In this installment of A Look Back in Time, the Friday, July 12, 1935, edition of The Chronicle featured a story about Richard Carr, a 12-year-old from Denver, Colorado, who went missing after his parents sent him out to buy milk.
The old Chehalis Boeing Aircraft Company plant was awarded the U.S. Treasury Department’s Minute Man Flag award for “outstanding purchases of war bonds by the employees,” according to the Thursday, July 12, 1945, edition of The Chronicle.
And in the Saturday, July 12, 1975, edition of The Chronicle, it was reported that over $400 worth of gift certificates to local businesses were given away during the old Chehalis Krazy Days festival’s “saucer drop” event.
A Look Back in Time is compiled using The Chronicle’s archives at the Lewis County Historical Museum along with digital archives on newspapers.com.
Friday, July 12, 1935
• Richard Carr, a 12-year-old boy who was on a trip with his parents visiting from Denver, Colorado, was reported missing after his parents sent him out to get milk and he never returned the previous night, The Chronicle reported. “The Carrs were passing through Chehalis on their way to Seattle. (James) Carr said his son disappeared about 9 p.m., wearing blue bib overalls, a white shirt and canvas shoes.” While his parents contacted police and searched frantically in the area, Richard was found 80 miles south in Vancouver the next day when “hungry and penniless, he begged for a meal at a downtown restaurant,” according to the July 18, 1935 edition of The Columbian. Richard stated he had gone to the bathroom while his family was getting gas in Chehalis, and when he came out, the family car was gone. “He waited helplessly for more than an hour and then started walking along the highway. He was headed south but did not know it. He walked until he was exhausted and slept beside the road that night.” Richard continued his trek southward the next morning and was picked up by a passing motorist, who gave him a ride to the edge of Vancouver. “The lad claims that he had no intention of running away and that there was no trouble of any sort between his parents and himself which would cause them to desert him.” Vancouver police were still holding Richard in custody as they continued their investigation.
• The Shafer Bros.’ Sawmill in Dryad was set to be reopened after two years of being shut down, pending the resumption of production at the Shafer Bros.’ mills in Grays Harbor, The Chronicle reported. “Albert and John Shafer visited Dryad recently and informed former employees the plant would be reopened under certain conditions, including a minimum wage of 50 cents an hour and a 40-hour work week, and an understanding that the workers would be free from outside interference or control. The men are reported to have accepted the proposal 100%. Should operations be resumed at Dryad, 110 men would be given employment at the mill, and 75 in the woods.”
• Bob Brandon, one of two men accused of the Dec. 17, 1934, shooting and murder of Pe Ell gas station attendant William Walker, was finally caught and arrested in a transient camp near Rushville, Missouri, north of Kansas City, The Chronicle reported. Brandon’s arrest had been reported to Lewis County Sheriff John Blankenship earlier that morning via telegram. “The arrest was made possible through the efforts of an amateur sleuth who found his picture and description in a detective story magazine (called The Lineup). Brandon is accused of being the principal figure in the Pe Ell murder. Joe Bryan, his partner in the crime, is now serving a life sentence at Walla Walla, having been convicted six weeks ago in the Lewis County Superior Court.” As for how the shooting occurred, Brandon and Bryan had already stolen a car from a Raymond resident, and stopped at Walker’s gas station about a mile north of Pe Ell. The men got into an argument, and eventually gunfire was exchanged. After fatally shooting Walker, Brandon fled in the stolen vehicle and left behind Bryan, who had also been wounded in the shooting. Brandon would eventually plead guilty to a second-degree murder charge and was sentenced to 25 to 35 years in prison.
• A “modern” five-bedroom home near Pearl Street in Centralia was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for a “sacrifice” of $250.
Thursday, July 12, 1945
• Chehalis’ Boeing Aircraft Company plant was awarded the U.S. Treasury Department’s Minute Man Flag award for “outstanding purchases of war bonds by the employees,” The Chronicle reported. “The plant, over which has flown the Stars and Stripes since the day it began operations, was previously honored for outstanding performance in the manufacture of aircraft parts through the award of the Army-Navy ‘E’ pennant.” The Chehalis Boeing plant had the highest rate of bond-purchasing employees, with 96.8% of them buying bonds through payroll allocations totalling 12.2% of the plant’s gross payroll. “Frank Owens, plant manager, presented the Minute Man Flag to William Thornton, business manager, who is in charge of payroll deductions, and it was hoisted by Estelle Johns, Ted Carlson and Arthur Turner, shop committeemen and stewards.”
• A 40-acre fire was burning near Morton and being fought by 80 loggers and state forestry department fire fighters, The Chronicle reported. “‘I don’t consider it under control yet,’ L.T. Webster, assistant state forestry supervisor, said at Olympia.” The blaze was believed to have been started on Wednesday when a mill worker was using a steam donkey to remove logging slash. “At the same time, Webster said he was warning all operators to run ‘hoot owl’ shifts, ceasing all operations each day at noon until a break comes in the present dry spell. The forests are tinder dry and there is no indication at present of rain.”
• Ten dogs died when the veterinary hospital owned by Dr. T.G. Gaukel in Centralia burned down at around 2 a.m. that morning, The Chronicle reported. “Although the penned dogs could be heard at first, there was no chance of removing them from the burning building. Because the property is a considerable distance outside the city limits, firemen had no hydrant hook-up. They used a booster tank for water from the truck and kept the blaze from spreading. Fire Chief Walter Ryckman said the cause of the blaze is indefinite, but it could have originated from a fire in a trash burner in the hospital during the early evening.”
• A five-bedroom home on 53 acres of land with 24 acres cultivated, a barn and two hen houses near Winlock was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $3,500. A “modern” three-bedroom home on Harrison Avenue in Centralia was listed for rent for $20 a month.
Tuesday, July 12, 1955
• Billy Merriman, 2-year-old son of Centralia Police Officer William Merriman, was one of two children admitted to Lewis County General Hospital after being hit by a baseball, The Chronicle reported. “In another ‘beaning’ case Monday, Centralian Gordon Theriault was hit on the nose by a baseball. He was treated at the Lewis County General Hospital’s emergency ward and released.” Billy was also expected to be released from the hospital the same day.
• Tacoma City Light engineers held a meeting over the previous weekend in Tacoma to begin laying out plans for their Cowlitz River Project, which included the construction of both the Mayfield and Mossyrock dams, The Chronicle reported. “The group includes men whose experiences are mixed with the background of Tacoma and know-how gained from the desert sands of Arabia to the steaming grasslands of Indonesia … On the engineering side, the office force for the Cowlitz dams will be headed by Carl F. Pflugmacher, Hal W. Birkeland, Arthur D. Francis, Harold R. Lanning and John C. Mundt in the field.”
• Lewis County strawberry farmers were looking forward to a break from rainy weather with excessive rain already causing spoilage in about 50% of the crop, The Chronicle reported. “Most of the spoilage, (Lewis County Extension Agent Ralph) Roffler said, stems from mold induced through wet weather of the past 30 days. He said in some cases entire fields have been abandoned because of the mold, and other fields have a score of being 80% harvested because of the fungus spread.” While strawberry farmers were struggling, others were enjoying the excessive rain. “It has aided pastures tremendously and it has given the county’s spring grain crop a fine boost.”
• A three-bedroom home with a two-car garage in Chehalis was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $9,700. An “attractive” four-bedroom, two-level home with a two-car garage and garden near Adna was listed for rent for $55 a month.
Monday, July 12, 1965
• The Twin Cities were set to get a new FM radio station along with a new cable television antenna site, The Chronicle reported. The new FM radio station, KGME, was owned by Tacoma resident Charles Ellsworth. “The station will broadcast country and western music, Ellsworth said. Its studios will be at 209 W. Main St., Centralia.” KELA-TV was working on installation of the new cable antenna sight, which was located on a ridge east of Centralia. “When completed, the antenna will serve both the Centralia and Chehalis cable systems … The cable system will offer 12 channels and FM to subscribers.”
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about Canadian Jim Sincock, a truck driver who was trying to break a water skiing record by skiing 219 miles straight from Port Moody, British Columbia, to Olympia. However, 115 miles into the attempt, his progress was stopped by sea kelp of all things. “His original tow became ensnared in a kelp bed near Anacortes, and another boat had no better luck after taking over the rope. Sincock was trying to break the existing record of 207 miles. A stunt skier for several years, Sincock was followed closely by a television crew. He broadcast to a radio station from his skis by radio-telephone. His arrival in Olympia was to be the grand finale of Olympia’s Seafair.”
• Centralia Junior High School teacher Loye Wilson was one of 33 instructors attending a “concrete technology for industrial educators” workshop in Flagstaff, Arizona, at the Arizona State College, now known as Northern Arizona University, The Chronicle reported. “Among the topics covered in the workshop are the fundamental principles of concrete, making and using testing devices, formwork and reinforcing steel for concrete and field trips to cement plants.”
• Two homes on 40 acres of land in Ethel with “one (home) rented out” and a “small sawmill set-up” was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $22,000. An unfurnished two-bedroom home in Centralia was listed for rent for $75 a month.
Saturday, July 12, 1975
• Local children were the lucky recipients of gift certificates given out during the Chehalis Krazy Days celebration’s famous “saucer drop” event the previous day, The Chronicle reported. “They squinted. They squirmed. But somehow these children waited through the anxious moments before the flying saucers marked with gift certificates for over $400 in merchandise donated by Chehalis merchants fell from a fire truck ladder during Friday’s Krazy Days celebration.” While it is unknown exactly when the saucer drop tradition began, the event is done in memory of pilot Kenneth Arnold’s famous June 24, 1947 sighting of nine metallic objects near Mount Rainier after taking off from Chehalis, helping coin the term “flying saucer.” Although the Chehalis Krazy Days festival is not held anymore, the saucer drop tradition was brought back in 2019 and is now held again during the annual Chehalis Flying Saucer Party, which is also held to celebrate Arnold’s sighting.
• The Chronicle featured an Associated Press story about several U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists suffering minor injuries after being exposed to sulfur gas while exploring a crater on Mount Baker. “One scientist lost his vision for several hours, and a second became nauseated and vomited after his retreat from the 500-foot deep crater. Three scientists who spent five hours in the crater in mid-June came away with snow blindness-like symptoms — stinging, gritty eyes and sore throats … Aside from the fumes, the crater-watchers also must combat crumbling rock, steep crater walls and hidden caverns and crevasses.”
• Centralia resident Ervin Williams, 67, was arrested and charged with two counts of hit and run and a charge of drunk driving after he struck two vehicles, The Chronicle reported. Williams first hit a vehicle driven by Tenino resident Linda Wiens at the Ryan’s Drive-In parking lot, before leaving the scene. About 25 minutes later, Williams then hit a car parked on Maple Street owned by Henry Hundley. “After striking the parked car, the Williams vehicle then struck a fire hydrant in the 300 block of North Pearl Street.”
• A three-bedroom home with a two-car garage, utility alcove and a large sundeck overlooking Mayfield Lake near Mossyrock was listed for sale in The Chronicle’s classifieds for $43,500. Single-room townhouse apartments with two balconies each and double baths in Toledo were listed for rent for $135 a month.
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