Good old days

125 years ago

Nov. 26, 1886

TOASTING-Kate Field, at a recent banquet given by women, thrilled her hearers by an eloquent speech when proposing the toast, “The men, God bless them.” Kate, evidently is not one of the girls “who wish the men were all transported far beyond the northern Sea.”

HUMBUGERY– One of the most foolish, though harmless, customs of the day is that of grand juries bestowing fulsome praise upon the judge, prosecuting attorney and other officers of the court for simply doing their duty. This practice, so generally in vogue, might lead one to infer that grand juries were composed largely of scoundrels, who endeavored to keep themselves out of jail by giving the court officers taffy. It is simply a ridiculous practice.

100 years ago

Nov. 24, 1911

Two claims aggregating $1,440 have been presented to the city by David Little and Ira Larkin for personal injuries received during fair week when their team became frightened by the concessions on Main Street and ran away, injuring both occupants of the wagon.

Mr. Little claims that he was injured internally and received a displaced shoulder which caused him to lose 25 days of work at the value of $125. The complaint of Mr. Larkin alleges that he was thrown out of the wagon and his list of injuries includes “two ribs broken, two ribs fractured, was badly bruised, contused, injured and shaken up.”

In describing their accident, both claimants say they were driving north on Main Street at about 7:30 on the evening of October 18 and their team became frightened by the band, noise and confusion on the street.

75 years ago

Nov. 20, 1936

Reese Bailey, 30, another of the suspects wanted in connection with the robbery of the Rosalia bank in August, 1935, the murder of Marshal Bert Lemley and the kidnapping of Matt Elliott, cashier, was captured on a farm near Jackson, Ohio, early last Friday morning after he had been wounded in exchange of shots with federal agents.

Widely sought and under indictment for violation of the national motor vehicle theft act following his escape from the state penitentiary at Raleigh, N.C. in March 1932, Bailey was thrice wounded in the leg and side when he opened fire in answer to the command to throw up his hands, as he sat milking a cow in a barn on the farm he purchased a year ago.

Bailey, who lived with his wife and three children on a farm near Spangle several months previous to the Rosalia robbery, was identified by pictures in possession of Whitman County authorities and Spokane federal agents as one of the two men who held up the bank, while a third, dressed as a woman, waited in a car across the street.

Known in the Spangle community as Frank Burlson, Bailey was a neighbor of Frank Baird, at present out on bond as principal in the Rosalia crime and awaiting trial in federal court. A warrant for the return of Bailey to Spokane has been forwarded to Cincinnati, Ohio, by U.S. Attorney J.M. Simpson.

Baird’s trial has been scheduled for the December term of federal court at Walla Walla. In the meantime a motion will be made to transfer the trial to Spokane federal court, and that Bailey face justice there, which probably would be in January

50 years ago

Nov. 23, 1961

Endicott Junior Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Girls’ Federation of Endicott High School sponsored a sports banquet Nov. 13 in the school multipurpose room. The high school football players received their letters and awards. Guest speaker was Maury Wills, star shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers and former Spokane Indian.

Those receiving their “E” letters were Seniors – Clark Wakefield, Pat Kleweno, Danny Helt, Frank Garrett and Alvi Fountain. Juniors— Bud Rockwell and Dwight Fowler. Sophomores—Larry Schmick, Daryl Storment, Scott Repp, Donald Kackman, Darryl Knott and Jim Hardy. Freshman—William Farr, Mike Schierman, Hugh Wakefield, Glen Smick and Jim Rockwell. Billy Kaiser received an “E” letter for being manager. Pat Kleweno received the inspirational award and Frank Garrett the honorary captain award.

25 years ago

Nov. 20, 1986

Fate of the condemned Palouse Empire Fair grandstand is still uncertain following the Nov. 4 defeat of a levy to replace the grandstand with a new $440,000 structure. Last week several members of Parvin Grange met with the county commissioners and building inspector Leonard Riedner and have proposed that the grandstand be tested by a structural engineer before any move is made to demolish the structure.

Ray Fry of Colfax, a professional materials tester, has agreed to go over the entire structure with ultrasound wood testing equipment. All data will be compiled and must be given to a structural engineer for analysis.

The newly-elected fair board agreed that the structure should be inspected by a structural engineer.

10 years ago

Nov. 22, 2001

Cost figures for brightening streetlights in downtown Colfax are presently out of the city’s price range, city council members learned last night. Councilman Donald Henderson reported an upgrade of the three-year-old antique-style lights would be too much for the city to consider.

Members of the council Monday night voted to install new lights at the intersection of Main and Stephens, a location tagged the worst for the downtown area. The council voted to start an upgrade on junction boxes which have been failing in the three-year-old street lighting system.

At the last city session, Henderson volunteered to investigate the chance of improving the lights which have drawn criticism since they were installed as part of the Main Street construction project.

Mayor Norma Becker noted cutbacks in the Main Street project led to the installation of lights which just met state DOT’s minimum standards.