In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Tuesday, June 28, 1955, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Chehalis residents complaining to the city commission about excessive noise being caused by trains going through the town like “hotrods.”
A pair of Green Hill School escapees were back in custody after they crashed a truck they had stolen into a Washington State Patrol vehicle according to the Monday, June 28, 1965, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, June 28, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that liquor had been stolen from a pair of mobile homes near Mayfield Lake, along with the theft of the gong from the bell recently put up at Vader City Hall.
A Look Back in Time is compiled using Chronicle archives at the Lewis County Historical Museum along with digital archives on newspapers.com.
Friday, June 28, 1935
• The City of Centralia’s “whisker ordinance” had once again gone into effect the previous day, The Chronicle reported. “Male faces capable of it were supposed to be darkening here today as the result of the city’s new whisker ordinance … Dispositions at the breakfast table were noticeably improved as razor-enslaved men stroked the stubble and pooh-poohed suggestions that they’d better clean up in time for work.” The ordinance was established in June of 1931 and was originally enacted as a feature of “pioneer picnics” city staff were holding at the time, where men were required to have facial hair and dress the part.
• Authorities were asking for anyone in the Centralia area who might have discovered wreckage from a plane’s wing on their property to come forward, The Chronicle reported. The missing wreckage belonged to a “monoplane” owned by Portland pilot Benton Luttrell, who died upon impact when his plane crashed in Centralia the previous weekend. “According to Charles Kunz, Centralia aviator who is assisting inspectors in an investigation of the tragedy, the wing will be returned to the finders after federal men have seen it. The missing wing broke off Luttrell’s monoplane at a height of 2,000 feet and never has been found, although Kunz picked up a small piece of it in an alley between J and K streets, near Fifth Street, yesterday. Kunz said the missing wing will tell the story of the wreck.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about an upcoming convention for the Farm-Labor Party in Omaha, Nebraska. “A clarion call for ‘all persons at odds with the principles of the two major parties,’ to meet here at July 8 to 12 to form a third party was sounded today by Roy M. Harrop, national chairman of the Farm-Labor party.” The fledgling third party’s platform focused on a guaranteed $2,500 annual income for every American family along with separating big business interests and the government. “‘We want to form a people’s party,’ said Harrop. ‘Which will treat everybody alike whether they like it or not. We want to abolish all taxation, except that on unearned incomes, and get away from the insane idea that a government which represents only a part of the population is worth anything to any of us.’”
Thursday, June 28, 1945
• U.S. Army Air Force pilot Edward D. “Ezra” Norman, originally of Onalaska, had died in World War II’s Pacific Theater earlier in June, The Chronicle reported. “Norman was fatally injured in an airplane crash June 6 on Iwo Jima, dying in a field hospital two days later from burns. A letter of sympathy was received by his parents from his chaplain, as well as a card from General (Douglas) MacArthur. The deceased veteran’s wife and three children are residing in Wenatchee.”
• Several Twin Cities residents serving in WWII had received honorable discharges after completing their military service, The Chronicle reported. “After four years service in the (U.S.) Army Air Force, Staff Sergeant Glenn Crase … today received his honorable discharge at Fort Lewis.” Crase, from Chehalis, served in the 20th Air Force as a gunner on Boeing B-29 superfortresses and took part in bombing missions in the Pacific Theater. Also discharged were Centralia residents Army Technical Sergeant Fred Moses, Technical Sergeant Michael O’Grady and First Sergeant George Swain along with Chehalis resident Private First Class Jacob Brewer.
• A former Centralia Baptist Church pastor serving as a WWII chaplain had assisted with giving a bomber a Biblical name, The chronicle reported. Chaplain Alexander Bruce was back stateside serving at a Florida air field when he got a call from Army Air Force aviators asking what Genesis 31:49 said. Bruce asked the pilots why they were curious about the verse. “The reply was, ‘Well chaplain, we are looking for a name for our ‘fort’ and someone said there was a good name in that verse from the Bible.’ The chaplain then found the passage and read, ‘Mizpah … The Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent from one another.’” The name suggestion came from one of the pilot’s mothers, and Bruce asked the pilots if they intended to name their plane Mizpah, and they indeed did. He found out later the aviators were deployed to Italy and immediately entered combat. After several weeks, the crew were tasked with a mission flying over heavily fortified enemy air defenses. “The plane was shot full of holes, with hardly a spot where a man could have escaped being wounded. Two engines were shot out, and the base was 400 miles away beyond the Alps. ‘Mizpah brought them back to base, and not a man was scratched,’ the chaplain related, and he said the crew wrote; ‘We felt someone besides ourselves looking after us in that ship. Yes, the Lord was on watch, and taking care of his own while they were absent from one another.”
• A six-bedroom home on three-quarters of an acre with a garage, wood shed and hen house with “lots of fruit” in Centralia was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $1,150.
Tuesday, June 28, 1955
• Representatives from the Northern Pacific, Great Northern and Union Pacific railroads were asked to appear before the Chehalis City Commission to explain excessive train noise in the community, The Chronicle reported. “(Chehalis) Mayor Walter Graham Sr. said he has received numerous complaints from residents who have charged that trains speed through the city like ‘hotrods,’ blow their whistles in excess and switch back and forth unnecessarily. Others have complained that the track crossings blink when no train is in sight, or no switching is being done, especially on Sundays.”
• Sale negotiations for a controlling interest of Centralia’s Lewis and Clark Hotel were finished on Monday, The Chronicle reported. The “100-plus room” hotel had been purchased by Oak Harbor resident Clifford Toskey, who purchased it from Portland resident Larry Vance. “In the agreement, Toskey agreed to purchase 76% of the hotel’s stock and took an option on the remaining 24%. Toskey said Monday the total purchase price would be around $310,000 … Toskey is a Whidbey Island home-builder and sub-division developer. He plans to move to Centralia to manage the hotel personally.”
• Power outages in the Twin Cities were reported to have happened over the previous night, The Chronicle reported. “The power failure in Centralia, lasting from 10 to 40 minutes, came between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m., when many housewives were preparing the family dinner. The Snively addition in Chehalis went without power for about an hour, starting at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, when most of the residents were in bed and did not even know they were without electricity.” According to Centralia City Light Superintendent Paul Peyton, Centralia residents lost power when a substation insulator flashed over and caught fire. Lewis County Public Utilities District manager Merle Johnston stated insulation on a powerline near Napavine had failed, causing the outage in Chehalis. “The outages were the first in about two years, the superintendent commented.”
• Though he was 86 years old, Adna dairy farmer Adam Wackerbarth was still busy running his ranch, The Chronicle reported. “‘Stay young with milk’ is one of the much used slogans of the dairy industry. On the slopes of Pleasant Hill overlooking the fertile Chehalis River Valley near Adna is a living proof that the slogan isn’t just a sales promotion.” Originally born in Germany in 1869, Wackerbarth came to the U.S. at the age of 15 when his parents moved the family to Iowa. After getting married and starting his own family, “the call of the West got into his blood and finally, just after the turn of the century, he moved to his present farm. Except for a five-year sojourn in the Yakima Valley in the early 20s, Wackerbarth has been operating the farm for the past 54 years.” His Yakima farm was actually meant to help his Adna one. “My plan was to raise alfalfa hay in Yakima for my Lewis County dairy,’ he stated. ‘Things didn’t work out as I expected, so I came back, and I guess I’m here to stay … I am going to milk as long as I can, because I enjoy it. I like cows, especially good cows.’”
• A five-bedroom “modern” home with 300 feet of frontage on Mayfield Lake was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $4,500. A “modern furnished” two-bedroom duplex in Centralia was listed for rent for $60 a month.
Monday, June 28, 1965
• Two Green Hill school students who had escaped were back in custody after they had sideswiped a Washington State Patrol car in a stolen pickup truck, The Chronicle reported. “They were two of five runaways over the weekend. Two who fled Saturday remained missing Monday, (Green Hill School) Superintendent Robert Quant reported.” No injuries were reported from the crash, but an estimated $200 in damage was done to the state patrol vehicle and $50 to the stolen truck, which belonged to Orville Cristler.
• A cigarette was listed as the cause of a fire in Centralia’s Seminary Hill area on Sunday, The Chronicle reported. The cigarette caused a brushfire which burned around one acre of grass, bushes and trees. “Also Sunday, the crewmen were called to two camping fires on Mayfield Lake, where no fire permits had been issued. One of the fires burned moss. The foresters reminded (campers) that permits are needed for camp fires.” Another small wildfire was also reported in Chehalis near Shorey Road when sparks from a passing train ignited dry grass.
• A four-bedroom “Stucco” home in Toledo with carpet, a basement, three-space carport, a barn and creek access was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $18,000. A four-bedroom “country home” with a new kitchen and access to a barn and pasture in Chehalis was listed for rent for $75 a month.
Saturday, June 28, 1975
• Liquor was stolen from mobile homes near Mayfield Lake on Thursday was one of multiple thefts reported according to Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputies, The Chronicle reported. “The burglars entered trailers owned by Danny Jones, Vancouver, and Floyd Johnson, Longview. Taken in both burglaries, deputies said, was liquor. In Vader, meanwhile, the gong has been stolen from the town’s bell, erected recently at the town hall.” Additionally, Toledo resident David Thomas reported an 11-month old stallion had been stolen from him, and Packwood resident Merrick Hindes said a “pioneer chainsaw” had been stolen from his vehicle.
• Mossyrock and Onalaska residents were preparing to vote on school district tax levies on Tuesday, The Chronicle reported. “The Onalaska ballot will contain nine propositions totally $331,000 that will cost taxpayers about $6.32 per $1,000 of assessed (property) valuation next year, if approved by a 60% majority vote.” The nine propositions were meant to help pay for an additional teacher along with two new buses and classroom equipment and supplies. It was the Onalaska School District’s second and final attempt to pass a new levy after a previous levy was rejected by voters in April. “In the Mossyrock School District, school patrons will have one proposition on their ballots. It will be for $297,708 for maintenance and operation, and will cost taxpayers about $6 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.”
• Though she didn’t win the entire competition, Onalaska resident and 1975 Lewis County Dairy Princess Cyndy Decker was named the alternate winner of the 1975 Washington State Dairy Princess competition. “Nanel Noteboom, 17, from Lynden, was chosen as the 1975 Washington State Dairy Princess. The announcement came at a Wednesday noon luncheon for 400 dairy industry and business leaders at the grand ballroom of the Olympic Hotel, Seattle. Nearly 30 persons from Lewis County attended the event.” Decker would’ve been the second Onalaska resident in a row to earn the title of state dairy princess, as Noteboom succeeded Onalaska resident Shirley Larson, who was the 1974 Washington State Dairy Princess.
• Chehalis resident Bob Spahr, who was the president-elect of the Twin Cities Sertoma Club, was officially installed as the club’s president during a meeting at Mary McCrank’s Dinner House south of Chehalis, The Chronicle reported. “Featured speakers for the event were Fred Johnson, district governor-elect, and Jack Pinete, retiring district secretary, both of Tacoma.” Spahr is now a long-standing member of the Chehalis City Council and still resides within the community.
• A three-bedroom home in Chehalis with a fireplace, carport and garage was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $24,500. New two-bedroom apartments in Rochester were listed for rent for $149 a month.
