Good Old Days: May 11

125 years ago The Commoner May 6, 1892 Next Monday evening, May 9, at the Colfax Opera House, Orson Clifford and his troupe of talented artists will appear in the celebrated comedy drama “Avenged,” which has had such a brilliant and successful run in Eastern cities.

It will be produced at the opera house with the same mechanical effects and scenery that characterized its success at the New York City Grand Opera house.

Two of the interesting features are the rescue of the hero from a real river of water by the life saving dog “Graff” and the introduction of a pack of Siberian wolves especially imported from Europe for this performance.

A genuine pack of Siberian wolves were imported and are now used in the late New York success “Avenged,” making one of the strongest stage pictures known to the modern stage.

*** The days of trifling and delay with important municipal business are over.

The city of Colfax has repudiated its dealings with Messrs.

E. H. Rollins & Sons, whose policy throughout their relations with this city, in the matter of the bonds, has been one of steady and systematical procrastination.

This fast and loose method has caused the greatest inconvenience to citizens, contractors and laborers.

The firm of Theis & Foster examined the city bond contracts and expressed themselves as fully satisfied with their legality.

The mayor and common council, after declaring the Rollins contract forfeited, met last Monday evening, and decided to accept the offer of Theis & Foster, on the terms published in last week's Commoner.

On Wednesday evening, the council met again to complete the transaction, and Charles Theis, of the firm in question, was present and signed the necessary articles, making the purchase of both municipal and water bonds.

The municipal bonds are for $18,000; the water bonds for $47,000, or a total of $65,000.

The interest is 6 per cent, and the duration 20 years.

Mr. Theis gave the mayor a certified check for the full amount, and the money will be available before June 30th.

Meantime the city will be credited with the interest on the full amount.

The bonds were ordered by telegraph yesterday from the publishing house in Chicago.

The money will probably reach here by the middle of June.

Work on the water system will now be resumed and pushed with all possible vigor.

Mayor Chadwick yesterday telegraphed to Manager F. Riffles, of the Oregon Bridge company, contractors, to come to Colfax without delay.

A telegram was also sent to Superintendent Adams at Pendleton that operations would begin here immediately.

The contract with Messrs.

Theis & Foster is even more favorable to the city's interest than the original one with Rollins & Sons.

100 years ago The Colfax Commoner May 11, 1917 The people of St. John voted Tuesday in favor of bonding the city for $16,000 to erect a complete water system for that city.

Opposition to the bond issue developed and a stiff fight was maintained against the bond issue.

For a time it was thought that the bonds had failed to secure the required number of votes.

Out of the 187 votes cast at the Tuesday election, 69 voted against the bond issue and 115 voted in favor of bonding the city.

It required a three-fifths vote to carry the bond issue and those who favored this side of the question won out by only a few votes.

The $16,000 bond issue will be available in a short time and the members of the city council will advertise for bids for installing a water system at once.

St. John has been without a water system and the saving in the insurance rates is expected to pay for the plant within the next ten or twelve years.

The supply tank will be placed on the hill which is located near the city and the pressure will be a gravity which will have a force of more than fifty-five pounds.

It is the intention of the councilmen to have the system completed some time this summer.

*** The curfew law which has been one of the city laws for the last eight or ten years and which never was enforced was repealed by the members of the city council Monday evening without a desenting vote.

The law provided that the mayor and city officers should see to it that no boy or girl under sixteen years of age was permitted on the streets after nine o'clock.

The law was never enforced in Colfax nor in any other city, and this measure was continually coming up to plague the city officials.

The members of the city council took the position that parents of the children were the proper parties to look after their own children and thus give the city officials an opportunity to attend to the business affairs of the city.

75 years ago Colfax Gazette Commoner May 8, 1942 The campaign to reach the county's May quote of $61,500 in war savings bond and stamp pledges is meeting with widespread success was the report Thursday morning of S. R. Clegg, county chairman.

First precinct captain to report his canvass completed was Leslie McGuire of North Colfax, No. 9, embracing the Manning-Rye, Hubbard and Gerber Grove communities, where $7,330.75 was pledged by October 1.

Husbands, announces Mr. Clegg, should consult their wives the amount they wish to pledge inasmuch as this is a house to house campaign and does not include business districts.

*** Property owners in the vicinity of Bellinger street Monday evening petitioned the city council to build 615 feet of six-inch sewer line, create an improvement district and assess the cost proportionately against the property by issuance of bonds which would be retired in ten installments.

The sewer line would start at a point on lot 8 block 2 in Brown's addition, run southwest 74 feet to Bellinger street, thence south 192 feet, thence west 250 feet on private property.

Street Superintendent H. W. Chase estimated the cost at $916, including legal expenses.

Passage of an ordinance creating the improvement district will await a check up by the city clerk to determine if the petition signers represent most of the lineal feet of property frontage involved in the proposed improvement district.

Those who signed the petition were Mrs. Horace Kincaid, Mrs. Helene Marbelle, Mrs. Eva M. Carey and Henry G. Geagley.

By resolution, the city provided for an expenditure of $300 on the relocated road to the reservoir, and $50 for covering the refuse dump near Schmuck park, the cost to be charged against the city's share of the gas tax coming from the state highway department.

50 years ago Colfax Gazette May 11, 1967 Farmington school district overwhelmingly rejected the proposed consolidation with the Oakesdale district at a special election Tuesday.

An identical vote of 32 in favor and 55 opposed was cast on both propositions.

Proposition No. 1 was the consolidation, proposition No. 2 concerned the adjustment of assets of the two districts in the event of consolidation.

Oakesdale extended a “welcoming hand” to the Farmington patrons by an almost unanimous vote of 148 in favor to 1 against consolidation; but the tally on adjustment of assets was received without quite as much enthusiasm in Oakesdale.

The vote on Proposition No. 2 in Oakesdale was 131 yes and 12 no. Farmington is the third small district to turn down consolidation with a larger district in recent months.

Malden voters recently rejected a merger with Rosalia, and Ewan patrons voted against a merger with St. John.

Earlier this year, Pine City school patrons approved consolidation with St. John.

New votes on the Malden-Rosalia and Ewan-St. John consolidations have been scheduled for June 16, County Auditor Pauline H. Lust said this week.

25 years ago Colfax Gazette May 7, 1992 Endicott's Community Day on Saturday, May 9, once again features the 5K “Kraut Route,” kids' parade, $1,000 hole-in-one contest, whole-hog barbecue, auction, kids' games and beer garden.

This year's celebration also will see the addition of such events as mud wrestling, a breakfast race, a male/female leg judging contest and a sidewalk sale.

Pre-registration for the Kraut Route begins at 7:30 a.m.

at Endicott's Palouse Ammonia and the race starts at 9 a.m.

The award ceremony will be at 10 a.m.

at Palouse Ammonia.

Line up and judging for the kids' parade is at 11 a.m.

All children who participate receive prizes.

Line up for the main parade is at 10:30 a.m.

It begins at 11:30 a.m.

and features the 50th class reunion from Endicott School riding in the back of a vintage truck.

The end of the parade is marked by the annual $1,000 hole-in-one golf contest at the 103-year-old Endicott School.

The traditional whole hog barbecue features an entire pig roasted all day over wood trucked in from Brewster.

An auction is scheduled after the barbecue, featuring antiques, handcrafts, gift certificates donated by local businesses, hotel overnight packages and leftover hams.

Other highlights include sidewalk sale, carnival, wagon rides, helium balloons, face painting, live entertainment and food booths offering German sausage, hot dogs, pies, cotton candy and snow cones.

The celebration is sponsored by the Endicott Development Association and other civic organizations with proceeds going to improve the town's business district.

10 years ago Whitman County Gazette May 10, 2007 After discovering what they believe is a gap in the line of title on the former Union Pacific right-of-way land north of Colfax, the City of Colfax has requested a quit claim deed from the county, said to be the owners.

The former railroad land is at the core of a deadlock between the city and David and Lyndell Repp because the railroad route has been considered an access route to future housing sites in the McDonald property annexation.

The city and the Repps have been unable to agree on a price for the property to get a clear title for the land on the roadway.

An April 27 letter from Mayor Norma Becker to the county and a prepared quite claim deed were among items covered by county commissioners at the start of their meeting Monday.

They referred the city request to the county prosecutor and the Public Works Department.

Mayor Becker's letter said the title gap was discovered by the appraiser who has been hired to determine the value of the land with a view of possible condemnation action by the city.

The letter said the property in question was the subject of a 1928 tax foreclosure which resulted in the county gaining the title.

It was subsequently sold by the county in 1937 but the deed to the next owner did not include right-of-way land.

In effect, the county “perhaps unwittingly” retained title to the land which was abandoned as a railroad right-of-way by the Union Pacific in 1990.

After the abandonment, the property reverted to the owners of adjoining property.

*** Public Works Director Mark Storey presented a new pamphlet, Pondering the Palouse, to commissioners Monday.

The pamphlet is designed as a guide and honest look at everything that comes with living in rural Whitman County and some of the aspects a new resident might have to adjust to.

“A lot of people who want to live in the country don't know about living in the country,” said Storey.

“Like people live on a gravel road and all of a sudden it's dusty.” Storey said that some people who move into the country from big cities don't always realize the probable hardships that could go with it.

His department gets calls from rural residents with complaints about issues from broken wells to roads with the expectation the county will fix it for them.

Often a caller says “Somebody told me you were going to pave this road within the year.” “We get that one a lot,” Storey said.

He added that the county doesn't really pave roads, they try to maintain the ones that are already paved.

Other issues Public Works has had to deal with is people calling in the winter to request their road be plowed immediately.

Storey said the Public Works plows paved roads and school routes first and it is usually a day or two before they can get to the other roads.

He has even received calls from people who live down a gravel road and complain that the county needs to buy them a new windshield or tire because of the rocks on the road damaging their windshield or tires.

Pondering the Palouse will be handed out at the Public Works office to perspective property owners.

Storey believes possibly 98 percent of the residents know what rural life will be like, but there is still that portion who do not get it.

“It's not the same as the city.

If you want to live in the city, live in the city,” he said.

“(The pamphlet) is really important now that we've opened up our rural residential,” said Commissioner Greg Partch.

The release of Pondering the Palouse has long been aimed to coincide with the passing of the rural residential zoning ordinance and has been before the commissioners since November of 2005.

“I've ready it so many times I've got it memorized,” said Commissioner Jerry Finch.

The original document for Pondering the Palouse was created a few years ago, but Storey said it was more controversial and some people felt it would scare people away.

It sat untouched for a while and has been reworked in the last year.

Storey estimated that the re-write has taken about 50 hours of staff time in the last year.

The work was done in-house without the use of outside consultants.