A photo of workers at the Tryon Hosiery Mill around 1908. The Tryon Hosiery Mill was later Grover Industry that closed last year.Conner compared headlines from the Polk County News in 1908 with 2008 headlines in the Tryon Daily Bulletin.

In 1908, taxes were collected by the Polk County Sheriff; an advertisement in the local paper detailed where and at what times the sheriff at the time, W. C. Robertson, would be collecting residents&squo; taxes.

The Bank of Tryon advertised four percent interest on accounts.

There was a shooting death at the Tryon Hosiery (later Grover Industry in Lynn) in 1908. R.F.W. Allston was fatally wounded by Lee Fisher.

&dquo;Fisher was standing only a few feet away when the shot was fired, which entered Mr. Allston&squo;s left breast, and produced death within an hour&squo;s time,&dquo; reported the Polk County News, &uot;although a physician was immediately summoned and every effort made to save the man&squo;s life.&dquo;

In April 1908, two men &dquo;broke jail.&dquo; The men sawed the bars of the steel casing which protected the windows over the front porch upstairs while everyone else downstairs was sleeping. One man was in jail for breaking into a box car in Saluda and the other was in jail for living in adultery.

In August 1908, the area received one of the biggest rainfalls Polk County and North Carolina had known for years. Reports were that bridges were washed away, roads were impassable and crops were greatly damaged.

&dquo;Mr. Page, our mailman, was unable to make his trips to Tryon Tuesday, and he was able to make only one Wednesday owing to the high water,&dquo; Conner read from a newspaper story. &dquo;In making his trip Wednesday he got into quicksand in Horse Creek and had to call for assistance.&dquo;

Interesting court results from October, 1908 included someone being convicted of retailing wine and receiving a fine of $50 and court costs and people charged with moving a bridge, disturbing a religious worship, affray and failure to work on roads.

According to other newspaper articles from 1908, people in the area of Dennis (in the Coopers Gap region) were getting ready to make molasses in September and were busy gathering corn and sowing grain in October.

The paper reported in November, 1908 that &uot;we regret very much that Mrs. W.H. McFarland is seriously ill with typhoid fever.&uot;

On Dec. 21, 1908, the Tryon Hosiery Mill was partially destroyed by fire.

&dquo;The wooden building containing the engine and boiler and other machinery and the dye plant was entirely destroyed,&dquo; reported the Polk County News. &dquo;This was unfortunate for the mill employees and the business of Tryon and Lynn which received considerable aid from this industry.&dquo;

The paper also reported that a sweet potato weighing nearly five pounds was sent to their office and that Mr. Ambrose Mills, &dquo;a prominent farmer and respected gentleman of Pea Ridge, Polk County, was in town for a while this week attending court.&dquo;

Conner said in 1908, attending court was a favorite pastime of many residents. Other favorite pastimes in 1908 which were reported in the paper were bowling games and baseball games.