As always, there were many tragic local stories in the Syracuse Journal during 1931. One of the saddest involved a train-car collision that took the lives of Mrs. Tillie Mazaitis, 44, wife of Joseph Mazaitis, and her daughter, Miss Mary Louise Mazaitis, 17, of Rockaway Beach Road.

The teenager was giving her mother a driving lesson near their home in the recently purchased family automobile. It was believed Mrs. Mazaitis was driving when the care was struck by a Delaware, Lackawanna & Western locomotive at the Rockaway Beach crossing, early in the evening on October 1. However, morgue officials were unable to determine for sure which of the two was behind the wheel.

The Mazaitis home was on Rockaway Beach Road, halfway between Van Vleck Road and the beach. The two intended to drive down to the beach, turn around and drive back, members of their family said.

Apparently the accident occurred on the return trip. As they approached the crossing, so was a D. L. & W. passenger train bound for Oswego. The locomotive hit the sedan and carried it down the tracks for 30 feet, finally tossing it to one side, a twisted mass of steel.

The impact threw both mother and daughter out of the car, but not before they had been crushed in the wreckage. Miss Mazaitis was killed instantly, her mother died within minutes.

Members of the Mazaitis family heard the crash and ran to the street to determine the cause, only to see the new sedan wrecked and mother and daughter lying at the side of the train.

Surviving Mrs. Mazaitis, besides her husband, are three sons, Richard, 15; Joseph, 21, and George Mazaitis, 26, and a daughter, Mrs. Leona Kensworthy, 25, of Solvay.

There was no mention in the newspaper story about a signal at the crossing.

Charles R. Hall elected mayor
The largest voter turnout so far in the history of the village saw Charles R. Hall, Democrat, elected mayor over Frank W. Craig, Republican, by 120 votes, on March 17. Trustees elected were Morris P. Fennelly, Democrat, over incumbent Republican Matthew Gleason, 579 to 501: John Falkowski, Republican, over Edward J. Jutton, Democrat, 428 to 383; incumbent George P. Rarick, Democrat, over Charles Renders, Republican, 468 to 368, and incumbent James A. Cottrell, Democrat, over Michael Radford, 460-368. Two trustees were elected in the second war, one of fill a vacancy.

The election shifted power over to the Democrats, who wasted no time making changes. On April 6 William J. Burns was named village clerk, Asher Cohen was selected as village attorney, Edward Jutton as treasurer, Fred Luchsinger as auditor, John Friedli as highway superintendent, and J. J. Norton as superintendent of light and water. Theodore Grant, Paul Tarolli and John Stanton were name assessors.

Some changes met resistance, which led to court battles. On November 14, one such battle was settled when Justice William M. Ross ordered village officials to restore Howard Houseman, to his job as garage repairman, a $175 a month job, with back pay from May 7. Houseman was one of several Republicans ousted when a Democratic administration under Mayor Charles R. Hall went into office.

Stage a raid and they will come
Prohibition agents continued their futile attempt to put illegal Solvay bars out of business, and village residents — and, no doubt, thirsty Solvay Process workers from several other communities — were always on hand to give the agents a difficult time.

So it was on January 5 when several hundred people threatened prohibition enforcement agents during a raid January 5 on the Italian-American restaurant at 101 Cogswell Avenue.

Most of the raids targeted places on Milton Avenue, and some of these spots were hit more than once. A cafe at 2257 Milton Avenue was raided on January 20 for the second time in the new year. On the second raid agents confiscated six barrels of beer.

On January 22, raiders battered down a concrete wall in a secret cellar of the premises at 2263-2265 Milton Avenue, and found nearly 500 gallons of cider. Agents also searched the upper floors of the premises and found six and a half barrels of beer. Benjamin Veri was charged with violation of the prohibition laws and released under $1,000 bail for a hearing later. Veri was arrested again March 23 during another raid on his place.

The next day there was a raid at 2215 Milton Avenue. Thomas McCue was arrested; three barrels of beer and quantities of alcohol, whiskey and gin were found.

Nine days later, 240 pint bottles of home brew were poured down the sewers of a cafe at 2019 Milton Avenue, after dry enforcement agents raided the place.

Agents shifted target on July 16 and aimed at the so-called "roadhouse belt" at Fay Road and Salisbury Road. There were at least two places at the intersection, but were considered more upscale than Milton Avenue bars, thus being referred to as "resorts." Alexander and Jenny Roberts, proprietors of a place at 329 Fay Road, were arrested.

Michael Louise was arrested during an August 29 raid at 112 Cogswell Avenue, where agents seized a gallon of wine, pint of whiskey and barrel of beer, the wine and whiskey being found in a trap beneath pails in a cupboard.

A pint of whiskey and five barrels of beer were found September 3 at 2267 Milton Avenue. Proprietor Michael Baratta was arrested, so was Thomas Kennedy, accused of throwing a bottle at the agents.

On October 23 there was a raid at 239 Charles Avenue, Solvay, which upset 50 angry patrons. Prohibition agents termed the place an elaborate brewery. Large quantities of mash and equipment were seized, along with 32 half barrels of beer.

It was back to 2237 Milton Avenue on November 12. Federal prohibition enforcement agents found 100 pints of beer and 10 gallons of mash on the third floor.

The Volstead Act was growing tiresome, but it had more than a year to go.

People

Just say the secret word: Tindall
The outstanding player on the Syracuse University football squad during its October 10 win over Ohio Wesleyan was to receive a pair of New Algonquin shoes donated by H. W. Cook, president of the A. E. Nettleton Company.

Coach Vic Hanson and newspapermen were hard-pressed to name one player in the lopsided 48-7 Syracuse victory. The problem was solved by placing the names of deserving players in a hat. The name drawn? Guard Frank Tindall, former Solvay High School star, who recovered two fumbles during the game. On October 12, Tindall went to Nettleton’s to get fitted.

The Solvay native played both basketball and football at Syracuse and in his senior year was voted the most valuable player on his team and was named an honorable mention All-American guard.

He played professionally for the Toronto Argonauts and was moved to tackle and was a conference all-star in 1933, his rookie season. Toronto won the Grey Cup that year. Years later he was inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame.

However, it was as coach at Canada's Queen;s College that he is best remembered. His teams won eight intercollegiate titles and one national title. The Frank Tindall trophy is given each year to the top college football coach in Canada. He also is remembered on the Queen's campus where the football field was named in his honor.

He died in 1993 at the age of 85.

Slowly recovering his sight after spending a week on the verge of blindness, William Tindall Jr., 122 Charles Avenue, Solvay, was discharged from the Hospital of the Good Shepherd May 20.

A tiny piece of metal which lodged behind his eye last Thursday imperiled Tindall’s sight. Physicians who have studied his case declare it is impossible to remove the piece of metal, but believe nature will provide its own remedy.

Employed at the Eastern Greyhound Line garage, 601 Hiawatha Boulevard, as a repairman, Tindall was hammering on a small shaft in an effort to force it into place. A tiny chip of metal from the shaft suddenly flew through the air and pierced the lower eyelid of Tindall’s left eye, struck a bone and ricocheted deeply behind the eye socket. The only possible way to remove it, X-ray examination revealed, would be to extract the eye.

For two days Tindall was blind in the left eye. Then his vision began to return slowly and X-ray examination revealed that the metal fragment was becoming coated with flesh in such a position that it no longer affected the nerves.

Olga Harkovecz went on to graduate from Solvay High School in the 1940s. She was working in the office of Pass & Seymour in 1951 when she married Stephen Melnick, who operated the Melnick farm on the Meridian-Weedsport Road. In 2011 the Melnicks celebrated their 60th anniversary.

A first for Helen McCarthy Rivette
For the first time since enactment of the prohibition enforcement law,a woman attorney appeared before United States Commissioner Haight April 10, defending a man charged with violation of the dry laws.

The attorney was Mrs. Helen McCarthy Rivette of Solvay. Her client was Frank Barry, 1709 Milton Avenue, Solvay, whose premises were raided by dry agents some time ago. Mrs. Rivette sought to have the charges dismissed on the grounds that the description of the premises in the search warrant was faulty. She presented photographs to back up her claim, but Commissioner Haight denied the motion.

Next time simply give her the gong
Mrs. Mary Bullinski, 40, of 2059 Milton Avenue, was dropped to the sidewalk from the third-story window of her home when a prank went wrong during an August 22 party. She was knocked unconscious, but fortunately survived without breaking any bones.

Andrew Chilski, 42, of the Milton Avenue address, was arrested. He said he grabbed Mrs. Bullinski by the legs and held her out the window, but in trying to pull her back, he slipped and released his hold. Chilski told police he'd been annoyed by Mrs. Bullinski's singing.

A six-team village baseball tournament
The village conducted a round robin baseball tournament composed of the strongest teams in the village — Solvay Tigers, Solvay Firemen, Solvay Polish Club, Community A. C., Milton A. C., and the Hunters Club.

Hunters Club was placed In the eastern division of the league, along with Community A. C. and the Solvay Firemen; the western section included Milton A. C., Solvay Tigers and Solvay Polish Club. The western section would prove to be stronger and much more competitive.

There were two games each Sunday, either at the Woods Road field, Pass & Seymour field, Hunters Club field, or Lewis Park, just over the village line in the west end of Syracuse. The tournament started on August 16 and did not end until October 4. The championship game was delayed until then because all three teams in the Western division had the same record — two wins, two losses.

The Syracuse Journal, on August 31, reported there were 7,000 spectators at a game played the day before when the Polish Club beat the Solvay Tigers, 7-2. The Tigers had a pet mascot, a goat, which was trotted out before the game. Some members of the Polish team arrived on an old-fashioned buggy pulled by a white mule.

That game would be the last victory for the Polish Club, who lost their next game to Milton A.C., 18-3. The Solvay Tigers then exacted their revenge on the Polish Club.

Milton A. C. eliminated Polish Club in the playoffs, but fell to the Solvay Tigers the following Saturday. A day later the Tigers won the championship by handing Community A. C. their only loss. I could not find an account of the game, only an October 9 story that stated the Tigers were winners of the Round Robin.

Solvay High School's baseball team won the only two games I could find, though the Bearcats did not win their division in the Onondaga County League. The dominant team, three years in a row, was Skaneateles High, led by pitcher Whitey Wilshere. Solvay's star was shortstop John Zulberti, who eventually would play minor league baseball. Other members of the team were Wheeler, Beagle, Kinsella and Salvetti, but the newspaper did not offer first names.

Highlight of the Solvay High season may well have been a 2-1 win over Central High of Syracuse on May 22. Kinsella was the winning pitcher; loser was future major league pitcher Johnny Gee, who stood six-feet-nine, and was the tallest pitcher of his time.

Football:
Solvay High School played six games, won four of them and had one loss and one tie, which was good enough for only a fourth place finish in the Onondaga County League, which lumped 10 schools together. Marcellus was league champion, with only a tie to blemish its record. East Syracuse and Manlius had 5-1 records. The Solvay-East Syracuse game was scoreless until the closing moments when an 80-yard return of an interception resulted in a touchdown, giving East Syracuse a 6-0 victory.

The Solvay Tigers, who won the village baseball championship, also were crowned the football champ with back-to-back wins over their leading challengers, Milton A. C. and Community A. C. Afterward, Ray Parker, business manager of the Tigers, upped the ante through a letter published in the Syracuse Journal. The letter stated, "The Tigers are claiming the Central New York championship, and if the leading Syracuse teams don't like that, let them book the Tigers for a game and then beat them." I could find no record of such a game being played.

As for Community A. C., they had laid claim to the championship of Solvay on November after beating yet another Solvay team, the Aces. Carmen Bucci and Bob Rood led the Community A. C. to a 14-6 win. Other members of the Community A. C. team were Pepe Bendetti, John Simiele, M. Murphy, Red Barry and Mike Charles.

The Aces had been unbeaten and unscored upon since 1929. The Aces included several Solvay High School players, including Joe Plants, Spillet and Lyons.

Names of Tiger players in the various stories that fall included C. Lamanna, Lavigno, Fowler, T. Yezzi, J. Lamanna, Gettman, Galante and Joe Otter, described as "the pint-size quarterback." Olgeaty was the coach.

Rutkowski won the $400 prizes as the Journal-American's 1930-31 champion, Speziali was the $150 runner up. Solvay also took fourth and fifth places with Tommy Franza and Greg Griffo.