York Street Scenes, Newport, Kentucky

York Street, looking North, Newport, 1912
(That's Newport National Bank on the left, Louis C. Eisenschmidt, Jeweler and Optometrist on the right. Attorney's on the second floor of the bank building are Frank V. Benton, and Aubrey Barbour. Eisenschmidt advertised "Rockford Watches, Elgin Watches, Waltham Watches, Seth Thomas Clocks, Dueber Cases, Jewelry, Silverware and Spectacles, etc, at prices as low as the lowest.")

"Newport, Ky., July 4 [1904]. - An effort was made in Newport by the street railway company to get ahead of the youngsters who place torpedoes on the tracks in celebration of the Fourth. Pieces of carpet were suspended directly in front of the wheels, and the explosives were thus swept from the rails.

For a while the patriotic youngsters were in sackcloth and ashes, but a bright little chap, whose operations were carried on at the corner of York and Fourth streets, devised a plan to checkmate the company. He placed his torpedoes along the track and then placed a wire in the earth beside the rail. This caused the carpet to make a swing, and before it could settle in place, the wheels passed over the explosives.

His scheme was adopted by boys all over town, who enjoyed getting ahead of the street car company more than they did the noise they made.

from the Warsaw Independent, July 9, 1904.