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Page A-16 - She~ton.Mason County Journal. Thursday, Feb. 211 2019
HISTORY AT .4 GLANCE
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The former O'Neill store with service station built by A.A. Bower is shown in this 1942 photo of Shelton. Courtesy photo
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"n 1938, when the Shelton
City Council decided that
pictures of all past Shelton
mayors should be hung in city
hall, the city clerk advised .that
acquiring a photo of Mayor A.
A. Bower might be impossible,
since no formal photo had been
taken of him during his 1929-
1930 term of office, and his By JAN
present address and occupa- PARKER
tion were unknown.
A search of relevant issues
of the Shelton-Mason County Jour-
nal revealed some information about
Mayor Bower's activities as mayor
and as a businessman. Having defeat-
ed Charles Runacres in the primary
election, Bower was unopposed in the
November 1928 general election. At
the time, he was employed as man-
ager of the O'Neill Store, a long-time
Shelton mercantile.
Bower got off to a good start. One
of his first actions was to instruct the
city, marshal to enforce all Violations
of Ordinance No. 177, which required
all vehicles entering arterials from
side streets to come to a full stop until
the way was clear before entering the
intersection. Bower cited the num-
ber of close calls, numerous minor
collisions, and the growing careless-
ness of nearly all local drivers, and
expressed his belief that the city was
risking damage suits by its laxness in
enforcing the ordinance. He
also asked the Committee
on Fire, Light, and Water
to consider ways and means
for better fire protection at
night, and the Committee on
Law and Ordinance to inves-
-tigate the necessity and cost
of codifying and bringing
up to date the book of ordi-
nances, which had last been
issued in 1917.
He also halted construc-
tion of a new Piggly-Wiggly store
because the plans were not in confor-
mance with the ordinance governing
buildings in the fire district. During
a "somewhat stormy" special session
of the city council, the mayor pointed
out that the exterior of the new build-
ing was not built offire-proof materi-
als as required, but was instead made
of shiplap with a thin veneer of brick.
After considerable discussion it was
decided that the exterior of the build-
ing should be at least 8 inches thick,
with no wood, and work resumed.
City government apparently ran
smoothly for some time after that. In
August 1929, the O'Neill store closed,
and by February 1930, Bower had
acquired the building and announced
plans to move it some 30 feet directly
east, providing a site for a super ser-
vice station in its place, and remodel-
ing the old building into apartments
and a storage area. That he did carry the manufacture and sale of liquor,
out these plans is evidenced in a 1930 and prostitution be strictly enforced."
city directory, which shows Bower as Mayor Bower frankly admitted
owner of Bower Super Service and that Shelton was being run "wide
mayor of Shelton, with his residence open" by his orders, citing as justi-
in the O'Neill Apartments. fication that he had closed the city
Bower ran into rougher times in against all gambling soon after taking
March 1930. In an editorial titled office and "considerable complaint"
"An Undesirable Reputation," on the had come to him against rigid restric-
front page of the March 6 Journal, tions on card playing. He added his
editor Grant Angle wrote that Shelton opinion that the majority of people in
was fast gaining notoriety as a "free Shelton desired a "wide open" town
and easy town" that was attracting for business reasons. Various mem-
"a class of undesirables that always bers Of the city council then joined the
follows in the wake of easy money=" conversation, and a motion was made
At the city council meeting three days that the mayor be instructed to or-
later, a petition from committees of der police officers to enforce the laws
church and welfare organizations strictly. The motion carried by unani-
urged officials to take notice of local mous vote of the six council members.
conditions and take action to correct In the election of December 1930,
them. The petition included the sign- Runacres defeated A. A. Bower by a
ers' belief that, "At present we are nearly 2-1 margin. In his first week
getting much unfavorable publicity on the job, Runacres instructed the
due to the fact that there is reputed city marshal to strictly enforce all
to be much bootlegging, drunkenness, laws, and had each officer individu-
and general disregard for our prohibi- ally appear before the city council to
tion law. We are informed that there reinforce those instructions.
are a number of houses of prostitution Bower continued his service station
running wide open. This, we believe, and auto sales business in Shelton for
cannot be done without the knowledge a short, time, but eventually left for
of our police force and those respon- Seattle, where he sold insurance for
sible for the enforcement of our laws. awhile before moving toCalifornia.
We therefore urgently request the Jan Parker is a researcher at the
mayor and the cit:~ council to make it Mason County Historical Museum.
very plain to the enforcement officers She can be reached at parkerj@hctc.
that the laws regarding bootlegging, com
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227 W. ota St. Shelton, 98584 I
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