In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Friday, Nov. 1, 1935, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Halloween pranksters in the Twin Cities laying low following a warning from Centralia Police Chief Milton Jastram that they would be held responsible for any damage caused by their antics.
U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Williams announced that plans were in the works to secure funding for construction of a new Naval Reserve building in Centralia for the Twin Cities Naval Reserve unit, according to the Tuesday, Nov. 1, 1955, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, Nov. 1, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that an apparent abandoned cache of 90 dozen eggs meant for Halloween pranks had been discovered in Chehalis near the Perry Bros. Poultry and Egg Processing Plant.
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. 1, 1935
• Halloween pranksters in Centralia had a relatively uneventful night as they laid low after a statement from Centralia Police Chief Milton Jastram stated they would be held responsible for damages, The Chronicle reported. “Hallowe’en came and went last night to the accompaniment of much merriment, but youngsters who went out to soap windows and ring doorbells were more careful than usual about the willful destruction of property … No arrests were made by police of pranksters. Only one false alarm marred the unusually excellent record of Centralia’s youth for good citizenship. The alarm was turned on near the high school. No reports of property loss or damage were turned in to police. Several youngsters, however, received police reprimands, after which they were sent home.”
• U.S. Sens Lewis Schwellenbach and Homer Bone both attended and spoke about U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal at a banquet inside the Lewis & Clark Hotel, The Chronicle reported. “Schwellenbach dealt a death blow to conservative hopes as he stoutly defended the New Deal and all it’s phases. ‘We went down there representing the liberal and progressive people of the state, and I think that we have succeeded,’ he stated. The junior senator explained that he and Senator Bone were touring the state in order to visit the various counties and discuss work projects, in order that they might familiarize themselves with such projects and be able to ‘apply a little heat,’ in the next session of Congress.”
• A freezing cold spell continued on its fourth day as the temperature had dropped down to 15 degrees fahrenheit the previous evening, according to a weather observer at the Centralia Fire Station, The Chronicle reported. “At 9 a.m. the thermometer had risen to 22 degrees. The highest mark attained during the day yesterday was 40 degrees.” Throughout the rest of the Pacific Northwest, freezing temperatures set new records and unfortunately killed crops as well. “The rich Yakima and Wenatchee valley apple growing areas counted new losses as the cold spell refused to break. C.C. Allen, of the Yakima County Fruit Growers Association, estimated from 2,000 to 3,000 carloads of apples had been lost. An estimated million-dollar loss in the Wenatchee valley stood unchanged.”
• A ground-floor office with telephone service, electricity and heat in downtown Chehalis was listed for rent in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $20 a month.
Thursday, Nov. 1, 1945
• Twins from Chehalis, U.S. Army soldier Warren Hill and U.S. Navy sailor Coxswain Wallen Hill, both happened to arrive home on leave following the end of World War II at the same time, The Chronicle reported. “Warren is here on a 21-day furlough from Camp Crowder, Missouri, and Wallen is home on a 30-day leave from the destroyer Woodsworth. Warren was pleasantly surprised to see his brother when he arrived home recently.”
• Former Twin City Mill Company owner Clarence Whited completed a sale to purchase the 24-year-old armory building located in the 500 block of North Tower Avenue in Centralia, to convert it into apartments, The Chronicle reported. “The sale was by the Armory Association, composed of 39 stock-holders who received $20,000 for the building. Whited, who in mid-July disposed of the Twin City Mill Company, which he established here, began at once for a remodeling project to cost more than $5,000 and to include the construction of five apartments on the building’s second floor. The ground floor, he said, will be made into a business quarters and display windows will front on Tower Avenue.”
• Centralia residents were getting ready to head to the poles on Tuesday to choose a new mayor and vote on several municipal bond issues, The Chronicle reported. “City Clerk Frances Laurila said 3,937 voters are eligible to receive ballots in the city’s 15 precincts. The total is an increase of 26 over the registration for the Sept. 11 primary … “Mayoralty nominees are Dr. (Oscar) E. Nelson, long-time Centralia dentist, whose ballot total in the primaries was 879, as compared to 477 for his general election opponent, George C. Lange.” Also on the ballot was a proposal to use city funds to construct Centralia’s World War II Memorial Pool. “The proposal calls for the issuance of $95,000 of negotiable general obligation bonds, with an interest rate not to exceed 4% per annum.”
• A seven-room “modern house” with a basement on a large lot with fruit trees in Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $8,500.
Tuesday, Nov. 1, 1955
• U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Williams announced plans were in the works to get funding to construct a building for the Twin Cities Naval Reserve unit in Centralia at a Centralia Chamber of Commerce luncheon, The Chronicle reported. “Williams told chamber members that a building for his unit, a Naval Reserve electronics group, had been approved by authorities from the 13th Naval District in Seattle and that a request for appropriations for its construction are being included in the next Navy budget submitted to Congress. The building, if appropriations for it are granted by Congress, could be built about 1957. The Twin City reserve unit now meets in the old Roosevelt school in southwest Centralia, the the quarters are inadequate for its needs.”
• The Chehalis City Commission moved to approve construction plans to construct new roads coming from the new highway into Chehalis on 13th Street after holding a public hearing, The Chronicle reported. “An elderly, ill Chehalis resident who prefers quiet to the new noisy 13th Street approach into Chehalis from the Pacific Highway was one of two objectors at a hearing of the 13th Street assessment rolls held Monday before the Chehalis City Commission. Since only two out of nearly 30 property owners affected along the new approach protested, the city heads ordered city attorney Lee Campbell to go ahead and prepare an ordinance to be passed next Monday.”
• A two-bedroom home with an additional two-bedroom cottage on 19 acres of land north of Centralia was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $5,900. A furnished apartment in downtown Centralia was listed for rent for $50 a month.
Monday, Nov. 1, 1965
• Property damage caused by Halloween pranksters had risen in the Twin Cities according to local law enforcement, The Chronicle reported. “The junior goblins and spooks had a fairly quiet time over Lewis County communities Halloween eve, but in the Twin Cities some of the older ones had some odd ideas for pranks. Police and other authorities said there was more property damage than has appeared in recent years … Centralia police, by mid-morning Monday, had a sizable list of vandalism to homes and cars. Chehalis police said six fire hydrants were turned on, and there were some water bag fights and the usual number of minor disturbances.” Despite this, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputies said things were mostly quiet throughout the rest of the county. “Centralia police were most alarmed by damage to autos, some of it caused by thrown water-filled balloons that smashed windshields of moving vehicles … There was also damage from whipped cream being sprayed from pressure cans on cars, some rocks were thrown and apparently bb guns were used to pit windows.”
• South Lewis County residents celebrated Halloween at the community center in Winlock for the second straight year, The Chronicle reported. “The event, designed to help make Halloween eve activities safe, saw children and parents in costume for prizes and entertainment, including games and fun booths.” The event also featured a costume contest. “Prizes went to Janis Chezek, funniest; Jody Barnes, cutest; Frank Bowen, prettiest; Lisa Meyer, scariest, and Jason Meyer, weirdest.”
• A pair of Green Hill School students who had escaped Sunday night and stole a car in Chehalis to get away had been arrested after they broke into a roadside tavern between Glenoma and Randle, The Chronicle reported. “They are a 14-year-old boy from Yakima and a 16-year-old from Wenatchee, authorities said. Both boys remain in custody in juvenile quarters Monday. Green Hill School authorities said the boys fled from a cottage at 6:45 p.m. The boys were on foot when apprehended. The car had been abandoned near Glenoma. It is owned by Ercille Neal, Route 3, Chehalis.”
• A seven-room home with good outbuildings and a guest house on 40 acres of land in Newaukum was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $24,000. A two-bedroom home in Centralia was listed for rent for $60 a month.
Saturday, Nov. 1, 1975
• An apparent abandoned prankster’s cache of eggs had been discovered by the Chehalis Police Department hidden in a group of trees, The Chronicle reported. “Four boxes containing 90 dozen eggs were discovered by Chehalis police Thursday in a clump of trees near Perry Bros. Poultry and Egg Processing Plant on State Street. Police suspect the eggs had been stashed away for use on Halloween night. The eggs were claimed by Perry Bros.”
• Chehalis residents celebrated the dedication of the new Stan Hedwall Park, named in honor of Chehalis’ city commissioner of finance and a leader of park development in the city for more than 20 years, The Chronicle reported. “Tom Wood, chairman of the Chehalis Park and Recreation Commission, was master of ceremonies at the event held in a new outdoor kitchen that was patriotically decorated with flags and bunting. A fair-sized crowd attended on a cold, blustery but dry afternoon. The new 176-acre park is situated on the Newaukum River just off the 13th Street interchange on the freeway … Following the dedication, Wood unveiled the plaque on the kitchen wall and the crowd adjourned to the front entrance where Hedwall, who became park superintendent in the early 1950s, cut a red ribbon to officially open the park. His wife, Mabel, and the mayor flanked him as park board members and the public watched.”
• State Sen. Gary Odegaard, D-Centralia, spoke as a guest speaker at a booster meeting held at the Crego Hill Grange, The Chronicle reported. “After the Bible opening and pledge of allegiance, a message from Washington State Grange Master Jack Silvers was read by Crego Master Tick Powell. A community sing by the audience featured accompaniment on the piano by Mrs. Louella Thompson. Sen. Odegaard then spoke on Initiative 314 as well as school and special levies.”
• A four-bedroom home with large living and dining rooms, a bar and a family room with a two car garage was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $44,900. A two-bedroom townhouse in Onalaska was listed for rent for $160 a month.
