Good Old Days: November 7, 2019
November 7, 2019
125 years ago
The Commoner
November 9, 1894
E. M. Burch of Colfax has been installed in a peculiar little shop in the rear of the Spokane bureau of immigration rooms, says the Chronicle. The air is redolent with the odor of ripe fruit and preserving fluids, and is full of boxes of apples and big glass jars. Mr. Burch has been employed by the bureau to put up a quantity of the finest specimens of apples at the fruit fair for permanent exhibition, and that is the work in which he is at present engaged.
Mr. Burch has had a wide experience in this class of work and understands the details thoroughly, and is making some artistic effects in the arrangement of the fruits in the jars. He had charge of the Whitman County exhibit at the world’s fair, and remained at Chicago eight weeks, during which time he took care of the exhibit.
***
The election is over, and the populist party of Whitman County has apparently won a decided victory.
The democratic ticket was a good one, but it was snowed under by populist ballots.
The republican party has a division of the legislative vote, and has elected John Lathrum for sheriff, John Lyon for county commissioner, and probably Peter Brown for clerk. An official count will be necessary to determine the contest for prosecuting attorney and assessor. The majority of the county ticket, including the important offices of auditor and treasurer, are conceded to the populists.
The city vote was largely republican; but the small precincts in the farming districts knocked out all calculations by the solidity of the populist vote. In some instances, the county precincts were nearly unanimous for the populist ticket. The immense populist vote was attained by thorough organization.
***
The Daily Commoner has made its exit from the field of daily journalism. The daily has been issued at a loss for many months, but it was the object of the management to continue only until the election returns had been substantially told. That much the Commoner has done, and the daily issue has been discontinued. The Weekly Commoner will be made, as heretofore, one of the cleanest, newsiest and best newspapers in the northwest, giving the news without fear or favor.
100 years ago
The Colfax Commoner
October 31, 1919
Crowds that block every inch of space in the big tabernacle has been the order during the entire week. Rev. E. J. Bulgin, whose sermons against sin is drawing vast crowds and is holding one of the largest evangelistic meetings that has ever been conducted in the history of Colfax.
Sunday evening there was not room for the vast crowd that attended and many remained standing in the aisles and around the inner side of the building. The tabernacle has a seating capacity of 1200 and there has been no time since the meeting opened but what every seat in the building has been taken. Many are now now being called nightly to the mourners bench and more than two hundred people have responded to the message of the evangelist. The singing is a feature of the meetings and the hundred voices have been selected with the greatest care by Mr. and Mrs. R. O. Lewis from the best voices in this city.
Hundreds of county people are attending the meetings every night, many of them coming from a long distance and the attendance from the county is growing larger.
***
One of the most successful meetings that has ever been held by the school directors of the county was the one that was held in this city last Friday. There was a large number of school directors in the city last Friday and they came from every section of the county. County School Superintendent, S. F. Shinkle stated that the records showed that there was a greater attendance of directors at the annual meeting this year than there had been in many years.
The meeting was held at the courthouse in the afternoon. At noon, a luncheon was served to the directors by the business men of the city. Mr. Bigelow told the visitors how pleased he was to welcome them to the city and emphasized the great work that the school directors were doing for the country. Mr. Bigelow said: “The directors have the responsibility of selecting the teachers. The instructors are the one who wold mold the minds of the children and it is necessary to have the mind of the child trained in the right direction. The great volume of business of the world is conducted through the channels of confidence. People must be trained to live up to their obligations and they must have confidence in the promises of each other.
***
The Whitman County farmers are planning on holding a big meeting in Colfax Tuesday, November 11. The meeting is being called by the members of the farmers’ union and a big dinner is to be served at Walker hall at noon.
State President, A. A. Elmore, is to be present and address the meeting and other prominent Whitman County farmers are also on the program for interesting talks. The question of freight rates are to be taken up at the meeting and the question of securing a more favorable freight rate from the Inland Empire to Portland will be one of the questions that will be taken up for solution.
The $3.50 ton rates on wheat to Portland and Seattle will be taken off early next year and if the roads are turned back to the owners at that time, the freight rates may seriously affect the profits of the wheat raisers. The government wheat price guarantee will not be in force next year and under present conditions it would be impossible to secure action from the farmers upon questions that affect their interests.
75 years ago
The Colfax Gazette-Commoner
November 3, 1944
Admitting he had taken a pleasure trip from Colfax to Palouse, Potlatch, Tensed, Moscow, Pullman and Albion on gasoline issued to his mother, Jack Reynolds, 17, Colfax, was grounded for the duration by the gasoline panel of the Colfax rationing board, following a hearing Thursday evening.
Reynolds admitted simulating a wreck in order to have what would appear a good excuse for the early-morning-return to Colfax of his joy-riding party, which included two student nurses and Johnny Walker.
***
Plans for conducting the sixth war loan which opens November 20 were made Monday evening at a joint dinner meeting of local campaign committeemen and the Whitman County Bankers’ association at the Colfax hotel.
Fred C. Forrest, Pullman, county bond drive chairman, announced the appointment of J. E. Moore as Colfax chairman to be assisted by A. M. Michaelsen and John H. Ottmar.
Community goals will approximate ten per cent of their bank deposits as of last June 30, which gives to the Colfax district a quota of about $600,000 to raise on a county quota of $2,500,000. For the fifth loan the Colfax region had an $875,000 goal on a $3,300,000 county quota.
***
Points for voters to remember when they go to the polls next Tuesday were discussed at the Kiwanis club luncheon Tuesday noon by S. R. Clegg, who talked on amendments which would limit the gas tax to state highway purposes only and limit the tax on real and personal property to 40 miles.
Stating he did not mean to influence anyone, Mr. Clegg said that the tax limit amendment does not specify the ceiling millage for towns, roads, schools, county and colleges as does the present law. Believing the gas tax restriction was a good thing in view of the road improvements needed, Mr. Clegg said there was danger of increase in the sales tax and other taxes to raise funds for purposes which hace drawn on the present gas funds.
50 years ago
The Colfax Gazette
November 6, 1969
The Palouse country’s pea growers scored a “first” recently when they obtained designation of the week beginning with the second Monday in November as “National Split Pea Soup” week by governors of both Idaho and Washington.
It is the first time such recognition has been given the hearty broth made from the Palouse country’s most distinctive product and the ‘instigators,” members of the Washington and Idaho Pea and Lentil Commissions hope to extend observance of the week nationwide.
***
Barely one-third of the 1969 Colfax and Community Fund drive goal of $11,900 has been reached, Publicity chairman Robert Gilchrist announced Wednesday morning.
“Total collections are just under $4,000 or about one-third of the goal we hope to reach by the end of the next week,” he said. “We’re hoping that a lot of people who probably just haven’t got around to making out their checks or pledges will do so during the next week to save our volunteers from a lot of extra work.”
This year’s quota is only $700 above the 1968 goal, although inflation has increased considerably the expenses of most of the participating agencies, Gilchrist pointed out.
***
Colfax elementary pupils are expected to develop better muscular and other coordination and improve their general physical fitness as the result of a new “organized motor learning” program introduced this year, Principal Leonard M. Jennings announced yesterday.
The program, which is being used for grades one through four, consists of varying patterns of exercise to teach coordination of large muscles, which in turn helps develop coordination of the smaller muscles.
Jennings said that a definite relationship has been discovered between physical activities and the hand and the eye, and the foot and eye, and between other muscle systems.
25 years ago
Whitman County Gazette
November 10, 1994
It stopped short, almost never to tick again, at least until the county revives a plan to restart it.
The big clock on top of the Whitman County courthouse will start again, but officials still aren’t sure how the project will come about.
Tim Meyers, who now heads the county’s facilities department, said Wayne Thiel of Clarkston has been the latest expert to take a look at the clock and seek a solution. Thiel has inspected the clock and now has the job under study.
“It’s high on the list of things to do,” Myers said. The problem is finding someone with the skills and resources to get the job done, he added.
“The public sees the clock, and by now they know it’s not showing the proper time,” Myers said. He has been relaying reports on the clock’s fate to the county commissioner and their weekly meetings.
***
An “unveiling” ceremony for state-owned grain cars which will be used on the Palouse River Railroad has been scheduled today in Walla Walla. The cars, which are scheduled to go to work this month, are intended to offset a shortage of grain cars on short-line railroads in the state, according to a report last week from the state Department of Transportation.
Funding for the project was made available through the Washington State Energy Office. The office provided $730,000 off the proceeds of settlements from oil companies on suits involving overcharges to motorists in the late 1970s.
The cars will be managed by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Port of Walla Walla and the Blue Mountain Railroad.
***
On Friday, Nov. 4, a day which saw snow cover the county, the Washington State Patrol investigated 13 non-reportable accidents (no injury, less than $500 damage to a vehicle) and three reportable ones.
The County Sheriff’s office also received reports, most of which were assists in conjunction with the State Patrol or the county road department. Most of the accidents reported to the Sheriff’s were not actually accidents, but people who were simply stuck in the snow. Louise Martin of the Sheriff’s Office said that the county road department was very helpful in assisting stranded motorists, by helping them or radioing for help as needed.
10 years ago
Whitman County Gazette
November 5, 2009
A crowd consisting primarily of landowners from the Colton area asked Whitman County commissioners Monday to reduce the legal distance allowed between a tower and a building in the pending ordinance governing commercial wind farms in the county.
“I want them so close the tip of the blade just barely misses my house,” said Duane Grubb. “That’s how they have them down in Texas. Y’all need to catch up.”
Landowners stand to gain income from the rent paid by wind power companies building towers on their land, but the limit on the distance between a building and a tower could discourage future companies, said those in the crowd.
***
Whitman County’s 2009 budget deficit shrank to $113,920, after county commissioners approved the third budget amendment of the year, Monday morning.
Prior to the amendment, the county was faced with a $310,812 gap between revenue and expenditures this year, but heads of various county departments “found” $196,892 to cut.
“This is the template we will use for 2010,” said Commissioner Greg Partch. “With this, a balanced budget for next year is totally doable.”
The county entered 2009 with an anticipated $29,671 surplus.
***
Endicott School has been named a 2009 School of Distinction by a pair of education improvement organizations. School officials accepted a banner from Superintendent Mike Dunn of Education Service District 101 to mark the honor at a ceremony in the school gymnasium last Wednesday, Oct. 28.
“It’s quite an honor, and it really shows how dedicated and focused our staff has been,” said Endicott Principal Suzanne Schmick.
Endicott is one of the 104 schools in Washington to receive the School of Distinction award from the Center fro Educational Effectiveness and the Washington chapter of Phi Delta Kappa International. The organizations are think-tanks focused on the state and federal education systems.
Reader Comments(0)