125 years ago
Sept. 18, 1891
Since the railroad trains commenced running into and around Cosmopolis, the citizens of that burg have been annoyed somewhat by the noise. John Pongratz remarked the other day, that he was tired of hearing the trains running at all times of the day and night, and intended moving to Aberdeen where he would not be so bothered.
• • •
The railroad bridge over the Wynooche river is in rather a precarious condition, owning to the high water of the past few days. Several piles have been washed out. Steps are being taken to prevent any further damage.
100 years ago
Sept. 15, 1911
Chicken pox in school
Health officer Dr. M.E. Thomas is advising parents not to allow children to attend public places for a time. There are two cases of chicken pox in the city — Dorothy Pear and Walter Call.
The children of the third grade — Miss Owen’s room of the public school — have been exposed to the disease. The room has been closed and will not reopen for 10 days. In a letter to parents of that grade, sent out by Dr. Thomas, he says:
“As a safeguard to other children in school of which there are about five hundred, the room has been closed until Sept. 25. As your health officer I ask you as a citizen of Montesano to keep your child away from all gatherings — in fact keep the child at home and away from other children for that time.”
75 years ago
Sept. 18, 1941
Tree farm sale made
When the Weyerhaeuser Timber company paid County Treasurer Minnie Swisher $11,200 last Saturday, the area of the Clemons tree farm under company ownership was increased more than 15,000 acres.
This deal, with other transactions at last Saturday’s county land sale, made it one of the largest ever held, with deals totaling more than $12,000.
Land was purchased by the company and will be assessed, under state reforestation laws, at $1 per acre, with an additional yield tax of 12.5 percent whenever any crop is harvested.
The next county land sale will be held Oct. 18.
50 years ago
Sept. 15, 1966
What would courthouse changes cost?
What will the proposed expanded county facilities, on which voters will ballot next Tuesday, cost individual tax payers?
The county commissioners have consulted their bond consultants, Blythe &Company, and County Assessor Bud Lindley, and have come up with an answer.
“To the best of our knowledge,” said John Pearsall, chairman of the board, “We will be able to retire the bonds and pay the interest with a levy of only 1.7 mills.”
What this means is that a property owner will pay $1.70 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Lindley explains that property is now being assessed at a quarter of its true value, so that a $12,000 home normally will have an assessed valuation of $3,000. Such a home would pay three times $1.70 or about $5.10.
The proposed bond issue amounts to $1,950,000, and the county’s assessed valuation now totals approximately $94,000,000. But what about the future?
Lindley disclaims being a prophet, but he does say it is reasonable to expect that the county’s assessed valuation is likely to increase in the years ahead.
“It will surprise most people,” said Lindley, “but a recent report of the state tax commission points out that Grays Harbor last year led all the counties in the state in the percentage of new construction on the tax rolls. With the many new plants being developed and other new construction throughout the county, we can expect our total assessed valuation to grow. If it does, the necessary tax levy to pay for the bonds and interest would go down.”
Commissioner Pearsall and his colleagues — Leighton Powell of Hoquiam and C. Tab Murphy of Elma — urged a heavy vote Tuesday, pointing out that at least 40 percent of votes cast at the last general election must be cast at the primary election if the bonds are to be authorized.
“We hope there will be no delay going ahead with the project because that will probably mean greater cost,” they said. “Building costs have been steadily increasing and there is no reason to believe this trend will change. It has been estimated that, at the present rate, this project could cost $218,000 more within the next three years.”
The bond issue will appear on the ballot as County Proposition 1.
25 years ago
Sept. 12, 1991
Marketing trip okayed
Port of Grays Harbor Commissioners okayed a budget for an aggressive, worldwide marketing trip designed to take advantage of the good press the Port has been getting recently.
“We’ve divided up the world,” said Mike Barkstrom, marketing director. The commissioners approved a $35,000 budget that will send Barkstrom to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia starting Sept. 28. Port executive director Cliff Muller and regional marketing manager Mike McKnney will travel to eastern USSR. Muller will continue on to Hong Kong while McKinney heads to Norway.
Port public information officer Tami Garrow will go to Hong Kong. Muller, Barkstrom and Garrow will meet up in Singapore for a reception the Port is hosting there Oct. 7 for members of the Singapore Freight Forwarders Association.
The Port has been aggressively marketing over the past two and a half years, said Barkstrom, who ordinarily spends four to six months on the road.
“But now, we’ve kicked it up a bit,” he said. “We’ve been successful over the past year. Now we’re using one success to lead to another.”
The Port’s name is getting around, he said, and “that’s the time to strike.”
Barkstrom said the group will be seeing more people and have its “pen in hand.” Closer cooperation between the port and its stevedoring and longshoremen have made it possible to give customers quotes on rates immediately instead of having to wait.
“That’s something new. It used to take more time.” He said the past year’s success would not have been possible without the cooperation of the stevedores and longshoremen.
Barkstrom has brought home new cargoes such as glue lam beams, aluminum, plywood and veneer. He said proprietary considerations prevented him from mentioning what kinds of cargoes he would be soliciting but that he is looking for new kinds of break and neo cargoes.
He said he can make as many as six calls a day in the urban centers of Japan and Korea to talk to freight forwarders, shipping lines, manufacturers, shippers, cargo brokers, stevedores and consignees.
10 years ago
Sept. 14, 2006
Plum Crazy
It’s been a bumper year for plums on Grays Harbor, with many gardeners reporting trees so laden with fruit that branches have actually broken off and fallen to the ground. Others have seen their plum trees just keel over under the weight of the fruit.
This phenomenon was brought to the attention of The Vidette by Bob Peterson of Melbourne, south of Montesano. Peterson brought one of his overloaded branches to town to show the morning coffee group at the Silvia Lodge.
Just for fun, he also brought in a clump of his elephant garlic.
Don Tapio, WSU extension agent on Grays Harbor said the plethora of plums is explained by the fact that most plum trees bore very little fruit last year.
“There is no question — it is a prolific year for some of the plums,” Tapio said. “It’s an alternate-bearing fruit meaning that if they don’t produce a crop one year, they really load up the next.”
A second reason was the dry weather on the Harbor, Tapio said. “We probably had more ideal conditions for pollination than in previous years. My thought is that we didn’t have the really late frost that so frequently decimate blossoms,” he said.
It has been an unusual growing season in one other area, as well, Tapio said.
“This is the first year I can remember in which we have received no calls on tomato late blight and it’s because we didn’t have our typical late-August rainfall. It’s been so dry that even the tomatoes didn’t get blights, and that’s a first for me.”
