This day in Bonners Ferry History
100 Year
William Hunter, who was brought here last week from the Idaho-Continental mine by Deputy McMahon on the charge of insanity, was examined Tuesday by Drs. Fry and Faucett. The hearing was held before Probate Judge Henderson, who ordered Hunter committed to the state insane asylum at Orofino. Hunter was taken to Orofino Thursday.
Chief Isaac, the oldest of the Kootenai Indian tribe, died July 8th and was buried Monday, the funeral services being conducted by Fr. Lambot, of Cranbrook, B.F. Chief Isaac was 92 years old. He held the office of “chief” until last year when his old age made the election of a new chief necessary and since that time he has acted as an advisor to the new chief.
J.C. Barto last week sold a fancy mare to Harry Eaton for $250. The mare is a fine animal and Mr. Barto says it is the best one in the state of Idaho.
The officers of the Mazda Mining company have outlined the season’s work on the property of the company north of Naples. Both, the Bald Eagle and the Lookout lodes will be developed with a view of doing permanent work which will in the long-run prove the most economical. The trail to the Lookout lode is about completed and now it is planned to drive a 200 exploration tunnel. The Lookout group is fully as rich as the Bald Eagle claims and the recently driven 25-foot tunnel on the Bald Eagle gave values of $31 per ton.
Yesterday the board of county commissioners let a contract to Martin Peterson for the construction of what is known as the Sam Murphy road in the Moravia district. The contract price was $835.
50 Year
The Bonners Ferry ranger station of the Kaniksu national Forest reports that crews have extinguished five fires in recent days. The largest one was on Upper Myrtle Creek last Friday, when about two acres of timber area burned. A fire crew of 20 men fought the blaze Friday night and 1800 gallons of retardant were dropped on the site by three Forest Service planes from Missoula and Coeur d’Alene. Fire danger is now high and is expected to reach the “very high” stage by this weekend. Extreme care is urged with fires — particularly in camping.
Work is now in progress on three new rural water systems in Boundary county. In the past 25 years — counting the three systems now being installed — a total of 14 new rural water units have been constructed, at a cost of $680,000. Another new system, the Bee Line, will be constructed this fall at a cost of nearly $214,000.
It was announced this week that there are no longer any vacancies for new patients at the county nursing home, but there are only a few names presently on the waiting list for admittance. Hospital officials state that those interested should sign up now to assure a better chance of being accepted for admittance when vacancies come up in the future.
Busy Bee Briefs — Mrs. D.O. Haagenson, Reporter asks — “Won’t someone please claim the little Shetland pony who strayed to our place — a week ago Monday — roan with light mane and tail?”
15 Year
Seen N’Heard… one of the more intriguing questions of the year comes from an out-of-state visitor who wanted to know if there was a Wal-Mart in Porthill or Eastport — was he talking about Idaho?
A burning vehicle sent Kootenai Valley Motel guests running into the night last Friday, as flames licked at the nearest tree and began burning the roof above one of the rooms. While on regular patrol at 12:20 a.m. Saturday morning, Bonners Ferry Police Office Marty Ryan spotted flames coming from the motel and radioed for help. In his report, Ryan said the 1994 Ford bronco was fully engulfed in flames, and the motel roof was beginning to burn. Ryan started a room to room notification and began evacuating guests. The fire was started by an electrical malfunction somewhere in the system. Although officials said there is no connection, this is the third vehicle fire in less than a week.
Sheriff’s Log – Date July 7; Incident: threats at BNRR MP 1358; Details: Caller advised that a train is stopped in Katka area and four men in a blue raft are “pulling plugs” on the side fence along the tracks and threatening the crew. (Advised that “pulling plugs” refers to sending flags from signaling equipment to the train, telling it to stop). Males are 18-19 years old with backpacks, making verbal threats.
Attorney’s general from Idaho and 41 other states have asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to halt marketing of a candy-like tobacco product that delivers as much nicotine as a cigarette. Ariva, which looks like a small breath mint, contains tobacco powder, along with sweeteners, mint and other flavorings. Virginia’s Star Scientific Inc. makes the product and plans to market it nationwide.