Good old days

125 years ago

May 11, 1888

The Commoner horse reporter is a little new and verdant to the business, which accounts for the mistake made last week in speaking of P.D. Bunnell’s fine horse, Ingraham. He made no record at the last October races. It was Kittle Ham who won the race and purse, time 2:35. Ingraham may “get there” this fall.

The Juvenile Opera company filled their engagement of two nights here and have departed. Their operatic entertainments were fully up to the praises which they have received at various places in the North Pacific circuit. It was an operatic treat which Colfax seldom indulges in, and they were greeted with full houses.

The county commissioners have been occupied the past week, principally, in leasing the school lands. About 15,000 acres have been leased for which some $900 have been paid into the county school fund. A quarter section is leased for $10 a year.

Seymour Manning returned Tuesday from a visit to Tacoma. It is stated Seymour made this trip to acquaint himself with the route anticipating to “bob up serenely” in that direction about next August on a wedding tour.

100 years ago

May 9, 1913

We are in receipt this week of a fine thoroughbred Airedale terrier, the gift of Dr. Harvison of Palouse, who is a fancier and breeder of this most useful of all dogs.

E.F. Ege, chief assistant to State Highway Commissioner W.J. Roberts, having charge of the permanent highway work of the state, was in Colfax the first of the week, and in company with County Engineer J.H. Miller, inspected the work now in progress at different points in the county. Mr. Ege says it is probable a locating engineer will be here within a month to locate the Colfax section of the Spokane-Walla Walla state highway. Mr. Ege returned Tuesday night to Olympia.

Despite the fact that the season is nearly a month later than usual and the weather has been cold and disagreeable, reports from the country indicate that the fruit crop has not been injured. The weather has been continuously cold. It has not been warm enough to give the fruit buds an early start to be killed later by the hard freezes that have come since spring was supposed to have arrived.

75 years ago

May 6, 1938

This Sunday golfers from Moscow, Lewiston and Pullman will join Colfax in a tournament on the local course. Twelve men will represent each town.

Contract for construction of two bridges on the Mockonema cut-off road was awarded Tuesday by the state highway department to Roy L. Bair on his bid of $43,723.

Bair has the present contract for resurfacing the new road from Dusty to Colfax and surfaced five and a half miles from Mockonema west.

One bridge will replace the county bridge at the north end of Main Street.

It will be 100 feet long, 26 feet wide and will have a sidewalk on the downstream side.

The other bridge will cross Union Flat Creek.

It will be 150 feet long, 24 feet wide and will have a walk on one side.

The contract calls for completion of the two jobs within 180 days subject to weather conditions.

Bair, it was said, is in position to start construction immediately.

Junior may have to forego his after school snack and dad will probably have to open a can of pork and beans for dinner next Thursday and Friday for those are the days mother is going to attend the Washington Water Power free electric cooking school at the Roxy Theater. Valuable electric appliance prizes will be given away each day. Betty Houston, home service advisor and cooking expert for the company in this territory, will lecture and demonstrate on scientific and economical electric cooking with the electric range and the electric roaster.

50 years ago

May 9, 1963

The Lamont residence of the Richard Baileys was gutted by fire Tuesday, April 30. Smoke was pouring from the roof when children at play noticed it and notified their mother who was visiting at a neighbor’s. Both fire trucks responded to the alarm and the fire was extinguished before the house was completely destroyed. Most of the furniture and their possessions were destroyed or badly smoke damaged. The Baileys and their five small children have moved into the Betty Moore residence until their home can be rebuilt. Bailey is a telegrapher for the SP&S railway. The community is giving them a shower at the Grange hall.

Colfax High School band will have the 60th place in the annual Spokane Lilac Parade Saturday, CHS Band Director Sig Norman said today. The Colfax band was 101st in the parade a year ago.

25 years ago

May 12, 1988

St. John first graders Michael Shawgo and Kobi Colyar get different views of a demonstration on owl vision by Paul Ashley, Department of Wildlife agent who is habitat specialist for the Palouse-Rock Lake SCS district. Ashley was using ping pong balls to demonstrate features on owl vision. He also pointed out the bird’s hearing features which help with the vision. Pupils were presented with bird houses, bird identification and feeding charts. Ashley has headed up planting 50,000 trees in the SCS district this year.

County grain shippers who are encouraging a proposal to bring a shortline railroad company to the county, helped arrange a meeting between the Port commission and Karl Kottman of Olympia, member of a corporation that wants to run a shortline here and subsidize the rail business by hauling garbage from Clark County to a private landfill in western Whitman County.

10 years ago

May 8, 2003

Over the weekend junk cars in Palouse got a chance at a second life, although not necessarily as a car. City officials offered residents a chance to get rid of old vehicle hulks for free. The purpose of the program was to clean up the town and recycle the metal from the vehicles to pay for the service. Like many smaller towns in the county, Palouse has been less than graced by the presence of used up old rigs sitting around in backyards, vacant lots and city streets. An auto crushing company was contracted to come into Palouse, set up operations for a day and squash the old cars in exchange for the scrap metal.

County Public Works Director Dane Dunford announced numerous county bridge projects which have been selected for funding match grants from the state over the next few years. Three bridges and Almota Road were named as projects.