Good Ol' Days - Sept. 22, 2011

125 years ago

September 24, 1886

As far as heard from Frank Hardesty on the R.P. Owen place, settled fourteen years ago, reports the prize wheat yield. A patch of ten acres yielded 52 bushels per acre, and one of 13 acres went 47 bushels. The land was summer fallowed and fall sown.

The boys of the Colfax brass band will give a concert in City Hall next Friday evening. Admission 50 and 75 cents.

McCord and Ford’s planing mill and furniture factory was set in motion Saturday and on Monday commenced active operations.

Snake River steamers are compelled to “line” in several places, on account of the low stage of water.

Miller and McDonough have purchased Talbott & Bragg’s agricultural implement business, of which they took possession Monday. The business will be carried on at the old stand on Wall Street.

100 years ago

September 22, 1911

Wesley, the five year old son of Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Smith of Thorn street, was shot in the eye with an arrow by his eight year old brother before breakfast Tuesday morning. The arrow was removed and the little fellow taken to the hospital. Although the eye ball was cut he will not lose the sight of the eye.

Contractor Janney, who will put in the joint bridge at the Palouse River over Palouse Falls, reports the lumber is arriving and he sent a man down Wednesday to unload it. Steel for the bridge has been shipped and is expected to arrive Oct. 1. It will take about a month to put in the bridge.

Horace Howard of the Whitman Implement Company is in Albion to close out the hardware stock of Willie J. Tharp which has been tied up in bankruptcy proceedings for several months. The stock was purchased by the implement company and will probably be closed out within a week or two.

75 years ago

September 18, 1936

Before a first-day crowd that pointed to record-breaking attendance over the coming weekend, Lois Morris of Colfax was crowned queen of the Colfax Round-Up at the rodeo grounds.

“Give ‘em hell” is not only the slogan for round-up sponsors, but also a slogan for city merchants who are getting fed up with the shoplifting which seems to be going on around here on this week.

Fire, presumably originating in rubbish collected about the furnace, burned the floor joists in the basement and damaged the main floor on the Tom Hodge home on south East street early Monday evening.

50 years ago

September 21, 1961

Bonnie Jensen of Colfax clasped her hands to her face in disbelief after being named queen of the Palouse Empire fair at afternoon festivities Saturday. Colfax also took honors in the float competition for “Our Products Sail the Seven Seas,” which featured a sailing ship that rocked to and fro.

Amidst a garland of flowers and undetermined number of guests and well-wishers, the new Tekoa high school was dedicated last Friday with Eugene Fletcher as master of ceremonies.

Whitman County farmers will receive an average payment of between $39.40 and $52.50 per acre on wheat land diverted to conservation use under the 1962 wheat program.

25 years ago

September 18, 1986

State highway officials here disagree with a state committee proposal to remove the Colfax-Palouse highway from the state jurisdiction and put it in the county’s hands. In exchange, the county’s Dry Creek Road would go onto the state system.

Three railroad tanker cars derailed Saturday morning at the Parvin Elevator east of Colfax. Railroad crews worked to remove the damage and the line was restored to service Monday night. Ties behind the site were cut by wheels of one of the cars, and the train came to a halt when it hit the switch and crossing at Parvin.

An unofficial list of cancer victims of the Lamont area from the late 1940s to present, living or dead, was compiled at a meeting there last week. A total of 83 cancer victims were listed.

10 years ago

September 20, 2001

Whitman County residents shared their grief as they gathered in front of the courthouse steps last Friday for a memorial observance of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington D.C. where many people lost their lives.

Hooper last Tuesday started the day by paying a surprise tribute to Chuck Tobin, a McGregor retiree who finally received medals he earned during World War II. Family and friends gathered at the Hooper post office and Tobin was presented a U.S. flag, a Bronze Star for the Normandy campaign and the European Theater of Operations ribbon.