In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Friday, Aug. 16, 1935, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Civilian Conservation Corps firefighters sparking rumors of a Communist riot at the Lewis County Courthouse after they were spotted waving a red handkerchief from a stick while marching in front of the courthouse demanding chicken and waiting for orders from the district fire warden.
Centralia police were still investigating after Centralia Police Chief Otto Rucker announced a would-be robber had dropped his gun and fled after attempting to break into a grocery store just north of Centralia, according to the Monday, Aug. 16, 1965, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, Aug. 16, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that Fay McKee, who lived between Napavine and Winlock, was struggling to take care of multiple abandoned dogs that kept getting dumped on their doorstep while also working with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office to catch whoever kept dumping the animals.
A Look Back in Time is compiled using Chronicle archives at the Lewis County Historical Museum along with digital archives on newspapers.com.
Friday, Aug. 16, 1935
• Some Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) firefighters visiting the district fire warden sparked rumors of Communist protestors storming the county courthouse, The Chronicle reported. “‘There’s a Red riot at the courthouse! They’re storming the building!’ The word spread like wildfire throughout Chehalis this morning. ‘And the sheriff refuses to do anything about it,’ was passed along. What happened was that a truckload of about 25 CCC men from the Washougal camp had stopped at the district fire warden’s office for orders.” After being told by a foreman to “stretch their legs” while he got their orders, “the boys tied a red handkerchief on a stick and paraded around the courthouse. For 15 minutes they marched, singing songs and making noise. They demanded that they be served chicken or they wouldn’t fight forest fires. They didn’t get the chicken, it was all in fun.”
• U.S. Rep. Martin F. Smith confirmed that the U.S. Post Office and Treasury departments were moving forward with plans to construct a new federal post office building in Centralia, The Chronicle reported. “The local structure will be one of five buildings authorized in the state under the government building program. The Centralia building, Congressman Smith said, will cost between $90,000 and $98,000. The first step toward carrying out the project will be to advertise for bids for sites. The bids will be forwarded to the post office department, which will, in turn, submit them to the treasury department for action.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about Merritt Hunter Jr., 21, losing a Washington state Supreme Court appeal to overturn his murder conviction for the Nov. 25, 1934 shooting of his former high school girlfriend Lillian Kanda, 19. “The high court affirmed a Thurston County court judgement convicting Hunter on a first degree murder charge. The jury recommended the imposition of the death penalty. Aflame with jealousy, Hunter shot and killed the girl at a lonely spot two miles west of Olympia. The girl previously terminated a romance between the two that developed while they were students at Olympia High School.” Ultimately, Hunter’s sentence would be commuted to life in prison by Washington state Gov. Clarence Martin, and after serving 16 years he was released on parole in 1951 and even got married. However, Hunter would end up killing again and taking his own life this time — shooting his wife Elayne in the head while she slept just before putting the gun in his own mouth and pulling the trigger just hours after leaving a New Years party early in the morning of Jan. 2, 1955.
• A “four-room dwelling” located at 1024 N. Pearl St. in Centralia was listed for rent in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $5 a month.
Thursday, Aug. 16, 1945
• Following the dropping of atomic bombs and subsequent surrender of Imperial Japan on Aug. 15, Centralia Mayor Ray Sprague and Chehalis Mayor Louis Vimont were working together to organize a two-day Twin Cities holiday to celebrate the end of World War II, The Chronicle reported. Businesses in both cities were closed on Wednesday and Thursday in observance. “Vimont and Sprague urged house-holders and business firms to display American flags both days. In Centralia, police asked merchants to leave their display window lights and electric signs burning throughout the nights of the holidays. (Centralia Police) Chief Otto Rucker said the blaze of light would give the city a festive air and at the same time guard against burglaries or other possible damage that might be done during the din of celebrating.”
• With World War II ending, The Chronicle featured a “Roll of Honor” with the names of local U.S. service members who had died, were still missing or taken prisoner during the conflict. “World War II cost the lives of 158 men of Lewis County and vicinity, and the number will undoubtedly be near 200 when the exact toll is ascertained among those still listed as missing or prisoners.” Those killed included — Howard Andersen, Russel Anderson, Adam Arzo, Robert Barner, Richard Barnett, William Batchelor, William Bell, George Bishop, Emil Bitar, Harry Blair, David Blanfield, Norman Blankenship, Eugene Bowers, Earl Brines, Robert Burke, Maurice Butler, Richard Cannon, Cyrus Cardosi, Arnold Carlson, Ernest Carpenter, Jesse Cates, Otis Clevenger, Alfred Clumpner, Homer Coates, Kenneth Cone, Gerald Conradi, Louis Cottonware, John Crawford, Raymond Davidson, Myron Davis, George Deal, Charles DeCraene, Don DeLisle, Leslie Dodge, George Donnelly, Robert Edick, Walter Fagerness, John Fluesch, Raymond Francisco, Gearold Frees, Paul Goldman, Allan Goodman, Arthur Gowin, George Grando, Delbert Gray, Delbert Greer, Arnold Grose, Peter Gudyka, C.C. Hackney, George Hall, Vern Hawkins, Clifford Hayes, Gilbert Helland, Clyde Hill, Fred Hogards, Albert Houston, Rodney Ives, Carl Javorsky, Eltar Jensen, James Jensen, Andrew John, Charles Jones, Robert Jones, Roy Jones, Walter Joselyn, James Junkin, Virgil Kelley, Walter Kemp, Andrew King, Dick Koreis, John Kostick, James Krupp, Leo Landres, Vernon Larson, William Larson, Fred Laughlin, Robert Lee, James Lester, John Lewis, Gordon Linbo, John Linwood, Norris Litch, Lewis Loff, Patrick Loughin, Curtis Lund, Edward Malloy, Kenneth Marquis, Elvin Martin, George Martin, Lawrence Martin, Clifford Matthiesen, Mervin McAtee, Milton McAtee, Roland McFarland, Victor McGee, Sam McIlvaine, Robert McNabb, James McReynolds, Edward Miller, Louis Miller, Fred Mooers, William Moore, Doyle Morton, Dix Moser, George Myers, George Newgard, Edward Norman, Clyde Onn, Edwin Oster, George Palmer, Paul Pecolar, George Pendarvis, Howard Perry, Allen Peterson, Ernest Piccin, Karl Radmacher, Leo Reins, George Rhoades, Bernard Rice, Carl Rice, Theodore Rickenbach, Jack Riley, Donald Riddle, Vincel Rogers, Donald Rombalski, Milton Rosbach, Dwight Schiffhauer, Edward Scott, Louie Sickles, Lorenz Siegel, Norman Simmons, Harley Skinner, Roger Slack, Edwin Sommer, Franklin Southard, Harold Steele, Perry Steele, Richard Stork, James Suessmuth, George Sundahl, John Thompson, Wilfred Thompson, Clyde Truett, Joseph Turner, Cecil Vanderpool, Marion Vermeer, Clayton Wall, Wilbur Warnock, Albert Wassmer, Theodore Wasson, Theodore West, Robert Whitman, Theordore Willhite, Paul Wilson, Edward Winter, Lloyd Wisbey, Joseph Wujcik and Glenn Wyley. Those listed as missing still — Charles Bissell, Clyde Crawford, Virgil Dawley, Nathan Dyer, William Harbart, Byron Houser, Fred Keifert, Oscar Knight, Franklin Laramie, Lawrence McLaughlin, Oliver Neumeier, Royal Palmer, Reuben Schnase, Louis Schuffenhauer, Mervin Stanton, Stanley Stemkoski Jr., James Thompson, Loyst Towner, Vernon Vanderpool, James Walker, John Whisler, Robert Williams, Robert Wolter, Robert Wray. Those believed to be prisoners of war still included Ronald Bangert, Ivon Bailey, Lavern Dunning, David Vandal and James White.
• World War II production at Chehalis’ Boeing Aircraft Company plant was scheduled to be reduced and plant manager Frank Owens added the B-29 Superfortress production facility would likely be closed within the next few months, The Chronicle reported. “The present month’s schedule of 155 B-29s from the combined Seattle-Renton and branch plants will be carried out.” By September, production was scheduled to be reduced to 122 B-29s, and only 20 would be made in October. “In order to coordinate and handle the reduced schedules effectively, it will be necessary to gradually return to the Boeing home plants in Seattle and Wichita the work now being handled at outside plants, including sub-contractors, Boeing branch plants and the Renton and Vancouver plants, Owens said.”
• A six-bedroom house with a barn, other outbuildings, an orchard and timber fields on 46 acres along the Pacific Highway was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $4,900.
Tuesday, Aug. 16, 1955
• The Kosmos Garden Club welcomed seven new members in a meeting the previous Thursday, The Chronicle reported. “New members included Mrs. Grace Smith, Mrs. Anna Fisher, Mrs. LaNorma Loushe, Mrs. Connie Hackney, Mrs. Ruby Parker, Mrs. Tudie Hahn and Mrs. Doreen Lund. Guest speakers for the day were Mr. and Mrs. Rosselli of Chehalis, who showed movies on the growing of croft lilies.”
• Renton resident Melvin Eaton pleaded guilty to four charges in the Chehalis Justice Court of J.A. Vanderstoep stemming from a drunk driving incident on Sunday, The Chronicle reported. While driving near Mary’s Corner, Eaton struck another car causing an estimated $550 in damages, and was later captured two miles south of Chehalis after the wreck. “The court said Eaton has a prior conviction for drunken driving last December.” Eaton pleaded guilty to charges of drunk driving, driving without a valid license, driving with a revoked license and hit-and-run. He was being held at the Lewis County Jail pending sentencing.
• The Chehalis City Commission was planning on contacting the Milwaukee Railroad to ask them to take care of a weed problem after residents living adjacent to railroad property complained weeds were spreading to their properties, The Chronicle reported. “Mayor Walter B. Graham Sr. suggested all the railroads be notified of the weed conditions and be asked to remove them.”
• A “spacious” four-bedroom house with a new barn and orchard on 70 acres of land three miles south of Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $9,500. Furnished rooms at the Centralia Elks Lodge with “hotel service” with or without bathrooms were listed for rent for $25 and $30 a month, for “men only.”
Monday, Aug. 16, 1965
• Centralia Police Chief Otto Rucker announced an unidentified suspect attempted but failed to break into the Reliance No. 2 grocery story north of Centralia late Sunday evening, The Chronicle reported. “Rucker said the man walked up to the door shortly after 9 p.m., just after the store had closed. A clerk in the rear of the store, Robert McCready, said he saw the man pull out a revolver and tug at the locked door. Police said the man dropped the gun, picked it up and then fled. The would-be robber apparently saw McCready and was scared away, they said. Police were continuing investigation Monday.”
• Southwest Washington Fair organizers were preparing for the fair’s first day on Tuesday, The Chronicle reported. “Official ceremonies opening the 56th SWW Fair will commence at 9 a.m. with Miss Lewis County, Sandra Marth, official hostess for the fair, snipping the ribbon. Assisting with the ribbon cutting ceremonies will be Fair President Arnold James and city and county officials. Miss Marth will arrive by helicopter at the main gate.” Following that was one of the fair’s first events that year, the Centralia Kiwanis Mutt Show. “It will start following the official opening. All children with dogs on leash will be admitted free at the north parking lot gate. Each ‘pooch’ will get an award and every junior owner will receive a free grandstand pass, free carnival ride and treats.”
• Kosmos “weatherman” Charles Little was preparing to retire and move to Centralia, leaving the U.S. Weather Bureau weather station he had worked at in Kosmos since 1932, The Chronicle reported. “The Kosmos Weather Station was started in 1905 by J.A. Ulah and later kept by B.W. Coiner, Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett and her husband Kenneth Barrett, before Little. The service was not continuous before Little’s term of service.” With the ongoing construction of the Mossyrock Dam, which would create Riffe Lake and submerge Kosmos underwater in 1968, Weather Bureau staffer Herbert Gudyka said the Weather Bureau was considering moving the Kosmos Weather Station to nearby Morton. “Gudyka said the station records the precipitation and thermometer readings day by day each month. It is a non-paying position, but all of the equipment is supplied by the Weather Bureau.”
• A three-bedroom house near Recreation Park in Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $13,000. A two-bedroom duplex in Chehalis was listed for rent for $100 a month.
Saturday, Aug. 16, 1975
• Lewis County resident Fay McKee was struggling to take care of 11 dogs after “anonymous” donors kept abandoning them on the doorstep of his mobile home on Avery Road in between Napavine and Winlock, The Chronicle reported. McKee, a 70-year-old retired repairman and logger, “does not have much money to feed and care for them.” While he had been able to find homes for some of the pups left at his door, he had still spent over $600 in the past year on dog food and veterinary care. “If Fay McKee’s pocketbook was only as big as his heart, he would be one of the happiest persons in the world.” He had obtained the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office permission to keep caring for the dogs he did still have, and deputies were investigating to try to catch those who had abandoned the animals. “McKee is also offering a $25 reward to anyone providing information that will be kept confidential but will lead to the arrest and conviction of persons leaving dogs on his property.”
• The lower end of Fort Borst Park had been closed off to motorists by the Centralia Parks Department, The Chronicle reported. “Remember when Borst Park seemed like the infield for a custom auto speed show? If that memory has been keeping you away from the park, try it again — it’s much more peaceful now. A walk through the lower end of the park reveals senior citizens resting comfortably, middle-aged men and women working on household and business budgets away from the heat of the home or office, and young people playing without being afraid they would be run over by a speeding car. Park Superintendent Vern Fowler said joggers and bicycle riders are also enjoying the new quiet of the lower end of the park.” According to Lewis County Commissioner Ed Conzatti, aside from pedestrians getting hit by cars, vehicles were also banned from the lower end to reduce vandalism being committed there. “‘It’s easier to keep the park nice now,’ he noted. ‘As far as I can see, it will be closed from now on. Sooner or later, we will take all the cars out of the park,’ he added.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about U.S. President Gerald Ford’s economic and energy advisors warning of an impending three-cent-per-gallon increase in gas prices. “The price of a gallon of gasoline will rise ‘roughly three cents’ with the twin removal of price controls on domestic oil and the $2-a-barrel tariff on imported oil.”
• A three-bedroom house with a barn, garden and attached garage on five acres of land in Newaukum was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $34,900. Two-bedroom apartments in Centralia’s Edison District were listed for rent for $175 a month.
