In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Friday, May 24, 1935, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Ray Becker, an Industrial Workers of the World union member involved in the Centralia Tragedy of 1919, as he petitioned the Washington Supreme Court for a pardon for his second-degree murder conviction.
Evelyn Butler of Centralia gave birth to her son, who just happened to be born on the same day as his late father, Maurice Butler, who had been killed in action during World War II six months earlier, according to the Thursday, May 24, 1945, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Monday, May 24, 1965, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that John Looney of Glenoma and J.R. Goin of Mossyrock had begun a bread and water hunger strike during the ongoing construction of the Mossyrock Dam, claiming they had not been properly compensated for their land by the City of Tacoma.
A Look Back in Time is compiled using Chronicle archives at the Lewis County Historical Museum along with digital archives on newspapers.com.
Friday, May 24, 1935
• Ray Becker, the last of the Centralia Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union members — or wobblies, as the union members called them — still serving time after being convicted of the murder of American Legionnaire Warren Grimm during the Centralia Tragedy of 1919, petitioned the Washington Supreme Court for his release from prison, The Chronicle reported. Becker asked the court “for a writ of habeas corpus directing his release” while incarcerated at the state penitentiary in Walla Walla. His fellow convicted wobblies had already been released from prison on parole, but Becker had refused parole, maintaining he had nothing to do with the shooting and was a victim of “mob hysteria” and entitled to a full pardon. “Attorneys for Becker said they were more interested in developing a record which will permit an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, indicating they held little hope of a favorable ruling from the state court.” Of the eight wobblies convicted for Grimm’s murder, Becker would serve the most time — 19 years. It was on Nov. 11, 1919, during an Armistice Day parade in Centralia when, according to some accounts, local Legionnaires in the parade halted in front of the IWW’s union hall. Tensions had been building up for years over political and ideological differences between the two groups leading up to that fateful day, and some clashes between the groups had already occurred including a Legionnaire raid of the union hall. Wobblies were pushing for better wages and working conditions in the local logging industry. While Legionnaires claim they were peacefully marching and were attacked unprovoked, IWW members claim the Legionnaires had planned another raid on the union hall before the parade and made the first move. It is debated to this day what started the Centralia Tragedy of 1919 — also referred to as the Centralia Massacre — but Grimm was one of four Legionnaires killed in the ensuing chaos, and the union hall was raided again. Nine wobblies were arrested in the aftermath and one, Wesley Everest, was lynched the night following the tragedy.
• Chehalis Mayor John West announced a squadron from the Washington Army National Guard 41st Division, aviation division, in Spokane, would be camping out overnight on June 13 at the Chehalis Municipal Airport, The Chronicle reported. A total of nine Army observation planes along with 130 soldiers would be spending the night at the airport. “The bivouac is part of the movement to be carried on at the annual two-week encampment of the Washington (National) Guard, which will open at Camp Murray, June 10.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about the death of Harold Brear, a Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company repairman who was killed in a plane crash south of Seattle. Brear, 32, was attempting to practice spinning when the airplane he was flying failed to emerge from the spin and crashed two miles south of the Longacres Race Track near a golf course. “Ernest Piercy, owner of the plane and Brear’s pupil, escaped by ‘bailing out’ with a parachute that opened, witnesses said, only 100 feet from the ground. Piercy told golfers who rushed to the plane that he was practicing spins under Brear’s guidance.”
Thursday, May 24, 1945
• Evelyn Butler of Centralia gave birth two days prior to her son, Maurice Butler, who was named after his late father who had been killed in action during World War II the previous December, The Chronicle reported. U.S. Army Private Maurice Allen Butler was only 22 years old when he was killed in Belgium on Dec. 26, 1944. “The stork arrival was May 22, the birth date of her (late) husband.”
• U.S. Army Lieutenant Charles Cordick of Centralia had written his foster parents a letter from Adolf Hitler’s famous vacation home the Berghof near Berchtesgaden, Germany, The Chronicle reported. Cordick explained “his headquarters unit of the 3rd Division was stationed at Der Fuehrer’s former home. The letter, dated May 12, added that as far as the officer was concerned, Hitler’s Berchtesgaden residence was the finest and most lavishly furnished and equipped of any he has yet seen in Europe.” After the 3rd Division initially participated in freeing Northern Africa from Nazi occupation in World War II, it crossed the Mediterranean, fighting in campaigns in Italy, France and Germany before Nazi Germany finally surrendered.
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about U.S. President Harry S. Truman considering a visit to Olympia. Truman was already on the West Coast visiting San Francisco, California, where he was addressing a United Nations conference for the signing of the World Security Charter. “The White House said today the chief executive also had under consideration a side trip to the Pacific Northwest for a ‘few days of rest and recreation after the conference engagement’ … It was stated the President had in mind a visit to Olympia.”
• U.S. Army Air Force Technical Sergeant James Galpin of Centralia — a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress engineer and turret gunner — was visiting home for 30 days of leave before having to return to duty, The Chronicle reported. Galpin had completed 34 combat missions and had been awarded with an Army Air Medal for his service. “‘I didn’t qualify for a Purple Heart by any means,’ he explained. ‘But I did get a face cut one day when my turret was ventilated with flak. It was little more than a good scratch, for which I’m thankful.” During his 34 missions, Galpin had been part of a B-17 crew responsible for dropping more than 170,000 pounds of munitions on industrial and military targets in Nazi-occupied Europe. Galpin also had three other siblings, who also all served during World War II — with his brothers Gerald Galpin and Glen Galpin also serving in the Army, and his brother Frank in the U.S. Navy.
• A three-bedroom “modern home” in good condition with a shed and garage on “nearly one acre” in Centralia’s Logan District was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $1,500.
Tuesday, May 24, 1955
• Water levels at Centralia’s Plummer Lake had fallen by over 10 feet as Pacific Sand and Gravel was pumping out some 50 million gallons of water to remove fill material for a new Pacific highway that was in the works. Centralia city staff were considering using Plummer Lake as a water source for the city, as it was fed by underground springs. “City engineer Oscar Olson said it is fundamentally apparent the inflow of the lake is nothing like what had been imagined.” Because the lake was slow to refill — so slow Pacific Sand was actually able to halt pumping out water — it was determined the lake might not be a good source of water for the city.
• Earl Boren of Randle, a logging operator, had purchased 2.5 million feet of salvage timber in East Lewis County, The Chronicle reported. The lumber was sold to Boren for $133,375 according to Gifford Pinchot National Forest supervisor Homer Hixon. “Hixon said the sale of 2,500,000 feet of beetle-killed and infested timber, was completed May 17 as a part of a program to salvage timber killed in the recent bark beetle epidemic.” Located near Woods Creek by Randle, the timber was appraised at $45,400, and Boren was the highest bidder out of seven bids.
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about the speed limit being raised on Washington state highways. “Sixty miles an hour will be the maximum speed on 3,685 miles of state highways after June 9, the State Highway Commission reported Monday.” Prior to this, the speed limit was 50 mph
• A two-bedroom “well-built solid house” with a garage and extra room in Bucoda was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $3,200. A furnished one-bedroom home “like new” in Centralia was listed for rent for $55 a month.
Monday, May 24, 1965
• John Looney of Glenoma and J.R. Goin of Mossyrock had begun a promised “bread-and-water picket line” protesting the ongoing construction of the Mossyrock Dam by the City of Tacoma, The Chronicle reported. Goin and Looney claimed they were not properly compensated for their land by the City of Tacoma. They had set up their picket line on U.S. Highway 12 opposite of an access road to the dam’s construction site. “They maintain they won’t eat anything but bread and water during that period … Tacoma advises there is no legal basis for reopening negotiations with Goin and Looney.” Both had already spent years in legal battles trying to get more compensation for their land. Looney was given $4,034 for 80 acres of land, and Goin $2,060 for 70 acres, while a neighbor was given $35,000 for 80 acres, after all of their land was condemned for the dam in 1959. The duo claimed the disparity was caused by their own gravel rights not being considered in their property evaluations, despite the City of Tacoma purchasing the land mainly to access the gravel for the dam’s construction.
• Centralia College student Faye Johnston of Toledo was awarded The Daily Chronicle scholarship for being an outstanding music student for the second year in a row, The Chronicle reported. “Scholarship is given for an outstanding music student from the area served by The Daily Chronicle. Miss Johnston, daughter of Mr and Mrs. Ivan C. Johnston of Toledo, is an accomplished soprano and has been a college honor roll student for the winter quarter.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about an upcoming launch of a Saturn I rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, known as Cape Kennedy at the time. “Florida missile watchers may see quite a spectacle as the Saturn I, the world’s most powerful rocket, pushes the Pegasus 2 meteoroid-detection satellite toward orbit.” A total of 10 Saturn I rockets were launched, all successful, and the Saturn I program was key in developing the legendary Saturn V rocket, which was first launched in 1967 and carried U.S. astronauts to the moon in the Apollo program.
• A fire destroyed the Winston Creek Road home of Robert Matthews and his family near Mayfield Lake, The Chronicle reported. Salkum Fire Chief Van McDaniel estimated that around $2,000 of furnishings were lost in the fire, and the home’s value was unknown. “The Salkum chief said the Matthews family had just moved into the house, eight and a half miles southeast of Salkum Saturday afternoon. No one was home at the time of the fire.”
• A three-bedroom “rambler” with birch cabinets, an oven range, fireplace, wood paneling, ceramic tile bathroom and an attached garage in Randle was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $13,000. A two-bedroom home with a gas furnace in a “good location” in Centralia was listed for rent for $75 a month.
Saturday, May 24, 1975
• Francis Briscoe, area director for the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, delivered the dedication address for the newly opened Chehalis Indian Community Center, The Chronicle reported. Briscoe dedicated the new community center “for the benefit and progress of the Chehalis Tribe,” and complemented members of The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation for their work on the center. Melvin Youckton, business committee chair for The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, was also in attendance at the dedication ceremony. “Youckton thanked everyone who had anything to do with the building project from its planning stages to completion.” He added two other projects had just been launched on the reservation — a complete survey of all reservation land, and a partnership with the Indian Action Team Program to provide 40 business and construction trainee positions for tribal members. “Under the construction trainee portion of the program, the tribe hopes to erect a health clinic and day care center on the reservation.”
• Voters living in the Adna School District “overwhelmingly approved a $225,000 five-year bond issue,” The Chronicle reported. The bond was meant to provide funding for five additional classrooms at Adna High School and two additional classrooms for the elementary school. “Superintendent Bob Eastman was ‘dumbfounded’ and ‘completely thrilled’ with the 82.4% voter approval of the bond issue.” Conversely, voters in the Napavine School District rejected a $1.05 million bond initiative, which would have funded construction of a new high school and an addition to the elementary school.
• Members of the Morton Chamber of Commerce decided to replace 100 feet of bleachers at the Loggers’ Jubilee Arena, The Chronicle reported. “Replacement of the bleachers, however, according to Mike Fairhart, chamber president, will be contingent on securing funding. The project will cost over $3,000.” Other improvement projects at the arena, including construction of a new ticket booth and restroom facility, were underway as materials had been ordered.
• Work was underway on widening Interstate 5 from Kelso up to the Lewis County border line to six lanes, The Chronicle reported. “About 40 miles of interstate highway between Kelso and Centralia will receive a major facelift when work is completed in about two years … There are no plans to widen the freeway to six lanes throughout Lewis County.” Construction costs were estimated at over $50 million. “Work from the Lewis County line to Centralia will cost another estimated $27 million and is just getting underway.” Additionally, bidding for other construction projects in Lewis County was scheduled to start in June. These projects included improvements to the Foster Creek interchange on the Lewis and Cowlitz county line, Koontz Road from the Cowlitz River, the Koontz Road overpass, Koontz Road to Hamilton Road, the Hamilton Road interchange, Hamilton Road to Main Street in Chehalis, the Ocean Beach Highway interchange and the Mellen Street interchange in Centralia. Other road projects not related to I-5 were in the works too, including frontage roads extending Henriot Road from the Winlock-Toledo Highway to Frost Road, and Meier Road from Park Road to U.S. Highway 12.
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