Notice: Undefined index: HTTP_REFERER in /home/stparch/public_html/headmid_temp_main.php on line 4394
Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
February 13, 1920     Shelton Mason County Journal
PAGE 1     (1 of 8 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
 
PAGE 1     (1 of 8 available)        PREVIOUS     NEXT      Jumbo Image    Save To Scrapbook    Set Notifiers    PDF    JPG
February 13, 1920
 
Newspaper Archive of Shelton Mason County Journal produced by SmallTownPapers, Inc.
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information
Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader




r !;' VOLUME XXXIV. . SHELTON, MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON, ITClDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1920  NO. 9 EXPRESS OFFICE" REOPENS AFTER YEARS ABSENCE RETURN OF SERVICE FINALLY SECURED AFTER LONG AND STRENUOUS KICKING-- R E - E S.TABLISHED YESTERDAY The Shelton office of the American Express which was arbirarily taken away a year ago, was re-opened this week and the first shipments 'arrived yesterday. Robert C. Angle has been appoint- ed local agent and the office will .'be at the Journal office. Daily service will be made from Tacoma by the steamer S. G. Simpson, as formerly, and the public will find it an advantage at times for both package and money order transfers, at rates about the same as in the parcel post. There has been much complaint all over Mason County since the express office was removed and the public was forced to use the parcel post or be subjected to extra expense through the holding up of their express mat- ter at Tacoma. This is now over and the express service will doubtless be appreciated more than ever, although it will take some time to regain its former value of business. At the present* time the express ,companies are still under government .control, but the husiness will prob- ably be turned over to the compan- ies with the railroads on March 1st. PERITONITIS CAUSES D00ATH'OF MRS. ANNIE CRUSON ON M00i;AY A LARGE NUMBER OF OLD FRIENDS ATTEND FUNERAL FROM HOME ON WED- ". iN ESDAY The passing of another of Shel- tons older residents was marked this week in the death of Mrs. Annie B. Cruson, at the Cruson farm near town on Monday. Although an in- valid and more or less helpless from rheumatism for many years, death was directly dtm to peritonitis. The funeral was held from the hore on Wednesday, with C. L. Gil- bert conducting the service, and a large number of old friends were present. Deceased leaves to mourn her loss besides her husbaad, two sons, McClellan and Burk, her sister Mrs. Doty here, and four brothers and one sister in Wisconsin. Annie B. Gilbertson was born in Norway, October 25, 18B7, and was 62 years of age. She came to the United States when a child with her parents, who settled in Lafayette County, Wisconsin. She was married )t Jasper Cruson in October, 1879, and ten years later the family moved o this state and settled in Shelton, where their home was continued until the purchase of the old Rodenberger farm some ten years ago. LOGGER FOUND DEAD IN WOODS NEAR CAMP AFTER LONG SEARCH SUCCUMBS WHILE TAKING SHORT CUT HOME AFTER TRAPPING TRIP WITH DOUG. SHELTON The remains of Andy Townsend, an employe of Simpson's Camp 1, were found in the woods not far from the camp on Wednesday morn- ing, after a' two days search by camp men, who later called Sheriff Ports o their aid. Townsend and Doug. Shelton legt he camp Sunday afternoon to look after some traps the latter had set out, and after going some distance 'Townsend complained of feeling ill. It was agreed that he should take a short cut out to the road and wait -for Shelton, who continued the rounds of his traps, and on roaching the appointed rendezvous failed to find Townsend. Returning to camp Doug. found that Townsend had not returned, and late in the afternoon he .and others started out to try to find the latter. Next day more men turned out for the hunt and the day was spent in fruitless search of the woods. The sheriff was called on for aid and went out Tuesday. When found Townsend was dead, evidently having succumbed to a sudden attack of heart disease. Deceased was alout 53 years of age, and a widower, lie came from Tennessee three years ago, accom- panying his brother Newton and fam- ily, an$1 has Sine ,been employed at the camps. He/va a member of the Masonic fraternity and the funeral will %e held unOer Masonic 'auspices in Shelton on 'Sunday afternoon. 1 A LEAP YE00tR VALENTINE REED RETURNS FROM CHICAGO; FINDS FLU RAGING IN THE EAST VISITS MILWAUKEE RAILROAD HEADS WHO DECLARE THREE YEARS NECESSARY TO RE- STORE ROADS M. E. Reed returned last Thursday evening from a short business trip to Chicago and a day or so spent with his sons, Sol and ¢v'ill, at the Culver Military School in Indiana. He found I the flu epidemic raging all over the East, and hospitals full everywhere with rather a high proportion of deaths. Sol and Will Reed, who had been getting a little nervous, were reconciled to stay and finish out the school year. While in Chicago Mr. Reed visited the heads of the Milwaukee railroad system, and learned much about the situation of the railroads of this country. He was informed that if the railroads were returned to their own management March 1st, as the President has ordered, it will require at least three ye.ars to bring their physical condition up to the old stan- dard, and this would be the first duty before any new work could be under- taken. As Congress has not yet acted on railroad legislation it is not yet known what provision will be made to protect the railroads until they can get reorganized and again self- supporting. Mr. Reed found the weather in the "Windy City" cold and raw, but did not encounter much snow on the way. AGED FORMER RESIDENT OF HOOD CANAL REGION DIES AT PORT ORCHARD T FUNERAL OF JOSEPH THOMAS, FORMER HOLLY MERCHANT, HELD SUNDAY Oscar Ahl of Hoo4sport was call- ed to Port Orchard to attend the funeral of Joseph Thomas, an old resident of the Canal region, who died at that place on Feblry 5th. The following information will be of interest to old Canal friends: Joseph Thomas was born Decem- ber 24, 1836, near Akron, Ohio, later moving with his parents to Elkhart, Ind. He was married to Miss Moria L. Garl in 1856 and to this union were born 13 children. The family later moved to Kansas, residing there eight years, and while there he was engaged in the mercantile business. He came west to Hoods Canal, Washington, in the winter of 1888, taking up a homestead on "Dillman S1Mt." His wife departed this life June, 1895. He was again united in marriage to Mrs. Mary A. Stewart of Macksburg, Iowa, in September, 1897. He moved from Hoods Canal to Kent and to Port Orchard in 1903, resid- ing there until his departure, with the exception of three years which he spent in Florida. He was converted early in life and lived a useful and corisecrated Chris- tian life during his entire career. His father was a Methodist minister, and uring the early days of his young manhood he used to accom- pany his father and assist in the services as a Iicensed exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1861 he enlisted in the 48th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in which he served three years and ten months. In civil life he served as a postmas- ter, justice of the peace and vs, rious other positions of trust and honor. He departed this life February 5, 1920 z being 83 years of age. He is surmved by his wife, four daughters and one son, together with twenty- eight grandchildren and thirty great- grandchildren. The remains were in- terred in the Veterans' Home cem- etery. JAMES HODGKINSON WHO NAMED MATLOCK DIES AT PUYALLUP ONE OF THE FIRST HOMESTEAD. ERS IN THE SATSOP VALLEY, PASSES AWAY AT AGE OF 88 James Hodkinson, one of the earl- iest settlers in the Satsop Valley and Matlock's first postmaster, died at Puyallup on Wednesday, aged about 88 years. The funeral services will be held at that place this Friday morning and the remains will reach Shelton in early afternoon for inter- ment in the plot reserved by the deceased and cared for by him dur- ing his later years. A ]NEW PAPER MILL The Northwest publishers shouht find their paper situation relieved b:, fall, on the COml)letion of a mare.. moth new phmt at Port Angeles h', I the Zellerbach ('entered. Ground was broken last w',ek on Ediz spit, and the largest sin'le order for electrical go(ds ever sent from the Northwesf, has been placed with tim Wesung- house Company. A crew o 150 men will be working" on the buihtiug. This will make the third print 1)aper plnt 'the smalle,' newspapcrs. THINKS ' ENGLAND RESEMBLES PALOUSE COUNTRY BINNS PAYS VISIT TO TOWN OF • DORCHESTER, HOME OF THOMAS HARDY OXFORD, ENGLAND, Jan. 17. It is a surprise to one familiar with the Palouse country of Eastern Washington to find the county of Dorset in Southern England so amaz- ingly similar. The hills are not so rounded; there are more trees in James .Hodkinson was a native of sight. But the effect is the same England, hailing from Matlock in the I great hills rolling away as far as the coal mining region, which suggested[eye can see, barren looking fertile the name for the new postoffice when iplowed land, a few jutting rock it was established about 1888. He left l ledges, biting winds. And though England in 1832 and spent two years I just as forbidding in appearance as in Illinois, coming to Mason County :the Palouse country on a wintry in 1884, settling on a homestead in the Satsop Valley. Other settlers in the valley at this time were the Ca. stairs, Deckers, Anders J. Anderson and Capt. Nels Peterson. All these old settler families are still repre- sented in the valley, except the lat- ter, who soht out and moved to Al- berta some ten years ago, but is re- ported to be planning to return for good this fall. Deceased was married three times, the last being in" 1889, and his wife died about three years ago. Shortly after he exchanged his farm to the Painters for Puyallup property,, and recenlty sold that because of the labor involved in berry gro:wing. FACING THE FACTS The Journal has been about the longest and most persistent booster for better roads over Ma- son County, and offered its best encouragement to- ward the bonding plan for the paved highway. We have urged good roads regardless of cost because good roads means better communities aad better citizenship--but-- The Journal is beginning to feel that there is a limit to the cost of good roads beyond which it is not prudent to go, and it is possible that this limit has been reached in the matter of paving, at least, and it might be well to let that rest awhile. When we talked paving last spring the cost was ranging around $20,000 a mile, but contracts later in the year had reached $25,000 a mile. Last week the first bids were opened in Grays Harbor County and the estimates reached $38,000 a mile. At this rate the half-million Mason County has ar- ranged for, after deducting the expense necessary for state and federal "red tape," will hardly build that portion of the Olympic Highway from the county line to Shelton. The increase is said to be due to the higher cost of cement and labor, possibly sand and water, and to the uncertainties connected with labor operations. At this rate it Would be folly to go ahead with paving this year, and still further aggravate the forced lbor and cement costs, while spending all our funds for half the job and facing later bonds to finish it. As Masori County has already turned over to the state its $99,999 of the bond money to match the federal aid, and authorized the state de- partment to go ahead on paving five miles and im- proving the rest of the section referred to, bids will soon be called for that work. As interest must be paid on the bond money the county may be forced to go ahead, but it is well to consider what the limit may be. With millions of doilars to spend in road work and few equipped contractors in the state, the price is going to be forced, and the counties that lay back will get their money's worth in the future, and force the earlier return of normal conditions. Everybody tells us that the present g'avel roads of Mason County are the best in th state, far better than in either Thurston, Kitsap or Grays Harbor counties. Of course, there are several bad spots which demand attention now, but with the fleet of six trucks, and two nbre coming, Mason County can gravel and drag its main travelled roads and by frequent attention can keep them up in even better condition than in the past while building up a perfect road-bed for future paving. We may as well face the facts. day, Dorset too, is a country which grows into the soul• Indeed, viewing Dorset as the country of Thomas Hardy, the nov- elist, I think January is the best time to see it. The day we went to Dorchester, the county town of Dor- set, was gray and cold, with a thought of snow in the air. Every few miles a threshing machine was at work, threshing stacked grain. Lambing had commenced and hun- dreds of horned Dorset sheep with their baby lambs lay in the fields along the way. At the top of the hill we came upon two lads who had built a fire of twigs and were warming them- selves. One was mun'ching at a loaf of bvead fCold morning," one said in answer to our greeting. "Cold is right," I answered. "Come and warm yourselves, he returned, "there is plenty of fire." The boy who had I FORBID ALL PUBLIC MEETINGS TO HELP CHECK INFLUENZA TOWN AUTHORITIZS TAKE EAR- LY PRECAUTION TO PREVENT DISEASE FROM BE('OMING SERIOUS EPIDEMIC. The town autllorities have issued an order forbidding Iurtimr dances or public gatherings of any sort, on the advice of the health officer, in order to hold in check as far as pos- sible the prevailing sickness. At present there are about twenty- five cases in Shelton and vicinity with more or less of the symptoms of influenza, and while there are none very seriously sick, the doctors are hoping to keep the disease in check and avoid an epidemic. A similar course is being taken all over the state, where the disease is mild and has not become general, but in many places in the East the influenza has become a serious epidemic. An increasing number of cases of sickness and the absence of three of the teachers from their rooms caus- ed the school board to issue an or- der closing the Shelton schools after the Monday moling session• Mrs. Chas. Lewis was called to Seattle by the serious illness of her father, Judge grater, and the Misses Fred- on and Sargison were confined at heine by illness. he schools will re- main closed while there is danger of further spread of influenza. LARGEST OYSTER LAND SALE IN HISTORY OF INDUSTRY IN COUNTY J. J. BRENNER BUYS COMPANY BUYS THE S. K. TAYLOR OYSTER BEDS IN OYS- TER BAY For a cmsidera.tlo, gives at $80,- 000 the oyster landholdings ofS. K. Taylor & Son in Oyster Bay last week passed into the hands of the J. J. Bnenner Company of Olympia, spoken answered briefly, in a thick, making the Brenner's holdings now burring speech, our questmns about th^ lar_est _n  est roducin  in the the "oad'and the country The other • • • ...... • ..... Puget Sound dmtnct or m the North- muncned nm orea(l aria sam nommg. est. Sam K. Taylor was the pip- We mounted our bcycles and rode - :- *h ^ o-'^" '"  .... ....',, on. 11; was a rlnlng lneluen oI ;ne f l f v'b nv nnd he,un road, but t was part of the sp,nt • • the shppmg of oysters to market of a people who must always be just l .... . ,,+ .... eas o and Mr a httle on the defenmve a amst . 8 Brenner is also one of the early oys- nature, ......... I ter shippers, he taking up the busi- rrs wew lnsappommg small ..... , ness thirty years ago. From a . ur nrsz view o a)orchester was beginning both have become heavy disappointing. A round tower on a shippers, and Of late the Brenner hill far to the right looked much more intrestig than the town that was sprawled out in the valley. The day is past when Dorchester appear- ed a bit of garden surrounded by a hedge. It has spread ar beyond the old tree-planted, walls• We rode in along one of the fine walks into which the vld defenses .hve been made. The bare crooked branches of the ancient trees met above in fantastic figures. Dorchester; the real Dorchester, is the epitome of the history of Eng-, land, in fact of the world. Every movement of man from the days of prehistoric savagery to the present, has left its mark on her and the old- est relic seems cde and new beside the fossil life which is dug up from still lower strata• If Dorchester is the epitome of past history, the mu- seum is the epitome of past Dorches- ter. It contains fossils of strange huge shellfish and ereepin things, coins and implements of flint and bone; relics of the Britons, Roman urns, corroded swords, skull, and much of more recent date, all found in the immediate vicinity. The whole floor of the 'central!'part of the buiding is a Roman pvement found near by and relaid there. One beau- tiful section, hard-glazed and perfect, is as large as the floor of a good- sized room. Sees Hardy's Home. The collection of Celtic, Roman and Saxon coins makes one ask: "What are a thousand years or so, and what will come next?" It is little wonder that a man of deep na- ture, born and bred in this gloomy, soulful country, with the very proofs of the transitory nature of man's achievements on every side, should have the philosoplw and the spirit of Thomas Hardy. Dorchester (Casterbridge) is te heart of Wessex. Hardy lives hef'e. There and nearby his greatest and best scenes are laid: The market and the old bull-ring of "The Mayor of Casterbridge are in sight of he museum windows. he market and the square are smaller than I had expected, but of such strange anles that the whole is not visible from. any one point. Yet Lucetta's house in "The Mayor of Casterhridge" qs supposed to command the whole. The curator' of the museum told us that he one day asked Mr. ttardy [where the house was located. "Oh," he said, "sometime it's there, sometimes there, sometimes here." But in essential truth Hardv Its always exact to the least detail. t (Continued on Page 4.) company has been the most impor- tant factor in the shipping trade. The Brenners acquired the holdings of John Blass last fall, adding a con- siderable acreage of oyster lands at a high"figure to their already large holdings, , ," When Sam K. Taylor became in- terested in oysters and looked around for beds he located, a fine tract of natural seed ground in Oyster Bay, and from this shipped for 'years all the oysters called for by the Soumt cities and Portland markets. They were shipped in sacks and sold for from $2 to $8 a sack, whieh now bring $11. Indians then were the cullers and even though nature pro- duced the oysters with only the ex- pense of gathering and culling oys- tering was a pvecarious business. Later dyking arid more modern methods of cultivating and caring for the beds were practiced, and a perm- anent business built up which has brought wealth to some• When or- ter lands began to boomevery likely strip of tide land on the upper Sound was taken up and experimented on at heavy cost, but many of these lands proved unsuited for either pro- ductng or cultivating oysters, and ere, abandone, leaving those who held a bit of natural producing seed beds with something of permanent value ....... . EGG SLACKERS Speaking about slacking reminds us that the city folks, who in the main are living off the country com- munities of the state, are in mighty small business p r a c t i c.i n g what amounts to a boycott on eggs. Be- cause of the slow demand eggs have been forced below fifty cents a dozen, which is lower than they have been at this season for many years. At the same time all feeds have reached the highest price ever known, and the farmer is vroducin eggs at a heavy loss• Our city friends while enjoying top waes and substantial profits, seem to be making the farm- er the 'oat of the h. c. o. 1. All that 4s asked of the farmer is his product and his vote. CIallam County, which has been paying 45 for bridge timber and another $15 for hauling it where needed, will build a small mill to Rup Iv its timb•er needs Whether tePcountv can produce ]mber any cheaper than the local mills remains to be p,x)ven. .. !!i