75 years ago
October 31, 1944
Proponent of the new city entrance park have taken to the movies to help argue their cause.
A 15-minute film to show the need of an entrance park and a subsequent projected change in the city’s traffic control at the Wishkah street bridge, has been shot by Stan Spiegle, and will be shown during the coming week at clubs, lodges, civic groups, PTA chapters and other organizations.
The film contrasts the Montesano and Aberdeen entrances, shows plans and diagrams and fades into a picture of Bill Allen’s conception of how the entrance could look.
November 1, 1944
Rainy weather failed to dampen the spirits of Halloween pranksters in Aberdeen last night, who pulled a new trick from their bag, and drained the Pilgrim Heights water tank of 18,000 gallons of water, creating a serious temporary fire hazard to hill residents.
The water department was notified that Pilgrim Heights was without water at 11 o’clock last night, and an inspection showed that the hydrant on top of Bel Aire had been turned on, draining 18,000 gallons of water. Water officials said the tank had been refilled by this morning.
50 years ago
October 31, 1969
Concern about infectious hepatitis apparently is sweeping Grays Harbor County as the result of a recent upsurge in cases, Dr. Lauren H. Lucke, Grays Harbor-Pacific Health District officer, said today.
Doctor’s offices, hospitals and the county health office have been receiving a rash of phone calls regarding infectious hepatitis, Dr. Lucke said.
The current incidence of the disease is at or near a fall-winter peak, he said, but it is not considered an epidemic because the number of cases, 57 thus far, is not out of line with what is expected. Hepatitis has ups and downs every four to six years, Lucke explained, and the current increase here parallels what is happening in the state as a whole. However, of the 57 cases reported this year, 10 have been in October, and the total for the year thus far exceeds that of any year in the last decade.
October 1, 1969
Saturday, no newspaper published
25 years ago
October 31, 1994
Thing went bump in the night a night early on Grays Harbor.
Some 20,000 residents from Taholah to Elma lost power in a windstorm overnight that set the stage for a soakingly spooky Halloween.
Rain and high winds toppled trees across roadways, through power lines and in at least one case, onto the roof of a house in Central Park.
The fierce winds last night blew a carnival-style tent some 30 feet across the parking lot at the Wal-Mart store in Aberdeen, soaking dozens of books that were being sold by the Sunshine Kids to raise money for Christmas gifts for the needy.
October 1, 1994
Linda Welliver doesn’t usually hang up on her husband in the middle of a conversation, but when she heard a deafening clap of thunder Tuesday morning, just feet from where she was sitting, Welliver didn’t have to think twice.
The instructional assistant at A.J. West Elementary on Aberdeen’s West Side, was sitting in the school’s staff room when the lightning struck. With her back to the window, Welliver didn’t see exactly what happened but when she turned around, a three-foot-long crack had appeared in the window behind her.
“It sounded like it (the lightning) hit right outside the window because you could hear it snapping in the (power lines),” Welliver said. “The thunder and lightning were simultaneous … You could hear people screaming in the building.” She said she immediately put down the phone and leaped away from the window.
But despite the momentary sense of panic, no one in the building was hurt, and the power only went out for seconds.
Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom
