Good Old Days: Jan. 11, 2018

125 years ago

The Commoner

January 6, 1893

The north-bound freight train jumped the track near Elberton station Wednesday morning and piled the cars promiscuously over the road there. The accident happened an hour or two before the 11 o' clock passenger train was due at that point from Spokane, and consequently, the regular passenger was delayed several hours till the wreckage crew could clear the track.

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An industry which has sprung up on the northern boundary of the city, and to which heretofore little attention has been paid by the press, is the manufacture of pottery. Prior to last fall the works were run on very scale, and the output failed to supply the demand that was created for the product. In October, however, new capital was put into the business, which was taken hold of by Messrs. D. A. Grim and F. H. Munns. Under this management the capacity of the plant has been enlarged and a force of six men is kept constantly busy manufacturing all kinds of pottery for the coming season's trade.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

January 4, 1918

Robert Moran, state director of the department of labor, has appointed L.L. Bruning of this city, labor director of Whitman County and Mr. Bruning has stated that he will accept the position. Mr. Bruning's duty will be to devise plans for the securing of labor necessary to aid the farmers in putting their crops in next spring. Labors will be scarce next spring and this fact is realized not alone by the farmers but by the government.

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The first Red Cross dance will be given Friday evening at the Lyceum hall. The Thornton band will play on the occasion.

Advertisement of Thomas the Tailor, Palouse, Washington, circa 1920. Photo courtesy Whitman County Library Rural Heritage - Roy M. Chatters Newspaper and Print Museum collection.

75 years ago

The Colfax Gazette-Commoner

January 1, 1943

Miss Dorothy Moore, a graduate of the nursing school of the Deaconess hospital, Spokane, became head nurse at the county here Saturday, C. A. Erickson, county welfare administrator, announced.

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In calling the annual meeting of the Colfax Savings and Loan association for Saturday evening, January 11, S. E. Perkins, secretary, announced to stockholders this week that they would receive dividends on 1942 earnings at the annual rate of three and one-half per cent.

50 years ago

The Colfax Gazette

January 4, 1968

A daughter born to a Kahlotus couple, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kinkade, became the first baby of 1968 at St. Ignatius hospital on the afternoon of New Year's Day, but the newcomer fails to qualify for the prizes offered by Colfax merchants in the annual stork derby because her parents are not residents of Whitman County. The Kinkade baby is the only one born at St. Ignatius since midnight Dec. 31 and the hospital officials told the Gazette about noon Wednesday that there are no “immediate prospects” for a “first baby” eligible in the stork derby.

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Ray Rumiser, Steptoe, and Gerald Bond, Spokane, have formed a partnership to operate Colfax Meat Packing Plant, which they have purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Bill Jensen, Colfax residents for all but one year since 1950. The Jensens will continue to make their home in Colfax and will probably take some “part-time” work in the area.

25 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

January 7, 1993

Liliana Marie Fry, eight pounds and four ounces, won New Year's baby honors Saturday at Whitman Hospital and Medical Center.

10 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

January 3, 2008

High winds blew loose snow across local roads Sunday, closing two stretches of state highway in Whitman County. Drifts piled as high as five feet and as long as 60 feet. Blowing snow caused sporadic whiteouts. The most severe weather occurred in the southern areas of the county. The National Weather Service on Spokane reported gusts Sunday of nearly 50 miles per hour near Pullman and Uniontown. The giant snow drifts caused by the wind prompted the state Department of Transportation to close approximately 20 miles of U.S. Highway 195, from the south Pullman bypass to the Idaho state line, and State Route 272 from Colfax to Palouse Sunday night.

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The price of a stay in Whitman County Jail is going up as commissioners Monday signed contracts for imprisoning those convicted of misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor crimes in Colfax and Pullman. Increases in utilities cost and jailer wages have risen over the past few years, said Commissioner Greg Partch and the county has been covering those cost hikes.