Nearly all of Lewis County, excluding a small portion of its eastern part, was planned to “dim out” the night of Thursday, Aug. 20, 1942. The dim out was declared to stay in compliance with a proclamation issued Aug. 5 by the Western Defense Command of the U.S. Army. The plan, as of Aug. 20, was for the dim outs to continue on Thursdays for the duration of the war. The restrictions on activities were less strict in Lewis County than in those counties bordering the Pacific Ocean.

“Every householder must observe certain precautions, and air raid wardens in every district will closely check his co-operation in the dim out,” The Chronicle reported.

Due to its status away from the coast, the goal of the dim out in Lewis County was to eliminate “excessive amounts of light at night and in eliminating lights which can be seen from the sky,” said Paul Peyton, dim out consultant for Lewis County. Lights were required to be either out or shaded from above. The maximum intensity of a light was limited to the “intensity of one-foot candle power,” said Peyton. Unlike in other counties, the dim out did not apply to the headlights of cars, which had to be reduced in power in some places. Peyton also informed the public that lights should not be left on at homes during the night unless “there is someone there or available to turn them off should a blackout be called.” For businesses, no outside lights were permitted for use. Window lights were not to be used unless they were dimmed and “the angle of sight from the sky is such they cannot be seen.” Police forces were to be relied upon to enforce the new rules, with The Chronicle reporting Centralia police were expected to check nightly to “ensure a perfect dim out.” According to The Chronicle, while street lights were not yet under new restrictions, tests were “underway in Seattle to determine the best manner in which the street lights may be dimmed, and as soon as a satisfactory means is found, all cities will be ordered to dim street lights.”

• Tacoma Mayor and Republican candidate for governor Melvin Tennent was scheduled to address the Centralia Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Aug. 22. Originally scheduled to appear on Aug. 29, an adjustment in his campaign’s itinerary changed his plans.

• The Standard Bottling Works, headquartered in Longview, announced it had leased 535 N. Tower Ave. where “all soft drinks and supplies will be wholesaled,” The Chronicle reported. H.W. Pomerene had been appointed manager of the branch and was planning on moving his family to Centralia from Longview.

• Judge Nort Wynn sentenced nine members of an “alleged liquor party” on the night of Aug. 18 after they were convicted on their charges. John Holtorf was fined $15 and sentenced to 10 days in jail; Wilbur Houghton, $15 and 10 days; Glenn Cocking, $20 and 10 days; George Lebeau, $5; S.M. Phelps, $25 and 10 days; Dolly Powell, $10 or 10 days; Pearl Baird, $10; Cora Phelps, $10 or 10 days; and Roy Gardner, $25 and 10 days. Lebeau was charged with disorderly conduct while the rest were charged with being “drunk and disorderly,” except for Phelps and Gardner who had the additional charge of possession of liquor.

• The Methodist Church in Chehalis was expected to hear Dr. Ernest Clay speak on Sunday, Aug. 21. Clay was a resident of Changli, located in Northern China. Clay “conducts the only modern hospital in that section of China and is the only white physician for two million people there,” The Chronicle reported.

• Ivan Clark, of Everett, was arrested on the night of Thursday, Aug. 18 on hit-and-run charges after allegedly colliding with a car owned by H.L. Eckerson, of Centralia. Clark was alleged to have driven into Eckerson’s while it was parked on the curb of Market Boulevard between 10th and 11th streets in Chehalis. Eckerson heard the crash and notified police, who found Clark’s damaged car on Washington Avenue.

• A four room, partly furnished house in Chehalis was listed for rent at $10 a month. The house included a basement and a garage.

• The Morton home of F.E. Leyman was destroyed in a fire on Tuesday, Aug. 16 after Leyman left the kitchen stove on while going to his barn to milk cows. Neighbors reported seeing fire on the roof. “Practically nothing was saved from the burning building,” The Chronicle reported, though insurance covered the losses.

• The Centralia Selective Service Board announced on Aug. 20 it would be drafting “all single men” in categories 1 and 2. Based on The Chronicle’s reporting, it appeared unclear what criteria was being used to determine categories, though the categories did not appear arbitrary, as category 3 was reported as being “those married but without children” by The Chronicle. The order to draft the men had been issued to all selective service boards throughout the state. The draft order included “all men in the specified categories unless they are deferred by occupational, physical, mental or moral reasons,” The Chronicle reported. While the draft board was initially expected to draft 49 men in September, under the new order, that number was expected to be “exceeded considerably.”

• Members of the Centralia chapter of the American Legion had left to attend the Washington State Legion Convention to be held on Saturday, Aug. 22. The group was led by Lawrence Martin and “Mrs. Bert Brown.”

• Planning for the Lewis County 4-H Club camp and fair were underway on Aug. 20. The event was to begin on Sunday, Aug. 23 and continue through Wednesday, Aug. 26. Discussions of problems related to 4-H were expected to “highlight the camp,” The Chronicle reported. Classes to “occupy the campers’ time” were to include topics such as home safety, nutrition, beekeeping, handicraft and recreation.

• A breakfast was held on the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 19 for the 27 Centralia men drafted for military service in World War II. The men, who left for training at Fort Lewis following the event, were joined by their parents, wives and friends. The Centralia Elks presented each of the 27 men a service kit during the breakfast, though The Chronicle did not state what was included in the kit. The men drafted into service were Evan Davies, Louis Townsend, George Orr, Herbert Love, William Bullock, Harold Kern, Ernest Hoard, Robert Woolsey, Ivan Veysey, George Jones, Joseph Duncan, Leo Smith, Robert Lenz, Arthur Griffith, Gerald Swanson, Hubert Hill, Earl Clark, Delton Beebe, Thorvald Skramstad, Thomas Burgess, Marshall Clark, Theodore Gano, Ivan Stout, Donald Nelson, Frank Housden, Henry Rose and Joseph Duncan.

• Bond sales were reported to be lagging in Centralia. “Centralia must more than double efforts during balance of month to meet quota,” The Chronicle stated, describing what it referred to as “a considerable sag in war bond purchases” in Centralia. As of Aug. 20, the city had sold $26,347.50 in bonds, below the trajectory needed to reach its monthly quota of $75,000, part of Lewis County’s August quota of $187,500. According to The Chronicle, part of the reason for the low number was Centralia going “overboard” in July, when it raised $106,982.65 in bonds. J.C. McNiven, chair of Centralia’s Bond Board, said they had raised a wartime total of $786,610.40 in bonds as of Aug. 15.

• Two Lewis County men volunteered for military service, The Chronicle reported. Benjamin Rome enlisted as a mechanic in the Army Air Corps, at the time Air Force was still a division within the Army rather than a separate branch, while James Paulson was reported as having enlisted in the “armored force.”

• Incumbent U.S. representative for Washington’s 3rd District was attacked in the Democratic primary by Cecil Callison for being insufficiently supportive of the ongoing war effort. “Wipe out the disgraceful and ugly blot of having a representative in congress in these dangerous days who was a World War I conscientious objector and a World War II political saboteur,” The Chronicle reported Callison saying. Callison, a Chehalis resident and former state legislator, showed the Chehalis Rotary Club copies of articles from Grays Harbor newspapers dated to Aug. 19, 1917 stating Smith had sought exemption from military service as a member of the Swedish Baptist Church, whose creed required members to abstain from going to war. “These articles show Smith was the only young man among 540 youths in his hometown called up in that draft who tried to evade bearing arms as a conscientious objector. Before Pearl Harbor, we might have ignored that record, but we can’t ignore it anymore when our only hope of survival is in waging a fight to the death and when our fighting president and our fighting boys in uniform should and must have the backing of a 100% fighting congress,” said Callison. “This is a record we might have forgiven and forgotten except for the glaring fact he (Smith) continued to show he is still a man of the same stripe by voting against selective service and against the anti-subversive activities bill and by giving his silent consent to ‘pensions for congress,’ and in many other ways obstructing and sabotaging the war effort.”

• The Southwest Washington Fair had returned to Lewis County, with its gates opening on Aug. 20. First day attendance was light, which had been expected. The Chronicle reported the fair as containing “literally thousands” of exhibits and displays. “(The) opening night color was purple, royal purple, with the fair’s ruling royalty being presented and enthroned. The reigning ruler is Queen Phyllis Libby of Centralia, who received her crown and robe at the opening evening grandstand show,” The Chronicle reported. Present that evening was U.S. Sen. Harry Cain, who was in the Twin Cities throughout Wednesday.

• U.S. Sen. Harry Cain spoke to the Chehalis Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs at a joint luncheon at the St. Helens Hotel on Aug. 20. Harry told the clubs the U.S. had more to worry about from domestic issues than it did from international issues. “If Russia attacked us tomorrow with all the atom bombs it has available, it would not be able to inflict the amount of injury or losses that was done by the recent stell strike in the United States,” said Cain. “The suffering of the United States will go many more months or years as a result of the strike which shut down 380 steel plants for 52 days.” The Republican then proceeded to criticize labor unions and advocated for the Taft-Hartley Act, which had weakened unions, explaining the law would “do more to defeat inflation than all the many mechanical controls that have been inflicted. The working men and women of Washington state want to know more about (The Taft-Hartley Act) so they can defeat inflation with it,” The Chronicle reported Cain as saying.

• Southwest Washington 4-H Club members entered 125 bovines in contests at the Southwest Washington Fair. In the beef showing contests, Dwain Nelson, of Winlock, won the shorthorn entry, while David Young, of Morton, was the junior champion. Kenneth Thompson, of Olympia, won the junior and grand champion female award.

• The Centralia Commission, along with Police Chief Otto Rucker, announced they believed changes “should be” made regarding dogs, but were still unsure as to what the changes would be. The announcement followed two attacks, only minutes apart, on the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 19. “In the meantime, Rucker has ordered all dogs who have either bitten or snapped at anyone be tied up or muzzled,” The Chronicle reported.

• William Bugge, the Washington state Highway Department director, gave assurances the White Pass Highway through Eastern Lewis County would be maintained as a year-around highway. Winter maintenance equipment was to be stationed in Packwood. Bugge said while the department would try and keep the pass open throughout the winter, “slide conditions and an abnormal winter could force closures on a temporary basis,” according to The Chronicle.

• Despite “exceedingly dry weather,” forest fires losses were reported as being “held to” 659 acres during the first two weeks of August, for a total of 5,936 acres so far that year. “Smokers continue to be the most important cause of fire loss,” The Chronicle reported. Washington residents were warned to use “extreme caution” to prevent further fires.

• The Central Kitsap School Board voted to hire Ester Wilfong, 22, to teach sixth grade at Central Kitsap Junior High School in Silverdale. The hiring of Wilfong, who was Black, had been controversial. The board had voted the night of Tuesday, Aug. 19 to rescind the job offer made to Wilfong on Aug. 13, but had changed course and voted to move forward with the offer. The vote to go ahead with Wilfong’s contract was unanimous. The decision to rescind the offer the previous night was partly based on concerns related to the passage of school bond measures. Wilfong had graduated from Eastern Oregon College earlier in 1952. Wilfong would become the second Black teacher in Kitsap County, the other being a woman in Bremerton, though Bremerton was a separate school district.

• Frank Jones, 70, retired on Aug. 19 after 52 years of service as a railroad engineer. Jones, a Centralia resident, had accumulated over 2 million miles of railroad travel over his career. Despite his late retirement, Jones’ departure from the railroad industry was not voluntary, rather it was the result of a mandatory retirement age enforced by the railroad. “I’d probably be in this cab for 10 or 20 years more if they would let me,” Jones said.

• The state patrol, newly armed with a radar unit, “zeroed in” on 13 speeding cars over the weekend in the Twin Cities area. Since receiving the device, 27 individuals had been arrested on weekends in Lewis County. Described as a “portable, transistorized, unit,” the new radar system had started being used the previous Tuesday on Aug. 14.

• Kenneth Chase, a longtime Chehalis businessman, joined the race for Lewis County Port Commission on Aug. 20. With Chase’s entry, there were now seven candidates running for the three positions. The commission seats were all non-salaried. The primary was scheduled for Sept. 11. The other candidates were John Eyerdam and William Conrad, of Centralia; Frank Miller, Oscar Newby and James Petra, of Chehalis, and Howard Strout, of Toledo.

• The Lewis County population increased from 41,858 in the 1960 census to an estimated 42,400 people in 1962, according to The Chronicle. The report was based on data released by the Washington state Health Department, which said Washington had seen its population rise 92,486 during the same period, reaching an estimated 2,945,700 people.

• The Lewis County Democratic Club was scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 21 at Fort Borst Park for a dinner that would include barbecued beef. The group was expected to hear County Commissioner Hugh Kalich speak about the benefits of having a port commission.

• An “all electric,” remodeled two bedroom house with new wiring and plumbing in Chehalis was listed for $6,800. The house was described as including built-in kitchen appliances and large closets.

• The Southwest Washington Fair was expected to open the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 21. “Fair leaders who anxiously watched rainy weather forecasts over the weekend drew a big breath of relief Monday when forecasts for Western Washington scheduled near normal temperatures for the next five days,” The Chronicle reported. The fair had apparently gained a “north parking lot,” which could handle an estimated 1,200 cars. Parking was to cost 25 cents. Admissions to the fair was 75 cents each time someone entered, though children ages 6 to 12 were charged 10 cents and children below school age could enter for free.

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