125 years ago
Dec. 23, 1892
Aberdeen
The St. Andrews Fair was closed on Friday night after a very successful week, during which time they took in $400. Friday evening as Harry Wallbridge, the treasurer of the society, was on his way home with the funds taken in during the evening at the fair, he was suddenly brought to a stand still by several masked men, jumping on him and shooting a revolver under his nose in true highwaymen style. It is needless to state that Harry was pretty badly scared and put up his hands pretty lively, but one of the robbers was so tickled over it that he laughed, giving the whole snap away, as it was only some of his old friends and tilicums that were having some fun with him. Harry says he can’t appreciate the joke and wonders where the fun come in; if some one had only put him on, and had him secure a lot of blank cartridges, what a lot of fun he could have had with the bold bad highwaymen.
100 years ago
Dec. 21, 1917
One reason why mail to soldiers is delayed is explained by the following extract from a letter written by one of the boys at Camp Mills, N.Y.:
“I go on special detail at twelve o’clock and work until eight on congested and misdirected mail. There is about five tons of it, all addressed without company or regiment, just Camp Mills. There are three shifts of 24 working day and night, trying to locate as many as possible of those whose mail is in the pile. – Bill.”
•••
You won’t have to figure out your own income tax all by yourself hereafter. The government is going to send out men to help you. It will be up to you to hunt up these men, who will be sent into every county seat town, and some other towns besides, to meet the people. Postmasters, bankers, and newspapers will be able to tell you when the government’s income tax man will be around, and where to find him. He will answer your questions, swear you to the return, take your money, and remove the wrinkles from your brow. Returns of income for 1917 must be made between January 1 and March 1, 1918.
“The government recognizes,” Collector of Internal Revenue David J. Williams said, “that many persons experience a good deal of difficulty in filling out income tax forms.” …
75 years ago
Dec. 24, 1942
Due to the fact that no so-called “quotas” could be set for each community to meet in assembling solders’ gifts without divulging military information, the number of gifts being made ready for distribution to all solders and sailors in his area cannot be divulged, according to Bruce Hood, county defense coordinator, in charge of assembling and transporting the gifts.
However, according to early reports, the proportion of gifts provided to the population was much higher in the rural and small community areas than in the cities of the county. Several centers such as Brady, Satsop, McCleary and Ocosta went over the top with more than 100 gifts while larger centers, including Montesano, were providing gifts in much smaller proportions.
•••
Sixteen years of newspaper reporting on the harbor will come to an end early in January for Kenneth Schell, when he leaves to go to Mt. Vernon to be managing editor of the Daily Herald.
For about two years he has been Montesano editorial representative for the Aberdeen Daily World and together with his family has lived here taking an active part in civic affairs. He is president of the Parent-Teacher Ass’n.; a past cub master for Cub Scouts and scoutmaster for troop 17 of the Boy Scouts; has been active in salvage gathering work and is technical sergeant of the local body of the state guards.
Mr. Schell is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, B.C., and came to the United States about 18 years ago, spending 2 years in Olympia before coming to the Harbor. …
50 years ago
Dec. 21, 1967
Montesano’s population has jumped from 2,486 in 1960 to 2,670 this year, but the increase is less dramatic than that registered by at least one other community in Grays Harbor County.
For instance, according to the State Health Department, Elma climbed from 1,811 at the start of the current decade to 2,175 in 1967.
The total county population was estimated this past week at 61,040, up from the 1960 census figure of 54,465.
Populations of Aberdeen and Hoquiam shot up 500 and 200, respectively, but neither city has surpassed the 1950 figures, which listed Aberdeen at 19,653 and Hoquiam at 11,123. The 1967 populations for the two top county cities are 19,250 and 10,950, respectively.
Of the county’s gain, about 2,200 was recorded in the eight cities and towns, with McCleary and Oakville showing small decreases. The population of unincorporated areas went up from 17,485 to 21,857.
Other gains were registered by Cosmopolis, up from 1,435 this year, and Westport, up from 976 in 1960 to 1,195 this year.
25 years ago
Dec. 24, 1992
The recently completed annual ‘East County Foodbowl’ competition between Montesano and Elma high schools found the home of the Bulldogs coming out on top with a total of 12,036 pounds of various food items that were distributed to the local food banks for the holiday season. Montessano’s junior and senior classes managed to collect 3,282 pound for each class during the event. One of the main promoters of the event, when it came to collecting food, was Reed McQuade, an MHS educator.
Because of a lack of space at the food bank on Marcy Street, the collected food was temporarily stored at the VFW Hall.
10 years ago
Dec. 20, 2007
The winds have died down and the floodwaters have abated, but that doesn’t mean Washington’s seven-county disaster of Dec. 2-7 is over. It’s just entered a new phase.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency – FEMA for short – has opened Disaster Recovery Centers at Elma, South Bend and Chehalis, which marks the beginning of the bureaucracy that will oversee the longterm recovery effort.
Anyone who sustained any damage of losses is urged to file a report with FEMA and obtain a case number.
FEMA officials have not put a timeline on how long they’ll be open. Instead, they say they’ll man the centers at all three locations seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. as long as the need is high.
“We’ll be there until people stop coming,” Billy Plumlee, public information officer, said Wednesday morning.
