Pages past — April 30

On this date ...

1956: Recreational shooting in the Roosevelt County sandhills left a Clovis man with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.

James Bergen, who lived at 1017 Hull St., said he was helping one of his children fire a .22-caliber pistol when a stray bullet from another group of shooters struck him just above his left shoulder blade.

Bergen was treated at Clovis Memorial Hospital.

State Police Patrolman Bill Bullock said five boys were found about a quarter-mile from the Bergen party. They were shooting tin cans with their rifles and did not see Bergen or his family, who were “a sand dune or two away,” Bullock said.

No charges were filed in the incident.

1951: Temperatures in the 80s a day earlier plummeted into the 40s and high winds produced “one of the season’s worst dust storms,” the Clovis News-Journal reported.

While rain threatened the region, none was reported.

1946: “Rapid” Robert Feller hurled a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium.

The right-hander struck out 11, while walking five.

The Cleveland Indians beat the Yankees, 1-0, on catcher Frank Hayes’ ninth-inning home run.

Feller, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, finished his career with three no-hitters.

Pages Past is compiled by Editor David Stevens. For more regional history, check out his weblog at:

http://www.highplainsyesterdays.com