In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Thursday, Jan. 3, 1946, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Chehalis resident August Kepper being injured after he accidentally walked into a moving train in the Chehalis train yard while working as a freight car inspector.
A lawsuit that had been taken to trial between the state’s fish and game department and the City of Tacoma over Tacoma City Light’s proposed Cowlitz River dams project was delayed in Thurston County Superior Court, according to the Tuesday, Jan. 3, 1956, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Monday, Jan. 3, 1966, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that Randle resident Bennie Allen Clevenger was locked up in the Lewis County Jail and charged with second-degree kidnapping after he picked up a 14-year-old Napavine girl in a babysitting ruse.
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, Jan. 3, 1936
• An Onalaska infant appeared to be the first baby born in the new year, followed by a baby in Centralia, The Chronicle reported. “Up to the time of going to press today, only two 1936 babies had been registered in connection with the Baby Derby sponsored by Centralia merchants and The Daily Chronicle. The first one so far to lay claim to the prizes offered is baby Charles Eugene Davis, son of Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Davis of Onalaska. He let the New Year beat him in by only four minutes. The second arrival to be reported is baby Richard Babson Rogers, newborn son of Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Rogers of Centralia. He arrived at 4:57 p.m. yesterday. If there are any other new arrivals ahead of these, they have not been reported to the baby editor of The Chronicle, and unless they present their claims and proof before 12 o’clock, noon, tomorrow, the two aforesaid mentioned will be declared winners and presented with the two sets of prizes offered in The Chronicle last Monday.”
• One man died from smoke inhalation while another survived but was burned when the Stanton Hospital in Tenino went up in flames, The Chronicle reported. “Frank Clowers, 78, was smothered to death today by smoke and Hans Running, 70, was badly burned here this morning when the Stanton Hospital was destroyed by fire. Several other inmates were safely removed before the flames gained too much headway for rescuers to attempt entry. Two school boys first discovered the flames about 10:30 o’clock and rang the fire bell which called out the fire department. Lew Petitt, employee of the Puget Sound Power and Light Company, covered himself with a blanket and dashed into the burning building to rescue Running, whose hands and one foot were badly burned.”
• A used 1931 Chevrolet sedan was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $375.
Thursday, Jan. 3, 1946
• Chehalis resident August Kepper was injured, but not seriously injured, after he walked into the side of a moving freight train inspecting train cars at the railroad yard in Chehalis, The Chronicle reported. “Kepper, an employee of the Northern Pacific Railroad, was checking cars 900 feet south of the Main Street crossing, when he walked around the end of a standing freight car and into the side of a moving Northern Pacific train. Removed to the St. Helens Hospital, he was treated for facial cuts and bruises, and was to be taken to the Northern Pacific Hospital in Tacoma for further treatment.”
• Local dentist Dr. Oscar E. Nelson was sworn in as Centralia’s new mayor, succeeding former mayor Ray W. Sprague, The Chronicle reported. “Also assuming their duties as commission members were John E. Raught, starting his third consecutive term as public works commissioner, and Vernon A. Fear, former city clerk, who was elected finance commissioner in the autumn elections … Mr. Sprague, in retiring from the mayor’s chair, acknowledged the co-operation and support of the commission members and of the visiting Chehalis city officials. Mayor Nelson, speaking briefly, praised the work of the retiring mayor and pledged his personal efforts and those of the commission toward a successful administration. The new mayor also promised co-operation with the Chehalis (City) Commission, and voiced appreciation for its goodwill visit. The Chehalis officials included Mayor Louis A. Vimont and Commissioners Norman Brunswig and George Sears.”
• A “modern” six-room home with a “substantial barn,” hen house, wood shed and garage on 40 acres of land in Winlock was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $6,300.
Tuesday, Jan. 3, 1956
• A lawsuit which had been taken to trial between the state’s fish and game department and the City of Tacoma over Tacoma City Light’s proposed Cowlitz River dams project was delayed in Thurston County Superior Court, The Chronicle reported. “Judge Charles T. Wright notified parties in the bitter controversy the scheduled Tuesday session is postponed indefinitely. With the announcement, Judge Write disclosed his wife was stricken over the weekend and is in serious condition in a Tacoma hospital. Nearly a dozen witnesses were to be called in the trial, now postponed for the fourth time, and it was expected it would last about three days. There was no indication when the trial will be held.”
• The Davis family of Centralia’s 10th child just happened to be the first one born in Lewis County in 1956, The Chronicle reported. “Lewis County’s first baby of 1956 arrived at the Lewis County General Hospital at 5:30 a.m., Sunday, a strapping boy, Timothy Charles Davis, to Mr. and Mrs. Elijah Davis, 1406 Delaware, Centralia. It was their 10th child, and just as proud of the occasion as the parents was 5-year-old Laurel Davis, above with her brand new brother, who arrived as a birthday present for her. The family has seven boys, three girls, the oldest being George, 17, in the U.S. Marines.”
• Lewis County Commissioners unanimously appointed Elsie Gaylord of Chehalis to succeed Lewis County Clerk Donelda Henderson, The Chronicle reported. Henderson had submitted a letter of resignation announcing she was moving to California. “Gaylord, for years a local staff member for the state tax commission office, is a widow of the late Dudley Gaylord, a longtime Lewis County employed and ardent Republican. Mrs. Gaylord was a candidate for the Republican nomination to the clerk’s office in 1954, but she was not successful. She will take over her clerk’s duties on Tuesday of next week and is to serve as an appointee until the 1956 elections are completed. Mrs. Henderson is leaving for California with her family to join her husband, Albert, who is employed there.”
• A two-bedroom home newly decorated with an attached garage, barn and outbuildings on 30 acres of land near Rochester was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $3,750. A furnished one-bedroom home in Centralia was listed for rent for $50 a month.
Monday, Jan. 3, 1966
• Randle resident Bennie Allen Clevenger, 28, was locked up in the Lewis County Jail after he was charged in Lewis County Superior Court with second degree kidnapping and indecent liberties, The Chronicle reported. “Undersheriff Bill Weister said the charges stem from a Thursday night auto ride in Mary’s Corner, Onalaska and Toledo areas and involve a 14-year-old Napavine girl. Sheriff’s officers said Clevenger picked the girl up on a baby-sitting ruse and then, instead of taking her to his home, he drove on back roads in the area until 4 a.m., Friday, when the girl managed to escape by jabbing a finger nail file in his neck. The girl then hid in a ditch on the Koontz Road until Clevenger left. Then she flagged a passing car and its driver took her home. Four deputies tracked Clevenger into two feet of snow east of Glenoma Friday until they were forced out because of darkness. Clevenger voluntarily surrendered himself at 11:05 p.m., Friday.”
• 1965 had been designated as the driest year the Twin Cities area had seen since 1952 according to rainfall totals taken by the Centralia Fire Department, The Chronicle reported. “Total rainfall for 1965 was 37.80 inches, the report said, while the area’s average annual fall is 44.19 inches. The precipitation total was the lowest since 1952, when it was only 29.10 inches. Firemen said their figures show that the wettest month last year was January, with 10.13 inches. The area had 9.25 inches of snow during the year, most of it coming last January. That total was 6.75 inches, with 4 inches falling Jan. 3. Average maximum temperature for the year was 62 degrees. The year’s warmest day was July 31, at 96 degrees, and the coldest morning was March 24, 20 degrees.”
• A two-bedroom home with a barn on five acres of land in Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $7,300. A “small apartment” with utilities included in Chehalis was listed for rent for $30 a month.
Saturday, Jan. 3, 1976
• Centralia College unveiled its newly renovated Kemp Hall in preparation for students returning to class on Monday, The Chronicle reported. “The building will house the departments of electronics, physics, forestry, and botany and geology laboratories, as well as a general classroom, faculty offices and offices for the deans of instruction and continuing education. Also, there are facilities for practical nursing, but that department will not occupy the space until later in the quarter. The renovation was done by the Gordon Korsma Construction Co., Tacoma.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about a New York lawyer who paid $10,000 for what was supposed to be a baby Bigfoot “probably bought a chimpanzee. Michael Miller bought the animal from a circus and has turned it over to a medical laboratory in Philadelphia for tests. However, Peter Byrne of the Bigfoot Information Center here said he has seen two photographs of the creature and says it looks like a chimpanzee with a domed head, but not a Bigfoot.”
• A three-bedroom home with a “huge attached garage on approximately nine acres of land in Adna was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $51,500. A furnished one-bedroom home in Centralia was listed for rent for $100 a month.
