Rogers Brothers Confess Robbing Slaughter House
100 years ago – November 26, 1925
Late Thursday afternoon C. F. Rogers, 42, and H. C. Rogers, 39, the latter known as “Doc” Rogers, both well-known men of this city, confessed to a systematic series of robberies of the Roehm & Hassett slaughter house north of this city, and led the officers to a cache of tools which they had taken from time to time. The arrests were the result of a protracted period of detective work on the part of Jay Hassett, one of the proprietors of the Center Street Market.
According to Hassett, the first robbery occurred in April, just after a big slaughtering had been completed. The hearts, lights, lungs, and other meat taken from carcasses, considered in butcher parlance as “offal” together with one or two tools, disappeared. A few weeks later, immediately after another butchering, the same thing was repeated. Hassett made up his mind to sleep at the slaughter house. He slept there every night for two months without an attempt being made to break in.
Finally, he returned home, and the second day after that the place was robbed again. Just recently another big slaughtering was done, and along about eleven o’clock at night Hassett drove out to the slaughter house and arrived just as the robbers, two of them, were jumping into their Chevrolet auto, which was loaded with meat. Hassett got the license number of the car and traced the ownership to Fred Rogers of this city. Sheriff Joe Ryan was called into the case, and yesterday Ryan came to Healdsburg and by skillful maneuvering secured a confession from both of the Rogers brothers who returned all of the tools which had been missed. The men were taken to Santa Rosa and placed in the county jail and will face burglary charges in the superior court.
Trash fire days remain limited despite rainy season
75 years ago – November 23, 1950
Fire Chief Harold Sullivan wishes to call attention to the fact that the city’s trash-burning regulation is not a summertime ordinance, but is in effect throughout the year. This regulation stipulates that trash may be burned only between the hours from daylight to 10:00 a.m., every day of the week, with the exception of Mondays. With the coming of winter, Chief Sullivan says, many residents are burning trash at any time during the day or night, in the belief that the regulation is not in effect during the rainy season. The Fire Department would appreciate the public’s cooperation in observing this regulation and in helping to prevent objectionable smoke and odors, as well as fire potentials, around-the-clock.
Building bought for museum, town hall
50 years ago – November 20, 1975
The City Council ended months of efforts to find a community hall and museum when it approved purchase of the building which now houses The Arbor and Ben’s Arbor West on Matheson Street. The total purchase price will be $61,500. The city’s Bicentennial Commission has agreed to raise funds for display cases for material from the city’s archives. They are now crammed full of historical material which has no other place to be displayed, except the small glass case in the foyer of City Hall. The city hopes to dedicate the building as a museum during the Bicentennial observances.
The Flashbackers are docents for the Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society, 221 Matheson St., open 11-4 Wednesday-Sunday; healdsburgmuseum.org.
