Good Old Days

125 years ago

The Commoner

June 20, 1890

The announcement that there would be a balloon ascension at 5:30 kept the people in eager expectancy all afternoon.

Goodall, the acronaut, had been secured and was ready at the appointed time to start on his aerial flight.

The balloon was inflated with heat from the fire beneath.

When filled to its fullest capacity, the balloon was examined and found to be all right.

Goodall arranged the trapeze and with the signal, "let her go" the monster sailed towards the heavens with Goodall sitting lightly in the swing.

A shout of exclamation went up as Goodall sent back the words, "how is this for high" but the next instant the balloon, now over 200 feet high, bursted from top to bottom, stood momentarily suspended in the air, then started downward with a rapid descent.

The spectators stood aghast at the scene, and shrieks and groans were heard in every direction as the rider took his flight to apparent death.

Looking downward, Goodall prepared to meet his fate and with a presence of mind that few men possess, still clung to the trapeze as the balloon descended faster and faster.

As the collapsed monster with its human freight fell 100 yards from the starting point, many eyes turned the other way, refusing to witness the sight.

A second before lighting, Goodall uttered a cry then struck the earth with a dull thud.

"He is a dead man" came from the lips of those who witnessed the awful scene.

He was taken to the tent and a physician summoned.

On examination, it was found that both bones of his right leg were broken and internal injuries sustained.

The physicians say he will be all right again.

His escape from death is remarkable.

For the first 150 feet the balloon fell slowly, then with a complete collapse, it fell swiftly to the ground.

If Goodall had fallen otherwise than feet first, he would never have breathed afterwards.

The balloon was burned on the spot where it fell.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

June 25, 1915

An automobile party consisting of members of the honorary Chinese commercial commission that is touring the United States, members of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce and well-known Chinese merchants of Spokane stopped at the Hotel Colfax for lunch this noon. Among those in the party were Thaddeus F. Lane, Wang Wo and Mr. Marsh, prominent Spokane banker.

This party is one of several that have been motoring through the Inland Empire today to show the distinguished visitors from the Orient something typical of every feature of agriculture.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

June 21, 1940

Five Colfax young men were recruited last week end for the Pullman National Guard unit, Company E. 161st Infantry (rifle) by five guardsmen under the direction of Lieut. Chas. LaMont, recruiting officer.

Colfax men who enlisted were William H. Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Smith; John W. Chesnut, son of Mr. and Mrs. Orlen Chesnut; George Paysee, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Paysee; Paul L. Baker, son of Mrs. Ruth Baker and Carlyle E. Ragsdale, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Ragsdale.

The Pullman unit will go to camp August 4 to 24 at Ft. Lewis, according to Sgt. John Hansen. The present drive is to increase the organization's strength from 60 to 80 men, a newly authorized figure. The new drill manual recently adopted by the Army, said Sergeant Hansen, has greatly simplified close order drill. Squads have been increased from 8 to 12 men, a number that comfortably fills a truck and are commanded by a sergeant. A corporal now has about the same function as the old time lance corporal.

Members of the recruiting detail were Sergeant Hansen, Sgt. Robert Speaks, Corp. Harold Day and Privates Marian Busby and Dayrl Vincent.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

June 24, 1965

Colfax's new city hall has ended up being a bigger bargain than most folks figured it would be ...

Plans, when the project was unveiled, called for remodeling the old high school into city offices at an estimated cost of $115,000. The current council (Jack Hallett, Rodney Russell, Don Deen, F. L. "Slim" LaVerne, Lyle Aiken and Vernon Thomas), asked—and received approval of Colfax residents to change plans from remodeling to rebuilding when it proved impractical.

And the cost of rebuilding has, in the long run, proved to be less than the original estimate on remodeling the structure. To date, the new hall has cost Colfax residents $108,655.27, with a few bills still to be paid.

Funds for the construction of the new building became available in 1963 following approval of a special levy by Colfax voters.

Bids on the new hall were opened Aug. 3, 1964, and first bids were within the city's budget, thanks largely to Architect John Aylor, Spokane, who designed the building.

In addition, the city received "trade-in" value from the old hall when it was sold to John Ellis for $8,750.

The new hall was officially completed May 17, when the city council accepted the structure.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

June 21, 1990

Listing of Colfax graduate Jamie Warwick on the free-agent draft for professional baseball last week marked the first time in "eons" that a CHS graduate has been considered.

Warwick last week appeared on the draft list of the Cleveland Indians baseball team. The draft serves as regional recognition, but doesn't mean much in Warwick's plans for the future.

Warwick will attend Washington State University where he hopes to play baseball for the Coach Bobo Brayton's Cougars. He has been awarded a scholarship for tuition and fees.

"I'm hoping to be able to play this summer for the Palouse Cougars," Warwick said this week. The Palouse Cougars are the summer version of the WSU baseball program.

After recovering from a groin injury, Warwick this week to start playing with the Pullman Legion club where he played last summer. He could stay with the Legion Club, which will offer more playing time, than joining the Palouse Cougars team.

Word of the draft by Cleveland generated a few hectic days around the Warwick household. The Bulldog grad and his parents have had to field an unending series of telephone calls.

Cleveland's scenario for Warwick would have been for the Bulldog grad to play at a junior college to practice his skills and then go into pro ball.

"We feel Jamie has a lot of talent. Colfax is sort of an out-of-the-way place, and we feel fortunate we could sneak in and draft him," said Steve Avila, Northwest scout for Cleveland, commented. He noted other teams probably failed to list Warwick because they didn't know about him.

Avila said the Cleveland organization drafted nine of the players off his lists and four of those have signed to play with the club. The other five players, like Warwick, are considering other options.

Avila said Cleveland would have retained draft rights on Warwick until his last game of baseball at the junior college level.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

June 23, 2005

Steptoe's "Bust your Butte Fest" raised $600 from rolling a giant ball down Steptoe Butte. Valerie Gregory, coordinator for the fest, said they sold 300 tickets with estimated finishing times on them.

The ball rolled down the butte in 3 minutes, 21 seconds, beating the test time of 8 minutes, 13 seconds.

"Roll the ball! Roll the ball," shouted the crowd on the bottom loop of the Steptoe State Park Road right before Gregory and others on the top shoved the ball off the edge.

The group decided to roll the ball, actually made up of four exercise balls wrapped in pink and gray canvas and stuffed with tubes and other stuff to make it a semi-oval, off the butte for fear that it would pop on the rock outcroppings. Instead they launched it from the road 20 yards from the top.

At the end of the countdown, the crowd shrieked and yelled as the ball bounced down the hill leaving a wide track in the grass down the fence.

When they let go of the ball, the wind really whipped and many people in the crowd wondered if the ball wouldn't just float off to Palouse.

The 3:21 finish was clocked when the ball crossed the fenceline between the state park and the adjoining lentil field. The ball was pushed out of the field to the Hume Road.

Most of the ball roll fans watched from the large pullout area below the top of the butte.

Jody Boyd had the winning time and won $100; Norm Willson of Colfax came in second and won $50; Keith Crawford of Colfax was third and won $25. The whole Steptoe fest raised more than $1,200 for student scholarships and community events.