EDITOR’S NOTE: Superiorland Yesterdays is prepared by the reference staff at the Peter White Public Library in Marquette.

30 years ago

HOUGHTON — A New York restaurant wanted to add it to the menu. A California health-food store said ingesting parts of it might help people live longer. Around the world, people are fascinated with the monstrous fungus lurking underground in Michigan’s Iron County. Scientists who reported the discovery earlier this month in the journal Nature said it’s the oldest and biggest living organism known to exist. It’s believed to be 1,500 to 10,000 years old and weigh about 100 tons. It covers about 37 acres and is more than the length of five football fields in diameter. The discovery brought instant fame to the area. And the scientists were deluged with letters and phone calls that only now are subsiding. “We thought it would be of interest to the scientific community, but we never dreamed the popular media would jump on it like they did,” said Johann Bruhn, with Michigan Technological University’s School of Forestry and Wood Products. He discovered the fungus with fellow scientists Myron Smith and James Anderson of the University of Toronto. “It was quite a rat race for a while, just keeping up with the phone calls,” Bruhn said. He said he’s enjoying the fun, but fears people may be getting the wrong idea about the fungus. It’s a network of interlocking strands that’s almost entirely underground. The only portions that can be seen — or eaten — are the mushrooms that sprout. “There’s a possibility of damage being done if people start digging around, thinking there’s something massive and edible down there,” he said.

60 years ago

ISHPEMING — Completion of the new Ishpeming National Guard Armory has been delayed from 30 to 60 days to allow several additions and improvements to be made before the building is accepted from the contractor by the state, according to Chief Warrant Officer Leonard L. Lorge, disbursing officer of the armory board of control. Among the changes requested are addition of a communications room; additional equipment in the photographic equipment room; replacement of a regular door from the kitchen into the drill hall with a stainless steel roll-up door and serving counter; addition of exterior stairs from the maintenance shop area in the rear of the building down to the parking area; change in location of entrance and stairway into the boiler room to comply with fire protection requirements, and a resulting change in electrical and plumbing.