World gone by
Published 1:30 am Friday, May 22, 2026
May 23, 1944
The number of Harbor sawmill workers off the job reached about 1,000 today as the result of further walkouts in both AFL and IWA (CIO) plants and union leaders remained noncommittal on the possible duration of the lumber strike which thus far has been tied up for more than 40 plants in the Pacific Northwest.
Only one AFL sawmill, the White Star Lumber company, at Whites, continued to operate.
The threat of draft hung over “vacationing” lumber and sawmill workers today as Col. Walter J. DeLong, Washington state selective service director warned that the walkout of 13,000 to 15,000 men automatically changes the draft status of some men.
Colonel DeLong said that men deferred because of their occupations are not entitled to deferments when they leave their jobs. “If a man is not working, he naturally will be classified 1-A, if he is otherwise qualified,” Colonel DeLong said.
May 24, 1944
More than 2,000 Grays Harbor lumber workers were off their jobs today and only one of the timber district’s 12 major sawmills still held out against spreading walkouts protesting national war labor board wage increase denials.
An estimated 20,000 already are idle in the Pacific Northwest billion-dollar lumber industry.
May 27, 1944
An army private, writing on “Why I Am Proud of the Wacs” for a $25 prize, sent in the following: “No nylons, no nuttin’ — just G.I. miseries. And no draft board to ‘encourage’ them. What else could a fellow feel toward a gal like that than pride? Betty’ll come marching home beside her Johnny with her head held high, chin out — ‘cause she’s doing her job.”
He won the prize.
May 29, 1944
Christian (Chris) Zauner, 88, who was Westport’s first lighthouse keeper and used to light a kerosene lamp each night to help guide ships approaching Grays Harbor, died last night at his home at Westport after a several months’ illness. He was born in Austria and came to the United States when he was 11 years old.
He entered the lighthouse service in 1886 as assistant lighthouse keeper at Tillamook Rock, Oregon. Later he served as head lighthouse keeper at Destruction Island and 46 years ago opened the lighthouse station at Westport. Until electricity was installed, he operated the fog siren with steam. He retired 19 years ago.
May 30, 1944
Youth delinquency is on the increase because most people in most communities are neither interested nor care, George Fahey, chief state probation officer, declared yesterday at the Aberdeen Lions club luncheon meeting.
Too often, Mr. Fahey pointed out, law enforcement officials and private citizens choose the easiest way out and use snap judgment in sending youngsters to the state reformatories.
The war has proven that many of the delinquents who were not “worth 10 cents several years ago” are making names for themselves in the armed forces in the service of their country, he said.
57 YEARS AGO
May 23, 1969
Westport has shown the highest percentage of population growth among incorporated Twin Harbors cities in the years 1940 to 1968, according to a book, “Growth of Cities and Towns, State of Washington,” just released by the State Planning and Community Affairs Agency.
Population of Grays Harbor’s best-established fishing and resort area grew from 443 in 1960 to 1,100 in 1968, according to agency figures, growth of 148.3 percent.
Westport’s growth percentage compares with a growth of 58.8 per cent in Elma during the same period (from 1,370 to 2,175).
May 27, 1969
Climaxing a voyage of discovery that paved the way for Americans to land on the moon, the Apollo 10 lunar explorers parachuted to a bull’s-eye landing in the Pacific today and were quickly hoisted aboard the recovery ship Princeton.
America’s newest space heroes ended man’s greatest and most dangerous space adventure when their sturdy six-ton spaceship parachuted into gently rolling seas 400 miles east of Pago Pago.
With television cameras relaying the dramatic splashdown and recovery to the United States and Europe, Air Force Col. Thomas Stafford and Navy Cmdrs. John Young and Eugene Cernan hit the water just 3 miles from the Princeton.
May 28, 1969
Crews yesterday began unloading the first shipment of huge caissons that will form the structural foundation for Hoquiam’s long-awaited Sixth Street Bridge, key link in the one-way couplet complex.
The caissons — 38-ton tubes which will be embedded in the river’s bedrock to support the footings of the $1.25 million span — were shipped to Hoquiam via rail from Texas.
It will take about three months to place the 51 caissons in the riverbed. The ones on the east side of the river will be placed 104-106 feet deep while the west side tubes will go down 168 feet.
The contract for the bridge calls for construction of a 465-foot steel truss vertical lift span with steel girder approaches. The bridge will have two 14-foot traffic lanes, with a pair of five-foot sidewalks.
May 29, 1969
The vestibule of the city hall was designated last night as the location of the memorial bust of the late Mayor Ed Lundgren by the city council, and the memorial committee announced conclusion of its fund drive and work on dedication programs.
“The committee is very gratified with the gifts that have been coming in and the interest shown,” said Mrs. John Keaton, chairman of the memorial committee. She said that Everett Dupen, Seattle artist commissioned to cast the life-size bust, is nearly ready to begin work.
May 30, 1969
Robert E. Bush, who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism performed when he was only 17, will be the commencement speaker when 65 Ocosta High School seniors receive their diplomas Monday night at 8 o’clock in the school gymnasium.
Bush, founder and president of Bayview Lumber Co., was a medical corpsman attached to a Marine Corps in the Pacific during World War II. He became the youngest man ever to receive the Medal of Honor after aiding wounded comrades without regard for his safety during a battle engagement in May, 1945, defending against Japanese soldiers a wounded man to whom he was administering plasma, and refusing medical attention for his own serious wounds (he lost an eye in the battle) until he had attended to other wounded.
32 YEARS AGO
May 23, 1994
Elma Lanes captured the Brunswick World Team Challenge bowling tournament Sunday at Earl Anthony Lanes in Dublin, Calif.
Harborites Henry Dawson, Frank DeRemer and Curtis Messer, plus longtime Northwest tour standouts Matt Surina and Bob Davidson, shared the $3,200 top prize and qualified for the $125,000 World Team Challenge Grand Championship in June in Reno.
May 24, 1994
A new walkway and safe trails created by high school students should be open along the Hoquiam River and through Elton Bennett Park by late summer.
The 1994 Hoquiam Service Team plans to restore dilapidated bridges at the park and build a community walkway along Riverside Avenue for its “Summer of Safety” project.
The teens also will replace locks and windows for some elderly and low-income families. Police Chief Scott Finlayson will help the young people find Hoquiamites who need help with safety measures in their homes.
Eighteen boys and girls will be hired to work from June 17 to Aug. 25. They will earn $150 a week, one semester credit and receive a $1,000 post secondary education scholarship of they complete the program.
The league president will have a piece of the action when professional baseball returns to Grays Harbor next year.
Western League founder and president Bruce Engel identified himself as part of a five-man ownership group for the as-yet unnamed Grays Harbor franchise at a presentation ceremony-news conference Monday at the Nordic Inn.
The independent league is scheduled to open play with at least eight teams in May of 1995.
May 27, 1994
“Give your Grads the gift to keep them growing!” says an advertisement from Techline, located in the Reiner Building, 221 E. Wishkah St. in Aberdeen. “Leading Edge 486 computer, 1.2 and 1.44 Floppy drives, 170 Megabyte Hard Drive, 4 Megs of Memory, Microsoft Works, Productivity Package, Entertainment Package, Windows and more for $999.”
Three Aberdeen players were named to the all-Black Hills League softball team, selected from coaches’ all-opponent clubs.
Senior infielder Deela Dahlstrom, senior outfielder Angela Bennett and junior outfielder Alison Herling were included on a 14-player first unit.
Hoquiam shortstop Missy McFadden was a second team selection.
May 28, 1994
A once-drab warehouse on Aberdeen’s east side is now the brightly lit, freshly painted home of four brand new businesses and a relocated veterinary clinic. Called the Wishkah Plaza, it’s just spitting distance from the new Wal-Mart store.
Greg and Linda Hunt bought the building last November. Hunt reports they’ve spent about $650,000 so far on the purchase and subsequent makeover.
Considerable local interest has been stirred by signs of a Subway franchise to open there soon.
Already open is Video Tonight, owned by Rocky Wharton of Cosmopolis and the Figaro’s Italian Kitchen take-out franchise owned by Don Swier of Cosmopolis.
The sign is up for the Blo-Outs styling salon. It will be owned and operated by the Hunts.
May 29, 1994
The Elma Eagles, held hitless for five-plus innings and guilty of two errors in the first three innings, managed to piece together a championship-sized victory.
The Eagles used another pitching gem and aggressive baserunning to win their first ever state baseball championship with a 4-1 triumph over Kiona-Benton Saturday night at Yakima County Stadium.
How did the Eagles, who managed just three hits in the entire game, do it?
Have good pitching and just keep battling, said Elma coach Jim Hill, who stood teary-eyed and happily weighed own by the bulky championship trophy immediately afterwards.
Michael Weld took care of the pitching part for Elma. The junior struck out 10, walked just one and scattered four hits in halting Kiona-Benton’s 21-game winning streak.
May 30, 1994
In a year that has seen the Hoquiam High School Band march back to excellence, junior drum major Guy Donaldson won the biggest bouquet at the Rhododendron Festival Parade at Port Townsend May 21.
With Donaldson directing the 60-member band along the jam-packed, mile-long route, the Grizzly band placed second among about 20 competitors.
Donaldson won raves from the judges and topped the drum major competition on the strength of a “synchronized, high-step strut to the drum cadence,” according to HHS band director Roger White.
While unassuming out of uniform, it’s Donaldson’s pomp and confidence that make him a winner in the eyes of the judges and the crowds.
“He is a little bit flamboyant. He likes to show his stuff,” White said about Donaldson.
Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom, Editorial Assistant at The Daily World. You can contact her at karen.barkstrom@thedailyworld.com or call her at 360-537-3925.
