion section, was to be “finished for traffic by the first of July,” reported “The Colorado Transcript.” Work at the time was in process somewhere between Lookout Mountain and Floyd Hill.
Golden celebrated Abraham Lincoln’s birthday this week in 1912. “[T]he public schools, School of Mines, public buildings, and part of the business houses” were closed in honor of the sixteenth president. Additionally, the Methodist church held “services appropriate to Lincoln’s anniversary.” Apparently, this entailed “a strong sermon…on the characteristics of the martyr.” The Woman’s Relief Corps was also planning a meeting to commemorate Lincoln, along with Washington and McKinley.
Lincoln’s birthday was not the only cause for social events in Golden. In fact, it appears that February was dance season in the town. The Socialists were to host a barn dance, charging 25 cents for men and 15 cents for ladies. The Golden Court Foresters of America announced its dance, scheduled for March 15. “The younger set” was also planning a dance, set for February 21, in honor of Leap Year. The event was to have music by an orchestra from Denver.
Fortune smiled upon the Orediggers this week in 1912. The men’s basketball team defeated Colorado Agricultural college (the future CSU) 26 to 14 and the University of Wyoming 27 to 14. Insulting the officials was not advisable, as one “Toughy” Wolff refereed both games.
All was not perfect in Golden, though. A charlatan masquerading as a vacuum cleaner company manager “bamboozled a number of people” this week. In addition to his vacuum antics, the young man who went by the name of Belt, cashed “a phoney draft at the Avenue hotel.” He should have stuck to smaller towns like Golden, though, for he attempted his con in Denver and was arrested.