Looking Back 125 years: Reps plead hospital need in Olympia

Here’s what was happening in the news this week: 100 years ago: The straying bovine would no longer be found wandering through the green grass within. Mr. Seltzer had his dander up and had sworn eternal banishment for all their kith and kin. And to secure their eternal banishment, gates would soon be swinging at the entrances of the yard.

April 3, 2015 6:23 pm

Here’s what was happening in the news this week:

100 years ago:

  • The straying bovine would no longer be found wandering through the green grass within. Mr. Seltzer had his dander up and had sworn eternal banishment for all their kith and kin. And to secure their eternal banishment, gates would soon be swinging at the entrances of the yard.
  • There was a full board present at the meeting of the board of directors of the Oak Harbor Fruit Growers Association. One order of business was the opening of bids for a cannery site. Mr. Ely had not made a bid but made a statement of what he could offer the association as a site nearly opposite the Maylor warehouse. Four bids total were opened. After due deliberation, it was considered by a majority of the board that the Ely proposition was the best and most economical at the present time.

75 years ago:

  • Responding to petitions bearing several thousand signatures, State Senator Pearl A. Wanamaker, announced that she had decided to become a candidate for state superintendent of public instruction. Mrs. Wanamaker has been principal of the Greenbank school, Island County school superintendent, a teacher at Coupeville High School, a state representative and a member of the state senate.
  • The jail was built to accommodate a maximum of six prisoners. Sheriff Tommy Clark’s latest census revealed that he was harboring seven inmates, with no assurance whatsoever that there wouldn’t be more in the future.

50 years ago:

  • A Douglas A-4C “Skyhawk” crashed short of the runway at Ault Field, taking its pilot to his death.
  • Whidbey’s three hospital commissioners went to Olympia to plead their case for funds for the Island to build a hospital in Coupeville. One of the commissioners said that he didn’t believe the prospect for getting the funds was very good because North Whidbey was still classed in the Mount Vernon area, and that meant funds to cover the area would be given to Mount Vernon.
  • Patrol Squadron One returned to the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, marking the end of a sixth-month deployment to the Far East. During deployment, VP-1 aircraft were based at Iwakuni, Japan, with attachments operating out of Okinawa, the Philippine Islands, and Saigon and Da Nang, Vietnam.

25 years ago:

  • An environmental impact statement was required for a proposed mini-market with gas pumps for the southeast corner of State Highway 20 and South Main Street in Coupeville.

 

Looking Back is compiled from the Whidbey News-Times’ archives as the newspaper celebrates 125 years in business and the City of Oak Harbor its 100th anniversary of incorporation.