Early Gazette gave readers first views of the nation, world

•Commercial radio could be heard by listeners in Evangeline Parish since the beginning of the 1920, and stations broadcasting from large cities all across the country could be heard from here. But readers of the Weekly Gazette began to see photos of interesting people and places from across the country and around the world. These would often be large photos and they were usually on the second page. Below this photo, which was in the Gazette on October 23, 1926, the paper explains, “Bandits and other criminals of Los Angeles County, California, who seek to escape through flight in automobiles henceforth will find they have more than speedy automobiles and shotgun squads to contend with from the sheriff. Sheriff Traeger recently swore in five aviators as deputy sheriffs.” Sheriff Traeger, left, is shown swearing in the pilots.

•Sometimes stories in the early issues of the Weekly Gazette started out as a pretty ordinary news story, but then toward the end took a rather unusual turn.
An example, in the October 30, 1926, issue of the newspaper begins with the burning down of a house and ends with gawking geese.
The house, on West Main Street, was owned by R.M. Reed and was occupied by the C.A. Thompson family. The fire occurred about 8 p.m. on a Saturday. The family who lived there was at Thompson’s place of business, but the house was a total loss. The cause of the fire was thought to be either defective wiring or a lightning strike.
There were trees on all sides of the house, and flames eventually started burning the leaves, which would drift high up into the air burning.
Then, according to the story, “A very unusual sight was that of a flock of wild geese that circled several times in the light made by the fire, their honking indicating that they, too, were excited at the conflagration.”