A Look Back in Time: Three Men Arrested for Starting 'Most Spectacular' Fire in History of Western Lewis County in 1932

Sep. 12—Editor's Note: "A Look Back in Time" is normally published in Saturday's edition of The Chronicle.

A man was held in the Lewis County Jail on Sept. 10, 1932, with his father and brother-in-law after being charged with arson for the Aug. 7 burning of the residence, woodshed and four "large poultry houses" belonging to Henry Sorg near Dryad.

Harry Duncan, 35, Henry Sorg, 54, and Walter Sorg, 16, were accused of starting a fire The Chronicle referred to as "the most spectacular ever known in western Lewis County."

Charges had been filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Friday, Sept. 9, by Lewis County Prosecutor William Grimm. The three were charged with six counts of arson.

A total of 3,000 laying hens, 4,000 pullets (young hens) and other belongings totalling around $13,000 were destroyed in the fire, which was believed to have started from a stump burner that was in operation nearby.

State Fire Marshal W.A. Groce, who had been in Chehalis on Sept. 9, urged the prosecution of the three individuals due to speculation the fires had been started to collect insurance, pointing out a building containing valuables located in the center of the burned buildings had escaped the blaze, which had started around midnight on the morning of Aug. 7. Groce was then joined by Deputy Fire Marshal Charles Landes, along with three Lewis County sheriff's deputies, on a ride to Dryad where they apprehended the three men.

"An interesting phase of the fire was that one uninsured building containing valuable contents, located in the center of the burned structures, escaped destruction," The Chronicle reported.

It was reported that over $6,000 of insured possessions were on the destroyed property, which Duncan reportedly had a financial interest in.

The arrests of the three men caused a "big sensation" in western Lewis County "where Duncan and the Sorg family are well known," The Chronicle reported. "Duncan has for several years held a responsible position with the big saw mill firms that have operated the plant at Dryad."

Saturday, Sept. 10, 1932

—Voters were expected to face a lengthy ballot going into the primary election on Tuesday, Sept. 13, according to The Chronicle. The lengthy ballot came "in spite of the fact that the only county officers to be nominated are a superior judge, two commissioners, state senator and three representatives." Republicans were expected to have 72 or 74 names to vote on, depending on their county commissioner district.

—The weather for Sept. 10 and 11 was expected to be warm with "gentle to moderate changeable winds." The temperature was expected to be as high as 78 degrees.

—A campaign advertisement for F.A. Martin was featured in The Chronicle supporting his candidacy for Lewis County Commission. Martin was running in the Republican primary and his ad featured a plan to cut spending to fund tax relief.

—An advertisement for incumbent state Senator R.R. Somerville's re-election campaign highlighted his experience. The ad cited Somerville's chairmanship of the Agricultural Committee and membership on the Dairy and Livestock, Roads and Municipal Corporations committees of the state Senate to argue he was "by far the most valuable man for this district of any candidate for the position."

—In a section of The Chronicle detailing the candidates for office, the Democratic candidate for Washington's 3rd Congressional District, Don Abel, was described as endorsing a program of "federal economy by eliminating needless bureaus and commissions, unemployment relief by the shorter work week and expanded public works. A guarantee of bank deposits. Industrial insurance and old age pensions ... Repeal of the 18th amendment and prevent the return of the saloon."

—Frances Kennicott was reported as having returned from a year teaching at the Badminton School in Bristol, England. During her time teaching in England, Kennicott was reported to have visited Italy, France and Greece. "Miss Kennicott reports an exceptionally interesting year," The Chronicle reported.

—A "special feature" on the Christian Endeavor was scheduled for the evening of Sunday, Sept. 11 at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Chehalis. The feature was to be a report by the delegates to a conference in July. The public was invited to attend.

Thursday, Sept. 10, 1942

—Results showed multiple close races following the primary election on Tuesday, Sept. 8. Turnout in the primary election was low, with only about one-third of voters turning out to vote. With only three out of 97 precincts missing as of the afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 9, Virgil Lee led Herbert Sieler led the Republican nomination for state Senate by just 87 votes while James U.M. Lauman led James McCash by 85 votes in the race for the Republican nomination for state representative.

—The Centralia Water Department was faced with a worker shortage after two of the department's three workers failed to appear for work in protest of low wages, leaving only the superintendent to carry out the department's responsibilities. The walkout by the two workers followed a wage hike for the city's electrical workers. "Municipal heads, faced with employment shortage and competition from high war industry wages, admitted themselves near a stymie. They said city crews must be maintained, but at the same time it is almost impossible for the city to compete with wages men can get in both private and war industry," The Chronicle reported.

—A three-room apartment on State Avenue in Chehalis was listed for rent at $12 a month.

—A five-room house in Chehalis was listed for $15 a month in rent.

—Two six-room "modern" houses on Orton Avenue in Centralia were listed together for $2,500.

—Three Lewis County men volunteered for military service, according to The Chronicle. Tom Newell, of Silver Creek, Freed Street, of Centralia, and William Matney, of Centralia, were all announced as having volunteered to fight in World War II. Newell was reported as enlisting as a paratrooper while Street and Matney joined the Army Air Force, the predecessor of the modern Air Force.

—A committee headed by "Mrs. A.E. Conlee" was reported as having successfully collected more than 10 tons of scrap iron for the war effort. Of the proceeds raised from the drive, $30 was donated to the USO while the remainder was invested in war savings stamps.

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1952

—The Lewis County PUD commissioners announced a $1,324,617 budget for 1953, with a public hearing on the proposed budget scheduled for Oct. 6. The budget amount was $176,348 higher than the 1952 budget. According to PUD manager Merle Johnston, about half of the cost of the increase came from the decision to spend $86,500 to complete a section of the PUD's eastern Lewis County transmission line development program. Revenues were also projected to climb, rising from $1,166, 375 for 1952 to $1,273,375 for 1953.

—An Associated Press article featured in The Chronicle reported the Texas Democratic Party was marching "lock, stock and barrel into the camp of Dwight Eisenhower and the Republicans" ahead of the 1952 presidential election. At a state party convention on Tuesday, Sept. 9, the Texas Democrats "hollered themselves hoarse ... catcalling and hooting (Democratic Presidential Nominee Adlai) Stevenson, President Truman and administration policies," The Chronicle reported. The convention even passed a resolution, "by a whopping voice vote," asking the governor and other Democratic Party officials in Texas to campaign for Eisenhower, though it failed to vote to allow two democratic candidates on the ballot, one of which would have been a second Eisenhower ballot position in addition to his being listed as a Republican candidate. Eisenhower, a former general who led allied forces in World War II, went on to win the then traditionally Democratic Texas in the November general election.

—The U.S. Geological Survey announced "a long awaited" ground water survey of Lewis County on Sept. 10. The survey had been sought for several years with the support of both the Centralia and Chehalis Chambers of Commerce.

—An annual sale of properties foreclosed for not paying property taxes was scheduled for Sept. 19 at the Lewis County Courthouse. The 1952 sale was expected to be one of the smallest in recent years, with only 23 pieces of property being sold. Single pieces of property in Chehalis, Centralia and Winlock were to be sold while two pieces of property from Vader and three pieces of property from Pe Ell were also up for sale. The remaining properties were from unincorporated areas of Lewis County.

—Nine Lewis County men were drafted for service in the ongoing Korean War. All nine were to enter the service on Oct. 21. The nine men were Jack McKinley, of Mayfield; Harold Justice, of Onalaska; John Fister, of Mineral; Lewis Bremgartner, of Winlock; Gerald Clevinger, of Randle; Anthony Luond, of Elbe; Matthew Hadaller, of Ethel; Gerald Macomber, of Chehalis; and Richard Guenther, of Chehalis.

—A two-bedroom house in Chehalis was listed for $45 a month in rent. According to the listing, the owners had "absolutely no objection to children."

—A two-bedroom "modern" house on Market Boulevard in Chehalis was listed for $5,500.

Monday, Sept. 10, 1962

—Lewis County saw its warm summer weather come to an end on Monday, Sept. 10, with the first rainfall of September. A half inch of rain began falling at 10 a.m. with more showers expected for the next five days. Temperatures were expected to range between 64 and 74 degrees throughout the remainder of the week.

—Centralia College had registered 857 students for fall classes on Monday, Sept. 10, an increase from the 746 students the year prior. Administrators and faculty were meeting to prepare for classes set to begin on Monday, Sept. 17. To complete their registrations, all prospective students still had to arrive at the Centralia High School gymnasium at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 13 with their Social Security cards. After the Thursday registration, school officials hoped to have an exact count of students to determine any last minute changes to classroom assignments.

—The U.S. Department of the Interior recorded the highest ever August runoff for the Chehalis River since it began keeping records in 1928. According to Hollis Orem of the department's Portland office, "runoff during August was 46 percent above average for the month," which had been caused by "unseasonably heavy rains and an unusually cool summer which reduced the loss of water through evaporation," The Chronicle reported. According to the Department of Interior, while the Chehalis River was seeing above average runoff, "stream runoffs in the Pacific Northwest generally were near average in August with only a few streams showing above average flow," The Chronicle reported.

—Pual Creighton, the manager for the Southwest Washington Fair, submitted his resignation to the Lewis County commissioners on Monday, Sept. 10. Creighton was reportedly planning to become the general manager of a promotional and booking agency in Portland. Lewis County Commission Chair Hugh Kalich announced that Creighton's resignation would be accepted, according to The Chronicle, with arrangements being made for Creighton to complete any work necessary to close out the 1962 fair. According to The Chronicle, at the time the selection for fair manager was made by the fair association making a recommendation to the county commission, which made the final appointment.

—Attendance at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair continued to climb with 60,673 attendees reported for Saturday, Sept. 8, and 49,375 attendees for Sunday, Sept. 9. The weekend attendance numbers brought the fair's total attendance as of Sept. 10 up to 7,412,881.

—James Ramsdell, of Morton, was reported as having died at the age of 81. Ramsdell, who worked as a gardener, "died suddenly Saturday while planting a shrub for a Morton grocer," The Chronicle reported. Ramsdell was born on July 7, 1881 in Marion, Wisconsin. He was survived by his two daughters, one son, three sisters, one brother, 17 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

—A two-bedroom house with a fireplace and garage on a one acre lot containing fruit trees and river frontage was listed for $4,250. The house was listed as being near Chehalis.