Good old days - July 28, 2011

125 years ago

July 30, 1886

The long looked for fire alarm bell arrived Saturday. It weighs 700 pounds and will probably be temporarily hung in the rear of Livingstone & Kuhn’s Hardware store. It is a dandy.

The new proprietors of the flouring mill at Palouse City are at work on the dam, endeavoring to stop the leakage which is so bad they cannot run when the water is at low stage.

James Lane, the 16-year-old thief who has been operating in Steptoe for some time past, was overhauled near Garfield and examined by Justice Porter on a charge of grand larceny.

The squirrel scalp bounty expires July 31.

Faun and Mell Averill have formed a co-partnership under the firm name of Averill Bros. and will open a drug store in this city Sept. 1.

100 years ago

July 28, 1911

Addison Williams of Garfield was shot in the fleshy part of the left arm while walking down the street in that town Tuesday night. The bullet was fired by some unknown person standing in the shadow of a shed near the sidewalk. The revolver was held so close that powder burned the clothes of the young man. It is believed the crime will be traced to some local person. There was no attempt at robbery.

The “ditcher” which has been working on the Colfax branch of the Inland for a short time, tipped over between this station and Steptoe Wednesday morning and delayed the passenger train from Spokane for about an hour.

Sutter Brothers of Spokane have leased the Moffatt building at the corner of Main and Island streets and are refinishing the interior preparing to open a cigar factory next week.

Fully recovered from the big fire last September, the little city of Thornton is rapidly taking on improvements and becoming a business center of importance as the center of a rich farming community. Electricity will be switched into the town within two or three weeks. All the leading business houses have been wired.

75 years ago

July 24, 1936

Water shortage for the city’s necessary fire protection necessitated a special meeting of the city council last week. It is no longer a threat since the council decided both city pumps will be used instead of the usual one. To conserve water which the one pump was unable to handle due to excessive lawn irrigation, the council was faced with the possibility of either limiting the hours for sprinkling or running both pumps.

County commissioners this week signed an order granting the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific railway company permission to construct a sidetrack on Main Street and over a bridge in Pine City.

Barney McNeely reported to the sheriff that during the weekend the office of the Potlatch Lumber company was entered and 35 cents in pennies was taken from the safe which was unlocked. Also about $1.50 in postage stamps was taken.

Sheriff Carson J. Walker has in his keeping a Ford sedan, bearing license plates from Walla Walla, after a transient highway workman left the car parked in a clump of bushes near the state shop.

50 years ago

July 27, 1961

Colfax cocktail lounges did twice the business in June of those in Pullman, a report from the state liquor control board indicated this week.

A four-seat amphibious aircraft owned by Jack Morton of Colfax, who flies for a hobby when not busy with his electrical shop, was lost to flames at the Whitman County airport late Saturday morning. Presumed cause of the blaze was a gasoline motor being used to pump fuel from a storage tank to the airplane.

Managers and employees of the Ranch Thrift Store in Colfax are expecting a big crowd for the grand opening this weekend.

The September schedule for the county library’s bookmobile will be made out in August, and persons in towns around the area who wish for the unit to include them on the list of stopovers should contact the library in Colfax soon.

25 years ago

July 24, 1986

A proposed hospital district to help fund Whitman Community Hospital will not appear on this fall’s ballot after county commissioners declined to set boundaries for the hospital district following public hearings earlier this month.

St. John’s Country Cuzzins Garden Club will install a bronze plaque they were presented by Family Circle Magazine in their garden on Front Street. They were presented the plaque and a $100 check when they were selected winners of the magazine’s nationwide “Make America Beautiful” contest.

Police patrols in the smaller towns around the county could be recovered if some would be willing to contract with the sheriff’s office for local service. The contract could provide enough revenue that the department could hire an additional deputy.

10 years ago

July 26, 2001

Almota Elevator Company hosted an open house Friday to show the public their new facilities. The event included giveaways and a catered lunch. Construction of new facilities included the replacement of 24-year-old concrete bin “Tank 8” that burst and spilled 250,000 bushels of wheat last year.

A Big Foot Sidecar Rally was in the Rosalia park with at least 80 bikes arriving for the weekend. People from all across the western U.S. and Canada attended.

A new sign was put up last week for Rosauers Food & Drug, formerly Excell Foods in Colfax.