I recently received a scrapbook from the early 1940s with some interesting local stories clipped from the pages of the Aberdeen Daily World. Who the original owner was and why they chose to save these particular stories is a mystery but I’m sure they had their reasons.

‘ESCORTING’ MAIL CARRIERS FULL-TIME CHORE FOR NIPI — Sharp-Voiced Pup is Self-Appointed Pal of Postal Workers — He is called Nipi — short for Nipino, and not because of his disposition. It’s anybody’s guess as to what kind of a dog he is. Nipi has a fondness for mail carriers, and his main trouble is Sundays.

Nipi wears a nondescript brown coat that covers everything but his heads and legs, and these are what a house-painter would call “off white.” He eats and sleeps at the Andrew Gudaz home, stays in at nights and “works” all day.

The dog’s passion is following mail carriers. In a way he inherited the job from him predecessor in the Gudaz home. The other dog, up until he had a fatal brush with an automobile, was a pretty good postal worker follower himself; but he could not have held a candle to Nipi, who learned all the tricks of his forerunner and added a few of his own.

Nipi starts his day at Jefferson and Second Streets where he waits for Louis Kaifer. He dogs Kaifer’s heels to the post office and waits for the carriers to start their rounds. If the delay seems unduly long, Nipi trots over to the Spiegel store at 209 North G street and guards the newspaper rack. Besides it’s a handy place from which to watch the post office. (At that time, the Aberdeen Post Office was located in what is now the Aberdeen School Administration building.)

If by chance, a slim one, the carriers get away without Nipi spotting them, the dog makes a beeline to the nearest relay box and waits for the mailman to show up.

But Sundays leave him befuddled. He can’t understand that the mail carriers don’t work on the Sabbath, so waits as usual at Jefferson and Second streets for Kaifer. When no Kaifer shows up, Nipi starts a search of the relay boxes and the post office grounds. He has been seen to sit for hours at one box, dashing away on false alarms whenever he sees a pedestrian that even faintly resembles a mailman. Every Sunday is the same, rain or shine.

Nipi doesn’t say much except when he admonishes his pals, and this he does with a sharp, squeaky bark, for he was hit by a car too, leaving his voice impaired. But what he lacks in volume he makes up in endless enthusiasm.

In the normal course of events Nipi usually follows Louis Kaifer or Frank Wright, but, just as proof that the job is the important thing with him, recently, when both these men were absent because of illness, Nipi went with John Kaifer on a route in the business district. On Wishkah street he got crossed up, there were too many doors in one building. The nearest thing resembling a mailman was a policeman in a long raincoat. Nipi pounded down the street, but came to a skidding stop when he learned he made a mistake, and pounded right back again. — By Ed Van Syckle — February 1941

BEACH CRANBERRY GROWERS TO JOIN BIG COOPERATIVE — Grayland — Members of the Grayland Cranberry Growers association voted to become affiliated with Cranberry Growers, Inc., one of the largest cooperative canning and distribution concerns in the cranberry industry, association officials announced today.

The national cooperative, which operates several canneries in the east and middle west, will act as sales agent for Grayland-grown fresh and canned berries and will supervise enlargement of the Grayland cannery.

According to plans outlined at yesterday’s meetings, the cannery’s facilities will be expanded, warehouse space will be enlarged and a cold storage plant may be built. The Grayland cannery, located at Markham, is to handle berries grown in the Ilwaco-Long Beach district. — March 23, 1942

BRILLIANT DAYLIGHT METEOR FLASHES ACROSS QUINAULT SKY — A number of people at Quinault Sunday afternoon witnessed a brilliant daylight astronomical show when a huge meteor blazed across the heavens from the northeast and apparently dropped into the Pacific Ocean. The meteor seemed to have shot straight toward the sun.

Mr. and Mrs. C.H. Atwood of Aberdeen and Alfred Ropiak of Hoquiam were driving toward Hoquiam from Quinault when they saw a huge ball of fire sweep across the skies and go out in a few seconds. All said they became frightened. The unusual sight also was witnessed by people fishing in the Quinault district.

The Atwoods saw the meteor at 5:10 in the afternoon. All the northern sky was aglow from the speeding diamond blue flame, which seemed to be at least a quarter the size of the moon. The witnesses first believed it was a comet.

The meteor left a long path of flame and smoke as it sped through space, they said. Even after it died out the path remained for some time, they declared.

It was the first time the Atwoods and Ropiak had witnessed a meteor during the day. Had the event occurred at night, it would have been seen miles away. — October 25, 1941

SHIP PLOWS INTO OIL DEPOT DOCK — Failing to make the Chehalis river bend at the Standard Oil depot (present-day Lakeside Industries) near the Aberdeen city entrance, the Japanese motorship Koei Maru at 7 o’clock Saturday night crashed head-on into the oil dock doing damage estimated between $7,000 and $8,000.

The big ship was enroute downstream from the Bay City mill to a berth at the Anderson & Middleton plant. She was deeply laden and was unable to negotiate the tricky bend in the river. The ship was undamaged, but the greater part of the dock was damaged, including oil lines and other fuel-handling equipment.

The crash prevented a call here by the Standard tanker M.E. Lombardi, which was scheduled to call today to discharge. Her call was cancelled when it was found she would be unable to pump fuel ashore. — June 7, 1941

FOUR SKELETONS OF INDIANS UNCOVERED — Four more skeletons, believed to be Indians, have been uncovered at the South Bay Gun Club grounds at South Bay, by Charles Jump, caretaker. The four, like the first five discovered last year, were unearthed from an ancient Indian shell mound. One of the skeletons was in a good state of preservation, Jump said.

Old-timers in the south bay region said the Bay City area was the site of an early Indian camping and fishing grounds. Shell mounds are common around the entire Bay City point.

Jump, excavating for additional parking space at the clubhouse, said all the skeletons were in shallow graves and all were found with the heads to the west. — October 25, 1941

Roy Vataja is the son of Finnish immigrants and is always on the hunt for diaries, letters, scrapbooks, meeting minutes, photographs, and any other documents or items that reflect and help further the study of Aberdeen’s diverse and fascinating history. Roy can be reached at billygohl@yahoo.com