Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
125 years ago
The Commoner
June 3, 1892
The Whitman County Stockman's Association will meet at the courthouse at 1 o'clock Saturday afternoon, for the purpose of receiving new members and of devising plans for future action. All stockgrowers of good repute are eligible to membership. The meeting is called by L. B. Smith, chairman.
It is now two months since the association was formed and the membership today is 150. The original object was to bring to justice a gang of horse thieves who have been running off stock for years in the Palouse country. As a result of their vigorous efforts ten alleged horse-rustlers are behind the bars of the county jail.
It is now decided to make the association of general usefulness in the field of stock raising, and its objects will be, in a broad sense, to protect and to better the interests of stock-growers of the Palouse country.
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“The names of the chief cities of Washington are always a source of curiosity to visitors,” said Samuel L. Crawford to a Seattle Post-Intelligencer reporter, “and their meaning is always asked, Seattle comes from Se-alth, the chief of the Duwamishes and the odds and ends of the Puget sound tribes who made their headquarters at Old Man's House, now Port Madison.
Spokane takes its name from the Spokane Indians.
There is no such word as Tacoma, but “tacoman” is a Puyallup word meaning mountain peaks and was used to describe all high mountains, Rainers, Mt. Baker and all others.
The Indian name of Mt. Rainer is Tiswauk.
The original name of Old Tacoma was Cheballip, meaning a big shade, and was derived from a giant maple under which the Puyallups used to assemble.”
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The first circus of the season struck Colfax Wednesday and pitched its canvass on Perkin's flat. It was the well known McMahon combination, with its clever riders and acrobats, and single-ring performance. The menagerie part of the business consisted of two good-sized elephants, and one of the big animals bore a red and gold turret on his back, with a handsome brunette dressed in showy yellow, seated in it. The beautiful girl suffered misery in her endeavor to retain her smile of sweet composure as the big beast wobbled, with many a shake, over the uneven road. As for the performance, day and evening, it was well attended, and everybody appeared satisfied with what there was of it.
100 years ago
The Colfax Commoner
June 8, 1917
Mayor Weinberg called attention to the necessity of caring for the city park located near the Inland depot at the council meeting Monday evening.
He stated that he favored the appointment of Mr. Jefferies to this position and that in addition to the usual duties of acting as street commissioner, Mr. Jefferies be required to care for the city park.
The salary of the present street commissioner, Mr. Dirr, is $7.50 a month as water superintendent.
The mayor suggested that by appointing Mr. Jefferies as street superintendent, it would give the water superintendent more time to look after that department of the cities business and throw the work of looking after the streets into the hands of a man whose employment required him to be always on the job.
The mayor stated that he favored paying Mr. Jefferies $10 a month for doing this extra work.
The work of caring for the city park could be done after the usual days work on the street.
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R. F. Bigelow, cashier of the Colfax State Bank, has received a letter from State Bank Examiner Hanson asking him to co-operate with E. F. Benson, Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of Washington and directing head of the agricultural survey of this state. Mr. Hanson states in his letter that it is very necessary that we look and plan ahead for the production of future crops.
All available agricultural lands in the state not now under cultivation should be listed and plans made to bring the same under cultivation in 1918. The agricultural department of the state wishes to be well informed in regard to the conditions of this community, and is ready to give any assistance and advise for which they may be called upon.
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The freak law that was passed by the last state legislature forcing all farmers to carry a light on their wagon or buggy after dark is not being enforced in this county.
The law went into effect several weeks ago but up to the present time the law has been ignored by the farmers of this county. The county officials have made no statement in regard to the question but it is doubtful if the strict letter of the law will be carried out.
Reports from other counties say that in all cases where the officers have made an arrest for failure to observe the law the fines have been suspended.
75 years ago
June 5, 1942
Fifty-two of the county's 81 precincts had reported war savings bond pledges made during the May drive in the amount of $412,449, according to S. R. Clegg, county chairman.
To the total of $331,010 reported two weeks ago by 47 precincts have been added those of Palouse, $25,127.50; Rosalia, $23,269.55; Garfield, $1,750.50; Lacrosse, $24,748.29, and Pine City, $6,544. The pledges are to be paid during an eight-month period ending December 31.
***
On the lowest of the bids submitted, Dudley A. Barton, Oakesdale, has been awarded a $2,268 a year contract for the delivery of mail on the Tekoa-Colfax star route, effective July 1, it was announced Monday by the postoffice department to Postmaster H. O. Thompson.
Barton, who will travel 41.5 miles a day each way while serving the towns of Colfax, Elberton, Garfield, Farmington and Tekoa, will succeed C. B. Sly, Tekoa, who has been the temporary carrier since February 2, when the Union Pacific trains between Spokane and Pendleton were discontinued. Barton, under $3,500 bond, has a four-year contract, will furnish his own motor vehicle and from his salary meet all expenses of operating it.
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Registration for canning sugar allotments will be started in Whitman County this Friday morning.
Housewives in the Colfax school district are to make application at the officer of the Colfax rationing board in the Old National bank lobby. They are asked to observe banking hours.
In western Whitman County, which is in the jurisdiction of the Colfax board, application and questionnaire forms will be available at all the food stores at the following places: Diamond, Almota, Endicott, Ewan, Dusty, Lacrosse, Lamont, Lancaster, St. John, Steptoe, Sunset, and Winona.
For each four quarts of fruits actually canned, one pound of sugar will be allotted, plus one pound for each individual member of the family, to be used for preserves only.
According to Rev. McAbbe, a normal average of about six pounds of sugar per capita is used in home canning. People in rural areas who depend upon fruits canned in the house consume an adequate diet about 36 quarts per capita annually. Under the limitation of one pound to four quarts of finished canned fruits, the sugar need would approximate nine pounds, in Rev. McAbee's opinion. For each quart of fruit the family has on hand, the amount of sugar allotted will be reduced one quarter-pound.
Two home canning periods will be observed, the first covering June and July; the second August and September, when application may be made only during the month of June, for the first period, and August, for the second. If a surplus of sugar from the previous period is held over into the next, it is subtracted from the next period's quota.
Action will be taken as soon as possible on applications which are mailed to the board office in Colfax, and certificates will be mailed out. Only one adult member of the family unit should make all applications, McAbee stressed.
War ration books must be presented in making application and the holder must be prepared to give certain information which will include the following: The number of his war ration book. How many quarts of fruit he canned last year. How many quarts put up last year are left. Over what period he expects to use the fruits canned this season. The amount of excess sugar, if any, at time of first registration. Whether the fruit to be canned will be bought or grown by applicant. What approximate proportion of his canning for the entire year 1942 the present application covers.
50 years ago
Colfax Gazette
June 8, 1967
Plans for a unique exchange visit between families in Seattle and Colfax were unveiled today by Washington's wheat growers, Colfax businessmen and the city of Seattle.
Dubbed “City-Farm Swap,” the program will involve some 50 families from Seattle who will be invited to spend Aug. 18, 19 and 20 as guests of wheat growers from Whitman County and the townspeople of Colfax.
In exchange, the Seattle families will invite their rural hosts to Seattle for a visit at some future date.
The program is being sponsored by the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, the Whitman County Association of Wheat Growers, the Colfax Chamber of Commerce, the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the City of Seattle, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and KIRO Radio-TV.
The idea is an outgrowth of the wheat grower's successful Farm Hospitality Program which began during the Seattle's World Fair.
The aim of the exchange visit is to get people of eastern and western Washington better acquainted, according to Fred S. Johnson Jr., Pine City president of the Whitman County Association of wheat growers. “The rural and urban areas of our state and nation are very interdependent economically,” Johnson says. “We should be working closer together than we are. We have a lot to offer each other.”
***
Bids opened Tuesday afternoon on the $1.5-million Whitman Community Hospital are low enough to permit construction with the funds available – but the directors may eliminate the nurses' living quarters, at the request of the Sisters of Charity of Providence, and put the money saved into additional equipment.
At a meeting a month ago when directors issued a call for bids, the Sisters suggested that the hospital association call for alternates that would permit the elimination of the living quarters in favor of more vital equipment, if funds wouldn't stretch far enough.
At Tuesday's bid opening, Chairman Dan Scheideman read a letter from Charlotte Marie, provincial mother superior of this district, which expressed the Sisters' preference for better equipment over living quarters.
25 years ago
Colfax Gazette
June 4, 1992
Union Pacific is reviewing a bid for the lease or possible sale of 111 miles of track between Hooper and Moscow plus another 94 miles in the Walla Walla area, according to spokesman John Bromley from the company's headquarters in Omaha, Neb.
UP management is reviewing the offer and a decision should be made “pretty quick,” he said.
The company announced plans in August to lease the lines to a shortline operator. They announced in April they might sell the lines.
The original list of 35 offers is down to two or three, reportedly including Montana Rail Link of Missoula.
The lines run from UP's main line at Hooper through Colfax and Pullman to Moscow. The second segment runs from LaCrosse through Lancaster to Thornton.
They are the lone rail service to grain cooperatives based in LaCrosse, Endicott and St. John and provide coal shipments to the WSU Physical Plant.
LaCrosse Grain Growers, Wheat Growers of Endicott, and St. John Grain Growers all use the UP links which feed into Hooper.
The lines are the remaining half of the UP “loop”which was left in operation after the company abandoned its east county tracks in April 1991.
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After being damaged in an October windstorm the Ewan water system is up and running again, county engineer Brandon Cole told the county commissioners Monday.
The system now has a new well and pressure tank pumping water through the same old wooden pipes, Cole said.
The county is rebuilding the damaged water system in two stages.
The first stage involves drilling a new well, which was done in April, and installing a new pump and pressure tank. It will use the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant received in February.
The second stage involves replacing the wooden water lines and installing a chlorinator. It will use the $75,000 Farmer's Home Administration grant awarded in January.
The 100 percent FEMA grant will allow the county to do overall long term improvements.
The project suffered a minor setback last month when the only bid for installing the pressure tank was $26,000 over the engineer's estimate.
Dickerson Pump and Irrigation of Spokane was awarded the bid for $56,553.
Public works director Lon Pedersen said county engineers underestimated the scope of the project, including costs for materials and labor, because they have never designed a water system before.
The county should get the extra federal money as long as they document the need for it, he added.
10 years ago
Whitman County Gazette
June 7, 2007
Tekoa's public rest stop has been getting a helping hand from the community to cover costs of supplies and operations.
The rest stop was developed on Crosby Street across from the Empire Theater on a downtown site which was the former site of the Golden Grain Tavern with the assistance of a grant from the Department of Transportation.
Much of the work was done through volunteers and donations.
“It's used a lot,” said Mary Heitt, committee chairman. Heitt and her husband, Jerry, maintain the rest stop with help from other committee members and volunteers.
The Heitts approached the Tekoa council in May to make the council aware of the need for donations to cover expenses of toilet paper, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies.
“It doesn't take a lot to maintain it,” said Heitt.
An account has been set up at AmericanWest Bank.
“Since that time we've gotten several donations,” Heitt noted.
Three years ago high schoolers paved the sidewalks with bricks and planted grass. Avista helped with lighting.
City workers help out with technical problems, and the Heitts seek volunteers to help mow the grass. They have received several responses.
“It's a community effort,” said Heitt. “The city has been a real big help.”
Annual cost for the rest stop ranges from $300 to $500.
In addition to serving locals and travelers on Highway 27 the rest stop gets used by Empire Theater patrons who have trouble accessing the theater's downstairs restrooms.
Heitt said the rest stop now is a finished project with interior painting as the only planned capital expenditure in the future.
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The county's reconstruction of Scott Road, which connects the town of LaCrosse to Highway 26, is scheduled to begin Monday, June 18, provided a contract is signed with Transtate Paving of Pasco before then.
“The absolute worst case scenario is we sign the contract on the morning of the eighteenth,” said County Public Works Director Mark Storey.
The contract on the largest road project solely funded from Whitman County's tax rolls was supposed to have already been signed by both parties, as construction was originally slated to begin next Monday, June 11.
Storey said he was told in a pre-construction conference with Transtate officials that even they weren't sure of the status of the contract.
“I told them they won't get anything until we get a contract signed,” said Storey.
If a contract is signed, the road will be closed off for just over a week during construction.
The approximately quarter million dollar project will allow heavy hauling traffic to transport their wares in and out of LaCrosse year round.
Truck traffic to LaCrosse during the late winter thaw has been limited over recent years, as repeated loads of heavy traffic created cracks and chuckholes in the road's asphalt surface.
This project will strengthen the road bed, limiting the damage done by loaded semis.
Also tied into the project is an overlay of roughly 2,400 feet of the town's Leslie Avenue and Third Street. The streets will be upgraded to handle the heavier loads coming into town.
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