Robbers steal pork, lard from butcher shop
Charles Poole, federal inspector for the Predatory Animals Bureau of the Department of Agriculture, reported 100 years ago this week that during the last six months of 1922 a seven-man work crew from the department had “rid the county” of 76 coyotes, 55 bobcats and 71 other wild animals that prey on livestock.
The workers were paid by federal, state and county funds, said the Feb. 9, 1923 Humboldt Standard.
“The county (which put out nearly $1,400 for the crew) gets a rebate of $48 for skins of captured animals sold,” the newspaper said.
On Feb. 10, 1923, the Humboldt Standard said that 19-year-old Luther Sibley of Iaqua (near Kneeland) was brought before Justice Adams by County Traffic Officer Hill, charged with speeding at 55 mph on the highway between Eureka and Arcata.
“Sibley pleaded guilty and was fined $75, but not having the money, the car — his father’s — was held as security for the payment of the fine and the defendant was released,” the newspaper said.
The same day, John Holmquist was charged with speeding near Fields Landing while on his way home from his job in Samoa.
“Holmquist at first was thought to be (a) booze runner by Traffic Officer Hash, who was returning from a prohibition raid down the valley. His car was just behind Holmquist … who gave the dry squad a merry race before they overhauled him and found that he merely was a speeder making 45 mph,” the Humboldt Standard said.
The Feb. 12, 1923 newspaper noted that, “Expenditures to be made by the Humboldt State Teachers College from July 1, 1923, to June 30, 1924, will be less by nearly $9,000 than for the year to close June 30, 1923, if the budget recommendations by Gov. Richardson are made effective.
“Those recommendations suggest … the salary of N. H. Van Maire, president of the college, be reduced from $5,000 a year to $4,500. Instructors will have their salaries cut, reductions ranging from $500 to $300 a year. The librarian, now securing $2,233.34 a year, will be cut to $1,400. … At present, the school has one janitor and four part-time janitors. The latter will be reduced to two, each to be given $450 a year.”
The Humboldt Standard said that on Feb. 13, 1923, “The first sensational holdup of a financial institution in Eureka occurred shortly before 9 o’clock in the morning when Charles Clark, ca
shier of the American Railway Express Company, was slugged, the robbers (then) getting away with $1,200 in coins and currency from the safe which Clark had just opened.”
Two men were suspected in the E Street robbery, with a third man stationed outside as a lookout, police said.
“A Dodge roadster, which was noticed parked in front of the office at the time of the robbery and was not there a few minutes before, is thought to have had some connection with the robbery,” the newspaper stated.
A day later, Feb. 14, 1923, “hungry burglars, with a predilection for pork and grease, broke into butcher shop on B Street and a grocery store adjoining (in Eureka),” the Humboldt Standard said.
The butcher shop was owned by the Russ Company and the grocery by Robert Brown.
The newspaper said, “When the robbers left, they took with them a ham with two butcher knives and a cleaver for cutting it up — also a can of lard. From the grocery store, (they took) two sides of bacon and a can of coffee — also a quantity of cigars and cigarettes.”
The Jan. 15, 1923 Humboldt Standard reported the death of Dr. Curtis Gallup, a pioneer resident of the county who lived in Rohnerville.
“He had resided in this town for the past 35 years and was well known as a veterinary surgeon in the Eel River Valley,” the newspaper said.
Gallup — survived by his wife and one daughter — was also a longtime member of the Odd Fellows organization, the Standard said.