In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Tuesday, Dec. 27, 1955, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Centralia police asking for tips on suspects who “played Santa Claus in reverse” involved in a string of robberies on the night of Christmas Eve.
A power outage at the White Pass Ski Area left skiers stranded on some of the chair lifts for around an hour until power was restored, according to the Monday, Dec. 27, 1965, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, Dec. 27, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that Mike and Kathie Deasy — a pair of professional musicians from Los Angeles, California, who had performed with the likes of The Monkees, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Helen Reddy and more — found Mossyrock “a good place to write songs,” and had been living there ever since 1972.
A Look Back in Time is compiled using Chronicle archives stored at the Lewis County Historical Museum — located at 599 NW Front St. in Chehalis — along with digital archives on newspapers.com.
Friday, Dec. 27, 1935
• Katherine Rice, a 13-year-old girl, was picked up by Centralia police officers the previous night after running away from her family’s home in Portland disguised as a boy, but her “love of pretty things” gave away her true identity, The Chronicle reported. “Wet, bedraggled and dressed in boy’s clothes, the girl was hitchhiking her way northward. A motorist who brought her into Centralia called at police headquarters, asking that ‘the young boy’ be picked up and cared for. Katherine completely fooled police officers who later located her on the highway in the north end of town, who were convinced she was a boy. When the package she carried was opened however, it revealed a pair of overalls and two strings of beads. Their suspicions aroused by the beads, the officers confronted Katherine. ‘Take off those clothes young man,’ they stated, ‘you’re going to get a bath.’ Katherine took off her coat, and then broke down. ‘You got me,’ she admitted, dramatically. Portland police are said to have tentatively identified the young girl as the daughter of a Portland family. She is being held at police headquarters pending the outcome of attempts to locate her family, who were said to be out of town.”
• John Davis, an 18-year-old Centralia man at the wheel of a car when he lost control and got into a wreck near Tenino earlier on Christmas day, pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter, drunk driving and reckless driving when arraigned in Thurston County Superior Court, The Chronicle reported. “The trial of young Davis was set for the January jury term of court.” Davis was driving on the Pacific Highway with Francis Horgan, Anne Thompson and Dorothy Williams, when the “light coupe left the road, plunged over an eight-foot embankment, and rolled over several times,” according to the Thursday, Dec. 26, 1935, edition of The Chronicle. Horgan “suffered a fractured skull and died almost instantly,” while Thompson and Williams were taken to a local hospital for minor injuries. “The young people, it was said, had attended a dance near Twin Gates and were on their way north in search of further merry-making spots when the wreck occurred. The Horgan boy’s body was removed to the Warnica and Warnica Mortuary in Olympia.”
• A five-room “modern house” on Pearl Street in Centralia was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds with the down payment listed as “$50 will handle.”
Thursday, Dec. 27, 1945
• With Chehalis students enjoying an elongated holiday vacation, Chehalis School District Superintendent J. Wesley Crum announced schools in the Mint City were set to reopen on Jan. 2, The Chronicle reported. “The schools were closed four days early for Christmas vacation when an epidemic of influenza cut attendance to 75% of the normal. The closure became effective Dec. 18.”
• The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation to determine the cause of death of a man found dead on Christmas Eve, The Chronicle reported. “Einer (Moon) Mullins, about 40, was found dead Christmas Eve beside a road here (Morton). Lewis County sheriff’s officers and Prosecutor John Panesko are conducting an investigation to determine the cause of death. The deceased is survived by his wife and one child, residing near Morton. The body was removed to the Morton mortuary pending funeral arrangements.”
• Centralia Police Department officers were still looking for a woman who escaped from St. Luke’s Infirmary — a former mental institution in Centralia — on Christmas Day, The Chronicle reported. “Since early Christmas Day Centralia police have sought the whereabouts of Mary O’Connor, 67-year-old inmate of St. Luke’s Infirmary, who left the institution Tuesday morning, and practically dropped out of sight. Police Chief Milton Jastram said the woman, hard of hearing and with very little money with her, mentioned going to a sister’s home in Seattle. However, a check Wednesday disclosed she had not arrived there. Officers said they learned she was despondent, and to a roommate had mentioned ending her life. The woman wore a gray coat and black hat, and officers reported her upper dental plate shows three missing teeth.”
• Two acres of “best land” which could be divided into half-acre plots on Highway 99, with a cherry orchard generating “$300 per year, also other fruit and nut trees and berries” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $6,000.
Tuesday, Dec. 27, 1955
• Centralia police were asking for tips on possible suspects who “played Santa Claus in reverse” during a string of Christmas Eve break-ins and car prowls reported in the Hub City that night, The Chronicle reported. “The burglars got little in the way of cash for their troubles. In the largest cash take, prowlers broke into the home of Earl Tuel at 721 S. Pearl St. and took $27 from a dresser drawer, between 4:30 and 7 p.m. The second largest lump sum of money reported stolen was from Centralia Junior College, where thieves gained entry to the college office after breaking a glass pane from a door. They took $22.50. About $6 in cash was taken from a parked car owned by R.B Haney of 404 S. Buckner St.” The thieves broke into two other cars, but only got away with a tire pressure gauge and a flashlight. “The busy Yuletide robbers also took a clothesline from a residence at 410 W. Cherry St., it was reported. The prowlers completed their night of thievery by breaking and entering Carter’s Garage at 516 W. Main St., Warren Brothers Service Station at 217 W. Main St. and the Lincoln Grade School … Nothing was reported missing from these establishments.”
• A 16-year-old Green Hill School student who made a break for it “while being taken to his meditation room” on Christmas night was back in custody, The Chronicle reported. “The youth was apprehended Monday in a stolen automobile taken from W.L. Shriner, 575 New York Ave., Chehalis, by Pacific City police near Auburn, officers said. The car was not damaged. The Seattle boy was one of the 10 who had escaped a week ago Sunday by climbing down a rope from a second-story gymnasium window. He was allowed to visit his cottage on Christmas day and was being taken back to his solitary confinement meditation room when he ran away again Sunday.”
• A three-bedroom home on Ninth Street in Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $7,000. Two- and three-room “newly decorated” apartments with housekeeping and utilities included on Main Street in Centralia were listed for rent for starting at $20 a month.
Monday, Dec. 27, 1965
• A power outage at the White Pass Ski Area on Sunday left skiers stuck on the chair lifts at the ski resort the previous day, The Chronicle reported. “A fallen electrical line left the recreation area without power for approximately an hour, beginning at 3 p.m. Skiers on two of the chair lifts were stranded until White Pass employees could toss ropes to them. They hooked the ropes to the chair lift cable and slid down to the ground. Power was restored to the area in the evening, an employee at the recreation area said. All ski lifts and tows were operating as usual Monday. One of the chair lifts and the poma low are operated by diesel engine and were not affected by the breakdown.”
• Washington state Game Department staff were beginning a new poison control program to control the coyote population in Lewis County, The Chronicle reported. “Protector Dave Schultz said the action is being undertaken to cut a growing number of the animals and will continue until the poison stations show no signs of being bothered. He listed the areas to be covered as the McDonald region, Winston Creek, Dody Lookout, Lucas Creek, Upper Newaukum and Upper Hanaford. The protector explained the stations will be located at higher elevations than farmlands and should pose no threat to domestic animals. The bait will be beaver carcasses supplied by trappers.”
• A “completely rebuilt” two-bedroom home located at 1713 Eleventh St. in Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for “a steal” of $9,995. A two-bedroom bungalow in Chehalis was listed for rent for $65 a month.
Saturday, Dec. 27, 1975
• Mossyrock was called “a good place to write songs” by Mike and Kathie Deasy, a pair of musicians from Los Angeles, California, who left the big city life to move to the quiet rural Lewis County community in 1972, The Chronicle reported. “After spending the entirety of their young lives in the Los Angeles area, and after having attained a substantial level of professional and financial success as musicians, Mike and Kathie decided that success for them must include a simpler life in a more natural and preferably rural setting. As a result of a month-long scouting trip over much of the Northwest, including some parts of British Columbia, they decided on Eastern Lewis County, which they call, ‘the most beautiful place anywhere.’” Mike met Kathie while the two were still in high school in Torrance, California, as Kathie was the sister of another musician Mike played with named Jim Horn. After graduating high school, Mike began touring as a part of a new band called The Coasters, and his talent was good enough to get him invited to tour with Eddie Cochran. He would go on to perform in the bands of Duane Eddy, Elvis Presley and The Monkees. While he got his start playing rock music, he eventually branched out as he gained fame. “No longer exclusively a rock musician, Mike played with stars such as Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand and Helen Reddy (on whose record, ‘I Am Woman,’ Kathie also sang). But he also continued in rock, and in the mainstream, with the likes of Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield and Paul Revere and The Raiders.” Mike also performed music for various television productions including the Sonny and Cher Show and movie productions including Dirty Harry. “Mike and Kathie were married in 1961, and it was about 1968 that Kathie began singing professionally, working with many of the same stars and groups listed above.” While the couple had left the hectic show business and music industry in Los Angeles, they were still writing and performing music. Mike and Kathie eventually converted to Christianity and made contemporary Christian music, and moved to Texas where they helped found the Rock Church Southeast. Although the church was closed permanently after Hurricane Harvey in 2017, the couple are now pastors of the online Rock Church, according to Mike’s website, https://mikedeasymusic.blogspot.com/p/bio.html.
• Construction on a new “diamond-shaped interchange” at the intersection of Interstate 5 and the Ocean Beach Highway in Chehalis was scheduled to start in the spring of 1976, The Chronicle reported. “A contract for the work was recently awarded by the state Department of Highways to S.D. Spencer and Sons, of Vancouver, after the firm submitted the low bid of $1,967,480.20 … Work will include realigning and rebuilding the acceleration and deceleration lanes of the existing Ocean Beach Highway bridge which carries traffic over the existing freeway lanes. The interchange ramps leading to and from these lanes will also be modified. New concrete girder bridges will be constructed on the new interchange ramps on the south side of the bridge. A new frontage road will be constructed on the north side of the interchange bridge which connected with a Chehalis street and the Ocean Beach Highway lane on the west side of the bridge. Another frontage road — a portion of the two-lane Riverside Road located south of the bridge — will be partially re-aligned.”
• A three-bedroom home “with modern conveniences,” a basement, a two-car garage on two lots of land with a “view” in Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $37,500. A furnished one-bedroom apartment in Chehalis was listed for rent for $125 a month.
