150 years ago in The Sun

August 7, 1849: A Good Moment -- Early on Sunday morning the plugs in many of the streets were unscrewed, and the fresh water gushing out therefrom, washed the gutters more effectually than ever. The very atmosphere also appeared purer and cooler whilst the streams which rushed down the streets washed away the dirt and filth with which they were lined.

100 years ago in The Sun

August 8, 1899: WESTMINSTER, MD., Aug.7. -- The experiment of free mail service in the rural districts of Carroll County, begun April 3, has proved successful beyond expectations. A.W. Maehen, superintendent of free rural mail service, with headquarters at Washington, has for some time past been in consultation with Edwin W. Shriver, the inventor of the rural postal wagon, and Postmaster Milton Schaeffer, of Westminster, making plans for extending the system over the entire country.

50 years ago in The Sun

August 10, 1949 -- Eugene H. James will be hanged shortly after midnight tonight for the murder of 11-year-old Marsha Brill. Just before or after the janitor is executed, John Thomas Knowles, a 26-year-old who stabbed his girlfriend to death, also will go to the Penitentiary gallows.