Good Old Days

125 years ago

The Commoner

May 12, 1893

A telephone message from Henry Spaulding of Almota, at 8 am informed Coroner D. H. Shaw of a ghastly find that was made near Almota landing at about 7 o’clock this morning.

The corpse came alongside the Whitman County shore on the Spaulding ranch and was made fast by Mr. Spaulding, who immediately proceeded to notify the proper authorities.

The corpse was entirely nude and was that of a large sized man.

The body had been in the water for several weeks.

It was in bad condition and very much swollen.

Mr. Spaulding hailed the Lewiston boat this morning and the captain thought the remains were those of a laborer who had been drowned about two months ago in the Snake River, near the mouth of the Salmon River.

The Commoner immediately telegraphed to Lewiston and at 2 o’clock this afternoon received a dispatch to the effect that the body was undoubtedly that of Samuel Marks, who drowned at the mouth of the Salmon river March 18.

***

James J. Corbett, the aristocratic fighter and pugilistic actor, spent Tuesday afternoon in Colfax and mourned the fact that the big fire of last month burned up his chances of gathering in the shekels of his Colfax admirers, and the curious public in general.

100 years ago

The Colfax Commoner

May 10, 1918

The second drive to raise $100,000,000 for the Red Cross will start on the 20th of May. The quota for Whitman County has been placed at $40,000 by the manager, W. H. Farnham, of the Spokane district.

75 years ago

The Colfax Gazette-Commoner

May 7, 1943

Rhiney Gross, Union Flat farmer and former Colfax restaurant operator, suffered the fracture of the ninth vertebra of his spine late Saturday night when he fell 15 feet down a hay chute from the loft of his barn where he and Archie Berry had gone to look for goose eggs that were in the process of hatching. X-ray pictures at the Bryant and Weisman clinic, where Mr. Gross was taken in the Bruning ambulance, revealed no further complications. Mr. Gross will wear a cast and be off his feet for some time.

***

Declaring it to be of no value to the city because nobody uses it, Councilman Roy Endsley proposed to the council Monday the disposal of Cushing Ells park, bounded by Lake, North and West streets. Asserting that labor for park maintenance had been unobtainable so far, Endsley believed it would be impossible for the city to keep up the park this year, and perhaps for the duration.

50 years ago

The Colfax Gazette

May 9, 1968

A plan to add 17 “homes” to Colfax by the construction of an attractive half-million dollar condominium in now being presented to possible future residents, according to D. John Henry. The building, which is being designed by Boyington and Read, Spokane architects, would be located on Mill street opposite the First Baptist church and provide residential living in downtown Colfax.

***

The Rose Theater, closed for a weekend after being operated for several years by Jim McClelland, will open again this weekend under new management and a new format. The future of the theater is now being directed by Mr. and Mrs. Dave Walker and Mr. and Mrs. Don Organ.

25 years ago

Whitman County Gazette

May 13, 1993

Waste Management of Washington’s plan to ship Whitman County’s garbage to the Greater Wenatchee Regional Landfill hit an unexpected snag last week when they learned that Douglas County would require a permit for “foreign” garbage.

***

Esther Trueblood of Oakesdale walked away from her 1985 Toyota Tercel that was totaled last Friday in a three-vehicle collision on Highway 195 near Prune Orchard. Trueblood’s car was struck from behind by a GMC truck which pushed the Toyota forward into a Chevrolet Beretta. No one was seriously injured in the accident.