75 years ago
January 18, 1945
Pfc. James Philbrick, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.I. Philbrick of Pacific Avenue in Hoquiam, has been reported missing in action since December 21, in the Belgium theater of operations, according to word received by his parents from the war department today. He was with an engineers company in an infantry division.
Two other Hoquiam boys have also been reported missing from the same division. Parents of Pfc. Tommy Hendricksen of Fourth street, and Pfc. Harry Johnson of Eklund avenue, were notified by the war department last week that their sons were missing.
January 19, 1945
Between 600 and 700 Aberdeen Elks, their wives and friends last night filled the lodge room to capacity for the annual “Ladies Night” vaudeville show and party. It was the largest attendance since the annual event was started, Exalted Ruler Ed Copleland said today.
Evelyn Fechter Hunter, former Aberdeen musician and now with the Seattle symphony orchestra, played three selections.
Vaudeville highlights were Lee Marx in a comedy juggling act; Isolde Czukor, singing several selections; Richard Hayman, harmonica artiest, Ted and Ethel Walker in comic songs and tap dancing, and Sam Sweet, master of ceremonies, in comical tricks of magic.
50 years ago
January 18, 1970
Paula Akerlund, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Akerlund of Aberdeen, said good-by to her parents, sisters and brother yesterday at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport and left for a year’s stay in Tauranga, New Zealand, as an American Field Service student abroad.
In Tauranga, Paula will live with Mr. and Mrs. George Miles Mason and their three daughters and one son, two cats, one dog and one budgie (bird).
Paula will add her interest in music to the Mason family activities as well as her other interests of forensics, drama, law and creative writing, and is looking forward to an exciting year.
January 19, 1970
Bold burglars invaded the Pacific County Auditors office in the courthouse over the weekend taking an estimated $1,400 in cash and stamps, according to a preliminary estimate by Mrs. Verna Jacobson, auditor.
The safe was burned with a cutting torch.
The auditor’s office was open Saturday for sale of motor vehicle licenses and most of the missing cash came from that source.
25 years ago
January 18, 1995
As a boy some 30 years ago, Herb Fisher would watch the Hoh River as it teemed with coho salmon. He and his father paddled their canoe across the murky green waters, unconcerned about catch limits or dwindling salmon runs.
“When I was 9 or 10, there used to be tons of fish in the Hoh,” said Fisher during an interview at the Hoh Reservation, about 77 miles north of Aberdeen. “We caught fish to eat and then we’d fill up the smoke house.”
Things have changed. Since the mid-80s, Fisher, the 40-year-old hereditary chief of the Hoh Tribe, has seen salmon runs shrink to near extinction. Tribal members blame overfishing, damage to habitat from logging and sea lions.
January 19, 1995
Senja Antilla was snuggled in her futon in her 100-year-old home in the seaside town of Ashiya, Japan when Tuesday’s catastrophic earthquake hit.
“I was pulled — kind of lifted up — and some doors fell on me, but fortunately they were mostly made of rice paper,” said the 39-year-old former Raymond resident, who went to Japan for a year to teach English.
The death toll has now surpassed 4,000 making the quake the deadliest in Japan in more than 70 years.
Antilla, the daughter of longtime Raymond residents Ralph and Dorothy Antilla, was packing to move from her damaged home Wednesday, but doesn’t know where she will go.
Her parents, former owners of Antilla’s Jewelry & Gifts store, have been in constant touch with her by phone.
Compiled from the archives of The Daily World by Karen Barkstrom
