Good Old Days March 2

The Becker farm haying operation near Colton, circa 1910. Here, Mike Becker, Frank Becker and John Becker work with the farm hands putting up hay on the Becker farm with back rake in front and dump rake on the right. Subject order is unknown. Photo courtesy of the private collection of Marlene Ryan and the Whitman County Library Rural Heritage Collection.

125 years ago

The Commoner

Feb. 26, 1892

The Pacific Express company, appreciating the service rendered by the Colfax fire department on the morning on January 14th, 1892, when their office was destroyed by fire, authorized their agent here to present the Colfax fire department $10 through M. E. Carley, an officer of the department, who took particular interest in saving this company's property.

They also gave instructions to pay Howard Bramwell $5, he having taken charge of and guarded express matter saved from the fire until the arrival of the express agent.

Although there was but a small amount of goods in the office when the building burned, and some destroyed, the express company sincerely appreciate the unusual care and judgment used in handling and saving goods that were taken from the burning building.

***

General Superintendent W. J. O'Brien of the Union Pacific, accompanied by his chief clerk, C. E. Norton, of Walla Walla, were in Colfax the first part of the week inspecting the Union Pacific yards here.

A much needed improvement in the shape of a new waiting-room is to be built immediately as an addition to the U. P. depot. The present waiting-room is totally inadequate for the requirements of the traveling public.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

March 2, 1917

The new council at La Crosse met for the first time Monday evening, Justice M. E. Stansell administered the oath of office to T. H. Shobe, mayor, Chas. Moore, treasurer, and each of the councilmen after reading the incorporation papers.

Three ordinances were ordered; one naming the official paper, one fixing the time of meetings and one fixing the amount of bond and compensation of the clerk and treasurer.

***

The farmers of Whitman County plan on building at least six new elevators this summer. These elevators will be built in time to handle this year's crop and contracts for the building of two of these elevators will soon be let. The farmers of Rosalia have organized an elevator company for the building of a small elevator at Squaw Canyon. The company is incorporated and the contract for this elevator will be let in a short time.

A new 10,000 bushel elevator will be built this summer at St. John. The St. John farmers are behind this movement for the building of this elevator and the stock has been subscribed and articles of incorporation filed with the secretary of state.

A number of farmers at Diamond are working towards the formation of a company to build an elevator at Diamond this summer. The work of selling stock to the farmers in that section of the county is under way and considerable progress has been made.

At Thornton, efforts are being made to organize a stock company to build a farmers elevator at that place this spring and those who are interested in this proposition claim that a sufficient amount of stock has been subscribed to indicate that the building will be erected this summer.

Endicott, La Crosse, Winona and Hay have farmers' elevators and thousands of bushels of grain have been handled through these buildings during the last two years.

The high price of sacks have forced the farmers to adopt the bulk grain system that is in general use in every farming community in the United States with the exception of the Pacific coast cities.

The present year promises to see many elevators built in the eastern part of Washington and leading farmers state that the bulk grain system in this state is sure to come.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

Feb. 27, 1942

Public hearings have been conducted in Pullman, Colton, Garfield and Palouse within the past week by the county school district reorganization committee for the purpose of presenting proposed changes in district boundaries and the registering objections, orally and by petition.

The discussions took place at Pullman Wednesday afternoon, in Colton that afternoon, in Garfield Friday morning and in Palouse that afternoon, with a large majority of the county committee members present. The Pullman and Colton meetings were attended by Elmer L. Breckner, Olympia, state director of reorganization.

It was proposed at Pullman to create a new district composed of all of the present Pullman district, all of the Strohm and Banner districts, part of Spring Flat, all of Albion except the north part of the old Pitt district, and the north half of Johnson.

In opposing the proposition, Albion made a counter proposal, asking that its district remain intact and that it be added to the Banner and Spring Flat district. Albion sentiment, naturally, was unanimous against a movement which would cost the district's grade and high school.

Spirited opposition voiced by Uniontown at the Colton meeting when it was proposed by the county to enlarge the Colton district by adding to its present area all of Uniontown, Oenning, Hall and Wilma and the south half of Johnson.

Faced with the threatened loss of their public grade and high schools, the Uniontown delegation revealed a well developed sentiment in favor of uniting the public and parochial high schools, the grade schools to remain separate institutions. The public high school has an enrollment of approximately 20 and the parochial, about 45. The committee's plan of reorganization, however, does not affect the parochial schools otherwise.

At the meeting in Garfield the proposition was to enlarge the Garfield district by taking in all of the Farmington and Elberton districts, half of the Belmont district and part of the Belshaw district.

The Farmington delegation, which represented two-third of the audience, presented a petition bearing the names of 97 per cent of the people of Farmington who strongly favored continued operation of their own school.

A counter proposal was that Farmington be made a reorganized high school district to include all of Farmington, the south half of Seltice, all of Belshaw and the east portion of Belmont. This would create an assessed valuation of $800,000, sufficient to enable the district to operate without a special tax levy.

The Elberton representatives believed they had a good school, able teachers; wanted to continue “as is.”

Discussed at the meeting in Palouse was the proposal that Palouse be enlarged to include all of Eden Valley, and the north portion of what was formerly the Pitt district, now a part of Albion.

Albion, well represented, protested the loss of the old Pitt territory, claiming it would result in the loss of their high school and the remainder of the district going to Pullman. Promotion of harmony and prevention of discord, particularly under war conditions, was urged.

Eden Valley presented a petition stating that the majority wanted to continue their own school, but if reorganization was necessary, they favored going into the Palouse district. Several from the Pitt area expressed a desire favorable to Palouse.

At a meeting in Tekoa Wednesday last week the county committee presented the plan to organize a district to include all of Tekoa, Lone Pine, Seltice and Cove, the latter a small district east of Tekoa mountain but in Spokane County, half of Pleasant Hill and a small portion of Belshaw. No serious objections were noted.

Before elections can be held in the various regions to determine the issue of reorganization definite boundaries must be established, district debts, liabilities and resources adjusted, and the approval of the state reorganization board received, according to R. R. Maxwell, secretary of the county committee.

***

Largest contingent of men yet to be furnished by Whitman County in the draft has been ordered to report for army induction at Fort Lewis March 10.

Numbering more than 50, the men will leave Colfax on the evening of March 9, after being checked in at the office of the local draft board.

The selectees will be chosen from those who in February were given pre-induction physical examinations in Spokane, but selection can not be made until all of the reports on the examinations have been received by the board, according to Helen McDonald, Colfax.

Whitman County must also furnish in March 100 men for pre-induction examination in Spokane, 67 to go on the 6th and 33 on the 23rd. Those who pass will be virtually certain of their call within 30 days following their examination.

An order received Wednesday from state headquarters prohibits the enlistment of a registrant in any branch of service after he has been sent to Spokane for his pre-induction examination. Heretofore enlistments following examination have resulted in draft contingents small than originally called, and the new order will eliminate what has turned out to be unnecessary clerical work and expense on the part of the county board.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

March 2, 1967

Mrs. Ben Stueckle, Colfax, has published a booklet listing 16 recipes, some she has created through experimentation in her own home and some she has obtained from friends. The booklet starts with a rather standard recipe for pea or lentil soup, but adds interesting variations on the next page. It ends exotically, with “Mawash,” an Arabian recipe for rice and lentils.

In between there's casseroles of cream-scalloped lentils, a crab-lentil special, a ranch style lentil casserole of lentils and ground beef and a Lenten speciality in which lentils go with hard-boiled eggs and tuna fish.

There's also a lentil stuffing for baked salmon, a lentil fry in which lentils are combined with cooked, diced potatoes and “Lent-A-Patties,” the meat substitute patty of lentils served with a tomato-cheese sauce.

Two salad recipes are included. One combines lentils with diced turkey or chicken and the other combines lentils with diced apple, cauliflower and walnuts.

Main dishes include a lentil-rice loaf, combining among other things, brown rice, lentils, croutons and tomatoes; pea-stuffed peppers and a layered vegetable shrimp dish.

Two recipes were perfected in a Loma Linda, Calif., featuring sage seasoning, and a “Caspean Roast,” apparently named for the land where lentils originated. Cooked split peas as the binding ingredient for the “roast” of cashew nuts, celery and oatmeal, but belying its name, nary a speck of meat.

The booklet entitled “Good Things to Eat from Dry Peas and Lentils” may be obtained from the county extension office, or from the office of Spokane Seed Co.

***

Review of plans has been completed by the state health department and the U.S. Public Health service and as soon as questions in the review are answered Whitman County's $1.4 million hospital project can get final approval and a call can be made for bids.

The comprehensive final review by the state and federal agencies is complete with the exception that review of the architectural plans of stage three by the U. S. Public Health Service was still awaited here Wednesday, Dan Scheideman, president of Whitman Hospital association, reported.

“There are some areas where the architect will have to make minor changes in answer to the review,” he explained, “and when these changes are completed, the plans will be delivered to Olympia by the architect who will then confer in person for the final approval.”

Architect Arnold Barton will have conferences with the various agencies that comprise the state department of health. These will include the offices of the state fire marshall, sanitarian, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, radiologist, nursing consultant, nutritionist and laboratory consultant.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

Feb. 27, 1992

A proposal to build a small golf facility in Garfield has surfaced after the idea of a nine hole course at Elberton died for lack of money.

Greg Partch of Garfield, one of the proponents of the project, said he hopes to hold an organizational meeting early next month.

The facility would be on leased ground at the north entrance to Garfield, he explained.

It would be the first thing people see entering town from the north, along with the church directory and Manring's bed and breakfast, Partch said.

The facility would include a putting green, sandtrap and equipment shed.

Partch also envisioned flooding the putting green portion during the winter for use as a skating rink.

He wants to start small, adding a driving range first then maybe three holes and later three more.

How large the facility would be depends on the community support, Partch said.

“We need to establish a base of money and support first. All the comments are positive so far.”

The idea is to start construction in the fall, he explained.

Installation of such things as the tile lines and drainage are relatively easy but growing the grass takes time, he commented.

It would be a good diversion between basketball and spring work, he added.

The golf idea surfaced after an October meeting between Garfield residents and county parks representatives.

Residents at that meeting were told the county's money problems prevented their underwriting a nine hole course at Elberton where the county owns about 85 acres of land. The Elberton project has since taken shape as a trails proposal with possible use of the now-dormant Union Pacific railroad which runs through Elberton enroute to Garfield.

***

The Port of Whitman County decided last week to loan $15,000 to the Rosalia airport for the installation of fuel tanks.

The idea is to draw recreational flyers from increasingly crowded Spokane fields, explained Rosalia resident Marc Lange.

The state transportation department updated the airport ten years ago, he said. Now it needs new facilities such as fuel tanks to handle the expected growth.

A computer check revealed 515 small plans within a 120-mile radius of the airport, according to Lange.

The airport can also be a training ground and stopover for flyers going from South Idaho to Canada, he said.

It is a safety field for Horizon Air but not “Spokane International,” Lange added.

The facility has a 2,900 foot paved and lighted runway.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

March 1, 2007

Construction on the Pullman-Moscow Highway is expected to resume next month, according to officials from North Central Construction, the Moses Lake company hired by the Washington State Department of Transportation to widen the highway.

Widening of the 6.5-mile section of State Route 270 began last June, and continued through December when weather shut down operations.

When complete, the $31 million project will have expanded the road from a two-lane highway to four lanes of traffic with a center turn lane.

Pamp Maiers, president of North Central Construction, said the company is targeting mid-March to resume operations, weather permitting.

“The only thing predictable in construction is its unpredictability,” said Chad Simonson, project engineer for WSDOT.

Maiers said with crews working five 10-hour days per week, the highway should have all five lanes paved by Nov. 15.

When work resumes, the company will begin by installing erosion control measures to deal with the wet ground.

Maiers said those measures will include abatements for flash floods, digging channels to funnel stormwater runoff and fiber logs to catch the silt carried by the runoff.

Blasting operations will also resume in March, Maiers said, and should be complete by the middle of April.

Maiers said the company has marked July 9 as the start date for paving the two new north lanes.

Once the north lanes are paved, crews will begin paving the center turn lane and begin work on the existing south lanes.

***

Willard Field of Tekoa has received three grants from the State Aviation board totaling $36,385. The grant money comes from a $200,000 surplus in the State’s aviation budget. Larry Hagan, Chairman of the Airport Committee in Tekoa, said they felt very fortunate to receive the grant money.

“These are all safety things,” Hagan said of the projects the money would be going toward.

The first grant for $4,750 will update the Airport Layout Plan. An ALP has to be done for them to apply for other grants. The plan details future expenditures.

Tekoa received $12,635 that will be used to repaint displaced threshold markings that show where the planes land and take off, acting as safety guides for pilots. The grant money will also be used to put up lights on hangars that are considered height hazards.

The largest grant is $19,000 and will be used to put in a runway safety area embankment. The west end of the runway ends right on the edge of a fill and creates a safety hazard.

A pilot who encounters engine trouble while approaching from the west side too low, could now collide with the fill, Hagan explained. The airport has had an experience in the past where a takeoff was aborted, but the pilot could not stop in time and went over the edge. His airplane sustained extensive damage.

The grant money would be used to put in a 50 to 60 foot bank with a regulated slope.

The surplus money the grants all come from are monies generated by a tax on aircraft fuel sold within Washington state.

“It’s pilots paying for their own safety and airports,” said Hagan.

In the past, Tekoa has used grant money to widen and paint the runway as well as putting up a light beacon to guide pilots at night.

“Our whole goal out there is to create an aircraft related business park,” Hagan explained. He expects an increased demand for housing with access to airports, mostly for retired military and airplane pilots, and feels the Tekoa airport and surrounding area would meet that demand.