Good Old Days: Oct. 5, 2017

125 years ago

October 7, 1892

The Commoner

D.W. McNabb, proprietor of the Colfax brickyard, located a short distance above the city on the North Palouse, suffered a fracture of both bones in is left leg below the knee Saturday afternoon. Mr. McNabb was at work beneath a high bank at the brickyard hauling dirt. As he was mounting his wagon after loading, the bank caved and a huge quantity of dirt fell upon him burying him entirely except for his head. Both bones of his leg were broken and his right wrist badly bruised. Other bruises were inflicted, but weren't serious. He was brought to town and the fracture reduced by Dr. Ault, after which he was removed to his home.

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Citizens of Colfax narrowly escaped an early morning call from a fire alarm Tuesday morning, which was only avoided by a vigilant night watchman and the prompt action of the employees about the livery barn on Mill street owned by Brakkee & Lloyd. It seems that a lamp had been left to burn in the office of the barn.

At 2 o'clock, two men sleeping in an adjoining room were suddenly awakened by an explosion and a flash of light.

Opening the door to the office they found the lamp in atoms on the floor in a circle of flames.

Just at this time Night Watchman Carter, observing the smoke from the outside, appeared on the scene.

The three men at once turned a stream of water on the room from a force pump and hose used in the building for various purposes and in a short time extinguished the fire.

100 years ago

October 5, 1917

The Colfax Commoner

The Patriotic league have been busy planning an entertainment for the Whitman County boys who leave for American Lake Saturday afternoon. Saturday afternoon the mayor will request that all business places in Colfax be closed between the hours of two and three-thirty in order that every clerk and business man may be present to honor the soldiers who depart for American Lake on that date.

75 years ago

October 2, 1942

Colfax Gazette-Commoner

Blaming the city's drastic milk code for conditions that have created a depleted milk supply in Colfax, Mayor George W. Ripley said Wednesday that he would ask the council next Monday night to repeal the ordinance, adopted in July, 1942, at the insistence of the county health department backed by several organized groups.

The Gold Seal dairy of Pullman suspended business with Tuesday's food store and home deliveries here and in Pullman, the management stating too many of their farmer producers had sold their herds, thus virtually exhausting the milk supply.

50 years ago

October 5, 1967

Colfax Gazette

The future of Endsley's Flower & Gift Shop ― destroyed completely in a disastrous Sunday morning blaze―is still “up in the air,” Rome Endsley, owner, told the Gazette at press time Wednesday noon. The loss in merchandise is Colfax's worst fire since the Henry building blaze in 1958, was estimated at $40,000, which was covered by insurance. Fire Chief Don Maier, said the fire “probably” started from a “hot motor” on a compressor in the basement, used to keep the temperature down in a flower room on the ground floor.

J.C. Barron, Jr., circa 1988, beside a piece of machinery in the Oakesdale flour mill. Joseph started to work in the mill right out of high school. He took over the mill when his father, Joseph Barron, Sr., passed away. Photo courtesy Whitman County Rural Heritage, McCoy Valley Museum and the Oakesdale Historical Society.

25 years ago

October 8,1992

Whitman County Gazette

The Colfax weather station has gone back on the charts after being relieved of action for approximately a year. Mike Roberts has volunteered to track and report the weather for the National Weather Bureau.

“We were getting pretty anxious about getting somebody to volunteer,” Paul Rogers, SCS conservationist commented. He explained the Colfax station has a record of 100 years of readings. That long record makes the station valuable and kept SCS staffers on look for a new volunteer. “That record is incredibly valuable, particularly in a dryland farming area like this,” Rogers commented.

10 years ago

October 4, 2007

Whitman County Gazette

The mood was extremely joyous Tuesday at the Port of Whitman office, as the governor announced Monday evening that the Port District was one of five areas in the state to receive funding to kickstart its “Innovation Zone.”

The grant will go towards funding a center at and around the Pullman Industrial Park aimed at developing environmentally sensitive sources of energy for information technology businesses and data centers.