125 years ago
Feb. 1, 1895
Daniel Gillis, the Elma logger, was in town yesterday. He thinks the logging business will be some better this season than last.
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Prof. Williams went to Tacoma, Saturday, to see Mrs. Williams, who is not yet in a condition to leave the immediate care of her physician but is somewhat better. He returned Monday.
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S.A. Estus was in town Tuesday, to see what progress was being made toward securing the assistance of the people in establishing his mill in Montesano. He has the plant ready to move whenever the people here are ready, and also has a good contract on which he is anxious to begin.
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J.W. Pettijohn has taken charge of the billiard hall, having leased the same of Mr. McKinney.
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J.B. Dabney, the wide-awake Aberdeen real estate hustler, was in the city Tuesday looking up taxes.
100 years ago
Jan. 30, 1920
Monday, Gaston Moch completed the purchase of the lot on Main street now occupied by the Kerns barber shop, belonging to the Medcalf estate.
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A most delightful affair of last week was the farewell party at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Crook, honoring Mr. and Mrs. John Pringle, who have been managing the Stockwell ranch for the past few years and who are moving away from Montesano, probably to the Coos Bay country.
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Mrs. W.J. Rozen entertained last Monday evening for her sister, Miss Bess Spicer, and her niece, Miss Irene Miller, who are here from Astoria, Ore. At the close of a very pleasant evening spent with needlework, a delicious lunch was served by the hostess. The guests were Misses Bessie Daws, Geneva Johnson, Olga Morse, Ruth Martin, Anna Owens, Bess Spicer, Irene Miller and Mrs. Jack Bensen.
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F.C. Hale of the Montesano National Bank and family will occupy the house vacated by Dr. Swackhammer. They expect to move in today.
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Come and get a message from your spirit friends at the spiritualist meeting in the Moose hall Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon and evening. Mrs. M.J. Downes of Portland will conduct both trumpet and clairvoyant readings.
75 years ago
Feb. 1, 1945
Klasell’s Ice house announced this week that they now have the “Jack Frost” line of frozen fruits and vegetables.
Housewives can now obtain frozen strawberries, raspberries, green peas, beans and cut corn. In a few days Klasell’s expects to have available green lima beans, spinach, asparagus and peaches.
“These frozen foods have the year ’round garden freshness that retain their true color and vitamins and, best of all, they are point free,” Oscar Klasell stated.
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Coming at the request of the Montesano Volunteer Fire department, Capt. Joe Cook, head instructor of the State Defense council, and on leave from the Seattle Fire department, will bring his assistants with him Sunday, February 4, here to Montesano for an all-day session of class instruction and out-door drills in the latest methods of fire fighting. The meeting has been made available to the firemen of Cosmopolis, Elma and McCleary, “Tiny” McNelly, local fireman, said today.
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Grays Harbor Dairymen’s Association ad: Butter … was once plentiful in Grays Harbor County … but today butter is very scarce.
Everyone is talking about it … and, naturally, many do not understand the reason for the shortage of butter, particularly … and just as naturally, they resent not being plentifully supplied right here in the heart of a busy and productive dairying area.
We dairymen want you to realize that the cause of this butter shortage is definitely and truly due to circumstances beyond our control … because this war has forced the Grays Harbor area to become, to a large extent, almost a complete exporter of milk for our U.S. government to use to feed over 12 million men and women now in our fighting forces. It is true that a part of the milk we are producing now goes into butter for these 12 million fighters who need more butter now than they ever did as civilians.
It is equally true that the need to feed all of these 12 million fighters is only one cause of our local shortage of butter because we must furnish a great proportion of our milk products in the form of dried milk for shipment overseas to many starving people in recently liberated allied countries.
50 years ago
Jan. 29, 1970
An ordinance dealing with the opening of city streets, and placing obstructions on the street was passed by the City Council Tuesday evening. The ordinance requires a fee of $5 for every such opening that is made by contractors other than city employees, and carries a fine of $150 and 30 days in jail for noncompliance.
D.L. Morganthaler, Cascade Natural Gas manager, appeared before the council to inform them, “Though the $5 fee does not seem high, it is above average.” as an example Morganthaler cited the fact that Bellingham, which is considered high for such a permit, charges $4 per street opening. “However, we feel that whatever is just as far as the city is concerned, will be just with the company,” he concluded.
Approval was given to the proposed improvement by the state of Pioneer street from Sylvia street to the east city limits. When completed, at a total cost of some $46,000, the street will have somewhat wider lanes, sidewalks and curbing. The state will pay approximately $21,000 of the total.
At the same time, the council decided to take a “let’s just wait and see” attitude in regard to a letter from the State Highway Department regarding a city water line in the vicinity of the proposed westbound on-ramp to the freeway. The state’s position seems to indicate the city should assume responsibility for either moving or protecting the line before excavation. The council indicated that since the area is actually out of the city limits, the state should assume the responsibility for protecting the line.
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Terse Verse
Some better, some werse;
All by amateurs, ofcerse!
“Why Me”
(A poem by Bruce Curtright of Montesano)
A policeman’s lot is very fine,
When everything’s lovely and all is in line —
But when things go wrong and all the world’s gray,
Sometimes he drops to his knees and prays,
“Oh, God,” what do I hope to obtain,
I sometimes wonder if I am sane.
I walk the beat, I ride the car,
I hunt the criminal near and far —
What does it get me, I ask of thee,
Am I shacked down or am I free?
The answer comes like a bolt from the blue —
The job has to be done so it must be you.
***
Fines totalling some $13,250 were levied by the Washington State Pollution Control Commission against 40 industrial firms throughout the state recently.
Largest fine of the past year was levied against the Washington Tug and Barge Company of Seattle for the discharge of oil-laden water into Elliott Bay, while Foss Launch and Tug Co., also of Seattle, received a fine of $2,200 for an oil spill in the Straits of Juan De Fuca.
On the local scene, Dravo Corp., Montesano, was fined $100, as was Evans Products of Aberdeen, for pollution during the months of October, November and December.
According to James Behike, commission director, “The commission began enforcing the state’s new oil-spill law late last summer and collected $3,750 in fines during the last three months of the year.”
