Good Old Days Dec. 29

125 years ago

The Commoner

Dec. 25, 1891

Freight No. 42 met with an accident at Garfield Monday last.

There was something wrong with the throwing of the switch and the engine left the track followed by three cars.

The engine went off between the main and side tracks and ploughed into the mud.

The down passenger from Spokane met the obstacle and was delayed two hours.

The engine of the express train was not sufficient for the task of getting the derailed engine and cars back on the track and an engine was dispatched from this city for that purpose.

By pulling off on the sidetrack the passenger got by after several hours delay.

Later the derailed engine was pulled back on the track.

A bend in the switch bar is said to have been the cause of the accident.

When the switch was thrown, it was not thrown entirely open and that caused the trouble.

***

Principal Waller, of the city schools, speaks as follows of Colfax educationally:

The present condition of the city schools of Colfax is the result of good management for a long series of years.

The people have always taken great pride in their prosperity and have furnished these schools liberally with rooms and equipment.

Only a short time ago they outgrew the building that had been supposed ample.

A ward school was built, providing for two more schools.

In 1890 again the school became overcrowded.

Rooms were rented and two more teachers added.

At this writing over 425 pupils have applied for seats.

Another room has been rented and another teacher employed.

In the spring of 1891 the city voted bonds to the amount of $30,000 to build and equip a high school, the walls of which are nearly completed.

This building is to be constructed of pressed brick and granite, and when completed will be the finest school building in eastern Washington, outside of Spokane.

The schools are well graded and are moving on to a complete high school course as fast as pupils advance to the work. It has always been the policy of the board of education to employ only teachers of cultures and experience. The present crops, with two exceptions, are either college or normal school graduates and bring to their work from four to twelve years of experience. The policy of supervision has always been to meet the wants of liberal constituents and as a result of harmony the schools of Colfax are filled with happy and contended pupils.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

Dec. 29, 1916

The last session of the old city council will be held Monday evening and the session is called to meet at 7:30. Monday is New Years day, a legal holiday in this state, but the present city attorney has ruled that it will be lawful for the council to meet and complete the final work for the year.

As soon as this meeting adjourns, the new mayor and councilmen will be sworn in. Mayor Rogers who has been mayor of the city for several years and who refused to be candidate for office again, will step down and become a private citizen. During the time he has been mayor of the city, Mr. Rogers has made a splendid official. He has worked for the best interest of the city and has performed this duty fearlessly and honestly, as he thought it should be done. Not once during his term of office has he attempted to side step an issue or sought to evade responsibility.

He steps down from the position of mayor of this city to that of a private citizen with the respect and confidence of every man and woman of Colfax. As a prominent citizen said this week, “Mr. Rogers leaves office a stronger man today than when he was selected as a public servant several years ago.”

W. E. Weinburg will announce his appointments as soon as he is sworn in and at the same time will appoint the city councilmen to their respective committees.

***

Farmers of the Ewartsville district are making vigorous protests against road conditions leading from Pullman to their section and when they threatened to trade elsewhere steps were taken to remedy the evil. A committee from the Pullman chamber of commerce are investigating four different routes from the west and when a choice is made the improvements will be made at once.

Farmers are giving assistance by offering right of way privileges. When the route is selected and arrangement made the matter will be turned over to the city council and county commissioners for action.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

Dec. 26, 1941

People living in the territory served by the two Colfax banks and post office had invested approximately $87,500 in defense savings bonds from the time they were first put on sale last May 1 until the first of this week, a check up at the three institutions revealed. The investments, speeded up at a tremendous rate since war with Japan, was declared to be satisfactory evidence on the part of people here to do their part in helping to finance the war. The demands for bonds has at times been greater than the local supply, bankers said.

***

Information concerning the induction of Whitman County selectees into military service under the selective training act no longer will be released at the office of the county draft board, it was announced Tuesday following the regular weekly board meeting. Board members stated they were following a general order to all draft boards from the war department as transmitted to them through the state selective service headquarters, which read as follows:

“The war department has ruled that information concerning quotas and calls is restricted. In conformity with such policy, no information will be given out by agencies of the selective service system with respect to quotas and calls.” The order was signed by Lewis D. Hershey, national director of selective service, Washington, D.C. The list of selectees called January 7 and 11 was removed Tuesday from the bulletin board at the draft board's office, on orders from state headquarters.

***

“In response to the request of the Whitman County District Nurses association for quick registration of nurses available at the present time, many registered inactive nurses and a few practical nurses have filed with us, Miss Louise Preston, W.C.D.N.A. president, said this week.

The list of registrants will be turned over to Dr. C. R. Goodhope of Garfield, county chief of medical aid under the emergency defense setup. Dr. Goodhope will, in turn, make the lists available to local doctors throughout the county. The registration will continue, Miss Preston said, and stressed the fact that even untrained women interested in nursing are asked to enroll.

***

A war department bulletin issued this week from Western Remount headquarters in San Mateo, Calif., requests registration of all horses and mules between the ages of three and ten, inclusive. In an age when mechanical monsters snort and puff across the newsreels to the chatter of machine guns, we are informed that several millions of horses and mules are currently in the front lines. Germany had used a million four-footed friends in the present war, and Russian cavalry units are even now slashing at retreating Nazi columns.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Dec. 29, 1966

Start of construction on the main portion of Lower Granite dam near Almota has apparently been delayed “indefinitely” by the congressional “stretch out” in domestic expenditures for public works projects.

Reports earlier this year indicated that a call for bids on the dam three miles above Almota would be issued late this year or early next year and the contract possibly awarded by next spring, but Col. Frank McElwee of the Walla Walla corps of engineers told the Gazette last week that “we don't have a date on Lower Granite at the present time.”

He said there definitely will not be a bid call in January or February and that his office won't have any further information on the start of construction until the president's budget goes to Congress and the nation's lawmakers act on the budget.

“We're hoping that we'll have a minimum slippage I the overall stretch out program,” the colonel said.

The head of the corps' Walla Walla district office said the advertising for bigs on relocation of the Camas Prairie railroad from Riparia to Central Ferry will be out sometime within the next 90 days and that work will start within the next 90 days.

The corps of engineers will let a contract for building a new railroad grade along the canyon wall but the railroad company will lay the ties and put down the new rails with their own crews or on a separate contract.

***

Creation of a new soil conservation district via a merger of the Central Whitman Soil conservation district and the area formerly served by the now defunct West Whitman Soil conservation district was approved by Lud Kramer, secretary of state, Cecil S. Chally, manager of the new district announced last week.

Named Whitman Soil Conservation district, the new area will cover the county south and west of Colfax with the dividing line of townships 16 and 17 as the northern border. The 570 potential cooperators of the new Whitman SCD will be served by seven staff members in the office.

The merger came about as a result of the petition of the former West Whitman district to combine with central Whitman. Closure of the West Whitman district was announced Oct. 10 at a meeting of the district's board of supervisors.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Dec. 26, 1991

The county has requested state construction funds to replace the bridge across the South Palouse River at Parvin, county engineer Brandon Cole told the county commissioners Monday.

The money should take 30 days to be approved, he explained. Then the county can go out for bids.

The county has asked for $461,000, including $381,000 for construction and the rest for construction, he said.

Authorization for construction is the last of three phases of road and bridge construction. The first two are preliminary engineering and right of way acquisition.

The Parvin Bridge will get a pre-stressed concrete beam bridge in the 90 to 100 foot range. One abutment will be replace and the other will remain.

Approaches to the bridge and grade levels will remain about the same because of the Union Pacific Railroad grade crossing which runs along the south side of the bridge at the Whitman County Growers elevator.

The Parvin Bridge is now unable to carry large grain trucks. It has become stressed as large trucks continue to violate load limits on the bridge.

The county hopes to use the concrete planks from the Parvin Bridge decking to refurbish the Revere Bridge across Rock Creek one mile south of Revere.

Extra steel beams would be added to the Revere Bridge and the concrete planks placed on top. This would allow improvement of the bridge at a cost of only about $50,000, according to Cole.

***

The county won't allow small planes to land on county roads anymore due to liability concerns, public works director Lon Pedersen told the county commissioners last week. Pederesen said he didn't know the impact of the decision yet, but expected it to be minimal. The public works department gave out one permit two yeas ago and none last year.

Small planes landing on county roads was an old practice which was legalized in an effort to control it, he explained. The landings were generally required by aerial spray pilots to shorten delivery time.

Cashup Flat Road north of Steptoe and Thorn Creek Road south of Malden were favorite landing spots.

The practice exposes the county to liability problems from an access standpoint, he said. Car drivers expect to use the road. If the county allows access for another type of vehicle, such as a plane, which causes an accident, the car driver could sue.

The county tried to discourage the practice by requiring pilots to have $500,000 liability insurance and post warning signs in addition to buying a $250 permit, Pedersen added.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

Dec. 28, 2006

Whitman County's Capital Improvement Project committee gave their annual report and recommendation rankings to the County Commissioners Dec. 18. Repairs to the main water manifold at the Palouse Empire fairground was listed as the number-one project in need of funding.

The water manifold has been listed in past years, but much lower on the list. Bleach injected into the water at the fairgrounds for purification purposes has caused the steel pipes to erode, said Tim Myers, director of the park department.

The steel pipes, which are at least 20 years old, need to be replaced with PVC pipe. According to the CIP project rankings report, the estimated cost for the project is $6,500.

Klemgard Park renovations, the number-one ranked project for 2006, are 75 percent complete. Renovations included replacement of old playground equipment, installing a concrete bridge to replace a wooden one, putting in new trails and replacing two restrooms with a duel restroom. The sod for the trails has been cut and pathway graveled, but placing asphalt on the trails will be done when weather permits.

The restrooms will be replaced with concrete CXT restrooms.

Funding for the renovations came in part from a 50/50 matching grant from the state.

Committee co-chairs recommended looking into using money from the hotel/motel tax on the water manifold improvements. This tax money is allocated for funding of multi-jurisdictional tourism-related facilities.

Upgrading the courthouse elevator was ranked number two on the CIP rankings, bringing an estimated price tag of $250,000.

The third project, priced at $35,000, is RV park renovations at the fairgrounds which would include installing showers and adding restrooms to the existing structure.