Recent history seemed to be repeating itself 50 years ago this week, when a fire broke out in Bridport exactly one week after a serious blaze struck downtown Middlebury. This week’s fire was much harder on animals than the fire a week ealier. Here are some of the other top stories that appeared in the July 16, 1970, edition of the Independent:
•  Twenty-nine Holstein cows and calves perished tragically in a barn fire at Milton Duff’s farm in Bridport. Seventy-four cows were saved.
•  Two Bristol teenagers who had been missing for three days were located in St. Albans and returned home safely.
•  Postmasters from throughout the state gathered at the Middlebury Inn for the 35th annual Vermont Chapter of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States convention.
•  Demetrious Georgiou of Vergennes told the Independent the story of a 2,200-year-old Greek coin that had been passed down to him as a family heirloom. Georgiou’s great-grandfather had discovered the rare artifact while working as a foreman during the construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt from 1859 to 1868.
•  The news that some fish caught in Lake Dunmore were found to contain mercury highlighted the state’s growing problem with water pollution. The Vermont Department of Health had previously found mercury in fish from Monkton Pond and Lake Willoughby in Westmore, and were making plans to collect samples from Silver Lake.
•  In a syndicated advice column in this week’s Independent, “Mrs. Brown” lamented the fact that she and her husband both had to work full-time in order to provide for their four children. One reader wrote in to the columnist to tell Mrs. Brown that “a woman should be at home caring for her children.”
— Emma Pope McCright