In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Friday, Feb. 14, 1936, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about “Yeggmen” successfully cracking the office safe of the Centralia Fraternal Order of Eagles hall, making off with at least $35.
Ernie Sorensen, Lewis-Pacific Dairymen’s Association member and Darigold manager, announced Lewis County cattle ranchers were still feeling the economic effects of a dairy market cost-price squeeze which had gone on for years, according to the Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1956, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, Feb. 14, 1976, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that a Lewis County coroner’s jury ruled the shooting death of Centralia resident William Walker to be accidental.
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, Feb. 14, 1936
• “Yeggmen” successfully cracked a Centralia Fraternal Order of Eagles safe and stole between $35 and $40 after breaking into Centralia Eagles’ hall office through a window that morning, The Chronicle reported. The term “yeggmen” was early 20th century slang for transient burglars who specialized in safe cracking, popularized by Pinkerton detectives. “The yeggmen left by a rear door after the robbery, it was stated. Entrance to the safe was gained by punching a lock on an inner door. According to (Centralia) Police Chief (Milton) Jastram, the work had the earmarks of an amateur job. The appearance of the safe this morning led him to believe it was the work of older boys, he said. It was thought one of the thieves might have concealed himself during a card party held at the hall last night, and admitted his confederates after everyone had gone.”
• Washington state Sen. Fred Norman of Raymond announced construction of the White Pass Highway was “progressing rapidly” while visiting Centralia the previous day, The Chronicle reported. “Senator Norman, who is president of the Southwest Washington Good Roads Association, stated the Sam Oreno Construction Company has a contract for seven-tenths of a mile from Cortright Creek eastward. It is planned that this work will be completed in the spring. Additional construction on the west side, he said, will include the expenditure of approximately $30,000 by the Bureau of Public Roads, following completion of the present construction. On the east side, he stated, a contract will be let next Tuesday for construction of one-half mile in the vicinity of the Tieton Dam.”
• A 1935 Chevrolet sedan for $645 and a 1928 Ford coupe for $139 were two of 16 vehicles listed for sale in a Bechtle Motor Co. of Chehalis ad in The Chronicle’s classifieds.
Thursday, Feb. 14, 1946
• Four suspects had been arrested in both north and central Washington after they were caught trying to cash checks stolen from the Klasey Motor Company in Morton on Feb. 1 according to Lewis County Sheriff John A. Blankenship, The Chronicle reported. “Sheriff Blankenship said Ray Thompson, 41, and Jim Davis, 17, were arrested by Everett police, and Al Myers, 23, and his wife, 20, by the sheriff at Okanagan. The sheriff said the group had left a trail of bad checks throughout north and central Washington stolen from the garage, the burglars having used the company’s check protector on the blank checks before leaving the building. The sheriff said the party went into an insurance agency in Wenatchee and took out burglar insurance on the Klasey Garage at Morton. They then gave the insurance agent one of the Klasey checks, made out for $75, and received the change from the $17.50 premium.”
• Chehalis police were still investigating the circumstances which caused an argument to escalate into a stabbing and shooting at Chehalis’ West Side Apartments on Saturday, The Chronicle reported. “Tom Faulks suffered severe knife wounds in the abdomen and his wife, Sadie, a bullet wound in the head. Mrs. Faulks has been released from the St. Helens Hospital, but her husband’s condition is reported still to be serious. (Chehalis) Chief of Police Tom Murray said attending physicians had reported Faulks suffered knife wounds, but his wife received a scalp wound caused by a bullet. It was at first believed both had been cut by a knife. According to Mrs. Faulks’ son, Don Short, 13, his mother and step-father became involved in an argument, and when he entered the apartment he assisted his mother in taking a knife from his step-father. He then ran to a corner grocery to phone police, and did not return to the apartment. Officers found (Tom) Faulks lying on the floor of the apartment after Mrs. Faulks had followed her son to the grocery.”
• A five-room “modern” home on six acres of “good black soil on Waunch Prairie” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $6,850.
Tuesday, Feb. 14, 1956
• Ernie Sorensen, Lewis-Pacific Dairymen’s Association (LPDA) member and Darigold manager, announced local cattle ranchers were still suffering from an extended market cost-prize squeeze at a Chehalis Chamber of Commerce meeting the previous day, The Chronicle reported, as for several years now production costs had risen while sales prices remained stagnant. “Sorensen, featured speaker at the Chamber meeting, said that during the past four years the farmer’s share of the dollar received for his products had dropped 12 cents, or from 58 to 45 cents out of every dollar. The Darigold manager traced the history of the Lewis-Pacific Association since it was organized in 1914. The group became incorporated in 1919 and in 1921 operations began in the present plant on Chehalis Avenue.” During the Great Depression, the LPDA entered the feed business to create a grain market in Chehalis in 1928, followed by a farming implement department. “Sorensen pointed out farm implements sold the first year amounted to only $19,000, while last year the volume was $600,000 … The Dairy Association is locally owned with its 1,700 dairy farmers owning all of the $1,500,000 invested, he said.” The Darigold plant would remain in Chehalis until December of 2025, when Darigold officials announced the plant’s impending closure as the company intended to move its operation to a new, modern dairy processing facility in Pasco.
• Lewis County Commissioner Martin Jacobsen announced the Lewis County General Hospital had “its best year on record in 1955,” according to a recent report from the hospital’s administrator, but its budget was in the red again, The Chronicle reported. “The report, forwarded to county commissioners by Hospital Administrator Howard E. Hodge, listed a gross income of $295,944 as compared to 1954 business of $272,693. But through the past year the hospital, operation of which is to cease by the county after July 31 because of its deficits, still failed to pay for itself … It had five months in which receipts outran disbursements. However, the county-operated institution will show a 1955 deficit of $25,091 on the county’s financial books. The red ink comes from the operational deficit of $6,714 and two capital outlay items, a new $6,285 hospital plant boiler and a new $10,644 X-ray unit. Neither was foreseen as necessary a year ago. In addition, there is a $1,355 figure for an isolation room installation, but that money is being repaid to the hospital.” The report went on to add the deficit was someone offset by an increase in the hospital’s inventories during the year, and Hodge recommended the commissioners take no action to provide additional funding. “During 1955 the hospital had 1,974 patients admitted and they came from a wide area.”
• A four-room “semi-modern” home with outbuildings and some timber on 40 acres of land “near Curtis” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $3,500. A “cozy,” one-bedroom, furnished duplex in Centralia was listed for rent for $50 a month.
Monday, Feb. 14, 1966
• Packwood residents were preparing to hold a meeting later that week on Wednesday concerning what effects the newly released 1966 North Cascades Study report might have on the East Lewis County region, The Chronicle reported. The North Cascades Study was a joint federal effort initiated in 1963 by then-Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and then Secretary of Agriculture Orville Freeman. “Packwood community leaders said the Packwood Improvement Club has scheduled Richard Chase, ranger for the Packwood District of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, as the featured speaker. Under some proposals of the North Cascade Study, some parts of the Packwood District would be shifted or have new control. The survey also included a recommendation for a 698,000-acre national park.” Ultimately, that new national park was created when the U.S. Congress approved the creation of the North Cascades National Park in 1968.
• Former Washington state Rep. Arthur Cory, who was then 85, retired and described as “one of Chehalis’ best known citizens,” announced he was about half-way through completing his memoirs detailing his 63 years living in the Mint City, The Chronicle reported. “The Chehalin disclosed last week he started in 1964 to write an autobiography linked with early-century growth and development of Chehalis and Lewis County.” Originally born in Eagle, Wisconsin on July 6, 1880, Cory first served as a representative of the state’s 27th Legislative district from 1921 to 1923, and then again from 1929 to 1933. He then served as the 20th district’s representative from 1943 to 1953. “So far Cory has completed four volumes out of the 10 he has planned … Cory hopes the work may become the first comprehensive history of the growth of Lewis County and the Chehalis area. He intends to include all phases and aspects of community life through the years, with his own efforts and interests in politics, church, business and community efforts. His autobiography, as well as that of Mrs. (Johanna) Cory, will be a part of the project. They have been married for 61 years. The Chehalin, a native of Wisconsin, came to the city in 1903. He was a bank organizer and pioneer in savings and loan work, serving some 40 years as manager of the Lewis County Savings and Loan Association of Chehalis … Both Mr. and Mrs. Cory are considered world travelers, having visited almost every part of the globe at one time or another. For years they featured public programs with colored film taken during their travels. Title of the initial volume is ‘Chehalis — Our Home Town. Beginnings and Growth of Lewis County.’ Included in the introductory portions are historical facts of the area, including the date of May 8, 1858, when the first post office was opened in the city. Cory wrote the day might be considered the city’s birthday, for after that it was named Saunder’s Prairie. The work includes all of the names of Chehalis’ postmasters, starting with (Schuyler Stuart) Saunders, who held the first donation land claim on which Chehalis property is located today. Also listed are all of the mayors of Chehalis, starting with the city’s incorporation date in 1890, when (Charles Warren) Maynard was mayor.”
• A four-bedroom home with a “good well” on 30 acres of land along a “black top road” 12 miles south of Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $12,500. A one-bedroom home in the Rochester area was listed for rent for $50 a month.
Saturday, Feb. 14, 1976
• A Lewis County Coroner’s jury announced Friday they had ruled the shooting death of Centralia resident William Walker, 22, accidental, The Chronicle reported. “George H. Blomdahl, coroner, said the jury of one man and three women deliberated for 35 minutes on the case before reaching a verdict. Lee Snaza, Chehalis, was jury foreman. Charles R. Byrd, deputy coroner and chief deputy prosecuting attorney for Lewis County, was the presiding officer at the inquest. In the verdict, the jurors stated that William W.R. Walker died on Jan. 31 in Centralia General Hospital from a gunshot wound and that the death was excusable homicide which was not effected by criminal means at the hand of Terrance Creech. Walker was accidentally shot on Jan. 18 in the home of Creech, a block away from Walker’s house. Creech told the jury he was planning to unload the five-shot revolver when it accidentally discharged as he removed it from the holster … Creech, 22, and Walker were close friends, having known each other for many years, according to the testimony from witnesses. Walker was hospitalized at Centralia General Hospital for treatment of the gunshot wound where he died two weeks later.”
• Washington state Aeronautics Commission officials had given Packwood Water District staff permission to drill a test well at the East Lewis County community’s airfield, The Chronicle reported. “The commission has come to terms with the district on conditions for a lease-easement permitting the district to drill the well at one end of the airport, according to John Moorcroft, member and secretary of the water district board. Moorcroft emphasized a test well will not be drilled until a buy-sell agreement has been completed with the owner of the present water system supplying town residents. The water district is negotiating with Sherman Combs, owner of the Packwood Water Company for purchase of the system. Combs supplies water to residents from Snyder Lake through a gravity flow system. Moorcroft said it is ‘reasonable to assume’ suitable drinking water will be obtained in the test well. A chemical odor has been detected in water from other wells in the community, but this should not be the case at the airport site, he said.”
• A remodeled three-bedroom home with a sauna building, storage rooms, creek access and an “excellent shop, barn, chicken house with worm business started” on 20 acres of land near Winlock was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $58,500. A remodeled two-bedroom home in Centralia was listed for rent for $135 a month.
