Let the blames begin.

The Daily Telegram crashed back to reality after the giddy extra edition. Advertising was back on the front page and three headlines tried to explain what went wrong. In today’s era of rapid communication the premature peace announcement would be truth tested as soon as it was released by many competing news organizations.
However even todau news organizations can be stampeded and taken in by hoaxes. Two words: Balloon Boy. A live shot from a helicopter and a satellite uplink are in the long run, no substitute for good judgement and asking questions.
Some people find this process of constant questioning and rechecking annoying but it is part of doing the job. Stories don’t emerge complete from a single source and need to be pieced together.
Savvy news consumers do the same thing as good reporters and take in information from many sources. One of the tests I evaluate information with is how an organization handles corrections. When new information comes to light do correct the record and examine and explain or do they pretend it never happened and move on to the next issue?

Roy W. Howard, president of the United Press transmitted the information on the basis of information from Admiral Wilson. Howard had been president of the service for six years and had hired reporters to interview and report the news rather than republish dispatches from foreign wires. Too often foreign news services were propaganda mouthpieces for their governments.
C.L. Day, owner of the Telegram offered a decidedly unapologetic explanation. This after all is a paper that says in the nameplate, “60 cents a month after Aug 1. and worth it.”

ADMIRAL WILSON THE GOAT
AS TO ARMISTICE REPORT

The Telegram is not disposed to offer apologies for its news association–the United Press–because the news published yesterday of the signing of an armistice between the Allies and Germany proves to be immature.
Admiral Wilson gave the information to Roy W. Howard, president of the United Press, now at Brest, France, and Mr. Howard had every reason to believe it to be authentic.
Mr. Howard is a newspaperman of the highest standing whose ability and integrity are unquestioned. The United Press today make ample explanation of the source of its announcement yesterday, placing the blame, and the blame is assumed in a signed statement by Admiral Wilson.
The United Press serves more newspapers than all of the other news agencies combined, so The Telegram has the questionable satisfaction of knowing that it was in the company of a majority of the world’s biggest newspapers.

The Howard name would again be linked to the Telegram in another way long after C.L. Day and Roy Howard had died.  In 1986 Scripps-Howard  assumed ownership of the then Telegram-Tribune.
Yes, Roy Howard’s name was appended to the Scripps orginization’s in 1922, thanks for asking.
Now called The Tribune the newspaper is owned by McClatchy.

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It could be the biggest mistake combined history of the Telegram or Tribune’s.
An hurried Extra edition was put out on Wednesday (the nameplate says Sunday) with the screaming top headline:
GERMANY ASKS PEACE ON WILSON’S 14 POINTS

Problem was it wasn’t true yet. The United Press wire service reports do not cite a specific source and at best say the Axis powers are ready to discuss peace. There is no Allied source cited that confirms the reports or that the terms are acceptable.

We celebrate Armistice Day, now Veterans day five days later on November 11. The fighting was halted on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The Treaty of Versailles formally ending the war was signed on June 28, 1919.

The Daily Telegram was in its 13th year of publishing and was well on its way to consolidating its hold as the dominant regional paper. Under owner C.L. Day the paper had a punchy, crowing aggressive style.
The nameplate featured an eagle holding an American flag and a ribbon proclaiming the San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram as AN INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER.
The rival Tribune had been founded in 1869 by Walter Murray to support his Republican ambitions. The Telegram was also independent of any chain affiliations like the Hearst papers.
The Telegram had come a long way from its origins as a temperance organ that the founders sold when the business foundered. The paper now had a brisk, energetic tone and was fun to read.
Owner Day would incorporate smug self promotional comments and stories sprinkled throughout the paper. Page one had two such items. Atop the front boxed type read: EXCLUSIVE TELEGRAPHIC SERVICE IN SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY OF UNITED PRESS NEWS ASSN. TABLOID FOR BUSY PEOPLE
Tucked next to the date: There may be a better climate than San Luis Obispo’s – but not on earth.

The First World War had been raging four years would be given the hopelessly naïve sobriquet, ‘The war to end all wars.’ The Atascadero Veteran’s Memorial lists 11 county World War I fatalities and in my research I have found one additional, Joe Clark Kelley of San Miguel.

Between the horrific toll of the war and the even more horrific Spanish Influenza (more would die from flu than war) now sweeping the world, people were ready to reach for an optimistic straw.
Previous reports from the front had documented Allied army breakthroughs. Axis governments were in disarray and starting to sending feeler signals that they were open to negotiations but nothing concrete had been set. President Woodrow Wilson’s plan consisted of a complicated 14 points that in the end even the United States would not completely ratify. (Congress would later shoot down his dream of joining a league of nations to prevent future aggression.) Some have argued that the end of the Second World War was prolonged by the Allied insistence on unconditional surrender but it kept the negotiations clear and straightforward.
The local celebration story took up three whole columns on the front page which was a lot of page real estate for the time. Here is most of what ran on on the front page:

Thousands Gather for

Celebration When News

of Peace Move Comes

Several thousand people gathered at the ringing of the fire bell and blowing of the roundhouse whistles upon receipt of confirmation of the wonderful news Saturday night.
The municipal Band, the Elks’s Band and Home Guard rapidly assembled and within a few minutes a monster parade was under way. And a happier crowed never paraded the streets of this city.
Usually it is rather difficult to get many people to walk in a parade, most of them preferring to stand on the sidewalks and play the part of spectator. Not so last night. Hundreds of men and women of all ages fell in behind the Home Guard and marched.
Others followed the Elks’ Band which headed a second section of the parade. All cheered and sang as the long line passed through the streets.
There was little or no attempt to form the line but every one was able to find a place in it.

“Telegram” Dispatches Read.

Parade started from Chorro and Higuera Streets thence on Chorro to Monterey to Osos and Higuera to Nipomo where it counter-marched on Higuera to Chorro to monterey to the court house.
The cheering multitude gathered as close to the courthouse steps as possible, where the short informal program was carried out.
As soon as quiet could be secured the United Press dispatches to The Telegram were read. Each was received with cheer upon cheer. The crowd wend wild when the dispatch stating that the peace proposal is to be made inconformity with President Wilson’s terms. Some most dignified citizens for got their dignity and a bunch of college boys at a rooter’s convention would have had nothing on them.
After the reading of the dispatches the Municipal Band Played “America” and thousands of voices joined in singing the old song so dear to Yankee people.
The big crowd was asked, “Who do you want to speak to you?” and without a dessenting voice the answer came, “Habbick.” So “Habbick” it was who delivered one of those rapid fire, patriotic, heart-throbbing speeches such as only Rev. J. D. Habbick can give.

Habbick Thrills the Crowd.

The speaker said in part: “You have heard the news and the statement that it has been confirmed from more than one source. It is no doubt authentic and we are fully justified in accepting it.
“Germany is asking for peace under the terms designated in President Wilson’s fourteen points as given in his speech of January 8, the four points in his speech of February 12 and his declaration of September 27. I want to say to you that these are the only terms which Germany will obtain peace with this country.

No Slowing Up.

“Even though the authorities should be inclined to accept peace under other conditions (which they are not) the people would never stand for any other terms. (Cries of “Never” from a thousand people).
“This is a time for rejoicing because it looks like the beginning of the end. But there is perhaps in the mind of each of us the question, “Is it possible that Germany is but playing for time?” I do not believe it. I think that she is about through. But this must not be allowed to cause us to slow up on the Fourth Liberty Loan campaign. If Germany is not in earnest her principal reason for making such an announcement as just read would be to kill this loan. There must be no let up. We must raise every dollar of our quota and the country must take every bond offered.
“We must show Germany that we mean business and that if she is not ready to come to our terms she must fight. Our boys are there, more are ready to go and we will fight to the finish in support of the principals outlined by our great president.
“Again let me repeat: Buy bonds and then buy more bonds so that glorious day when your boy and my boy shall come back. He may come back crippled, or racked with pain of his wounds, but he is our boy and we know that he has done his bit toward bringing an end to the things for which Germany has stood.
At the conclusion of Rev. Habbick’s remarks the Municipal Band played a selection.
Mr. Parker of Los Angeles was introduced as a man who has been selected for overseas service with the Y.M.C.A. Mr. Parker recited Will M. Cressy’s poem, “The Boy Next Door.” He was compelled to respond with another and game “The Little Red Flag With Its One Blue Star,” Also by Cressy.

Friday’s paper would backtrack from the all night party euphoria.

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War was treated differently by America in the early 20th Century as these advertisements attest. Citizens financed the war directly through bond issues. This was the fourth bond drive of the war.

These ads ran on an almost daily basis during the drive, co-sponsored by a local business. Articles in the news pages marked the local progress in bond sales and local bond drive committees would approach prominent local citizens if they had not contributed and ask why.

The advertisements varied from an stark appeal with the image of a fallen soldier and the headline “This Man Has Paid” to belligerent “Now You Listen!” with a dough boy facing off against a mustachioed Hun. The ads voiced a sense of shame on those who did not in some way share in the sacrifice.

The “America Never Quits” tag line is still seen on bumper stickers today, over 90 years later.

Public events were hampered by the outbreak of Spanish Influenza about this time but America’s entry into the war was turning the tide for western Europe.

According to Wikipedia the Liberty Bond effort raised $21.5 billion for the war, a little less than 10% of the $300 billion cost. By way of comparison just before the war Wiki says in 1913 total federal expenditures were $927 million.

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In 1916 railroad traffic for troops and supplies was coordinated over all rail lines by the Military Railway Service or MRS.

A little over ninety years ago the United States was on the way to becoming a world power. The nation had been involved in previous conflicts externally against Mexico and Spain. Between those wars it had fought internally in a Civil War. Since colonial times, westward expansion brought settlers in conflict with Native American tribes.

By the late 1910’s those battles had been fought, the nation’s commercial interests had been tied together by rail and the Panama Canal. Until this time America had largely avoided becoming entangled in European wars but now was involved.

Rail traffic would play a key role in troop movements during World War I. At the time roads were little more than pathetic trails, and the oil industry was still emerging. Good luck finding a gas station in much of the rural west. The roads were so poor during the 1919 Transcontinental Convoy a youthful lieutenant colonel, Dwight D. Eisenhower took note. It took 62 days to move a convoy of 297 men and over 50 vehicles from Washinton D.C. to San Francisco. Barely 6 miles per hour. I think the Donner party made better time than that. Until the end that is. The interstate highway system would be a major legacy of the Eisenhower presidency in the 1950’s.

Four of my top ten list of monster trends impacting the Central Coast were in place and two more would be established within a decade. By 1918 the Missions, railroad, oil and Cal Poly were all a reality or developing. Hearst Castle would start construction in 1919. Camp San Luis Obispo would be opened July 4, 1928. Temporary army camps had been established in Edna (1901) and Pismo & Atascadero (1904)

Here is my complete top list if you missed it. Nominate your entries in the comments.

1. Missions founded – The central coast is on the European map, literally
2. Trains – The iron horse flattens the earth, brings the first tourists
3. Oil boom – Unocal, Chevron, et al and their predecessors bring international industry here
4. Cal Poly established – No longer an uneducated cow county
5. Hearst Castle – One of the world’s most opulent homes becomes major tourist attraction
6. Army camps and World War II – Thousands of trainees introduced to Central Coast, many settle or retire here after the war.
7. Freeways built – Guadalupe got the railroad, Santa Maria got the freeway. Which town’s bigger?
8. Prisons - California Mens Colony, Atascadero State Hospital and California Youth Authority pump millions in recession proof payroll and construction into the local economy
9. Power Plants – Morro Bay and Diablo Canyon boosted the tax base for local education and government in addition to construction and payroll. Any time you pour a few billion dollars into a county things change.
10. Internet - You’re using it now aren’t you? I rest my case

In honor of Veteran’s Day, which grew out of the First World War’s Armistice Day there will be a series of daily posts this week on World War I.

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The World Series of 1915 pitted the Boston Red Sox against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Daily Telegram at the time had a funky news service that would provide coverage for national stories. The graphics tended toward at least one disembodied head and big captions. They tell you in journalism school that the headline should not steal the thunder of the lead sentence. It should be a unique piece of writing that invites the reader to take a look at the story. Guess that memo had not been sent yet in 1915.

The advance coverage on page six read (complete with typo):

Brains plus the Arm plus the Punch
These Are the Big Assets of the Phillies for the World Series

By Brown Holmes

Brains, the punch and the arm are three big Phil assets for the world series.
The brains are represented by Pat Moran manager. This is Moran’s first season as leader, but he has proven himself a baseball strategist.
He took a club that had been shot to pieces by Federal League raids, plugged a hole here and there and brought the team out in front where it remained through month after month of campaigning.
The punch is represented by Cactus Cravath, the heavy weight slugger. Cravath it is whc is close to a new record for home runs in a season.
The big fellow hits a ball as hard as Sam Crawford or anybody else in baseball. Many of his drives have fallen into the left field bleachers and over the right field fence of the Phil park and he will be aiming at these spots in the big battles for the world championship.
The arm belongs to Grover Alexander, who has won more games this season than any other pitcher in recent years with the exception of Smoky Joe Wood of the Boston Red Sox, who won thirty four several years ago. Alec is the big mound hope of the Phils against the American League Candidate for world honors.

The Phillies lost the series in five games.
The Federal League was a third competing baseball league that lived for two years. Players enjoyed a rise in salary as owners in the new league tried to hire players from the American and National Leagues. Both Boston and Philadelphia fielded two major league teams at the time. The Boston Braves and Philadelphia Athletics had squared off in the previous World Series. Boston won that series as well.

The Red Sox home games were played at Braves Field even though Fenway Park was open. The bigger gate at the cross town rival’s field made economic sense.

Babe Ruth made his first appearance in the World Series, as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of the third game, His manager recognized his hitting talent even though at the time he was the youngest of of six pitchers on the staff. He had slugged 4 homers in 92 at bats that year during the regular season. Perhaps the kid has a future in the majors.

Elsewhere on the page, Ford announces cars priced from $390-640 but check the fine print. (No speedometer included in this year’s equipment, otherwise cars are fully equipped.)

My friends at the railroad say the automobile is just a fad. Too noisy and dusty to travel in comfort.

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The Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society just held a five day gathering at the the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Luis Obispo. The event program featured the logo from the now defunct Lark overnight train.
A spectacular accident halted rail service in 1959. If you need proof that we are mid-way between San Francisco and Los Angeles here is exhibit A. The northbound and southbound Lark trains collided on the Serrano siding about 8 miles north of San Luis Obispo. While the exact cause was still under investigation it is clear from the photographs and witness reports that the northbound locomotive came in contact with the last southbound coaches derailing both trains, ripping out 700 feet of track and resulting in five injuries. Remarkably there were no deaths.

The photographs were by reporter-photographer Walter V. Beesley who in later decades would be the Telegram-Tribune courts reporter.

TWO TRAINS COLLIDE ON CUESTA GRADE
Only 5 Injuries In Accident; Hundreds Aboard

By John L. Sarber
It is nothing short of amazing that death was escaped in the terrific impact and collision of the Southern Pacific’s crack Lark passenger trains on the Cuesta grade at 2:15 a.m. yesterday.
The accident occurred on the Serrano siding about eight miles northwest of San Luis Obispo on a steep slope of the Santa Lucia foothills overlooking the city.
The scene of the costly crash is a rendezvous point for trains meeting at the half way lap between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Five persons were slightly injured. All were riding aboard one of the four luxury coaches raked by the diesel locomotive units pulling the northbound train.

Three of the injured were passengers two were Pullman porters. One porter Bonnie Daniel, 64,  was trapped for nearly two hours.

Daniel was trapped in a compartment of the coach in which he was employed, and suffered from smoke inhalation when a fire broke out after the impact. He was extricated from the compartment following quick work by the train crew in extinguishing the blaze.
***
Passengers remained calm and there was no frightening tension at the wreck scene.
Many simply remained in their Pullman berths. Others looked out at the wreckage and retained an orderly dignity.
Cooks aboard the dining cars could be viewed in their tiny galleys slicing bacon and buttering toast, completely unruffled.

In a separate story by Russ Pyle the plight of porter Bonnie Daniel was told. In the era before the Jaws of Life and extraction training became standard fire procedure, rescues could be slow.

S-P Porter, passenger Tell Of Narrow Escape in Train

“I thought we’d hit a tunnel.”
That is the way veteran Pullman porter described the collision of the north and south bound Southern Pacific Larks early Sunday morning at Serrano, about nine miles north of San Luis Obispo.
Daniel was in the second car from the end of the southbound streamliner, the most badly damaged unit. It took a rescue crew with acetylene torches nearly two hours to cut him free.
He related his moments of terror from a bed in French hospital yesterday.
“I had just stepped out of the corridor into bedroom A in the next to last car when the door suddenly came off and pinned me against thee wall of the bedroom,” said Daniel.
“My first thought was that we’d hit the tunnel. The door fell on top of me and protected me from flying debris. If it hadn’t been for the door, I hat to think what might have happened.”
Except for bruises, cuts and shock, Daniel escaped from the accident in pretty good condition.
“I knew the Lord was with me,” stated Daniel. “And I kept telling myself, “Now Daniel, just take it easy and those gentlemen will get you free. Now just take it easy and you will be alright.”
Daniel related that he could hear the workmen trying to free him and gained strength from their encouraging commands for him to be calm and they would soon have him out.
Daniel has been on the Lark run for two years and this is his first rail mishap in 34 years of service.

A couple of side notes, the paper was priced at 10 cents a copy and had 14 pages. The circulation was 12,978 and the name plate only took up four of nine columns. This era had a cramped design and usually made poor use of photos but in this case they recognized the size of the story and went big.

In another story a 3 year old boy was admitted to the county hospital with polio. Doctor H.O. Swartout advised parents to get their children vaccinated. What had once been a scourge was now preventable.

The baby boom was putting pressure on schools to expand and a bond issue was on the ballot for Morro Bay and San Luis Obispo. Unlike Los Osos bond or tax elections in San Luis Obispo had passed in each of the five times they had come up since 1921. This one would fail by a narrow margin.

A desalting plant was proposed for Morro Bay. Water has always been an source of debate in the area.

In about a week I’ll revisit a previous posting on a 1915 Lark train wreck.

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TRIAL RUN…Capt. Miles Sanders, left, is just pretending to pour that cup of coffee for sheriff Paul Merrick as son Randy looks on. Sanders conducted the sheriff and his boy on a final inspection tour of the soon-to-be-opened “honor camp” where most of the county jail inmates will soon be sent to serve their sentences. The big stove being inspected by the sheriff was salvaged from rejects at the county hospital. Prison work crews repaired, painted and installed it in the revamped barracks that will be the dining hall. (Telegram-Tribune photo)

June 22, 1959
The one of the unintended consequences of having army bases in the area is when the government declares something surplus, other organizations benefit. San Luis Obispo’s water supply is anchored by the Salinas Dam. A church in Los Osos now holds services in a remodeled a surplus chapel.
In 1959 the county sheriff Paul Merrick was pursuing the newest trend in in jails, the honor camp.
For five years the sheriff put together the program on a shoestring. Abandoned stoves and other equipment was salvaged from the old county hospital. Eight buildings were remodeled and repainted from the vacated edge of Camp San Luis Obispo. The work was done by prisoners including refurbishing an old boiler, recovered with asbestos and plaster to look like new. Prison work crews were to be employed on civic work, cleaning county parks and beaches.
If I remember correctly the main jail at the time was in the dark basement of the courthouse on Osos Street. This may be the first move of facilities out to the current location on Kansas Ave.
Quoting from the story by George Grey:

Men who earn the privileges of living at the camp, and they must earn it by hard work, good behavior and strict discipline, will live as free men.
There are no bars on the windows, no armed guards and they will spend their days in the sunshine on light work projects.
The county supplies them with tobacco, regular work clothes and the privilege of visiting with their families each Sunday in a special building called the “recreation center.”
Men who work hard, obey the rules and keep their honor will have up to one third of their sentence reduced. A man sentenced to three months in jail can earn one month of “good time” and be released with a totally different outlook on life and the community which had sent him to jail.
Sheriff Merrick feels that the most important job to be done by the honor camp will be the rehabilitation of men. “Just one man returned to a useful, productive life in the community is worth the entire program,” he said.
Any men who do run away will find themselves in deep trouble. The punishment for escape means a term in the state prison and sometimes solitary confinement up to a year. A stiff price to pay for breaking his word of honor.
“Barbed wire and bars are not necessary with most men,” said Merrick, “the most powerful chain in the world is a man’s word of honor. And sometimes a prisoner is a man, sometimes he’s a friend or neighbor, a man who just got in trouble with the law. He can serve his sentence and return to a good life.”

The photographs are uncredited, likely made by the reporter. Real storytelling moments were hard to find in the photography of that era. Most reporters were happy with a posed image of the people they quoted.
Leave the photojournalism for Life magazine.
The negatives are gone but glossy 4×5 inch commercial prints survived in the CMC folder. It looks like the reporter dropped off the film at a local shop then wrote captions on the back in pencil. Later copy editors would mark them with penciled crop marks and sizes for the production department to make halftones. The caption mostly repeats what is in the story.

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Some advertising campaigns work, brands like Folgers and Maxwell House have become household names.

Others like Schilling’s Best didn’t make the cut. They make the mistake in the copy of saying they can’t describe the flavor. Oops. Call it something, rich Kona beans hand picked in hills of Hawaii. There, I could be an advertising  copy writer.
Next the copy demands that you try their product. No subtle persuasion and the coffee can label is the plainest I have ever seen. Then the copy says the product is economical, but not cheap, but goes a long way. Now I’m confused, maybe the picture will help.

The picture shows a guy holding on to the table during an earthquake, or wishing there was more toast and coffee. Let alone the subliminal message, our coffee makes you lose your hair.

The copy reads:

Ah! thats’s coffee!

Fine coffee has a flavor that can’t be described–you must taste it to know. You must come down to breakfast some morning–soon–and start the day right with one or two cups of Schilling’s Best. You, too, will say “ah! that’s coffee!”
Shilling’s Best is fine coffee, protected in its goodness by vacuum-sealed tins. Using these tins makes such coffee possible, by permitting us to grind it evenly, take out the objectionable chaff and seal-in the full flavor or fresh roasted coffee.
Its economy is astonishing, although the price by the pound is not low. It goes further than any coffee we know of. When you use Schilling’s Best, it’s well to follow directions.
Sold only through grocers.

Or at least it used to be.

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Morro Bay High School Student William Krause at the controls of Dragon’s Lair game in the Morro Bay Arcade. Krause is the current champion, and has his name posted on the machine.

September 13, 1983
When I was was in the prime demographic for video games they were not very good. Electronic pinball machines were more reliable than the ones with dials but they did not give the wonderful shaking feeling when you made a high score. Pong, Asteroids, Defender, Pac-Man all pushed to the front of the arcade when I still spent my quarters on games not parking meters. Things changed rapidly after I graduated high school. Video games exploded in the early 1980’s but by 1983 video arcades were beginning to fade as home units came on the market. Why empty your pockets when you can play all day at home? Kids from an earlier era hung out at the pool hall.

Quoting the story by Tim Ryan published over a month after the photos were made on October 21, 1983:

Video Arcades
Games aren’t what they used to be

Asteroids has been shot down. Eliminator all but forgotten and Pong ancient history.
In the flickering world of video game popularity, even favorites like the 2-year old Pac-Man are becoming endangered species.
The video arcade industry, which electrified adults and kids alike since its boom in 1980, is losing juice.
Arcade owners in San Luis Obispo County declined to talk in specifics about profits or losses. But most agreed that video game playing this summer, for several reasons, is less than they expected.
And what hurts the big boys filters down the the little guys, said Al Martini, who owns three arcades in this county.
Experts in the video game industry say the slump may be due to the increase in home video game sets, several blockbuster movies, the lack of challenging new games and the city ordinances that limit the number of games in arcades.
Almost no business has grown faster in the past few years than the video game industry. Sales of Arcade video game machines grew from $50 million in 1978 to about $900 million in 1982.
But a softening market and higher retail costs have resulted from increased competition. This year almost every major manufacturer of home and arcade video games, including Bally, Coleco and Atari have reported profits far less than anticipated.
In fact, Atari, owned by Warner Communications Inc., is moving its video game manufacturing plant overseas to save production costs.

The story went on to cite the expense of the units, about $2,500 to $5,000 for the advanced laser disc machines. That is 10,000 quarters before the machine is paid off.

“One guy down here can play Centipede for 24 hours on one quarter,” said arcade owner Al Martini.

The hot new game was the expensive but technically advanced Dragon’s Lair. But the downside was it cost 50 cents to play. If you never played, a sappy looking knight named Dirk the Daring must search the castle to rescue Princess Daphne from the Dragon. The game was new because there were 38 possible situations requiring up to 200 decisions depending on the player’s choices. The new laser disc technology contained 22 minutes of animation and cost $1 million to produce. A complete game took about 6 minutes of playing time.

I’ll wait for the pinball machine.

Photos were by Wayne Nicholls

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ARRESTED– San Luis Obispo police officer Preston Simmons takes Richard Birchler to patrol car after he was arrested for obstructing traffic at Higuera and Garden

May 6, 1971

Today’s young generation sees the word hippie and often gloss the era with thoughts of Halloween costumes or style choices.
There was an earnestly moral activist component that relied on political theater more than cold realpolitik.
As the Vietnam war marched on, support for the conflict began to be questioned.
San Luis Obispo was not the hotbed of anti-war protest that say a U.C. Berkley or Kent State were but there were protests. Often hecklers would challenge protests in this area. This protest was organized by Students for New Action, Politics (SNAP) and began about noon at Mission Plaza. About 25 people marched to the courthouse and walked through stores and banks with placards urging customers and workers not to conduct business as usual in protest.

Quoting from the story:

Eight antiwar demonstrators, five of them Cal Poly students, were arrested in downtown San Luis Obispo Wednesday evening after the protesters began blocking rush-hour traffic.

The article goes on in the dry style of the TeeVee show Dragnet to list the names, time and location of arrest and address of the arrestees. The arrests were scattered from 5 to 7 pm.
Richard Lee Birchler, 25, Raymond H. DeGroote Jr., 21, Michael Steff, 18, Thomas Sandercock, 21, John Coe, 20, Eugene W. Clark, 19, Stephen J. Crummy, 22, Paul A Castiglioni, 21, were all caught up in the dragnet.
The men were all draft age. The charges ranged from disturbing the peace to resisting arrest and obstructing traffic. All were released on bail.

The arrests were made by San Luis Obispo police with the aid of sheriff’s deputies. Officers said those arrested for obstructing traffic were marching back and across the street, stopping in the crosswalks and shouting at drivers.
***
They walked to the Bank of America at Osos and Higuera and went inside, chanting “give peace a chance” and shouting accusations that the bank was involved in the war.

Protests in other parts of the state yielded more arrests. Santa Barbara area had 1,000 people show up for two protests where 42 were arrested. In San Francisco 102 were arrested. Another story floated the idea that all American troops could be withdrawn by late 1972. The last U.S. troops withdrew in March 1973 and the last deaths were Marines assisting in the evacuation of Americans as the South Vietnamese government collapsed during a 1975 offensive from the North.

One photo published here for the first time show protesters walking through a hardware store.
Is this the building that SLO Brew is in now?

Photos were by Wayne Nicholls

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