Take me out to the ballgame - just not on Sundays

Enjoying a Sunday baseball game is a common practice today, but a century ago it drew major protest from some Elgin churches.

Elgin area citizens got an unexpected jolt as an earthquake rumbled through the area, while officials of the world renowned Elgin National Watch Co. said it was time to build an observatory in order to tell what time it was.

Here's a look at those stories and others that made area headlines in May 1909.

Baseball brouhaha: Upset when plans were announced for Sunday baseball games, a number of Elgin churches organized a community meeting to halt the effort.

"If Sunday baseball games are conduced in Elgin, it will be against the open protest of over half of the community," said one opponent.

"I never knew a regular attendant at Sunday baseball who amounted to anything in church work," added one pastor.

"I cannot see any moral wrong to spending Sunday afternoon on the baseball grounds," said a clergyman with a differing view.

To compromise, some proposed a half-day business holiday on Saturday afternoons during which games would be played.

Earthquake in Elgin: Lamps tipped over, windows rattled, and dishes fell from their shelves as a mild earthquake rumbled through the area. Actually, two separate quakes by a half minute, the shaking began at 8:40 a.m. as many were making their way to work. Employees at Elgin factories reported varying effects with the most notable incident at the Elgin National Watch Company where two women reportedly went into "hysteria" and huddled together during the shaking.

The quake also caused few early morning imbibers at one liquor establishment to think they were feeling some premature effects of their beverages.

The power of breakfast: Did students from low income families in the good old days have a more difficult time in school? Most definitely, said the superintendent sharing data he had gathered from the district's teachers.

"Poor eating makes for poor scholars," he added, noting that more than 200 students in the Elgin schools came from families with incomes insufficient to adequately feed their children. Several women's clubs volunteered to assist the families.

Empty pews: Why don't young women attend church and Sunday school? Less than half of the women in Elgin come to worship regularly according to a study by one Elgin church.

"We want the time for recreation or housework," explained some in the study. "We have found too many snippy and snappy girls at church," said others. Still others said they disliked the "snobs, gossip, and cliques."

One newspaper said it would help the women gather additional data for their study.

What time is it? That's what officials at the Elgin National Watch Company often wondered as variations in the time transmitted by the government over telegraph lines constantly varied.

To deal with the problem, the firm hired noted astronomer Professor William Payne to oversee the construction of an observatory to tell time by the stars. Vibrations caused by trains near the factory prompted officials to locate the facility a few blocks away at Watch and Raymond Streets where it remains today as a planetarium serving children in Elgin Area School District U-46.

Skeleton found: It wasn't the first time the skeleton of a Native American was uncovered in the area, but it was viewed as one of the most preserved finds.

While working with power equipment at a local gravel pit, an employee discovered a skeleton believed to be that of an American Indian buried about 15 feet beneath the ground. The man, who was estimated to be about 200 pounds at the time of his death, was also interred with a tomahawk.

The employee said he planned to fashion the bones into an ornament and preserve the tomahawk as he found it.

Memorials unveiled: Finally, Memorial Day saw the unveiling of not one, but two veterans' memorials - both of which are still with us today.

At the Elgin Academy on the near east side, a memorial containing two Civil War cannons procured through an Act of Congress, was dedicated in honor of the students, staff, and trustees from the school who had served during that conflict.

And, at Five Islands Park, now Jon Duerr Forest Preserve, a marker honoring two soldiers from the Blackhawk War who died while passing though the area was unveiled in the park.

"We gather today for these soldiers with the hope that the rising generation will do so for us," said a Civil War veteran who spoke during the ceremony.