[This is the first of a series of articles about life in Kane, PA, 110 years ago. The articles are a project of the Kane Area High School National Honor Society. Tim Casey, past librarian at the Kane Area High School, is the author.]

[Above is a picture from www.ncpenn.com, it shows a view of Kane in 1869. Please remember this is 30 years before the article's events. Kane has come a long way baby!]

The citizens of the borough of Kane were informed of daily events internationally, nationally, and locally through two newspapers published in our community. “The Daily Kane Republican,” a four-page newspaper, published Monday through Saturday each week and the “Kane Leader,” an eight-page newspaper that was published on Friday. The price of the daily newspaper by subscription was $ .25 per month and the price of the weekly newspaper by subscription was $1.00 per year.

This was a time before automobiles and the railroad was a primary means of transportation locally, joining nearby communities but also cities afar. Nightly, a Pennsylvania Rail Road Train left New York City at 5:50 P.M. and would arrive in Kane at 8:55 A.M. the next morning.

The Spanish-American War had ended the previous year but men from the Kane area, soldiers of the “Fighting Sixteenth” were still serving in the military in Cuba and Porto Rico. William McKinley, our 25^th President of the United States had been elected in 1896 and, “woodsman are rejoicing in the fact that they have plenty of work and again are earning what they had during the time of (President Benjamin) Harrison- $1.15 a day plus board.” While Grover Cleveland had been President, wages had dropped to $ .75 per day.

Borland Brothers, which was advertised as “The Greatest Store,” sold Arbuckle’s Coffee at $ .10 per lb., maple syrup at $.80 per gallon, and a 24 lb. sack of whole wheat flour for $.80.

An outstanding asset of the community was the Kane Summit Hospital, Sanitarium, and Training School for Nurses. As advertised, “every patient receives the personal attention of Dr. Evan O’Neill Kane, physician and surgeon.

[Above is a picture of the famous Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane. You never heard of him? Well, that's him lying in the bed preforming a self surgery at the age of 70!]

Health concerns were a priority early in 1899 as “the grip,” a disease that threatens to become an epidemic,” had affected the region. Symptoms of the malady included: “sudden rise in temperature, rapid pulse rate, progressive difficulty in breathing and the need to prostrate ones self.” Many remedies were prescribed in the newspapers, one of the more novel recommended sufferers to sprinkle sulfur in their shoes daily.

A century ago there was no television, there were no movies or radio but entertainment, almost nightly, was provided in the form of drama at the Lyceum and the Auditorium, two competing assembly halls. “Forget-Me-Not,” “Camille,” and “A Duel of Hearts,” was staged at the Lyceum while “Cheer Boys, Cheer,” and “Old Kentucky Home,” were staged at the Auditorium by the Houghton Stock Company. Ticket Prices for these productions ranged from $.25, $.35, to $.50