Old Time Notes from The Beacon
130 Years Ago Feb. 8, 1890
• The schooner Albion, thirty days out from San Francisco, and bound for Fish Rock, put into Greenwood Harbor Saturday for provisions. The captain reports the storm the most severe one he has ever experienced on the coast.
• A new saw mill will be built at Greenwood the coming spring for L. E. White. The enterprise will be under the supervision of John Barrett, the coast expert in that business.
• An object was recently sighted several miles off Humboldt Bar, which at first was thought to be the wreck of a vessel. A couple of Eureka tugs went to investigate, when it was discovered the floating mass was a large redwood tree, supposed to have been carried to sea by the freshet in one of the Mendocino streams. It was floating north with the current, and is a danger to navigation.
• A son was born to the wife of the late W. C. Cartnell, at Elk on January 2.
105 Years Ago Feb. 6, 1915
• Albion defeated Mendocino in a somewhat one-sided, but interesting game of basketball at Albion by a score of 28 to 9.
• The heavy rains during the early part of the week brought down 25,000 logs to the boom. The logs from Johnstons camp came through on Saturday evening and those from Mallory’s camp followed on Tuesday. A big jam formed at the second bridge above the boom last Tuesday. Woods Superintendent Ed Boyle, accompanied by William J. Boyle, Henry Nystrom, Charles Boyle, Percy Daniels and Ed Krogh went out and after several days’ hard work succeeded in breaking the jam. Together with those already on hand, the company has now sufficient logs to supply the mill for a long time to come.
• A baby boy arrived at the home of Mr. and Mrs. James Doig at Caspar on February 1st. Dr. Peirsol who attended, reports both mother and child are doing nicely.
• The City Meat Market, formerly the property of the late T. H. Beggs, has been purchased by Tony and Joe Quaill who will conduct the business in the future.
80 Years Ago Feb. 3, 1940
• Charles Escola, well known on this coast where he lived for a number of years at Mendocino, died Monday in Ferndale, where he had resided for sometime. Mr. Escola was a locomotive engineer on coast logging roads for a time, and then went into the garage business conducting the S&E Garage at Mendocino very successfully for a number of years. He then went to Ferndale to engage in the garage business there.
• C. R. Johnson dies in San Francisco. Established First Mill at Fort Bragg 55 years ago. The death of C. R. Johnson Thursday afternoon at 5 o’clock came as a shock to his host of friends on the coast. Few here knew that he was ill. Had he lived to the 14th of the month he would have been 81 years of age. He was a native of Michigan. He is survived by his wife and two sons, Russell and Ralph.
• Point Arena Lighthouse … work has started at the lighthouse to install two new fog horns. The engineers arrived and have hired Beverly Beebe and Henry McMillen to help with the work.
• The Manchester school bell which was raffled off at Manchester last fall and won by Mr. Swanson of San Francisco, is again to be raffled, this time at the Gualala Hotel on February 10th.
55 Years Ago Feb. 5, 1965
• A tidal wave warning was received at Noyo Harbor about midnight Wednesday, following a tidal wave in the Aleutian Islands. The Coast Guard warned all fishermen in the area and most of the local fishing fleet went out to sea to wait out the warning period. A rise in the river was noted at Noyo. The boats returned to port about 7 a.m. Thursday.
• Joe Mendosa was submitted to surgery two weeks ago and is making very satisfactory recovery. He is continuing his convalescence in the hospital at the present time. His many friends wish him a speedy recovery.
• A. A. Heeser noted he has returned home after a month’s absence at Oakland where he entered Mercy Hospital for surgery on a fractured right elbow. He’s glad to be home again.
• Mr. and Mrs. Larry Halter (nee Lorraine Valador) and their three daughters, Diane, Judy and Nancy of Concord, have been visiting Lorraine’s parents Mr. and Mrs. Domingo Valador for the past ten days.
30 Years Ago Feb. 8, 1990
• Most women don’t want it known when they reach 70. Not so the League of Women Voters who is proudly celebrating 70 years of political awareness and voter participation here as across the United States. The Mendocino League, was founded over 20 years ago by a small group under the leadership of Mildred Benioff, who brought League principles here from her former home in Pasadena.
• Members of the Mendocino Study Club will consider a positive approach of living and coming to terms with priorities, at their meeting on Feb. 9. The speaker will be Cynthia Wall, LCSW. As a licensed clinical social worker, Wall does private consultation and she is President of the
Friends of Hospice. Following the meeting tea will be served. Earline Ames is chairman of the hostess group that includes Elinor Herod, Zona Therkelsen, Betty Storz and Clarita Thompson. Laura Robinton and Mary Williams will pour.
• River Views By Margaret Macdonald: Little River Airport Road neighbor Bill Walsh, 82, died January 31st. He moved to the Mendocino coast in 1941, the year Lorne and I married. Bill worked as a commercial fisherman, then logging for Fred Shandel, later with his wife Lois at the Heritage House. Lois died in 1983. Many neighbors up and down the coast enjoyed their friendship.