In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Wednesday, June 27, 1956, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about a 14-year-old getting arrested for breaking a curfew, which was in effect for those 17 and younger in the Hub City at the time.
The Chehalis Kraft Foods plant was due to receive a safety award for more than five years without a “time loss accident” from the Washington state Department of Labor & Industries, according to the Monday, June 27, 1966 edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, June 26, 1976, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that Queensland, Australia, Sen. Glenister Sheil and vice president of the Australian rabbit farm Thumpa Industries was one of 100 people in attendance for the groundbreaking of Thumpa Industries’ new U.S.-based expansion in Rochester.
Some weekend and holiday editions were not in the archives, so stories from the previous days’ editions have been featured instead.
A Look Back in Time is compiled using microfilm archives at The Chronicle, physical copies stored at the Lewis County Historical Museum — located at 599 NW Front St. in Chehalis — and digital archives on newspapers.com.
Friday, June 25, 1926
• Trains were once again traveling through Centralia on the Milwaukee Railway after a fire destroyed a bridge on the line northwest of the city over the Skookumchuck River on Wednesday, The Chronicle reported. “Construction crews had a temporary span ready for service 36 hours after the fire. Agents of the railroad are investigating the blaze, which is believed to have been of incendiary origin or was caused by tramps building a fire under the bridge.”
• Southwest Washington Fair Secretary George R. Walker announced construction on a new building on the fairgrounds was to start immediately and expected the new building to be ready for the fair, The Chronicle reported. “The proposed building will be in front of the floral hall. Various high schools of Lewis County have permanent booths at the fair and others are likely to establish permanent booths for this year. In addition to the displays of the schools of the county, the exhibits of the state college, Pullman, and the State Training School for Boys and the girls’ training school will be shown in the space underneath the grandstand.”
• A 1920 Buick Roadster “in good condition, overhauled throughout,” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $250. A two-room apartment at 543 N. Tower Ave. in downtown Centralia was listed for rent for $10 a month.
Saturday, June 27, 1936
• Chehalis “pioneer music instructor” Sara Bushnell was “badly injured” but recovering at a local hospital after being hit by a car while crossing Market Street near her home, The Chronicle reported. “The driver of the car, W.L. Cox, of Elma, reported to police headquarters that he was headed south, and apparently Miss Bushnell failed to notice his approach. He sounded his horn and attempted to swerve around her, but she stepped back into the path of the car. At a local hospital it was reported that she suffered a broken arm and broken leg, there being five breaks in the two bones, and possible internal injuries.”
• A “modern” five-room home with a “new floor, good paint, shingles, foundation,” near the Centralia High School was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $700.
Thursday, June 27, 1946
• Centralia Police Chief Otto Rucker made a public announcement warning local business owners and residents to be wary when cashing checks, The Chronicle reported. “At present the town is being flooded by ‘check artists’ reaping a rich harvest from unsuspecting persons who cash checks without knowing who the writer is, Rucker stated. The police department is now attempting to apprehend numerous persons who have written checks with no money in the bank to back them up, but little can be done once the writer has left the city, Rucker stated. LeRoy Powers is being held in the city jail at the present time after allegedly attempting to cash a bad check Tuesday afternoon, the chief reported, but his case is only one of many reported by business men in the city.”
• More Lewis County residents had been discharged from their time in service in the U.S. Navy and Army following World War II’s end the previous year, The Chronicle reported. “Released at Bremerton were Ernest E. Seegar, MoMM3/C, route 1, Chehalis; Herbert V. Morrison, CM3/c, Mossyrock, and James A. Taylor, S2/C, Toledo, while Glen D. Osborne, WT2/C, of Ajlune, was discharged at the separation center in Charleston, South Carolina. Freed by the Army at Fort Lewis were T/5 Royce O. Cornelius, Box 94, and T/5 Willis W. Tramm, route 2, Chehalis. Word has also been received of the discharge from the Navy at Bremerton of Owen K. Kniffen, EM3/C, former Centralian, whose wife resides in Seattle. He and Elmer Harwick, EM3/C, previously released, served with the 40th Seabees, which took them to Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Saipan and Okinawa. They were on Okinawa about 15 months and have vivid recollection of two typhoons and other interesting experiences on the island.”
• A five-room home with a barn and other outbuildings on 80 acres of land with 55 in cultivation on the Pacific Highway “12 miles south (of) Chehalis” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $8,200.
Wednesday, June 27, 1956
• A 14-year-old Centralia teenager was arrested the previous night for violating a youth curfew in effect, The Chronicle reported. “The boy was later released into the custody of his mother after she had been notified by police. Centralia parents were again reminded the local curfew regulation calls for children under 12 years of age to be off the streets before 9:30 p.m., and all those between 12 and 17 to be off before 10:30 p.m.”
• Preparations were being made in Toledo for the start of the annual Cheese Day festival, which was scheduled for that Saturday, The Chronicle reported. “Toledo’s annual Cheese Day celebration begins Saturday morning at 10 o’clock with the crowning of the queen, followed by a parade, field events, ball games, dance contest and exhibition, carnival and winding up with the annual Cheese Day Ball. Above, Cheese Day Chairman Leroy Cox pokes his head through the street banner before Elof Roselle, left, and Harry Martinsen, street decorating committee co-chairmen, hoist the sign across the main street in town. A Saturday noon feature of the celebration will be free cheese sandwiches and coffee to be served to visitors and residents of the community.”
• An “attractive home” with a barn and creek access on 90 acres of land “close in” to the Centralia area was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $8,500. A four-room, furnished duplex at 208 N. King St. in Centralia was listed for rent for $50 a month.
Monday, June 27, 1966
• The Chehalis Kraft Foods plant was due to get a state safety award the next day, The Chronicle reported. “Kraft Foods of Chehalis will be honored for more than five years without a time loss accident Tuesday when it receives the ‘gold’ industrial safety award from the Department of Labor and Industries. The presentation will be made at 1 p.m., before the entire Kraft Foods plant force of 60 employees. Paul G. Raquer, plant manager, will accept the award for the firm from Ebert O. Pearson, who will be accompanied to Chehalis by Vern Painter, safety education representative for the state. Raquer said the period for which the award is given covers 1,747 days of operation. Special guest for the ceremony will be Robert Mikalson, business agent for the Centralia Teamsters’ union local. Raquer said special credit for the award should go to the firm’s safety committee including Lee Brown, Ernest L. Green, Edgar Hoak, Donald Roberts and James Futter.”
• A three-bedroom home on “approximately 1 acre” of land two miles southwest of Randle was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $12,500. A “clean” one-bedroom home at 623 State St. in Centralia was listed for rent for $40 a month.
Saturday, June 26, 1976
• Queensland, Australia Sen. Glenister Sheil was one of 100 people in attendance for the groundbreaking of a new Thumpa Industries rabbit farm in Rochester the previous day, The Chronicle reported. Thumpa Industries was an Australian rabbit farm business Sheil helped found in 1975, according to the Parliament of Australia’s official website, and decided to move the business to U.S. shores to get away from certain laws down under. “The building will house the first shipment of rabbits expected to arrive from England in five to six weeks. They will remain in this structure while becoming accustomed to their new environment. Then they will be transferred to the first breeding shed upon its completion. Each of as many as 103 breeding sheds will house 20,000 breeding does. ‘At full capacity the plant will produce and process 10 million rabbits a year,’ said Sheil, head of the firm’s research facility in Australia. Arnold Wilson, Thumpa president and in charge of its America operations, said other buildings to be constructed include a rabbit processing building, a research building and a three-story structure housing the corporate offices of Thumpa Industries. ‘There’s all the difference in the world dealing with a country that wants you and one that doesn’t,’ Sheil said in his opening remarks. ‘It’s wonderful to get started in America.’ He described the difficulties Thumpa had with Australia where the rabbit is considered a noxious animal. ‘They wouldn’t let us raise rabbits, yet the government has to subsidize the beef industry,’ he said. Sheil also praised the United States government for the help they had given.”
• A two-bedroom “country home” with access to two creeks and a well on 15 acres of land near Winlock was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $19,500. An unfurnished two-bedroom home “centrally located” in Centralia was listed for rent for $165 a month.
Friday, June 27, 1986
• Though the family lived just outside of the Napavine city limits, Diana Mitchell was trying to get both her sons, Nathan and Greg Mitchell, and a neighbor friend, enrolled at Napavine Elementary School, after being told by school board representatives the children would have to go to Adna Elementary School, The Chronicle reported. “There’s a problem. The half-mile stretch at the end of Harmon Road where the Mitchells and a few other families live is just inside the boundaries of the Adna School District. Adna is more than 12 miles from the Mitchells’ home. There are four neighborhood children currently attending Napavine schools. So when it came time to enroll Nathan, Diana Mitchell thought it would be a simple matter to send Nathan there also. ‘The kids in this area have always gone to school in Napavine,’ she says. ‘So we tried to get a release like the other parents have, but the (Adna) School Board denied that request.’ Adna school officials decided about 10 years ago, when they first learned these children were going to school in Napavine, to let the four older children continue going to school there … But the board also decided that it wouldn’t let any more children start at Napavine. Nathan and neighborhood pals Ryan Barr, who will also enter kindergarten next year, and Greg Mitchell, who will be in the first grade, are the first new children since then. Nathan and Ryan and Greg are the first stop on the Adna bus route, Diana says … The Adna School Board doesn’t want the boys going to school in Napavine because each child generates $2,500 in state funding for the Adna School District, says Diana’s husband Dennis. ‘The school board members are sympathetic, but they told me, it’s not the kids; it’s the 2,500 bucks,’ Dennis says. ‘You hate to equate people with money,’ says Adna School Board member Jim Stafford. ‘But you do have to consider it.’”
• A four-bedroom home that “much updating has been done” with a large shop and carport on over three acres of land next to Centralia city limits was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $61,500. A three-bedroom with a fireplace in Napavine was listed for rent for $375 a month.
