125 years ago
Nov. 20, 1891
James Gleeson, Jr., lost thirteen bushels of apples Tuesday night. He says he does not know whether they were taken with felonious intent, or whether someone came and took them off with a wagon.
If they were taken with malice aforethought and with intent to commit larceny, James would gladly see the party punished. But, if they were taken with a wagon and the intention to report the taking and pay for the apples, it is all right, and no objection will be raised to receiving the cash value of the apples.
100 years ago
Nov. 17, 1916
Poultry men plan to form organization
A meeting of poultry men was held last Friday afternoon in Agriculturist C.F. Monroe’s office in this city to discuss and consider the organization of an “egg circle.” Only four or five poultry men were present, but all were in favor of starting such an organization and the meeting was adjourned to Friday, Nov. 24, when it is hoped most of the poultry men and women of Montesano neighborhood will be present.
The purpose of the egg circle organization is to combine forces for both buying feed and selling the products of the hennery. Such organizations exist in many of the states. In Oregon there is a state circle. While of course the poultry men hope to profit by getting more for their eggs and perhaps more eggs too, the consumer will profit by such a union, at least in getting better eggs.
All circle eggs are to be guaranteed fresh and from clean flocks and as to weight. In other words when one buys a circle branded egg he knows he is getting a fresh egg. All are marked with the local circle number so the guarantee is easily made good.
While the Montesano circle is not yet organized the meeting last Friday indicates it will be, and that Montesano circle eggs will be for sale soon. It is hoped to have several circles organized in the county and southwest.
75 years ago
Nov. 20, 1941
Elma Plays Thursday
Of interest to football fans of Eastern Grays Harbor will be the Thanksgiving morning game at Elma this Thursday between Elma, central league champs, and Clover Park, Pierce County champions. The game will be called on the Elma field at 10:30 a.m.
Both teams are undefeated; Clover Park having taken eight straight games and Elma six.
The Elma team is composed of small, light men who are exceptionally fast and hard-hitting. Elma plays alert, fast-moving football, making few mistakes themselves and pouncing on opposition misplays instantly. Their customary model T formation is varied occasionally with box or punt formations. Elma boasts what several nearby newspapers have called the outstanding back in the Southwest in the person of Roy Wade, and he is backed by the mighty punter and shifty runner, Les Winders, terrifically hard-charging fullback Bob Osgood and smart quarterback Galen Jacobsen. The line and the second backfield have also been playing championship football this year.
50 years ago
Nov. 17, 1966
Rustling suspects cowed by deputies
A warrant for the arrest of a father and son charged with cattle rustling has been obtained in Superior Court here by officers of the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s department.
According to local deputies, William J. Larouque, 40, of Tacoma, and his son, Stanley of Camp Grisdale, are suspected of shooting and butchering a Black Angus cow in the upper Wynooche Valley late last Friday night.
The Thurston County Sheriff’s office apprehended the pair near Olympia early Saturday morning for alleged negligent driving, discovered the hind quarters of a cow, wrapped in a sheet and a 30-30 rifle.
The shooting and butchering occurred on the Blair Thompson Ranch. Grays Harbor officers will bring the Larouques to Montesano from Olympia to face the rustling charges.
25 years ago
Nov. 14, 1991
DOE fines Weyerhaeuser
The Department of Ecology has fined the Weyerhaeuser Paper Co., Cosmopolis, $150,000 for 15 odor violations involving its wastewater treatment ponds.
The hydrogen sulfide odor violations were documented during 20 site investigations between May 15 and Sept. 11. The odors during most of the site visits were described by Ecology inspectors as “overpowering, obnoxious and unacceptable.”
According to the Department of Health, the levels of hydrogen sulfide measured are capable of causing health concerns from both short and long-term exposure.
“Because the foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas presented a health threat to area residents, the company was penalized the maximum allowable under state law for each violation,” said Ecology director Chris Gregoire.
Weyerhaeuser has taken some of the steps required by Ecology to minimize odors from their treatment ponds,” Gregoire said. “However, the formal order was issued to enable Ecology to take additional enforcement actions if the company failed to do everything possible to solve the problem.”
She said the odor problems began when Weyerhaeuser dredged the solids from its wastewater treatment ponds earlier this year. “In addition, the company removed and sold aerators, devices that inject air into the wastewater to enhance biological treatment, causing the ponds to turn anaerobic which produced the odors,” the director said.
10 Years Ago
Nov. 16, 2006
Monte residents advised to boil water
As of Wednesday in Montesano, you don’t need to be traveling south of the border to take heed of this advice:
Don’t drink the water.
Routine tests have revealed bacteria in the water system, Mayor Dick Stone said Wednesday morning — specifically E. coli.
He was expecting the state Department of Health to issue a boil water advisory sometime later in the day.
“We’re moving forward right away and taking steps to disinfect the whole system,” Stone said. The process of thoroughly flushing and chlorinating the entire municipal water system could take a couple of days. In fact, the schools were contacted and told they could expect the boil advisory to be in place through at least Friday, the mayor said.
It may never be known how the contamination occurred, but public officials agree the recent flooding is a possibility
Karolyn Holden, a public health nurse for Grays Harbor County, explained that all public water systems are required to routinely submit samples for testing.
Montesano’s water was fine last week, according to the mayor, and the samples containing bacteria were drawn earlier this week.
The tests are designed to uncover the presence of bacteria “that would indicate fecal contamination,” Holden said. Her office has been fielding calls from concerned members of the public, but she noted that they are not directly involved in regulating the city’s system so she was speaking in general terms.
E. coli is a broad name for a lot of different subtypes of bacteria she said. Under that heading are lots of variations of that species.
“Those words are scary because we associate E. coli with the serious illness that people can get, but all that this means for Montesano right now is that the test came back positive. It’s not an indication that this is the ‘bad’ E. coli. It could be a harmless, garden variety thing,” Holden said.
But only more testing will reveal which E.coli is in the system, she said and so the boil water order is issued as a preventative measure.
The mayor said the city will concentrate on flushing the system and making sure that when the water is reflowed that it is properly chlorinated.
It could take a few days for the new samples to come back with a clean bill of health for the system.
In the meantime, residents are advised to boil their cooking and drinking water until further notice.
