Good Old Days

125 years ago

The Commoner

Sept. 19, 1890

The Colfax packing establishment of F. W. Becker & Co. met with a second great loss by fire last Saturday night, the first having occurred a few weeks ago more than a year ago. The mystery which surrounded its first fire surrounds its second and last. The origin of the fire, in both instances, is wholly unknown. The first was supposed to have been the explosion of a lamp, left burning low in the building, or possibly incendiarism. The recent total destruction of the building cannot be accounted for in any more definite a manner. Opinions seem to be divided as between spontaneous combustion and incendiarism. Either theory is acceptable and it is difficult to determine which is correct.

The fire of Saturday night evidently started inside the building on the first floor, which is used for storing the great amount of cured meats and lard.

It was first observed by the nightwatch employed about the building at about 11 o'clock, and an alarm sounded.

The fire laddies promptly responded to the call, and in a few moments the engine, hook and ladder trucks, and hose cart were speeding away to the scene, followed by a crowd of excited people.

When within a few blocks of the building the announcement came that there was no fire, and the fire company quietly returned to their quarters.

It seems that a few persons who had proceeded ahead of the fire department found the building apparently intact, the brick walls holding the then smouldering fire from sight, and the word was passed of a “false alarm.” Hardly had the fire department returned to the engine house when another alarm was sounded, with renewed cries of: “The packing house is on fire.” The fire laddies again started upon a run, and reached the scene just in time to see the flames burst from the windows and roof.

In a few moments two streams of water were playing upon the building, the foundry adjacent, and the bridge crossing the river within close proximity to the flames.

The flames, however, had secured control of the packing house and the efforts to squelch them were wasted, but by dint of hard labor the foundry and bridge were saved.

The total loss on the building and machinery is estimated at $33,000, with an insurance of $18,550. Nearly $15,000 worth of meat was stored in the building, besides large quantities of lard and tallow.

A reporter learned from one of the proprietors that the building would be rebuilt in a few months, but not on quite so large a scale.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

Sept. 17, 1915

The connecting link of the Empire highway between Colfax and Rosalia will be surfaced with gravel. This decision was reached at the last meeting of the state highway board held this week at Olympia.

The state road between Colfax and Rosalia has been graded for some time and the question of the material to be used in grading the surface of this portion of the state highway has perplexed the state board for several weeks. The distance requiring surfacing between the two points is about seventeen and three tenths miles, and the road belt between the two points has a good low percentage grade.

For many years gravel surfacing has been advocated by experienced road builders and a test of the wearing qualities of the different surfaces of the roads built in different parts of the state has led the state to decide that gravel will answer best for the heavy soil between these two towns.

Heretofore large sums have been spent on roads which later proved disappointing in as much as they failed to give the satisfaction and service of cheaper construction. Since there are large beds of gravel in different parts of the state which are ideal for the purpose of road construction, the authorities are taking advantage of using this material for the purpose.

It is the intention of the State board to start the work of surfacing the state road between Colfax and Rosalia at once in order to furnish work to the surplus labor this winter. A call for bids has been issued and the contract will be let for this work early in October.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

Sept. 20, 1940

Teachers should spend less time grading papers and devote more attention to devising means for students to learn by doing things, Dr. Thomas R. College, professor of education at the University of Washington, told teachers assembled in the high school Saturday morning for the 12th annual institute of the Whitman County Educational association. Approximately 212 teachers were registered during the day.

Dr. Cole told of the success of the Greenlake school. John M. Knisely, principal, in the Seattle school system in teaching originality in grade school children through departmentalization of the work so that each student had to plan and develop some creative project.

He liked progressive education, he said, but it was nonsense to discount the value of the background material on the specific subjects.

“You can correlate the teaching of health with that of English,” he said, “but you cannot just up and burn the textbooks. Students cannot be allowed to do just what they want to do. Successful life after school is having responsibilities and handling them in a capable manner. Students in school, then, must learn to tackle a job and see it through to the finish.”

He would like to have some of the schools in the state, he said, take their outstanding senior students who have done exceptional work in certain subjects and let them study or experiment as they liked during their final high school term. Many thinkers and experimenters had developed into leaders who had rendered great services to the nation, he said.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Sept. 23, 1965

The large two-story home which was occupied by the superintendent of the county nursing home, Hillcrest, for many years, is taking a ride this week — from its former location alongside the nursing home building to a new foundation near the Harvey Ackerman home on the Almota road. The home and other buildings must be removed from the site to make room for the new hospital to be started next spring.

When the house gets located on its new foundation, Ackerman will convert it into a three-unit apartment building. Two single-bedroom units are planned for the top floor of the frame building and a large three-bedroom unit will be built on the lower story.

Ackerman said he has to “take his time” at installing the units because of other business interests. He purchased the building from Faires Equipment Company, the firm in charge of preparing the old Hill Crest site for the new Whitman County hospital.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Sept. 20, 1990

WSU enrollment is up almost 850 students from last year to a record 18,425, according to Maureen Anderson, vice provost for student affairs.

“The increase will probably force us to close enrollment to undergraduate students for spring semester. We are at the legal limit of our contract enrollment for the biennium, and only by not accepting new undergraduate students can we maintain compliance,” Anderson explained.

WSU receives state funds on the basis of contract enrollments. The total contract enrollment for fiscal 1990 was 16,312 and 16,481 for fiscal 1991.

Enrollment on the Pullman campus has grown to 16,884 compared with 16,471 last fall.

The official tenth day registration was forwarded to officials in Olympia, Anderson told the Board of Regents at their monthly meeting.