Good Old Days April 6

125 years ago

The Commoner

April 1, 1892

Colfax Chamber of Commerce unfurled its banner to the breeze last Friday night with commendatory spirit. The organization possesses a goodly representation of the vim, energy and enterprise of Colfax. What the city has wanted for years has been just such a pushing machine. The railway project, to link together with bands of steel the cities of Colfax and Palouse, was discussed until it became a tiresome subject, and people began to think that the scheme would end in talk; but the Chamber of Commerce took up the matter and made the project a solid assurance by the earnest work of a day.

The old opera house was crowded with eagerly interested people last Friday night. Hon. J. A. Perkins presided and Ivan Chase acted as secretary. It was essentially a railway meeting. No other topic was discussed. The speeches all tended one way, and the great benefits of a branch line, or of an independent line, to connect this city with the main line of the Northern Pacific were earnestly portrayed.

It was decided to request subscriptions from property owners in the city and vicinity, and after some discussion, it was shown that the value of 3½ per cent of the personal property and 4½ per cent of the real estate of Colfax would nearly cover the expense of building the road.

The line proposed will be 18 miles long.

The city assessment shows personal property to be valued at over $700,000, and real estate at nearly the same figures.

At the proportional rate of subscriptions suggested, personal property would furnish $24,500, and real estate $31,500 of the amount required.

All that is necessary at present is $40,000.

Nearly $10,000 was subscribed by the citizens in the hall last Friday evening.

The committees have been at work increasing the list, and yesterday Secretary Chase reported that some $21,500 had already been guaranteed, while a number of the committees had not been heard from.

On the railroad subscription committees are Ben Bergunder, O. E. Williams, James Cairns, A. A. Stonebarger, Ivan Chase, J. H. Bellinger, Julius Lippitt, and W. J. Hamilton.

Another meeting will be called as soon as the committee reports the accomplishment of its mission of securing the necessary funds.

***

An attempt was made to burglarize A. W. Sargent's store at Garfield Tuesday night.

Three or four tramps had been hanging around town for several days and on that day they were trying to sell some men's and boys' clothing.

In the afternoon they visited Mr. Sargent's store and seemed to be paying close attention to the interior of the building.

Mr. Sargent became suspicious and when night came had his son Joseph sleep in the building, contrary to the usual custom.

About midnight he was awakened by some one fumbling at the front door.

Several keys were tried but none of them would turn the lock.

The back door was tried next but with no better success.

Near that door is a window that is boarded up on the outside, but they noticed that and began to tear off the boards.

Joe concluded that was close enough and fired a bullet through the window.

The robbers immediately fled and the next morning the tramps were missing.

***

At about 7 o'clock Monday evening flames were discovered issuing from the rear of the livery and feed stable belonging to W. R. Ellis, and situated on Mill, opposite Spring street.

The fire caught in the roof from sparks blown from the office chimney, and it was but a moment's work of the element to fasten its fiery fangs on the hay in the loft. Then came a conflagration that lit up the whole city for a half hour.

The fire department was on hand in good time, and by the faithful, earnest work of firemen and citizens, all the horses and vehicles and nearly all the movable property on the lower floor was taken out.

The three frame buildings adjoining the livery stable on the north were threatened for a time, but, fortunately, the wind was not strong; and the department succeeded in confining the fire to the stable.

This, of course, was a total loss, and there was no insurance on the barn, which was worth $1,000.

The hay and feed was valued at several hundred dollars.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

April 6, 1917

A delegation of tax payers from St. John, Ewan and Steptoe met at Colfax last Thursday afternoon and decided to begin an active campaign for the purpose of securing a hard surface road to connect Ewan and Steptoe. This road would connect with the state road at Steptoe and thus give the people of the western part of the county a direct line to Colfax and Spokane. The road is to run as closely as possible along what is known as Pleasant Valley road from Steptoe to Ewan, passing through St. John. It is the intention of the committee in charge of the new road to advocate that this new road be constructed of standard material and that it have a surface of sixteen feet in width.

The men back of the movement point out that if this road is constructed it will be of great value to the residents of the western part of the county and that it will bear a large volume of traffic.

Senator Hall who was present at the meeting told the visitors that it might be possible to construct this road under the new Donahue law which was recently passed by the legislature but if they wished to have the road built under the present highway law, they might be required to wait for several years. The new law goes into effect some time in May and a committee was appointed to secure copies of this law in order to determine what was necessary to be done in order to secure the benefit of this law.

Chairman Frank E. White, who had charge of the meeting, was instructed to appoint a committee to investigate this new measure and this committee was instructed to report their findings at a future meeting.

In addition to the committee, a large delegation of business men and farmers were appointed to assist in the work of securing this road.

***

Judge Thomas Neill, in his talk before the members of the club Wednesday noon emphasized the necessity of encouraging the raising of potatoes for the use of this locality next year. He spoke of the present price and potatoes and established the point that the vacant portions of back lots together with the number which lies idle should furnish enough ground to supply this city in potatoes for the next year. Thousands of acres of summer fallow land will also lie idle this year and many farmers would be willing to donate tracts of this idle land free of charge to those who would plant the ground in potatoes.

The wheat farmers of this county have no time to devote to truck farming and especially this year when help is difficult to secure.

The suggestion of Judge Neill received consideration and many claimed that this was a practical move in the right direction.

Dr. W. B. Palamountain spoke along the same line of thought and brought out the fact that the short season as well as the shortness of labor would prevent any number of farmers from engaging in intensive farming.

The doctor suggested that the president of the club appoint a committee to outline a working plan that would make it possible for the members of the club to stand back of this movement.

R. F. Bigelow said that there had been a number of residents of the city who had spoken in him in relation to this same idea and he thought that some plan might be worked out that would lead to the growing of enough potatoes to supply the local market.

Dr. C. E. Abegglen spoke of the parents of school boys always facing a problem keeping the boys employed during the summer months and the doctor suggested that they might become interested in work of this kind. County clerk, Mr. Williams, stated that this might be handled under the direction of the boys' and girls' club.

Senator Hall thought that to make a success of raising potatoes one should be supplied with modern machinery. Any one would be able to make more money working out than he would raising potatoes.

75 years ago

Colfax Gazette Commoner

April 3, 1942

A hearing on the proposal of County Superintendent R. R. Maxwell to disorganize Mockonema school district No. 25 and attach its territory to the Colfax consolidated district will be held in his office Tuesday, April 14, at 1:30 p.m.

Consent to follow this procedure has been obtained by Supt. Maxwell from both the state and county school district reorganization boards.

Residents of Strohm district No. 156 have been notified by Supt. Maxwell of his intention to disorganize the district and attach the territory to the Pullman consolidated district.

There will be no formal hearing, but those having objections may present them to the superintendent in person or in writing.

For the past five or six years Strohm has been an idle district, without a board, and its pupils attending school at Johnson.

When disorganization is effected, the territory will comprise the southeastern corner of the Pullman district with its eastern bordered on the Idaho state line.

***

Air raid wardens, visiting every home and place of business in Colfax this week, reported not only friendly cooperation, but in many instances, adequate preparation to cope with the hazard of fire bombs. At each home was left the official instructions for preparing for the danger from the sky, and later, as householders qualify, they will receive certificates denoting their cooperation with the civilian defense council plan of protection.

“Home protection” week began Monday, and if the suggestions of Colfax air raid wardens are followed, defense council officials feel certain that an excellent groundwork will have been laid for “year-round protection,” extending after the emergency has passed. The illustrated posters distributed by the 54 wardens this week are an excellent short course in home preparedness, Joe Short, chairman of the Colfax defense council, pointed out.

***

To make labor available to farmers during the planting and harvesting seasons, the Whitman County USDA War Board Thursday last week appointed the following sub-committee:

Roscoe Cox, Pullman; J. A. Seagle, Palouse; Carlos White, St. John; A. L. Wolf, Tekoa, and Carl Schrenk, Lacrosse.

The group will study the labor situation and will assist in working out a uniform wage schedule between eastern Washington counties.

The county war board is taking steps to bring about the release of sufficient materials to provide for the manufacture of pea harvesting equipment, believed necessary in view of the country's increased pea production.

50 years ago

Colfax Gazette

April 6, 1967

A resolution advancing some Colfax speed limits, a “delay policy” of the Schmuck park baseball grandstand fate and a decision to buy new litter barrels for Main street were three decisions coming out of the city council meeting Monday night in city hall.

City Attorney Philip Faris introduced the speed limit change which has been approved by the state highway commission. The resolution advances speed limits to 35 miles an hour on the Walla Walla, Pullman and Spokane highway exits for short stretches.

On the Pullman highway, motorists will be allowed to drive at 35 miles an hour from the Mill street intersection behind the Assembly of God church to the city limits. On the Spokane and Walla Walla highway exits the 35 mile an hour limit will be posted from the Y intersection out to the city limits.

Faris explained the 25 mile an hour limit would stand on Main Street (highway 195) from the Y intersection south to the Mill street intersection.

Reporting on negotiations on the Schmuck baseball grandstand and backstop, Councilman William Tempel said the city had agreed with school and summer league officials to let the grandstand stand through the Legion and Pony league seasons. After the coming season, the city plans to remove the grandstand, and a new backstop, which will probably be produced in the high school vo-ag shop, will be installed, Tempel reported.

Councilman Lyle Aiken, street and water chairman, received the council's approval to purchase six new wastepaper containers for installation on Main street. Aiken reported the containers would cost about $65 each.

***

Reporting on his “travels” around Whitman County's wheat fields, Felix Entenmann, county extension agent, reports crop prospects have improved over the winter season with increased soil moisture as the key factor for the future. Recrop field moisture now measures down to five feet or more with summer fallow field moisture levels measuring deeper, Entenmann reported.

“Moisture appears to be good all over the county,” the county agent reported. On recrop fields the moisture measures down to five feet, he added.

“Excellent” stands of wheat are present “over most of the county” with some outstanding examples in the Lamont, Endicott-Winona and LaCrosse areas.

Last year, the county averaged 47.4 bushels on 386,000 planted acres. The average was down four per cent from the 51.3 acreage yield in 1965.

“Barring infestation of foot rot or stripe rust – which I don't feel is a threat at this time – the prospects for 1967 should produce a higher average yield than last year,” Entenmann predicted.

Some “uneven” stands of wheat appear in the Thornton and St. John areas, according to the county agent. The uneven fields stem from the dry conditions which many farmers in the St. John and Thornton areas faced during seeding last fall.

“Some of the wheat was probably seeded into areas where moisture was too low or where moisture escaped after grain drills opened the ground,” Entenmann said.

One of the annual problems which will be present this year will be weed infestation, he added. The threat of an extra heavy weed problem this year also extends from the dry seeding conditions.

“Many of the farmers were unable to cultivate after allowing weeds to germinate prior to planning,” Entenmann said.

“As a result, many of the fields were planted without prior cultivation. In some cases, weed and wheat seeds were germinated by the same moisture.”

According to records of the soil conservation service, precipitation from September through March has measured 10.50 inches at LaCrosse and 13.41 inches at Colfax with heavy rainfalls in the later months. Normal is 10.36 at LaCrosse and 15.45 at Colfax.

“Assuming normal precipitation continues for the balance of the season, we can look forward to a higher crop yield,” Entenmann concluded.

25 years ago

Colfax Gazette

April 2, 1992

The county will get $42,000 for “obstruction removal” and a new lighting system at the Colfax airport, county commissioner Bill Schmick of Endicott said Monday. They received “official notification” this week, he said.

The money is from the aeronautics division of the state Department of Transportation. It comes from aviation fuel taxes not the state general fund, according to aeronautics program manager Malcolm McIver.

County commissioners began the paperwork in February on the project to improve the county airport south of Colfax.

Project estimates presented in February by airport manager Darrell Fender include $17,000 for burying the power line, up to $150 for removal of three trees, and $20,000 to replace the lighting system including conduit and cabling.

Fender is the official project supervisor but the public works department also is helping out the project.

Improvements discussed over the past year for the airport include crack sealing and lengthening the 2,300-foot runway by 900 feet, painting, new lighting, and improved tie downs.

The county hopes the improved facility will be a keystone for development in the county.

The county rezoned 108 acres at the airport from agricultural to heavy industrial last year.

The county wants to develop the area as an industrial site as recommended by a Port of Whitman County feasibility study.

***

The county will build a rope course this spring for an adventure-based therapy program, according to the directors of the county mental health center and alcohol center.

The course will be on four wooded acres northwest of the former United Brethren Church in Elberton, said parks department director Mike Werner. The parks department owns the land.

Site preparation will be in April, said mental health child specialist Keith Haley. He suggested volunteers could be recruited for this portion.

Course construction will be in May and training people to run the course will be in June, Haley said.

The therapy group now uses the Adventure Dynamics course in Spokane.

The Spokane course is used from March through October, depending on the weather, he explained. “This year, we could have used it all year.”

A local course would save the drive as well as being a community resourced, noted mental health director Mike Berney.

The course is the result of an interlocal agreement between the county alcohol center, county mental health center, county parks department, WSU Cooperative Extension, and the county 4-H program.

The course would be a permanent fixture at the site but parts can be removed to protect against vandalism, Berney said.

The secluded location also will help prevent abuse of the course, he noted.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

April 5, 2007

A fire Sunday night gutted the front of the Longhorn Café and Lounge in Rosalia. Rosalia Fire Chief Bill Tensfeld said flames were shooting out the front of the building when crews arrived after receiving the alarm at about 8 p.m.

Tensfeld said the fire was brought under control in about 90 minutes after crews arrived on the scene.

The fire gutted the front seating section of the restaurant where the fire started. The kitchen section, located in the center of the business, and the bar in the back sustained mostly smoke and winter damage.

Crews stayed on the scene overnight and then worked Monday to determine a cause of the fire. Pullman fire investigator Rich Dragoo assisted in the investigation at Rosalia.

Chief Tensfeld said the cause of the fire was determined to be a lamp over the cash register. The lamp apparently shorted and over heated, igniting the wall.

The Longhorn had a false ceiling in one section of the business and a double false ceiling in another section, Tensfeld said.

Oakesdale and Steptoe fire crews also assisted at the scene, and Farmington and Tekoa crews were contacted for backup. As many as eight fire rigs were on the scene at the height of the fire fight.

Tensfeld, who said the Longhorn was unoccupied at the time the fire started, noted the department had many volunteers available for the response on Sunday night.

Proprietor Bonnie Stites has offered food service at the Longhorn on Sundays until 2 p.m. The lounge continues to operate until 6 p.m. and then the business closes for the day.

Stites Monday said she was unsure of what her next move will be.

Loss of the Longhorn leaves Rosalia without a full service family restaurant. The Red Brick, also located along Whitman, has been closed since August after the Rosalia motorcycle rally.

The Brass Rail, Spartan Pizza and Never Enough Espresso offered food service.

Sunday's blaze was the third major fire for the Longhorn in its 45 years at Rosalia, according to LaVonne Thomas, one of the original proprietors.

The Longhorn in Rosalia dates back to late 1961 when Joe and LaVonne Thomas moved from Spokane and took over Harold's Café which was operated by Harold Hagan. They renamed the business the Longhorn and added a barn facade in front the following year.

LaVonne Thomas said the Longhorn burned in September of 1973 and they relocated on Whitman to the present location.

The present building is located in spaces which were formerly a coffee shop operated by Ralph and Mary Wynn and meat market operated by Ted Just.