85 YEARS AGO
October 7, 1940
The long arm of Uncle Sam reached into the Aberdeen football squad today and put a finger on three boys.
Don McMillan, guard; Jack Blazina, reserve tackle and Senior Manager Harry Trader are members of the naval reserve and will leave soon when the reservists report for a year’s training.
Coach Phil Sarboe said he is not planning on the trio for the Kelso game Friday night. The Bobcats invade the Highlander camp for their third Southwest conference contest.
October 8, 1940
Addition of a night shift this week has brought the Acme Door company’s employment figure to an all-time high.
The crew now totals 300, the highest either under the American Door or Acme management.
October 9, 1940
With various state, county and national candidates slated to speak, active Democratic campaigning on Grays Harbor will get under way tonight at a rally in county headquarters in Aberdeen.
October 10, 1940
After 11 months of steady labor, Polson workmen have completed what loggers call the “big cut,” a high and dry Harbor version of the Panama canal’s Culebra gash.
The cut is for a Polson Logging company railroad grade to tap one of the finest remaining stands of timber on Grays Harbor, located in the Humptulips-Wishkah area, about a mile and a half from the Wishkah headworks.
A two-yard gasoline shovel, four seven-yard dump trucks and many cases of dynamite were used to accomplish the job.
The cut is 900 feet long with the width at the top measuring 500 feet. It is 150 feet deep on the upper slope and 164 feet on the lower slope. The crew removed 500,000 cubic yards of earth and rock, with 100,000 yards being used for a 90-foot fill at the end of the cut.
“Design for Happiness,” a technicolor feature, will be an added attraction on the Weir theater program Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The picture presents at average young couple of modest income embarking on an adventure in home ownership, achieved under the new FHA “dollar a day” plan.
The movie presents the perplexing problems encountered by a young wife who sets out to prove that a modern new home safely may be bought on an income of $25 a week.
60 YEARS AGO
October 6, 1965
Satchmo starred as a sentimental favorite last night and before his performance at Samuel Benn Gymnasium was over, a clapping, grinning, near-capacity crowd had pushed him through no less than five choruses of the familiar “Hello, Dolly.”
The crowd at the 2-hour show was estimated at 2,600 persons, according to Craig Wellington, show organizer for the Grays Harbor College Lecture and Concert series.
Yes, it was Louis, but it was a tired, drawn-looking Louis who blew, sang and wiped his face with a white handkerchief before a thrilled crowd of worshipful admirers.
Star of the show was big, bouncing, jelly-roll “bone man” Tyree Glenn who orbited the audience with a bit of the twist, some ham-bone strutting, a solid versatile horn and a dash of artistry on the vibes.
October 7, 1965
Five gallons of any liquid is quite a bit … if it’s five gallons of milk, it’s enough to feed an infant for quite a while; if it’s five gallons of water, it’s almost enough to take a bath in, but when it’s five gallons of blood, it assumes the responsibility of helping save a great many lives.
Frank (Cap) Wertz is a fireman in the city of Montesano. As such it is part of his every day work to aid in saving lives. But the five gallons of blood he has donated over the years has to be listed as a little something special.
He was honored for his extra efforts at Wednesday’s blood drawing. The extent of his long-term contribution can be even more graphically shown by the fact that Wertz has given almost as much blood over the years as was donated at Wednesday’s drawing.
“It’s too bad that out of a population of 2,500 people, we got only 45 units of blood,” said Mrs. Bertha Mero, chairman of the drive, “and since eight of these were from prisoners at the County Jail, only 37 units actually came from local citizens.”
October 8, 1965
Restaurants in Aberdeen, Hoquiam and Cosmopolis are joining food service operations throughout the nation to honor “The Greatest Guy in the World” during this National Restaurant Month.
Local restaurants define the “Greatest Guy” as the man who takes his wife, girl or family out to eat at a restaurant as a special treat.
October 9, 1965
The little Tokeland port is usually peaceful and quiet, at least compared to its larger, flashier sister fishing town, Westport, to the north. But like Westport, Tokeland during the past summer enjoyed one of its busiest seasons to date.
Charter boats reported “plenty of business” last season. In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Danny Catino, who have chartered for 16 years out of their home near the dock, plan to build a charter office and add another boat next year.
October 10, 1965
It said “Quick Before It Melts” on the marquee at the Harbor Drive In Theater Sunday and Central Park firemen apparently took this as their cue when they extinguished a blaze in a store room at the drive-in around 3 p.m.
The cause is still unknown. The blaze caused extensive damage at about $1,500 to the store room, and about $1,500 to the storeroom contents.
October 12, 1965
Grays Harbor Veneer Corporation, a pioneer Hoquiam industry that employs up to 400 persons, will close down operations Friday afternoon.
The closure was brought about by general economic conditions in the industry and the competitive log market, President A.J. DeLatuer explained.
The corporation has been constructing parts for wood containers since 1923 and has recently been plagued by high log prices and a short supply of logs, and is being pushed out of the package market by a heavy influx of competitive paper and plastic products.
35 YEARS AGO
October 6, 1990
It’s a messy job, but the reward would be priceless.
Volunteers from the Grays Harbor Fisheries Enhancement Task Force put on their waders Friday to haul Chinook salmon from the Wishkah River.
This was the fifth straight year task force members have netted the great fish and taken them to the nurturing confines of state hatcheries on the Harbor.
The survival rate for Chinook spawning naturally on most of Grays Harbor’s streams is about one in 1,000.
Terry Baltzell and Bill Hulbert of Wishkah and Dave Proctor of Hoquiam netted salmon at Bear Gulch on the Wishkah River. The fish were carried from the river to an oxygenated truck in plastic, perforated tubes to minimize their handling. The “slime” on the fish, which protects them from infections, can be rubbed off easily.
The fish were transported to the community hatchery in Wishkah where they will spawn. Their eggs will hatch in incubators and the salmonoids will be raised in a rearing pond.
The task force will then release many fingerlings back into the Wishkah next spring.
October 7, 1990
About 60 kayakers from as far away as West Virginia and Maryland participated in the Second Annual Oyster Open, a non-competitive occasion for the hybrid sport of kayak surfing.
October 8, 1990
Gene Mack Miller, 76, a longtime Aberdeen businessman, church and fraternal lodge leader, died at his home Sunday.
Miller had been the owner of Simonson’s Coffee Co. and retired in 1987 after 43 years with the company.
October 9, 1990
Bob Ward, the fun-loving genius whose wacky promotions put Ocean Shores on the map, is dead at 72.
Ward was famous locally for founding “Undiscovery Day” in 1969 to commemorate the day in 1792 when Capt. George Vancouver sailed right past Grays Harbor.
Each April 27 from that day forward, Ocean Shores residents fortified themselves with several purely medicinal belts of good booze and journeyed forth across the dunes in the dead of night to build a bonfire and yell, “Hey, George!” at the top of their lungs.
October 10, 1990
Port of Grays Harbor administrators have known bad times were coming and they’ve tried to position the Port so it could weather the storm. Yesterday, it started to rain. Hard.
The 1991 preliminary budget released at the Port Commission meeting includes lay-offs and budget cutbacks in nearly every area of Port operations.
“Usually our budgets don’t reflect anything drastic,” said Commission President John Stevens.
Soft log and lumber products markets, the spotted owl controversy and impending export restrictions on logs from state lands were blamed for the Port’s financial problems.
Nine people already have been laid off, including some who have been at the Port for years. The budget doesn’t count on rehiring those nine and plans for layoffs of a few more.
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.
