Old Time Notes from The Beacon

130 Years Ago April 11, 1891

• The Fort Bragg Advocate will soon be issued from its new two-story building. Bro. Cavanaugh has decided to make the Fort his future home and has bought a lot on Main street on which he will build a residence and printing office.

• The Ukiah stage had a rough trip over Monday on account of the storm. When a few miles out of Ukiah, the passengers decided to “foot it” to the Halfway House, where they hired a team and came on to Mendocino. The stage arrived after midnight. The paper mail in a dilapidated condition, being soaked with water.

• Ernest Durnford now handles the ribbons on F. F. Lazarus’ stage line between Mendocino and Fort Bragg. Ernest is a good driver.

• Rapid progress is being made on J. E. Packard’s new house. Mendocino is slowly but surely assuming large proportions. Another shoemaker’s shop is to be added to our enterprises. Wm. Wells, Jr., will soon start in business on Ukiah Street.

• Never before has la grippe taken such a hold on victims on this coast as at present. It is a typical form of the Chicago malady, and many serious cases are reported.

103 Years Ago April 6, 1918

• Charles Hurley, who is now in his junior year at college, has been selected as one of the twelve members of the Stanford Varsity baseball team for the big series with the University of California. He is on the pitching staff and did good work in preliminary games. Hurley was captain of the M.H.S. Ball Team during his last two years here.

• Thos. Megaw of Little River departed Friday morning for the Caspar woods having been engaged by the Caspar Lumber Company to build a recreation and pool hall at the several logging camps and also to put up several cottages for employees having families.

• The steamer Sea Foam, which sailed last Saturday from this port, did not return until Friday morning. A number of the crew left the vessel when she reached the metropolis and it was with difficulty sailors were secured to fill their places. She brought up a quantity of freight and a few passengers. She will sail today about noon for San Francisco with a cargo of lumber.

• Leland Higgins, who has been a blacksmith at the Caspar mill for some time past, resigned and with his family left for his home in Richmond where he intends to go in business as before.

75 Years Ago April 6, 1946

• We have often said that this old ocean’s movements are unpredictable, and that statement has frequently been verified. It made one of those unpredictable movements on Monday. Most noticeable was the big swell which came in the Noyo river and lifted the stream five feet, and started fishing boats not moored securely moving upstream. However, just before this rise came, there was a very strong current running out.

• Sometime after midnight Mendocino people were awakened by the fire alarm and were apprised through the telephone office that a very serious fire had broken out in Fort Bragg and a call had come for help. A large number drove to Fort Bragg and others were already there, attending the Eagles dance. The fire proved to be in Shafsky Bros. Store, where it started a little after one o’clock and it is believed that it started from the oil stove. An explosion occurred soon after the fire got underway and the whole interior of the building became a mass of flames. The former Windlinx Hardware, now the Mendocino Coast Hardware and Supply Co., had a considerable loss, too.

51 Years Ago April 3, 1970

• Mr. Bill Graubard, whose excellent background qualifies him for the position, has become the new advertising manager for The Mendocino Beacon.

• Mrs. Cora White of Albion was the guest of honor at her 100th birthday party at the Albion Chapel on Easter Sunday. The affair was sponsored by the Rebekah’s and the Whitesboro Grange. It was one of the most outstanding affairs of the season. Mrs. White was 100 years old on Monday, the 30th of March.

• William Penn Mott, Jr., director of the Department of Parks and Recreation for the State of California, has called a public meeting in Preston Hall, Saturday, April 11, for the purpose of discussing the Mendocino Headlands park proposal.

• John “Jack” Fee, native of Westport, born there July 14, 1882, and lifelong resident of the Mendocino coast, died Tuesday, March 31, at a local convalescent hospital.

• Services were held Thursday, April 2, at the Elk Catholic Church for James Buchanan, age 72, who passed away March 29 in a Veteran’s hospital in Roseburg, Oregon. A native of Elk, he was a Navy Veteran of World War I and an Army Veteran of World War II. Other than his war years and the past five years spent in the hospital, he had lived all his life in Elk.

30 Years Ago April 4, 1991

• The Mendocino Coast has lost one of its most respected and loved citizens. Elinor Hayes, of Little River, died peacefully at her “Old Hayes Place” on March 29, just eleven days short of her 82nd birthday. When the end came, she had with her two longtime friends, George Dusheck and Liz Irwin, as well as her cats. Elinor Hayes came to the Mendocino Coast as a permanent resident 17 years ago when she retired following thirty years as a reporter for “The Oakland Tribune.” Her newspaper career began in the ‘30s. Throughout her long career as a working reporter, Elinor interviewed hundreds of celebrities such as James Thurber, Diego Rivera and Eleanor Roosevelt. After her arrival on the Mendocino Coast, she was soon active as publicity chair for many organizations. For many years, she wrote “That’s Life,” a weekly feature in The Mendocino Beacon which covered interesting items about the comings and goings of coastal residents — all the good news. Along with her friend, Mildred Benioff, Elinor conceived the idea of a “Do-Gooder” luncheon. For the past four years the event has been held near Christmas. Over 100 guests have met for lunch and made contributions to the local food bank and soup kitchen. Several thousand dollars were raised to assist these two groups.