Good Ol' Days

125 Years Ago

From the Colfax Gazette, July 16, 1897

CITY WINS ITS CASE

Colfax has the right to Reassess for Street Improvements

As Olympia dispatch of July 9 says: "The supreme court has handed down opinions in these cases today: The German American Savings Bank of Burlington, Iowa, respondent vs. City of Spokane, appellant. Plaintiff in this case brought action to recover the amount due on certain street grading warrants, and having obtained a general judgment thereforthe city has appealed.

The foundation for the plaintiff's right of action was the delay and negligence on the part of the city officers is providing the funs. The judgement is reversed. A similar case in which the judgment of the lower court is reversed is that of Frank M. Bowman, respondent, vs. city of Colfax, appellant."

According to the above report the city of Colfax has won one of the most important suits in which it has ever been involved. Although the full text of the decision is not at hand, enough is known to show that it settles the right of the city make assessments for street improvements where for any reason the original assessment was defective.

75 Years Ago

From the Colfax Gazette-Commoner, July 11, 1947

Ebberts Eye 3 Mysterious "Saucers"

Speeding In Sunday Afternoon Sky

Colfax has three honorary members in the "I Saw 'em, Too" club, a new distinguished group of flying saucer observers.

Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Ebbert and Mrs. Sam Randall sighted what they claimed to be the flying wonders Sunday afternoon from the Ebbert lawn, where the three along with Mr. Randall had settled to shake off the rigors of picnicking just previously in a dusty pasture.

The objects were seen at three different times beginning at about four o'clock. According to mr. Ebbert, whose eyesight was apparently the most penetrating, the first "disk" appeared much in the shape of a child's silver balloon caroming in from the west and heading toward the east at great speed.

The second disk, he said also came from the west, made a floating hook toward the north, and disappeared in the northeastern sky. The third saucer likewise rotated its way from west to east. Mr. Ebbert was unable to estimate the height or speed of the flying objects. No sound accompanied their tour across the sky.

50 Years Ago

From the Colfax Gazette, July 13, 1972

Cow give to 2-headed calf

A two-headed calf was born dead Monday on the Bill Closson ranch south of Colfax. Closson said both heads were developed and connected to the body at the neck.

The Angus cow, which had been bred with a Charolais, had gone full term before giving birth, Closson said. The dead calf was sent to Washington state university.

Dr. Richard Long, Colfax veterinarian, said the two-headed calf was the first he had experienced in his practice. The calf apparently started from a single embryo and started to develop into twins, he said.

25 Years Ago

From the Whitman County Gazette, July 17, 1997

Palouse Empire Fair royality in the parade include Queen Stacie Lintvedt of Colfax and Princesses Andra Parson of Palouse and Anne Henning of Colfax.

10 Years Ago

From the Whitman County Gazette, July 19, 2012

Mother Nature gets touch with the Palouse

Skywatchers have been treated to a dazzling though unusual display of evening fireworks every night for more than the past week.

"How many times here in the northwest have we seen this many consecutive days of lightning?" asked Dan Harwood, a resident of north Whitman County and coordinator of the Palouse-Rock Lake Conservation District.

Along with the lightning have come freak burst of sever weather.

Tuesday night saw a torrential downpour in the northern part of the county.

Harwood said he had just crested Malden Hill o his way to Spokane Tuesday night when he saw a sky filled with water in front of him to the east.

Steve Henning at Thornton said the unusual storm Tuesday night dropped 2.63 inches of rain in rain gauge during a 12 hour period as it moved west from Idaho.

"Might be time to start farming rice," he said.

The storm knocked over large swaths of Henning's field, as it did in fields all around north central Whitman County. . Harwood said he talked to several farmers who reported grain on the ground.

"It's big, it's heavy. It's a good crop that got hit last night," he said. "Mother Nature is queen."