Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
B3
HISTORY
VERBATIM
Hope To Meet
Thief Of Sunday
Papers
Several residents of the
west side are expressing
hope that they will, at an
early date, have an oppor-
tunity to meet the person or
persons who make a practice
of stealing one or other of the
Sunday papers from road-
side boxes and thus force
subscribers to go without
part of their Sunday enter-
tainment or drive to town to
purchase another copy.
One resident states that
about every other Sunday,
when he goes out to Tucker
Road to pick up his Sunday
The former St. Mary’s Academy is pictured in the flood of 1894.
YESTERYEARS
1921 — 100 years ago
Easily the heaviest snow-
storm of the winter put the
county under a deep mantle
of snow last weekend and
in some parts of the valley,
the covering was well over
15 inches. From shortly
after midnight on Saturday
through 9 p.m. on Sunday,
snow fell without cessation
and downtown, the depth
was about 10 inches. On
Monday, a sharp thaw set
in and got in its work but on
Monday evening, a sharp
frost put a hard coating on
the snow. — Hood River
News
Died: The Dalles chamber
of commerce; 9:20 o’clock
last night, at Hotel Dalles.
The deceased is survived by
a husky young infant named
“The Dalles-Wasco County
Chamber of Commerce.” He
gives rich promise of carry-
ing on the work of his parent
along broad lines. — The
Dalles Daily Chronicle
1941 — 80 years ago
Completing 22 years of the
show business in Hood River
this week, A.S. Kolstad, who
has disposed of his inter-
ests in the two Hood River
theaters, is retiring to his
Cascadian ranch, where he
will concentrate on poultry
production and other ranch
activities. Several years ago,
Kolstad decided, after a term
as mayor of Hood River, that
he had a definite yen for the
country life and he acquired
the former A.L. Anderson
home and acreage as a pre-
lude to the development of a
special breed of fryer chick-
ens for an exclusive market.
— Hood River News
Free transportation from
home to polling place will
be provided any person on
Wednesday, Feb. 26, when
the airport and industrial
bond issues will be put up to
a vote of the people, Herbert
A. Vind, chairman of the
coordinating committee of
the Chamber of Commerce,
announced today. — The
Dalles Daily Chronicle
1961 — 60 years ago
Cold Storage Closes
Early — Duckwall Bros.
announced today that
closure of the firm’s Odell
cold storage for the present
season marks one of the
earliest closing dates for that
operation in several seasons.
“We expect to have all our
remaining fruit shipped
from our downtown plant
sometime in March,” says
Dick Duckwall, firm manag-
er. “We are now completely
sold on Anjous and the only
remaining fruit we have in
storage unsold is a limited
quantity of Red Delicious
Extra Fancy grade sizes 138
and larger.” — Hood River
News
The Wasco County Grand
Jury yesterday submitted
recommendations at both
the Wasco County and The
Dalles City jails. Improved
cell lighting was a grand jury
recommendation shared
by both jails. The grand jury
report noted that lighting
in the cells was inadequate
for reading. An improved
book and magazine library
was recommended at the
county jail, and either a good
washing or new paint job
was suggested for the city
jail walls. — The Dalles Daily
Chronicle
1981 — 40 years ago
Construction will start
in June on a $320,000
campground at the Wyeth
interchange east of Cascade
Locks, district ranger Gene
Zimmerman of the U.S.
Forest Service said this week.
Zimmerman said the feder-
ally funded campground will
have facilities for 14-17 sin-
gle family parking areas and
four group camping areas.
Included in the development
will be a rest room building,
a pressurized water system
with standpipes throughout
the campsite, fire pits and a
trail head. “We went through
a long period waiting for the
county to give us approval to
buy a plot of land adjacent
to the 15 acres the Forest
Service now owns and had
planned to build for some
time,” Zimmerman said. —
Hood River News
Federal funding of
the Columbia Gorge
Commissions of Oregon
GLOBAL HEADLINES
1921
Crazed Giant Breaks Out Of State Asylum
Seven Men Die In Big Mine Fire
Bill Would Halt Whiskey Running
1941
Roosevelt Asks More Billions For Defense
Dive Bombers Fail In Fleet Attack
Dictators Issue Threats, Hint At Spring Offensive
1961
UN Patrol on Way Toward Luluabourg
6 Airlines Return To 50 Per Cent Normal Operations
Anti-Recession Passage Planned
1981
House Panel Moves Kindergarten Deadline
Diplomats See No Quick Improvement In Soviet
Relations
Spanish Coup Attempt Fails
2001
Burial of mail-order bride delayed by legal problems
Bush outlines tax cuts
Parents tackle school films
paper, he finds the box
empty and a check reveals
that the paper was placed
into the box earlier in the
morning. He states that he
does not wish to be on hand
at 2 a.m. when the paper is
delivered at the box to insure
being able to read his paper
later on, but he says that if
the thief forces him to take
such action, he will take his
shotgun along and thereby
secure a clue as to who the
thief is.
— Feb. 28, 1941, Hood
River News
154 War Veterans
Registered Here
This is an architect’s drawing of proposed new building at Mid-
Columbia Home, The Dalles, to house 255 additional geriatrics
patients, bringing the total population of Home to 500. Building
would be stage 1 of six-year expansion program.
— Feb. 24, 1961, The Dalles Daily Chronicle
and Washington will end
this year, the commission
members were told Monday.
Jeffrey Breckel, director of
commissions, told members
they would have to have the
states (pay) for more than
$160,000 on the current two-
year budget. — The Dalles
Chronicle
There was no reason to
think there was any neg-
ligence in this case, said
Bingen Police Chief Bill
Wang, referring to an acci-
dent Jan. 25 involving one
of his department’s officers.
Wang said he reviewed the
accident report submitted bu
the sheriff’s deputy respond-
ing to the accident involv-
ing Rich Cortese. Cortese
was responding to another
accident on State Route 141
at about 12:20 a.m. when he
apparently lost control of his
patrol car on the Underwood
Cutoff. “The roads were
very wet and it’s very easy
to lose control,” said Wang.
In an instance where there
had been negligence, Wang
said, a citation would have
been given or another action
would have been taken.
Cortese suffered cuts to the
knees, arms, and face and
has since returned to duty
following the accident. —
White Salmon Enterprise
2001 — 20 years ago
Last week, Hood River
was placed on notice by
the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs that a
gambling casino is coming to
town. Since the timeline for
construction of that facility is
not yet known, local officials
have chosen to take a “wait
and see” stance. They believe
that there may be very little
they can do to stop those
plans since the casino will be
built on tribal trust land east
of the city. The 40-acre parcel
has “sovereign nation” status
and is exempt by federal law
from land use restrictions. —
Hood River News
Like rolling thunder,
the beat of the “taiko,” or
Japanese drums, flows
through your body. And
with each drum beat, the
vibrations washed over
students at Colonel Wright
Elementary School as they
clapped along to the music
during a PTA-sponsored per-
formance Tuesday. — The
Dalles Chronicle
Columbia High School
senior Kenny Bucher
became the first wrestler
in the three-year history of
the CHS program to earn a
state medal. Bucher, in his
second year of wrestling,
placed eighth at the state 2A
Mat Classic XIII, held Friday
and Saturday in the Tacoma
Dome. Columbia’s happy-
go-lucky heavyweight lost
the match for seventh place
—his fifth overall in the tour-
nament — to senior Allen
Root of Sultan, on an 8-2
decision. “It’s an honor to be
the first to place at state for
our school,” said Bucher. “I
just wish I had another year.
That’d be nice.” — White
Salmon Enterprise
World war veterans to the
number of 154 registered
here Saturday for general
service in specialized lines in
the even of national emer-
gency, it was announced
today by Barney M. Martin,
commander of The Dalles
American Legion post,
which conducted the local
registration.
A surprising number of
men capable of handling
important assignments
in work in which they are
trained but not now em-
ployed as revealed by the
registrations, it was stated.
Diesel engineers, ambulance
driers, interpretors, map
makers, tractor operators,
machinists, electricians,
telegraphers and many other
qualified experts were listed
whose present employment
varies from common laborer
to traveling salesman.
Registration committee
members typed question-
naires from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday, completing the pa-
pers which will be sent in to
American Legion state and
national headquarters for
the compilation of veteran
man-power records.
A number of World war
veterans who were unable
to be in the city Saturday
were registered today
with Legionnaires George
Scherrer and Eugene Elton at
the county courthouse.
Registrations will be held
open for several day, Martin
said today.
— Feb. 24, 1941, The Dalles
Daily Chronicle
City’s Dances Are
Cleanest In Northwest
Says Special Officer
Passage of a health
ordinance, a dance hall
ordinance, and the invoca-
tion of the state prohibition
law as a city ordinance, are
recommended to Mayor P.J.
Stadelman and the council
by W.D. Morris, special
investigator, who has been
working in The Dalles secret-
ly for almost three weeks.
Morris was sent to The
Dalles by Chief of Police
Jenkins of the Portland
police department at the
request of Mayor Stadelman.
He has spent the time since
then in quiet investigation
of every phase of activity
requiring police regulation.
Morris, who left The Dalles
this afternoon for Portland,
paid particular attention to
the public dances and to the
pool halls. His presence here
was unknown to more than
three people until the arrests
were made at a local garage
last Sunday afternoon, when
Mayor Stadelman asked
Morris to assist the police in
working up the evidence.
In his concluding letter to
today, Morris took occasion
to compliment the managers
of the public dances.
“I have attended dances
in most of the large cities of
the northwest and I find the
cleanest of dances in you
city,” the letter said. “There
were a few who tried vicious
dancing but in these cases
the offenders were spoken
to, and it is evident the man-
agers are trying to conform
to the rules.”
In his investigation, Morris
said police officers should
not loiter around pool halls
and hotels except on calls or
in the course of their duties.
Public dances should be
licensed under a permit
system, he declared, and the
police should watch these
dances. Hotels and room-
ing houses should also be
licensed ...
— Feb. 24, 1921, The Dalles
Daily Chronicle
Electric power topic of history presentation
“Electric Power in Wasco
County, Past and Current” is
the topic of the fourth pro-
gram of the Original Wasco
County Courthouse 2021
Regional History Forum.
The program begins at 1:30
p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27. Due
to COVID-19 restrictions,
programs are taking place on
Zoom and not at the historic
1859 Courthouse.
Access is free at
OWCCZoomLink.info. Those
needing help getting Zoom
on a computer or cell phone
may leave a message at 541-
296-4798. There is a limit of
100 participants. Zoom will
be available at 1 p.m. and the
presentation starts promptly
at 1:30 p.m.
Rodger Nichols will
present the final program
in the 2021 series. He is a
veteran news personality
with a long background in
local print and broadcast
media. He pioneered the
“History Mystery” feature in
The Dalles Chronicle, hosted
interviews and news reports
for Gorge Country Radio,
and most recently has taken
up writing articles for the
Ruralite.
Work with Northern
Wasco County People’s
Utility District led to Nichol’s
program this Saturday. He
said that he hopes those who
tune in the program “will get
a charge out of an enlight-
ening presentation on watts
Early electric power
would light a few
bulbs for a few hours
each evening in the
homes of The Dalles.
Power came from this
wood-fired steam plant
at the corner of First
and Laughlin Streets.
Photo courtesy
Wasco County Pioneer
Association/Columbia
Gorge Discovery Center
been happening in the 120-
year history of electricity in
Wasco County,” which may
“have the potential to spark a
battery of questions.”
The program will cover the
arrival of hydro-power from
White River, the big dams,
the fight for a P.U.D., rural
electrification, and the grid
that carries locally-generated
power all the way to south-
ern California.
Saturday’s online presen-
tation is free, but donations
to the Original Courthouse
are gladly accepted.
SERVING THE
ENTIRE GORGE
Understanding the First Amendment is key to
protecting our free society.
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