In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Friday, Nov. 15, 1935, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about former Centralia Postmaster William Scales returning from a four-month world-wide trip with his wife and declaring, “Everybody in the world speaks English except Englishmen.”
A pet duck belonging to the Hayes family of Centralia had to be rescued after getting frozen in-place on the surface of one of the new lakes by Fort Borst Park, according to the Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1955, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, Nov. 15, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that “Saxophone virtuoso” Harvey Pittel was set to perform alongside the W.F. West band during the upcoming Chehalis School District music department’s autumn concert.
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, Nov. 15, 1935
• Former Centralia Postmaster William Scales returned from a four-month world-wide trip with his wife and had found that “Everybody in the world speaks English except Englishmen,” The Chronicle reported. “‘Everywhere we went, we had little trouble with the language, for nearly everyone spoke English,’ Scales said. ‘The only people we had trouble understanding were the English.’ England’s trade practices, as well as her merchant marine, also brought the caustic comment from the world traveler. He and his wife were forced to hasten their journey to avoid high prices being charged there. ‘And the cooking on the English boats was the worst in the world,’ he said.”
• Elections for city council and treasurer positions in several South Lewis County communities were set to be decided in upcoming December elections, The Chronicle reported. In Toledo, “candidates chosen at a caucus recently are: For mayor, George) A. Dew; treasurer, Alberta M. Layton; councilmen for a one-year term, Wendell Lyon and Frederick) J. Mietzke; three-year term, Elmer Yates, Alexander) C. Shives and Dr. G. H. Mathis.” Another Toledo caucus ticket included John Bickford for mayor and Henry Lyon for treasurer, with the same councilor candidates as the first caucus ticket. Toledo’s election was scheduled for Dec. 3. On the same day, Vader residents were also set to choose new city council representatives, followed by an election in Napavine on Dec. 4. In Vader, Lawrence) R. Bemis was running unopposed for mayor, with Fred Brunk, Dale Vermilyea, Pete Swofford, Henry St. Germain and J.C. Brannemann competed for councilor positions and Mary Creech ran unopposed for treasurer. Candidates had yet to be chosen in Napavine, but “city clerk Inez Linhart has called a caucus to be held at Odd Fellows’ Hall Wednesday evening, Nov. 20. Three two-year councilmen are to be nominated; also a treasurer for one year.”
• A “4-room furnished house” on two acres of land “close to town” was listed for rent in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $12.50 a month.
Thursday, Nov. 14, 1945
• Jury selection for the murder trial of Packwood resident Will Wilcox, accused of killing Randle resident Sam Clevenger during a fight at the end of September, was still ongoing, The Chronicle reported. “With more than half the panel already called, attempts were being made Wednesday in Lewis County Superior Court to pick a jury to hear the evidence in the first degree murder trial of Will Wilcox, accused of slaying (Sam) Clevenger by striking him over the head with a chair. Thirty had been called to the jury box since the trial opened Tuesday morning. Of these, 18 have definitely been rejected, and the remaining 12 were still under the scrutiny of both the state and defense attorneys. Indications were it would be late Wednesday afternoon before a jury would be selected and opening statements made by the attorneys.” Wilcox would end up being acquitted of the first degree murder charge later in November.
• Centralia High School seniors were performing their final dress rehearsals for the upcoming Friday night, “when the curtain will swing up on ‘Fresh Fields,’ a romantic comedy of three acts,” The Chronicle reported. “With a capable cast, an interesting and lively plot and an unexpected climax, the seniors’ production will make a sure-fire success for an enjoyable evening. Carrying the leading role is Colleen Kendall, and other members of the cast include Caroline Moore, Donean Waldo, Marilyn Hilton, Joel Toothaker, Bill Watson, Bill Renner, Florence Watson and Florence Greenblatt. Faculty director for the production is Miss Helen Pruessing.”
• Centralia Police Department detectives were looking for any clues as to who had broken into Ann’s Lunch at 117 ½ N. Tower Ave. earlier that week, The Chronicle reported. A total of $160 in cash had been stolen from a “hiding place” in the rear of the restaurant. “Operators of the lunchroom, closed Monday for Armistice Day, said the theft occurred sometime after Sunday night. Police said investigation disclosed entry to the business establishment was made by a small window in the rear of the building.”
• A four-room “modern house” with a barn, hen house and an electric water pump on eight-and-a-half acres of land along a “paved highway” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $4,700.
Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1955
• A pet duck belonging to the Hayes family of Centralia had to be rescued that morning after getting stuck in the ice overnight on the surface of a new highway-adjacent lake near Fort Borst Park, The Chronicle reported. “He was discovered early Tuesday morning ‘slanting’ out in the lake about 250 feet from shore, locked in the ice. Mrs. Hayes said he could only move his head and quack. He was rescued by Clinton Clark, elderly Centralian, who slid out over the ice in a rowboat, pushing himself along with a pick. He was able to reach the duck, break him out and return him to safety and warmth at the home of Mrs. Hayes.”
• The Gillaspie Service Station garage on the Ocean Beach Highway was destroyed by a fire early that morning, The Chronicle reported. “Also burned was a storeroom and the roof of the pump house. Miraculously, the station and living quarters were saved. Many friends and neighbors helped to fight the blaze, and Weyerhaeuser Timber Company sent fire fighting equipment. Cause of the blaze is not known.”
• U.S. Rep. Russell Mack of Hoquiam was set to speak at an upcoming Chehalis Kiwanians meeting at the St. Helens Hotel in Chehalis, The Chronicle reported. “The presiding officer will be Louis) A. Vimont, Chehalin and past lieutenant governor of Kiwanis. The general public is invited to attend.”
• Members of the Silver Creek Order of the Eastern Star (OES) auxiliary were preparing to hold a benefit smorgasbord event at the Silver Creek Masonic Temple on Saturday, The Chronicle reported. “Proceeds from the smorgasbord will be used to establish a Rainbow Assembly (The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, a Masonic youth organization) for girls from Aljune, Mayfield, Riffe, Salkum, Silver Creek, Mossyrock and Onalaska areas. Date for instituting the new Silver Creek assembly has already been set by Mrs. Alta Kerns of Centralia, subdeputy of the supreme assembly. The date is Dec. 17. The OES session was held at the Norman Howard home on Winston Creek with LuElla Howard and Marilyn Kostick as co-hostesses.”
• A four-bedroom home with a fireplace and den in Doty was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $5,900. A “large” one-bedroom home a mile outside of Chehalis was listed for rent for $60 a month.
Monday, Nov 15, 1965
• Ernie Arnold, the son of Centralia resident Sarah Arnold, had luckily been listed as one of the survivors of the crash of United Airlines (UAL) flight 227, which crashed on landing approach at the Salt Lake International Airport in Utah on Nov. 11, 1965, The Chronicle reported. The plane, a Boeing 727, was making a scheduled stop in Salt Lake City after taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York City on the way to San Francisco, California. “(Ernie) is recovering from burns and cuts, he told his family in a telephone call over the weekend … Arnold, who graduated from Centralia High School and retired some time ago as a U.S. Air Force officer, is today employed by Frontier Airlines and was on a business trip at the time of the UAL crash. He lives at Denver, Colorado.” Of the 91 people on board the plane including the crew, 43 of them died during the crash. Ultimately, investigators deemed the cause of the crash to be pilot error.
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about a pair of elk hunters near Ellensburg apparently dying in their parked car “after a portable heater used up all the air in the vehicle. Deputy prosecutor David H. Gorrie identified the men as Holger K. Dubs, 34, Marysville, and Harold S. Quam, 50, Everett. Gorrie said the men apparently died of asphyxiation. The two men left their homes Friday to hunt elk in Eastern Washington. The elk hunting season opened Saturday. They were found in their bus-type vehicle Sunday afternoon about 25 to 30 miles west of Ellensburg in the Taneum Creek area. Gorrie said the two were sitting in the seats in front with the heater on the floor between them. He said they apparently had been dead about one day. They had been seen in the area Saturday. Gorrie said no inquest would be held.”
• A four-bedroom home with a living room, dining room, recreation room, a study and a half-bath on the second floor located on J Street in Centralia was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $16,000. A small apartment on Fifth Street in Chehalis was listed for rent for $30 a month.
Saturday, Nov. 15, 1975
• “Saxophone virtuoso” Harvey Pittel was set to be featured as a guest soloist performer during the upcoming Chehalis School District music department’s autumn concert, The Chronicle reported. “Pittel is a saxophone instruction professor at the University of California at Los Angeles. He has appeared with such major symphonies as the Boston and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras. Pittel will play with the W.F. West concert band in ‘Concerto Saint Mare,’ and ‘Duo Concertino.’” A U.S. Navy veteran who played saxophone for the West Point Military Academy Band, Pittel is now 82 and is known as “America's foremost classical saxophonist,” according to the Colburn School in Los Angeles. To learn more, visit Pittel’s website at https://www.harveypittel.com/.
• Timberland Regional Library Director Louise Morrison was getting into a “word war” with Lewis County Commissioner Hamlet Hilpert over the library network’s proposed budgetary increases, The Chronicle reported. “In an Oct. 21 letter to Timberland, the commissioners called the increase unjustified, and in a Nov. 6 letter, Hilpert said, ‘The proposed budget indicates a per capita cost (in the five county region) in excess of $10 and the 1974 circulation (nearly 1,700,000 items) indicates a cost for each borrowing exceeding $1. I have no information concerning the volume or insistence for the increased service, but I can assure you the citizens are not storming to the courthouse demanding more library services.’” Hilpert added he believed the library’s budget had been drafted “‘to match revenue rather than needs.’” In response, Morrison issued a statement where she defended the budget increase, stating, “‘We are subject to the same inflationary pressures as the counties … The cost of books — cost of everything — has escalated, just like for everybody else.’”
• Interim Toledo School Board Superintendent George Murdock was planning to ask Lewis County Commissioners to assist with funding installation of new street lights and a sidewalk along Jackson Highway in front of the newly constructed Toledo High School, The Chronicle reported. The new sidewalk and lights were meant to improve safety for students walking to and from school. “The speed limit on the Jackson Highway by the new school has been set at 35 miles per hour as a compromise between the 50 mph limit before the school’s construction and 20 mph normally in effect on streets by schools. The new gravel road leading to the high school entrance from the Jackson Highway is holding up well, Murdock said. The road will be blacktopped next summer.”
• A five-bedroom home with two wells and outbuildings on seven acres of land near Pe Ell was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $20,000. A one-bedroom furnished apartment in Chehalis was listed for rent for $125 a month.
