In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Thursday, Oct. 4, 1945, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Centralia resident Hazel Mitchell Savage who had been informed by the U.S. War Department her son, U.S. Army Air Force Private First Class David Vandal, had been located in an Imperial Japanese prisoner of war camp and was coming home.
Yacolt resident LeRoy Crume had been accidentally shot in the shoulder by his brother-in-law, Elmer Watson, while the pair were trying to scare deer away from their crops, according to the Tuesday, Oct. 4, 1955, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, Oct. 4, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that members of the Centralia Parks and Recreation Board were looking for a new home for Fort Borst Park’s furriest resident, Charlie the bear, after the bear had outgrown his pen in the park and was now posing a safety hazard.
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, Oct. 4, 1935
• The City of Centralia was awarded $107,500 in federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) New Work Relief funds authorized by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to pay for construction of a new viaduct going over the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks on Sixth Street, The Chronicle reported. The allocation was part of $3,095,000 funding construction projects across Washington state aiming to eliminate or reduce some of “the worst grade crossing hazards in the state … Eighteen of the projects call for construction of new grade undercrossings and overcrossings. Nineteen will result in the reconstruction and improvement of existing crossings, including installation of protection signals.” The construction projects were also meant to help people find work amid the Great Depression. “It will furnish employment to several thousand men.”
• Thurston County was awarded $17,000 in federal WPA funding to lay down “two miles of bituminous macadam” paving on the Skookumchuck Valley Road to complete a hard-surface road from the “Bucoda-Tenino pavement to the Prince Bridge,” The Chronicle reported. “The call for bids will be issued by the county commissioners Monday. The material will be assembled this winter, and construction will start as soon as weather permits.”
• Members of the Disabled American Veterans of the World War Lewis County Chapter No. 9 were preparing to hold their annual Forget-Me-Not flower sale fundraiser, The Chronicle reported. “The price of the flowers is small, and their purchase once a year is not too much to ask of persons who profess to appreciate the bodily sacrifices made by men who served during the last conflict. (Sylvester) A. Rombalski is in charge of the drive in Centralia, and Al Pierce in Chehalis.”
• An “almost new” .303 British Lee-Enfield bolt-action rifle described as a “dandy deer gun” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $15.
Thursday, Oct. 4, 1945
• Centralia resident Hazel Mitchell Savage was informed by the U.S. War Department that her son, Private First Class David Vandal, had been located in an Imperial Japanese prisoner of war camp and was finally coming home, The Chronicle reported. Vandal had been a POW since the fall of Corregidor in the Philippines in May 1942. “No details were included in the notification, but it said the 25-year-old soldier, who was serving in the (U.S.) Army Air Force, is able-bodied. The mother, who resides at 408 State St., has heard little of her son since he was taken prisoner. She knew for months he was in the Philippines, and then was removed to Japan proper. Since the end of the war with Japan, she had heard nothing until the official notice came. Young Vandal graduated from Centralia High School in 1939, entering the Army shortly thereafter. His sister, Ruby Savage, is now a high school student.”
• Protesting workers had formed a picket line around the Tufts Bros. lumber mill in Chehalis after mill operations resumed following a week-long shutdown, The Chronicle reported. “It was understood the men working in the mill had no grievance with the management. Talmadge Tufts, manager, said the plant was closed down at the same time all other mills in the district were closed. Last week he sent letters to all employees asking if they had any grievances, what the grievances were, if any, and, if there was no dispute, that they return to work Monday morning. All men showed up for work Monday and continued through Tuesday. Wednesday morning the place was picketed, and the men decided they would not go through the picket lines. Tufts and employees of the mill both reported employees are receiving higher than union scale. A minimum of $1.15 an hour was paid prior to the strike.”
• Following the end of World War II and many U.S. service members returning home, the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company found itself flooded with over 42,000 applications for service in Washington state and Idaho, The Chronicle reported. “And of this number Centralia had 326 and Chehalis 176, it had been disclosed today by D.D. Miller, company manager in the Twin Cities, who said there has been no appreciable shrinkage in the figures since the close of the war. The other Lewis County community with a list of applications for service is Winlock, which has 15.”
• A seven-room “modern house” with a barn, hen house and garage on 40 acres of land near Elma was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $5,000.
Tuesday, Oct. 4, 1955
• Yacolt resident LeRoy Crume became Clark County’s first victim shot by a deer rifle after being shot in the shoulder on his own property, The Chronicle reported. “(Clark County) Sheriff Clarence McKay said Crume’s wife told him her brother, Elmer Watson, accidentally fired the shot when the two were on their property trying to drive off deer that had been bothering crops. Crume was under treatment for the shoulder wound at St. Joseph’s Hospital. The deer season in Washington opens next Sunday.”
• The Lewis County Commissioners approved a motion on Monday to cease county funding and operations of the Lewis County General Hospital in Centralia by the end of July 1956, The Chronicle reported. “The motion, made by Commissioner Hubert Anderson of Randle, specified further that the hospital’s budget for the new year be revised accordingly. The action came without warning, although at least two members of the commission had voiced the threat early this year in arguments over the financial situation of the hospital. In Monday’s move, the motion was by Anderson and the second by Commissioner Clarence Roberts of Chehalis. Commissioner Chairman Martin Jacobsen opposed.” In a statement following the vote, both Roberts and Anderson said they would be willing to enter into a lease agreement with an outside organization or person for continued hospital operations after July 1956. Lewis County officials had been running the hospital since acquiring it in 1937 from private ownership, and while a new addition had just been completed to the hospital in 1953, the $300,000 needed for construction had put the hospital in dire financial straits.
• Students in the Twin Cities, Boistfort and Pe Ell enjoyed a day off on Tuesday, The Chronicle reported. “Teacher staffs of the schools were at Aberdeen for the annual Washington Education Association (WEA) institute session, being held in three locations this week. On Monday, Winlock, Vader, Onalaska, Toledo, Mossyrock, Adna, Evaline and Jackson Prairie schools vacationed while their teachers were at Longview. Wednesday, students of Morton, Mineral, Randle, Packwood and Glenoma will get a day off, (with) teacher staffs going to a WEA institute in Tacoma.”
• A six-room home with outbuildings on six acres of land in Yelm was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $4,000. A furnished two-room cabin in Fords Prairie was listed for rent for $35 a month.
Monday, Oct. 4, 1965
• Six Lewis County residents, including Chehalis resident Orin C. Smith, were among the approximately 1,100 students who received their degrees from the University of Washington, The Chronicle reported. Aside from Smith, the other Lewis County graduates included Marilyn Monfort, Gerald Rose, Douglas Shult, David Kure and Irene Bergh. Smith, also a Centralia College graduate, majored in business administration and would end up going on to study at Harvard Business School, earning his MBA in 1967. In 1990, he joined the Starbucks executive team and helped the company grow from 45 locations to over 10,000 in 33 different countries. He never forgot where he came from, though, and engaged in many philanthropic efforts in the Chehalis community. Smith passed away in 2018 at the age of 75. The Orin C. Smith Elementary School in Chehalis is named in honor of him.
• A special Lewis County Planning Commission meeting was set to be held to determine whether the county should create a new county junior planner position, The Chronicle reported. “Lewis County Planner Vern Cain has asked for a junior planner at a $7,000 annual salary, but the proposed new planner would not add to the county’s current expenses, it was explained. State and federal matching funds would be involved. Department heads have asked for a $25 a month salary increase for their employees. The extra requests for salaries and new employees total $53,007.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about an agreement being proposed to workers for a vote to end a 19-day strike at the Boeing plant in Seattle. “Negotiators reached the accord shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday after a 15-hour session with federal mediators. A meeting of the 25,000 production workers affected by the strike in the Seattle area was called for 10 a.m. Other meetings were called at Boeing locations throughout the country. Results of the meetings should be known by early evening. The big aerospace firm was struck Sept. 16 at plants and projects from here to Cape Kennedy, Florida, but has continued to operate. Terms of the agreement were withheld until after today’s voting.”
• An eight-room home with a garage on H Street in Centralia was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $5,500. A two-bedroom home in Chehalis was listed for rent for $75 a month.
Saturday, Oct. 4, 1975
• Members of the Centralia Parks and Recreation Board were looking for a new home for Fort Borst Park’s furriest resident, Charlie the bear, after the bear had outgrown his pen at the park and was now posing a safety hazard, The Chronicle reported. “The parks-recreation board Thursday was in general agreement that the bear will have to go but wanted some assurances it will end up in a good home, not someone’s trophy room or meat locker. Charlie was acquired as a cub by the park’s caretaker, Don Bliss, about three years ago, and has grown from the size of a small dog to the size of a small beef or dairy animal, some 600 pounds. (Gertrude) Bliss said Friday the fact that she and Bliss plan to retire in two or three years was part of the reason for finding Charlie a new home. She doesn’t believe the city can find anyone who can properly take care of Charlie at the park when she and her husband leave. She points out that Charlie is not a normal bear. While other bears will eat most anything, she said, Charlie has a fondness for fried chicken and pastries … The possibility of turning Charlie loose in the wilds has been ruled out since the bear has led too much of a pampered life. He would probably starve or get into trouble if left to forage. Dale Nordquist, city attorney, said Friday the only entities that can own a bear are municipalities, zoos and specially-licensed individuals.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about three Tacoma teenagers who claimed they had seen Sasquatch while camping and hunting east of Mount Adams and “abandoned their tent and almost wrecked their Jeep in executing their hasty departure,” according to Yakima County Sheriff’s Office deputy Larry Gamache. “According to Gamache’s report, the three youths, Tom V. Gerstmar, 17, Earl Thomas, 18, and Jerry Lazzar, 16, were camped at Section Three Lake on Pinegrass Ridge Wednesday.” While heading back to their campsite after a day of hunting, the three teens said they heard noises while walking and felt like they were being followed. After reaching camp, they started a fire when Gerstmar shined his flashlight and noticed “two greenish-yellow eyes” watching them from across a small pond. “Later they again spotted the eyes with their flashlights, only this time they found them housed in a human-like furry body eight or nine feet tall, the report said. At that point the youths decided to fire their rifles to frighten the creature. They said the creature moved off a little after seven shots were fired. When their flashlights again found it, it growled and screamed, the report said. And the three decided they would leave their tent and belongings behind and take a ride toward civilization.”
• A four-bedroom home with a family room and fireplace with wall-to-wall carpeting in Morton was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $36,500. A two-bedroom townhouse in Onalaska was listed for rent for $150 a month.
