In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Thursday, Dec. 6, 1945, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about approximately $30,000 in damage being reported following a fire that broke out at the Fords Prairie grade school.
Between 40 and 60 migrant workers were relocated after their Pe Ell labor camp was shut down due to numerous health and building code violations, according to the Saturday, Dec. 6, 1975, edition of The Chronicle.
Also in the Saturday, Dec. 6, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that members of the Centralia Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis clubs were mounting an effort to renovate an enclosure at Fort Borst Park to keep “Charlie the bear” in Centralia after the Centralia Parks and Recreation Board had announced in October Charlie outgrew his cage and needed a new home.
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. 6, 1935
• Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) funding for more road improvement projects in Lewis County had been approved and was expected to be available within a few days, The Chronicle reported. The WPA was a New Deal agency created to help combat Great Depression economic fallout by providing unemployed Americans with jobs completing various public works projects. “The amount involved totals $24,497. The road district includes all of (Lewis County Commissioner) Charles A. Young’s commissioner’s district. The roads to be improved are seven miles of the Onalaska Highway, which is to be provided with proper drainage; and the Salzer Valley, Hanaford, Lincoln Creek, Gish and Beckwith roads. Length of the work proposed extends over a distance of 40 miles. WPA projects in Guy M. Balfour’s second commissioner’s district and James Tucker’s third district have previously been approved, and large numbers of men are already at work.”
• The Andron Logging Company reopened its Winston Creek operation in Chehalis, The Chronicle reported. “Eighty men are employed by the Andron Logging Company, which opened its works on Winston Creek after a shutdown of four years, according to an announcement by Fred McFarland, local manager of the organization. McFarland said it is expected to ship 20 carloads of logs per day from the works. They will all be taken by Tacoma mills. They are being shipped to Chehalis over the Cowlitz, Chehalis and Cascade railway. The present workings are near the mouth of Winston Creek. Labor employed in the woods is all local. S. Nord is superintendent.”
• A “well furnished” three-room home with hardwood floors, a fireplace and full bath was listed for rent in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $20 a month.
Thursday, Dec. 6, 1945
• An estimated $30,000 in damages had been caused by a fire on Wednesday at the Fords Prairie grade school, according to Centralia Fire Chief Walter Ryckman, The Chronicle reported. “Thursday morning the 133 students of the building entered two Centralia grad schools, being brought to the city by regular high school buses. The arrangement will probably continue for the remainder of the school year. Firemen finished their work at the fire early Wednesday afternoon, ending a chore of nine hours and 20 minutes. Two chimneys in the gutted structure were left standing, a check by firemen disclosing there is little likelihood they will fall … Ryckman said that in the north part of the building, which is a newer structure, the roof and ceiling were burned, but that many of the desks can be refinished, and smoke and water damaged only a part of the books there.”
• Cleanup was ongoing throughout the Twin Cities after a powerful Tuesday storm unleashed near-hurricane strength wind gusts, knocking out power and telephone service on top of breaking Centralia’s main gravity water line, The Chronicle reported. “A lashing gale, attaining at times velocities ranging from 50 to 70 miles an hour and said to be the worst in the history of the region, pounded the Centralia-Chehalis district late Tuesday afternoon to cause considerable damage, most of it to utilities, but no injuries or loss of life resulted … At Centralia City Hall the barometer reading was 28.50, the lowest watchers there had ever seen it, and at the Chehalis airport workers said they believed some of the wind gusts hit a 70-mile-an-hour velocity. Three planes landed at the airport during the storm, only one being slightly damaged when its wing tip hit the runway, and fliers said the air speed indicator on one of the ships anchored to a fence on the east side of the field registered 50 miles an hour … Shortly before 5 p.m. the flow from the 14-mile-long gravity line ceased, and, with telephone service out, workmen made their inspection by car and on foot. They found that some two miles west of the intake a tree had fallen over the line and broken it.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about ongoing search and rescue efforts after a total of eight plane crashes happened in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska regions over the past 10 days, with six planes still being unaccounted for. “Fate of 20 fliers, one civilian mail pilot and 19 service men, was still cloaked in the snowbound Cascades and the rugged coastal ranges between Northern California and Nome, (Alaska).” One of the lost planes — a U.S. Navy Lockheed Ventura light bomber — was in the region. “Rescue crews were searching for the wreckage of a Navy Ventura plane that crashed a week ago near Mount St. Helens. Four Navy airmen are missing. One Army passenger is the only known survivor. About the same time yesterday the bodies of four Army airmen were removed from one (Consolidated) B-24 that disappeared Nov. 1. It was doubted the second B-24 with five aboard would be spotted until after the spring thaw.”
• A five-room “modern” home on 36 acres of land with an orchard, two hen houses, a barn, a woodshed, 11 cows and 350 pullets was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $10,000.
Tuesday, Dec. 6, 1955
• Portland resident Morton J. Hammond was fined $300, had his driver’s license suspended for another year and was sentenced to 120 days in the Lewis County Jail in the Toledo Justice Court after he was charged with drunken driving and driving with a suspended license, The Chronicle reported. “The court told Hammond he could pay $100 and serve 30 days on the drunk driving count and pay $200 and serve 90 days for driving without his license. State patrolmen nabbed Hammond last Sunday night on the Pacific Highway north of Toledo. Officers said they arrested Hammond last April also — for drunken driving, and his license was revoked at that time.”
• U.S. Coast Guard officials announced they had recovered the bodies of two Westport fishermen after their boat, the Wilma S., was reported missing after they left Blaine bound for Westport in Grays Harbor County, The Chronicle reported. “The body of Alex Pepin was found Sunday by Wilbur Barker of Ocean City. A little over 24 hours later, Gordon Holmes of Copalis found the body of Arvid Cakari at Copalis Beach gap. Sakari was identified by papers found in his wallet. Relatives identified Pepin. The Coast Guard had pressed a sea-air-beach search for the two men since their 47-foot craft was reported missing after they left Blaine for Westport Nov. 24.”
• Fresh powder was coming down in East Lewis County, according to Washington State Patrol troopers, The Chronicle reported. “Snow was falling Tuesday morning on the White Pass Highway in eastern Lewis County, a state highway department report said. Total summit snow measures 59 inches and the morning temperature was 26 degrees.”
• A two-bedroom home located at 216 May St. in Centralia was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $2,900. A two-bedroom home in Centralia was listed for rent for $45 a month.
Monday, Dec. 6, 1965
• Rochester resident William Kohse, 64, luckily escaped serious injuries over the weekend when his pickup truck was struck by a Northern Pacific Railroad switch engine at a downtown Centralia rail crossing on Saturday, The Chronicle reported. “Centralia police Monday reported Kohse was east-bound on Cherry Street at 6:18 p.m. when his truck was struck in the side by the train. Kohse remained in Centralia General Hospital Monday. Attendants described his condition as fairly good. The train’s engineer was B.L. Morris of Centralia. There was no estimate of damage to either the truck or train.”
• A total of 42 Lewis County high schoolers got a tour of “the largest nuclear power plant of its kind in the world” in Hanford, The Chronicle reported. “Leader of the special tour of the Washington Public Power System’s huge $123 million nuclear steam plant at Hanford, in Eastern Washington, was Chehalin Arnold James, Lewis County Public Utilities District commissioner … The tour was made in ideal ‘shirtsleeve’ weather in beautiful late autumn sunshine. The actual tour of the nuclear power plant, still under construction, was made during the noon lunch hour while workers were off their jobs. Construction is nearing completion on the first 430-megawatt unit. It is scheduled to go on the line next February. When the second of the two 430-megawatt units is completed several months later, the two huge turbine generators will produce 870,000 kilowatts of power, or two-thirds the generation of the Grand Coulee Dam. Each of the 430-megawatt units will produce more electricity than the combined capacity of the Mayfield and Mossyrock dams in Lewis County.”
• A two-bedroom home on 40 acres of land with a newly drilled well near Winlock was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $11,500. A three-bedroom home in Centralia was listed for rent for $65 a month.
Saturday, Dec. 6, 1975
• Between “40 and 60” migrant workers were being relocated after their Pe Ell labor camp was shut down by both the Washington state and Lewis County health departments, The Chronicle reported. “Thirteen of the mostly Mexican nationals who are employed to plant trees for Weyerhaeuser Co. were sent by their employer, Jose Estrada, to the Chehalis office of the Department of Social and Health Services, whose employees put in overtime to assist the homeless workers. Among the 13 is an eight-year-old boy, crippled with polio. The four trailers and two houses at the camp were closed for ‘gross violations’ of state health regulations for labor camps and mobile home parks, and for numerous violations of county and state building codes. About 30 workers were supposedly transported by Estrada to Coos Bay, Oregon, where they will also plant trees for Weyerhaeuser. Estrada said he relocated another dozen workers in trailers at Adna, a Napavine home and local motels. Weyerhaeuser spokesmen have disclaimed any responsibility for housing the workers, since they are employed by Estrada, who is under contract with the timber company.” On top of having inadequate heating and bathrooms, and faulty electrical systems, there were also no mattresses, leaving workers sleeping on floors. Despite this, Estrada still took issue with the camp’s closure. “Estrada said in defense of the sub-standard labor camp conditions, ‘This is the first time in five years,’ the violations were explained to him. ‘If I have done something wrong, nobody has told me what.’” County officials also took issue with how Weyerhaeuser handled the situation. “‘I feel strongly that Weyerhaeuser has responsibility,’ said Jack Morris, county director for environmental health. ‘It’s really upsetting to me that they (Weyerhaeuser) just skate out of the whole thing.’”
• Members of the Centralia Rotary, Lions and Kiwanis clubs, led by Jim Campbell Jr., were collaborating to try to fund renovations for “Charlie the bear,” who had been raised at Fort Borst Park, The Chronicle reported. Back in October, the Centralia Parks and Recreation Board announced they were looking for a new home for Charlie after he had outgrown his pen at the park. “The feeling was that Charlie had outgrown his cage and become somewhat of a safety problem. The overaffectionate black bear caused minor injuries to a couple youngsters this year, apparently mistaking an arm for a leg of Colonel Sanders’ fried chicken. Charlie is known to adore fried chicken. Campbell told the board Thursday the three service clubs have all agreed that the bear should stay in Centralia. To make that possible, Campbell outlined a tentative plan to enlarge Charlie’s cage … Charlie was acquired as a cub about three years ago by Don Bliss, caretaker at Fort Borst Park. Since that time, the bear has grown to about 600 pounds.”
• A three-bedroom home with a “large landscaped yard,” a garage and appliances included in Morton was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $28,500. A two-bedroom, unfurnished home in Centralia was listed for rent for $180 a month.
