STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
Brawley’s new swimming pool has its own “hot line” telephone connected directly with the Brawley Fire Department. If a breathing resuscitator is needed immediately, the life guard will only have to lift the phone receiver and “in about 45 seconds” the fire department will be poolside to give resuscitator aid.
“We want it known that we not only have the best swimming program in the Valley but we also have the best safety features,” expressed Mike McKissick, Brawley park and recreation director.
This hot line safety feature has been installed for about two weeks and has yet to be used. McKissick confided, “We don’t expect to use it. We have a very fine lifeguard.”
It was Fire Chief Leroy A. Jones who thought of the idea and installed a large screen in the fire station that lights up immediately when the pool phone is lifted. The line is direct, going through no central telephone control.
40 years ago
Look away, Dixieland — Another group of optimistic developers, possibly sentimental adherents to the old Confederacy, made a valiant effort in forming another boom town on the Valley’s west side during the first decade of the Valley’s existence.
Dixie was envisioned as far back as 1909 by George Nichols and Ira Aten, but it wasn’t until 1912 that W.M. Herbert and Charles O’Neall formed the Westside Land Co.
Nichols and Aten had attempted to bring in a highline canal along the western edge of the desert to water the area, but they were unsuccessful.
Nonetheless, an artesian well was drilled, telephone lines were installed, a general store was established and the Westside Land Co. had embarked on an aggressive real estate venture.
They changed the name of the town to Dixieland, and the first bar to the Confederate’s favorite war hymn, “Dixieland,” became the logo used in all references to the blossoming town in the newspaper, for both advertising and news stories.
30 years ago
WASHINGTON (MNS) — Sen. Alan Cranston, D-Calif., has abandoned attempts to get his controversial desert protection bill passed during this congressional session, a spokesman for the senator told this newspaper today.
The California Desert Protection Act would turn millions of acres intro restricted-access wilderness and also make Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Monuments national parks.
Cranston’s decision came after Sen. Pete Wilson, R-Calif., sent a letter to Cranston Thursday saying he could not organize his objections to the bill and reach a compromise by the end of this week.
Support of both state senators is crucial because the committee won’t consider the desert bill without it.
20 years ago
Hundreds of years have passed since the last fish disappeared from the lake that once covered much of the Imperial, Coachella and Mexicali valleys, and the waters of Lake Cahuilla have long evaporated into obscure memory.
But in the northwest corner of Imperial County, more than 100 fish traps remain. They lie in wait under the desert sun, pointing persistently toward the center of what once was an ancient lake, collecting nothing but sand and an occasional empty shell.
The traps — “V” shaped formations of granite rocks whose pointed ends were immersed in the shallow waters of the lake’s edge — used to number more than 2,000. They were built by the Desert Cahuilla tribe, whose descendants now live in the Torres-Martinez Reservation on the north edge of the sea.