April 1910 -- Albion 100 Years Ago - Historical Albion Michigan

Week ending April 14, 1910. “Albion Boy an Inventor. Irma Dorris, an Albion High School student, has long been interested in automobiles and has spent much time in figuring out improvements of various kinds. He took it into his head to present one to a Detroit factory this week, and has spent several days in that city. The result was that he disposed of one improvement to the Ford Company, which immediately wired to Washington for patent protection and received in reply that favor under No. 9,987. The improvement is an air circulation in the cylinders, through spiral tubes, one for each cylinder, thus doing way with water cooling attachments. Mr. Dorris received for this improvement a 1910 $1,200 machine, and is happy indeed. He will continue to study other improvements which he believes will be more valuable than this one disposed of yesterday. Mr. Dorris is the son of J. C. Dorris, who is the Methodist minister at Sanford, Michigan. [NOTE: Irma Dorris was also the author of “Albion’s theme song (1912) entitled “Hang Your Hat in Albion.”]

Advertisement: Bullen’s Big Busy Store. Our Annual Opening Sale of Ladies’ Muslin Underwear will begin Saturday Morning April 16, and last until the following Saturday night, April 23rd.”

“On next Friday, the 15th instant, a host of 10,000 interrogators, men and women, white and colored, will be turned loose in pursuit of the people of the United States. On that day Uncle Sam will begin the numbering of children in preparation for the 13th Census.”

“The new Masonic Hall in the Kessler-Parker Block is about ready for occupancy, the interior decorating being almost completed.”

“The many friends of John Raftery will be grieved to learn of his death which occurred last Friday about 7 o’clock at his home in Chelsea after a prolonged illness.”

Week ending April 21, 1910. “Born to Mr. and Mrs. Gustav Kabel of Hartwell St., April 19, a daughter.”

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com