Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The “highest prices ever paid for wheat in the history of the Inland Empire” were recorded in local grain markets.

Area wheat farmers were in an enviable position. The European war was curtailing supply in Europe and driving up demand for American wheat.

The prices were listed as follows: “$1.10 for bluestem, $1.06 for forty-fold, $1.04 for club, $1.02 for red fife and $1 for red Russian.”

From the divorce beat: Plenty of intriguing details came to light in the divorce case of Dr. John E. Lydon and his wife, Jessie.

He testified that Jessie was so jealous that she accused him of misbehaving with his female patients. So, to prove his innocence, he made a screen in his examination room and allowed Jessie to sit behind it for six months. 

Yet even after that, she still “made many excuses” to get into his exam room when a woman was in there. One woman patient, he said, told him she would discontinue treatments if he couldn’t keep his wife out of the room.

Jessie, during her testimony, said he flirted with other women, threw dishes and once hypnotized her.

Dr. Lydon was the president of the State Association for Drugless Healers and a former candidate for the Legislature on the Progressive ticket.