Good old days

125 years ago

The Commoner

Sept. 28, 1888

The Commoner enters upon its fourth year with this issue, with every assurance of increasing its popularity, although its popularity, and its circulation has already reached a notch envied among the many newspapers of the Palouse country. The Commoner will redouble every energy during the new year upon which it now enters to merit and increase the enlarging tide of public favor so steadily rolling towards it, warranted by its reliability, and its capacity for providing its readers with a superior quantity of local and foreign news, miscellaneous reading and editorial comment.

Three dwellings in the city were broken into on Saturday night during the absence of families at the political meeting. Nothing of value was taken from either. In one of the marauders lit a lamp and it was found burning by the owner on his return home. The burglarized people, for some unexplainable reason, do not wish their names mentioned, and Marshal Mackay will not furnish them.

A lady with a patent button fastener has been doing the town for several days. Walking quickly up to a staid old gent on the street she will dexterously clip a button from his coat before he lets loose of the idea that she is going to hug him, and when he expostulates she produces her button fastener and instantly replaces the button tight and solid. Of course he buys a box of the fasteners and the lady seeks another victim to practice her arts upon.

100 years ago

The Commoner

Sept. 26, 1913

A miraculous escape from personal injury and property damage occurred Sunday when a Case automobile occupied by Leonard Sain and family of Steptoe took a 60-foot leap into the canyon from the Buck grade leading out of town to the north. In its descent the car struck and uprooted a good-sized tree and was brought to a stop by a clump of larger trees. None of the occupants of the car were injured and the only apparent damage to the car was a broken fender. The accident was due to the control of the car being lost by the driver when it suddenly skidded.

The statement is made that 76,000 tickets have already been sold in Berlin alone for Pacific coast ports to intending settlers who desire to locate on the Pacific coast, with the inception of the new steamship service through the Panama canal. A large percentage of the German acquisition contemplate engaging in agricultural pursuits. Advices from Norway and other countries indicate that 2,000,000 settlers will come to the coast with the completion of the canal.

The street committee reported that the public hitching racks being constructed by the city on the vacant lot south of the courthouse were nearly completed.

The ladies of the Episcopal church will serve a chicken dinner in the dining room of the New Commercial hotel, Friday evening at 5 o’clock. Through the courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Hill the church ladies will have entire charge of the dining room during the entire evening and the price of the dinner will be 50 cents.

The subject of purchasing an automobile for the sheriff of Whitman County is bringing forth much comment by the county press. It appears that the principle bone of contention was whether it was economical to purchase the sheriff a car or to allow him to rent one at the rate of 25 cents per mile when the occasion demanded the use of a car.

75 years ago

The Gazette/ Commoner

Sept. 23, 1938

Harry Rheutan, R.E.A. official, announced this week that electricity will soon be available to the citizens of Washtucna with the completion of 13,200-volt transmission line which is being constructed for the Washington Water Power Company.

Estimated at a $1,600 loss, all of which was covered by insurance, was the burning of 256 tons of chopped alfalfa hay on the F. S. Parson farm on Union Flat, about 10 miles west of Colfax, early Saturday morning. Only five tons were salvaged from the blaze, which was fought by Mr. Pearson with water.

50 years ago

The Colfax Gazette

Sept. 26, 1963

The North Palouse River Road was blocked with rockslides and mud in several places following Sunday afternoon’s violent rain. In a photo, water from Buck canyon flows down the road and into the golf course parking lot after rocks jammed the entrance to the culvert. Scattered damage to roads, fields and personal property resulted from nearly an inch of rain which fell in less than two hours in parts of Whitman County. The storm swept from Onecho through Colfax and up to Garfield causing erosion and damage to roads, many of which were made impassable because of deep layers of mud flowing from newly-cultivated fields.

New car showings attracted a large crowd to Elliott’s Auto Mart last week and this weekend’s showing of new models at Brown & Holter Chevrolet Co. is expected to again bring many people to Colfax. Dealers report, too, that they expect brisk sales of the new models in the Palouse country. A third new model preview is expected next weekend at Colfax Motor Co. and possibly at Auto Sales Co. A number of visitors have been eyeing the new line of Willys Jeep trucks at Jones Truck & Implement.

25 years ago

The Colfax Gazette

Sept. 29, 1988

The Codger Bowl and related activities proved to be as grand as anticipated with an estimated 3,000 people at the game Saturday.

Main Street was lined from south of Canyon Street all the way to the high school for the morning parade.

It also proved a media event of note with the media, intent on covering the bowl, becoming part of the event itself.

A behind-the-scenes army of community members pitched, hauled, cajoled and crafted the Codger Bowl into an organized, smoothly running show that ran without a hitch.

The Codger Bowl was John Crawford’s brainchild and he brought a touch of Hollywood to the show with everything from pre-Bowl hype to the grand entry of Colfax and St. John teams on the Colfax High School football field Saturday afternoon.

Overloaded kindergarten classes at Jennings Elementary School will be lightened up in a realignment that will create a fourth kindergarten class in the Colfax School District. The move means adding another half-time teacher.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

Sept. 25, 2003

Residents of Palouse are organizing to purchase a unique church building which dates back to 1896. The small building was serving as the home of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church until about three years ago when members decided the congregation count had declined past the point where local services could not be warranted. Pat Flansburg, a member of the group planning to acquire the church, said the aim was to keep the church in the public domain at Palouse.

The plan to widen Greenhollow Road west of Colfax on Highway 26 will be temporarily scrapped, Dane Dunford, director of public works, told county commissioners. The two phase project began several years ago. Reconstruction of the intersection onto Greenhollow was completed but the second phase to widen the first 8/10th of a mile was scheduled for the near future.

A third version of a Colfax Community Center proposal surfaced this week when members of the Colfax Golf and Country Club circulated petitions asking the Colfax City Council to launch a project which would combine a Colfax center with construction of a new golf club building. The club’s meeting room and kitchen now are used for several social gatherings such as class reunions which are not related to the golf club.