A Look Back in Time: Centralians Join Americans Nationwide in Legally Purchasing Beer for the First Time in 17 Years

Compiled by Matthew Zylstra / matthew@chronline.com
Posted 4/7/23

Centralia residents were finally able to legally purchase alcohol again for the first time in almost two decades after “3.2 beer” had been legalized on April 7, The Chronicle reported in …

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A Look Back in Time: Centralians Join Americans Nationwide in Legally Purchasing Beer for the First Time in 17 Years

Posted

Centralia residents were finally able to legally purchase alcohol again for the first time in almost two decades after “3.2 beer” had been legalized on April 7, The Chronicle reported in a story on the front cover of its Saturday, April 8, 1933, edition. 

“The hand that twists the spigot was working in Centralia again today after an absence of 17 years,” The Chronicle reported. “Along bars in pool halls, on tables in restaurants and in the privacy of their homes, Centralians were eyeing foaming glasses with tilted heads, apparently glad to be rid of the suspicion that 3.2 beer is ‘pure dishwater.’”

The 3.2 beer, referring to its 3.2% alcohol content by weight, could be purchased for 15 cents per pint and 10 cents for a 10 ounce glass. 

“Dealers” of alcohol told The Chronicle the beer was “going over big.”

“We’ll be wiped out late this afternoon,” attendants at the Olympic Club reportedly said.

The Olympic Club and Centralia Elks’ Club had apparently begun “tapping” barrels around 9 a.m. While the Olympic Club was open to the public, the Elks’ Club catered only to its members and their friends.

“Tom Vaughan and Bill Schaefer were working the spigots at the club continuously until noon, and the after-dinner thirsts of many Centralians held a full line at the bar,” The Chronicle reported. 

Chehalis residents had also begun purchasing alcohol again, though laws in the city had apparently not been enacted regulating its sale.

“The city has so far placed no restriction on sale of the brew, but will await developments and study the reactions of the citizenry before attempting to pass any ordinance,” The Chronicle reported. 

The drinking of 3.2 beer had been legalized nationwide on April 7 after President Franklin Roosevelt signed a law permitting its sale on March 22. While prohibition was still officially in effect under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, it would be repealed when the 21st Amendment was ratified at the end of 1933. 

“The first day consumption throughout the nation was difficult even to estimate, but there was ample evidence that it was enormous, according to an Associated Press dispatch to the Daily Chronicle. Trucks and trains, and even airplanes, droned out of the brewing cities of the country and still there were instances of inability to meet demand,” The Chronicle reported. 

Saturday, April 8, 1933

• The Lewis County Commissioners reportedly issued a call for bids to construct a mile of the Pleasant Valley “farm-to-market” road, which was estimated to cost around $15,000. Plans were also announced to build a farm-to-market highway from “Morton westerly.”

• Judge D.F. Wright, of the Thurston County Superior Court, issued a ruling on Thursday, April 6 barring the state tax commission from collecting an income tax. According to The Chronicle, the state income tax was later ruled unconstitutional by the Washington state Supreme Court. 

• The quadrennial Lewis County Convention of Modern Woodmen of America was held on the night of Wednesday, April 5, The Chronicle reported. About 30 people attended the event, representing six “camps” in the county: Chehalis, Centralia, Morton, Napavine, Toledo and Silver Creek. James Tucker, of Silver Creek, was elected the permanent chairman of the Lewis County camp while Nort Wynn, of Chehalis, was elected secretary.

• G.M. Brown, the president of Brown-Etheridge Lumber Company, announced on Friday, April 7 his company would open a logging camp at Mayfield. The logs from the camp were to be shipped to the company’s sawmill in Chehalis via the C.C. & C., and Twin City railroads. The Brown-Etheridge sawmill was apparently “one of the few rail mills” in Lewis County to have maintained steady operations during the ongoing Great Depression. 

• Helen Waldron, the daughter of “Mr. and Mrs. F.H. Waldron,” had been selected as valedictorian of Chehalis High School’s class of 1933. The contest for valedictorian was apparently close, with Helen Waldron receiving a 96.78% to salutatorian Frances Tourtellot’s 96.66%. Frances Tourtellot was the daughter “Rev. and Mrs. J.C. Tourtellot.” Rev. Tourtellot was the pastor of Chehalis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church at the time. The commencement for Chehalis High School, later to be renamed W.F. West High School, was to take place on the evening of June 1 at the Junior High School auditorium. There were 92 members of the Chehalis graduating class, including 48 boys and 44 girls.

• Naturalization hearings for six citizenship applicants had been scheduled for Friday, April 14, The Chronicle reported. The applicants were Nicholas Brill, a Russian immigrant in Centralia; Louise Schramm, described as a “Swiss by marriage” who lived in Winlock; Ethel Barlow, a Russian in Centralia; Cayde Davies, a Canadian in Winlock; William McCutcheon, an Irishman in Adna; and Linda Gaisell, a German in Centralia. 

  “Mrs. Blanche Peregrine,” died at the age of 74, on Wednesday, April 5, The Chronicle reported. Peregrine, a former matron of the Tenino Eastern Star chapter, first came to the Pacific Northwest by wagon train in 1883. She was survived by a grandchild and three brothers. 

Thursday, April 8, 1943

• Centralia was expected to open its new servicemen’s center on the evening of Friday, April 9, The Chronicle reported. Centralia residents had been invited to visit the center, which had been established “for use by all of Uncle Sam’s soldiers, sailors and marines when they visit the city.” The center was on the ground floor of the Masonic Building. During the two weeks leading up to the opening, renovations were made resulting in what The Chronicle described as a “combination of home comfort, relaxation, entertainment and service for visiting Army and Navy men.”

• New Hampshire pullets were listed for sale in The Chronicle. The chickens were apparently 3-months-old and cost $1.25 each. 



• The Lewis County Dental Society held a meeting in Chehalis on the night of Wednesday, April 7, The Chronicle reported. The group elected J.H. Whisler, of Centralia, as its president for the ensuing year, succeeding J.D. Walker, of Chehalis. Also elected was George Matheson, of Chehalis, as vice president, while Charles Nelson, of Centralia, was re-elected as secretary-treasurer and correspondent. Walker was also elected as the delegate to the state house of delegates of the state dental society. 

• The names of Chehalis Junior High School students on the grand honor roll and the honor roll were announced on Wednesday, April 7 by principal W.W. Weber. The members of the grand honor roll were ninth graders Joann Boyd, Bud Galusha, June Christen, Fremont Burrows, Ann Ev Stefon, Dick Johns, Audrey Borseth, Ronald Rosbach, Pauline Kostick, Ellamae Miller and Arlyss Spickler; eighth grader Billy Stefon; seventh graders Rita Burrows, Patty Moore, Pat Shahan and Lyle Schultz. Those named to the honor roll were ninth graders Virginia Stedham, Betty Cagley, Betty Davidson, Jimmy Kapitske, John Szambelan, Archie Tegland, Ervin Brooks, Eugene Evans, Jerry Flow, Albert Jaeger, Tom Ponder, Bill Stringfellow, Albert Schindler and Jack Schuster and eighth graders Joan Goodwin, Sally-Jo Spike, Beverly Cabe, Frances Hitchcock, Kay O’Farrell, Philip Eldred, Bob Newgard and LeRoy Robinson. 

• David Judd spent his spring vacation at his parents’ house in Chehalis, The Chronicle reported. Judd, who was expected to graduate from Whitman College in June, had reportedly accepted a graduate fellowship from the California Institute of Technology, commonly called CalTech, in Pasadena, California. At CalTech, Judd was expected to pursue a graduate degree in physics and mathematics while instructing naval cadets in physics and doing part-time work in government war research. 

• Lt. L.E. Devon of the Navy’s civil engineer corps, also known as the “Sea Bees,” was expected to be at the Chehalis Navy office on Friday, April 9, to interview men interested in joining the corps. Men between the ages of 17 and 50 and a half, as well as skilled or semi-skilled in the “various construction trades.” The Sea Bees were also seeking men ages 18 to 50 with degrees or experience in civil, electrical, mechanical and architectural engineering who wished to seek officer commissions “up to and including the rank of lieutenant-commander.” Monthly salaries in the Sea Bees ranged from $54 plus allowances for unskilled workers to $418 including allowances for a lieutenant-commander.

• According to an Associated Press story featured in The Chronicle, Republicans in the U.S. House raised questions regarding the War Department’s ban on soldiers who were seeking or accepting political office as a “violation of the constitution, a move to bar Gen. Douglas MacAruthur as a presidential candidate and a contribution toward a fourth term for President Roosevelt.” The policy was issued on Tuesday, April 6, by Henry Stimson, the secretary of the War Department, which would become the Defense Department after World War II. 

Wednesday, April 8, 1953

• Four young Centralia area residents remained ill on April 8 after they were almost killed by exhaust fumes from their car while at the drive-in theater between Chehalis and Centralia. The incident, which occurred on the night of Tuesday, April 7, was the result of a defective exhaust pipe or muffler. The four Centralians were Donald Weiher, 18; Shirley Weiher, 17; Janet Sackrider, 18; and LeRoy Allison, 19. Shirley Weiher reportedly became sleepy and complained of a headache, which caused her brother Donald Weiher to realize he had the same symptoms. When Sackrider and Allison confirmed they had the same symptoms, Donald Weihe suspected there was a carbon monoxide leak and said the four of them should leave the car. Donald Weiher then “struggled” to the concession stand to call for aid and get water to revive the other three members of his group. When he returned, his sister fainted and the other two were ill. The Centralia Fire Department then arrived and treated all four before sending them to the Lewis County General Hospital by ambulance, where they were kept overnight before being released on the morning of April 8. 

• An Associated Press story featured in The Chronicle reported Theodore Kaghan, a U.S. State Department official, had responded to an announcement that he would be recalled to Washington, D.C., to testify before a Senate Investigation Subcommittee headed by Sen. Joseph McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin. Kaghan reportedly said he had been fighting communism longer than the two 26-year-old McCarthy aides who announced he would be called to testify had been out of school. The two aides were Gerard Schine and Roy Cohn. Cohn was chief counsel to McCarthy’s subcommittee and went on to be a lawyer in New York where he represented many notable people, including future President Donald Trump.  

• Deputies from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office had reportedly solved two burglaries in Eastern Lewis County after apprehending four children, who were all under the age of 10. After breaking into the Mossyrock Hardware Store owned by Mally Damron, sheriff’s deputies Bob Reins and Earl Hilton followed “child footprints from the rear of the building to an old shack on the property” where they found the “loot.” After discovering the children, the matter was turned over to the county juvenile authorities.

• An ad was included in The Chronicle for the Shasta Daylight train, part of the Southern Pacific railroad company. The ad said the Shasta Daylight could take travelers from Centralia to San Francisco for $16.40 plus tax. As part of the trip, the train would pass by Mount Shasta in California. 

• Charles Walter, 90, reportedly died from a heart attack in his Chehalis home early on April 8. Walter, described by The Chronicle as a “pioneer Chehalis resident,” was born in Newmansville, Pennsylvania on March 25, 1863, and came to Chehalis in 1892. He was survived by his wife, son, two daughters, three brothers and a sister.

• “Mrs. Effie Angel,” 77, had reportedly died in an Olympia hospital on April 8. Angel was born on April 24, 1875, in St. Louis and had lived in Chehalis for 40 years before moving to Tenino about 13 years before she died. Angel was a longtime member of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Chehalis. She was survived by a son, three daughters, four brothers, three sisters, three grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and 20 nieces and nephews. 

• A Centralia house was listed for sale at $17,000 in The Chronicle. The house was described as a new three bedroom house with a circulating fireplace, one and a half bathrooms and a double garage. It was also mentioned the house was on a paved street and was two blocks from the Edison school. 

Monday, April 8, 1963

• In an Associated Press story featured in The Chronicle, it was reported the members of the Legislature had ended their 23-day special session after passing a “record-breaking” $1.8 billion state budget that was “virtually in balance with no new taxes.” However, the legislators had failed to solve the other problem they had been fighting about during the special session: legislative redistricting. The budget had apparently been held up while the Democrat-controlled state Senate and the Republican Party controlled state House tried to reach an agreement on redistricting. They realized an agreement wasn’t going to be reached, so the Legislature passed the budget and went home. 

• A lawsuit was allowed to be argued before a jury despite the efforts of the state Department of Institutions and the Green Hill school after Judge D.J. Cunnigham ruled against them in Lewis County Superior Court. The lawsuit argued Green Hill and the state were negligent when it allowed Larry Roath to escape and set fire to the Evangelical United Brethren Church and a home, both in Adna. The lawyer for the church and homeowners, James Vander Stoep of Chehalis, reportedly cited past Supreme Court decisions in his argument. 

• “Mrs. Florence D. Kennicott,” the Lewis County School superintendent for the previous 12 years, announced she would resign, effective Jan. 1, 1964. Kennicott said her reason for stepping down was she wanted to “travel around the world.” 

• Three Pe Ell teenagers were apprehended by Chehalis police on the night of Sunday, April 7 on liquor violation charges after getting into a one-car accident. Ronald Nicatilo, 19, was being held in the Chehalis city jail after failing to post $25 bail while Larry Enlow, 19, was released after posting his $25 bail. A third unnamed 17-year-old was released to his parents pending juvenile court action. 

• State legislators were reportedly appointed to interim committees by state Speaker of the House William Day and Lt. Gov. John Cherberg. Lewis County legislators state Rep. Harry Siler and state Sen. Joe Chytil were reportedly reappointed to the “powerful” 21-member legislative council while state Rep. Morrill Folsonm was reappointed to the interim education committee. Chytill was also reappointed to the Puget Sound-Grays Harbor-Columbia River Canal Commission.

• Richard Christin, 31, died  on the morning of Sunday, April 7, in a car accident west of Chehalis. Christin was a former Centralia resident who was born in Pe Ell on Dec. 27, 1931, and graduated from Centralia High School in 1949. He had lived in Tumwater for the previous seven years and was a U.S. Air Force veteran. He was survived by his wife, two sons, three brothers, three sisters and his parents. 

• Mary Tretheway, 96, reportedly died “recently” while visiting Seattle. She was a former Centralia resident who had moved to Olympia. She was survived by two sons and two daughters.