Shoshone County Newspaper Articles

V-J Shooting Ends Lives of Three

Wallace, Idaho - (AP) - A tavern argument during V-J Day celebration ended with the fatal shooting of three men in the isolated logging community of Herrick yesterday, according to Sheriff A. J. McPhail.

Czeke Turner, 56, "went berserk," the sheriff said, and killed Al Timmel, tavern operator, and Henry Hibbeln, a tavern customer. Turner then was killed by Timmel's brother, Fred.

Source: Binghampton Press, New York, August 16, 1945
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Big Majority

Wallace, Idaho, April 28 (AP) - John Batts was elected mayor of this town of nearly 4,000 population yesterday. The total vote: 104.

Source: The Binghampton Press, April 28, 1943
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

(No Title)
Re: Senator W. B. Heyburn

Our senior senator, W. B. Heyburn, has made an ass of himself once more. He seems to be adopting the tactics of our governor for a fondness of the lime-light, and never loses an opportunity for the cheap sensational.

In the present instance our eratic and excitable senator creates a mild sensation at a reception given to Congressman T. R. Hamer, at Wallace, by stopping the orchestra while playing the popular tune of "Dixie" in connection with a medly of well known and popular airs. The excitable senator jumped to his feet, majestically strode forward to the musicians and cried out: "This is a Republican meeting; we want no such tunes here."

After a moment of silence in which to recover from the rudness and shock, the mayor, Mr. Hanson, arose and closed the meeting without comment.

This display of bad taste and judgment is in line with a number of like incidents on the part of the senator, both in and out of the senate chambers, during the last session of congress; all of which is to be deplored if not condemned.

It may be the senator is drifting into second childhood or senilaty.

Source: Idaho Register, August 16, 1910
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Crews Find Second Body In Idaho Mine

BURKE, Idaho - Rescue workers Thursday found the body of a second miner crushed to death in a cave-in at the Star mine here.

A mine supervisor said the 20-man rescue team found the body of Barney McCoy, 47, Wallace, Idaho. However, the threat of more falling rocks and sliding earth, coupled with cramped working conditions at the 6,900-foot level of the big zinc mine made recovery doubtful for some time.

Late Wednesday night, a team recovered the body of Reed Peck, 41, also of Wallace, who was working with McCoy in the cave-in. His body was recovered about five hours after the accident. He had been crushed to death by the debris which fell on him in a "rock burst" which sent rocks and timbers into the shaft.

A mining expert says "rock bursts" are small, local earthquakes. Peck was found in the debris-chocked tunnel.

The Hecla Mining Co. operates the Star mine with its 355 employees. A standby emergency rescue team was dispatched to the mine after the word came that the men were trapped late Wednesday.

Source: Eugene Register-Guard, April 16, 1964
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Northern Idaho a Blazing Mass of Forest Fire
Wallace Suffers Loss of Life and Property
Death List Grows and 150 Buildings Were Destroyed by the Fire

Driven by a heavy gale the forest fires that have surrounded Wallace for weeks swept over the tops of the hills Saturday night and crept down the slopes at the east end of town.

List of Fatalities
Joseph G. Boyd, father of Captain William Boyd, suffocated in his home on Pearl street while trying to rescue the family parrott. J.G. Boyd, who was the Northern Pacific agent at Wallace for many years, was overcome with smoke in his home in the east part of the town and died.

Source: Coeur d'Alene Evening Press, August 22, 1910
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

IDAHO MAN MURDERED
Wallace Tobacco Merchant Found with His Skill Crushed

Mathew Mailey, a cigar dealer of Wallace, was murdered in his store Monday morning, and the officers have found no clue to the murderer. Just before 9 o’clock in the morning a passer-by saw his body lying near the rear of his cigar store, and notified the officers.

Both doors were locked, and blood on the floor caused the belief the he had committed suicide. When the door was forced open it was found that his throat was cut and his skull crushed in three places. An iron bar, eighteen inches long, lay between the body, which was covered in blood. A towel had been tied around the head, evidently for a gag.

An examination of the premises showed that the safe was locked, the money drawer undisturbed and a watch was on the corpse. The body was yet warm, but death had occurred some time before. Nothing was missing from the store except
the key to the door, the murderer evidently taking it with him and locking the door.

One witness saw the deceased enter the store with a tall, slim man about 6 o’clock. Mailey had lived in the Coeur d’Alenes about fifteen years, and had no known enemies.

Source: Payette Independent, October 4, 1900
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Hold Mother, Son

COEUR D'ALENE, Feb. 9 - Mrs. Marie Nusca and her son John, 21, were arrested on a bench warrant at Kellogg to answer to a liquor charge. They were brought to Coeur d'Alene and placed in the county jail. The two were indicted two years ago and are alleged to have jumped their bonds. They were brought to Coeur d'Alene by United States Marshal Angus Sutherland.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, February 9, 1932
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Caught on the Fly

Spokane, Wash., Nov. 5 - Angus Sutherland, sheriff of Shoshone county, Idaho, east of Spokane, arrested Thomas Knox, wanted at Wallace for issuing worthless checks in a clever manner, a few days ago. The sheriff was riding on an east bound train in Montana, and when a few miles from Deborgia he saw Knox walking along the track toward Saltese. The train was stopped and the officer put Knox in irons after a brief struggle, taking him to Wallace for preliminary hearing.

Source: Grand Forks Herald, November 6, 1906
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Believe Skeleton That of Rathjen

WALLACE, Idaho, Sept. 4 - (Special) - J.J. Rathjen was the name of the Wallace man who disappeared while on a hunting trip in the Fourth of July canyon in 1914 or 1915 and whose skeleton is believed to have been found on Copper Mountain, southeast of Coeur d'Alene last week.

Rathjen disappeared on Thanksgiving day in either 1914 or 1915 when he went into the hills on a deer hunting trip. He was with a man named Frank Keller from whom he became separated in the hills.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, September 4, 1934
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

More Lawlessness in Idaho

WALLACE, Idaho, April 14 - Jack Powell was shot and killed at Mullen last night by Deputy Sheriff Williams. Three men fired from ambush at Deputy Sheriffs Rose and Williams about midnight, wounding Rose twice. Williams fired six or seven shots in the direction of the flashes and fatally wounded Jack Powell. His body was not found until today. Martial law, which has been in force in Shoshone County since April, 1899, was abolished last Thursday by Gov. Hunt. Threats had been made that with the abolition of martial law all who had served as officers under it would be attacked.

Source: The New York Times, April 15, 1901
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Has Narrow Escape

John Bohannon, Mullan, had a narrow escape from death Sunday morning when the car he was driving skidded from the Wallace-Mullan highway and plunged over a 20-foot embankment into the south fork of the Coeur d'Alene river. The car was badly damaged and Bohannon was forced to escape from the water through a rear window.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 7, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Man Near Death

Elmer Heavy Schnekt, about 40, who was found unconscious on the floor in the basement in Carpenter's hall Saturday night, is near death in a local hospital, the attending physician reported today.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 7, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Manslaughter Charge Filed

David Lohoefer, Kellogg, whose light truck fatally injured Martin Rocco, Kellogg mine worker, early Christmas morning, was charged with manslaughter in a complaint filed in justice court yesterday afternoon by Prosecutor J. L. Fitzgerald.

Lohoefer Posts Bond

David Lohoefer, Kellogg, charged with manslaughter, posted $2000 bond to insure his appearance for preliminary hearing in justice court in near future.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 8, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Going to Hawaii

Mrs. Lou Clinton left today for Vancouver, B. C., from where she will sail for Hawaii on the Empress of Russia.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 8, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Needs Mother's Milk

A local hospital yesterday issued an appeal for some mother to contribute breast milk in the treatment of the 3-week-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Falipeau, Burke, who recently underwent an operation for the removal of a stomach tumor.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 8, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Teachers Resign

Mrs. M. S. Cook, Burke, is substituting as fifth grade teacher in Wallace, pending an appointment to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Crystal Fisher.

Helen Goss, Spokane, a graduate of Lewiston normal, has been named as teacher at Pritchard by Natalie Ferguson, county superintendent, succeeding Mrs. Ada Parker, resigned.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 8, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Attending Funeral

Mr. and Mrs. John Primus went to Lewiston today to attend funeral services for Mrs. Peter Primus, mother of Mr. Primus.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 8, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

No Title

Fred Plumlee, Burke, severely cut the tendons on his left thumb when an ax slipped as he was cutting wood at home.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 8, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Miner Is Injured

Dan Holcomb, Burke, was brought to a local hospital for treatment of an injured back suffered when struck by a timber while working at the Hecla mine.

Source: Spokane Daily Chronicle, January 8, 1936
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

Falling Building Kills Woman

A Wallace dispatch says: Mrs. William Settlemeyer was crushed to death Wednesday by the collapse of a woodshed at her home in Nine Mile canyon in this city from the weight of snow on the roof. Her husband, a laboring man, was away at work cutting wood near Osburn. Her children, a boy and a girl, coming home from school, discovered their mother missing, and fearing she was in the wrecked building alarmed the neighbors, who located her under the debris. Her body was still warm, but life was extinct.

It is supposed that Mrs. Settlemeyer had gone to the shed for fuel and was caught in the shed as it collapsed. The position of the debris shows the roof fell in and the sides followed, piling more weight upon the body of the woman. Neighbors passing about 1 o'clock noticed the fallen shed, but did not connect with the tragedy revealed by later search.

Source: Idaho Statesman, February 18, 1911
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

DEATH DUE TO FIREBUG
Dastardly Plot Uncovered at Wallace
Destruction of Western Hotel Resulting in Death of Man Named Curtis Carefully Planned

It was discovered last night that the fire which destroyed the Western hotel of this city, burning to death a man named Curtis, recently arrived from British Columbia, was the result of a carefully laid incendiary plot. It has been shown that no fire was visible in the building at the time the fire department was called to a place half a mile distant from the hotel on a false alarm, that the gates of the flumes supplying water to the city had been pulled open and thrown 20 feet into the brush, thereby reducing the water supply to a minimum, and that Black, the proprietor of the hotel had been threatened by certain individuals alleged to be connected with labor organizations. No arrests have been made.

Source: Idaho Statesman, November 11, 1908
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

YOUNG WOODSMAN LOSES HIS LIFE IN THE NORTH
Sent Sister Christmas Present and Freezes to Death on Way Back to Camp

A determination to send his sister in Salt Lake a Christmas present is largely responsible for the death of Fred Gehrke, the young woodsman, frozen to death near the McGoldrick Lumber company's Slate creek camp, according to local authorities.

Last Saturday Gehrke had his first chance to make his Christmas purchases and started for Wallace on a 13-mile trip through three feet of snow. He mailed her a money order and then started on his 13-mile return trip without snow shoes, and on arriving in the company's first camp was exhausted.

After a short rest he decided to go to his home camp, a half mile further on, and without a lantern he set out in the blizzard, lost his way and perished.

Source: Idaho Statesman, December 30, 1911
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

MRS. SMITH DEAD
Blind Man's Victim Succumbs to Her Wounds at Wallace

Mrs. Hugh Smith, who was shot by John Bjerkin last Saturday, died this morning in the hospital at Wallace, Idaho. Bjerkin, who was totally blind, became jealous of the woman. She visited his room in Wallace last Saturday and he attacked and mortally wounded her; then he committed suicide.

Source: Idaho Statesman, February 26, 1903
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

DOCTOR FOUND DEAD

Dr. William MacKelvie, formerly a dentist of Kellogg, was found dead in his bed late Wednesday afternoon at his country home near Medimont, by William Steadman, a neighbor, who, becoming worried over the doctor's non-appearance, entered the home to see if anything was wrong.

He found the doctor in bed and looking perfectly natural, and did not know that death had preceded him until he took the sleeper by the shoulder to waken him, the chill touch of the body apprising him of the fact that life had been extinct for hours. The doctor, it is believed, succumbed to an attack of heart disease some time during Tuesday night.

Source: Idaho Statesman, November 1, 1914
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

CHOKED TO DEATH WHILE AT SUPPER
Edward Short, Coeur d'Alene Mining Man, Meets Peculiar Death at Saltese, Mont., Boarding House

While seated at a table eating his dinner last night in a boarding house at Saltese, Mont., Edward Short, a mining man of the Coeur d'Alenes, choked upon a piece of meat he was endeavoring to swallow and died within a few minutes while friends were working over him endeavoring to render him some assistance. They were unable to remove the obstruction, which shut off his breath.

Mr. Short had lived in the Coeur d'Alenes for a number of years and was well known. He was 40 years of age and unmarried. He will be buried in Wallace.

Source: Idaho Statesman, September 14, 1904
Submitted and transcribed by Sandra Davis

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