A Look Back in Time: Two Men Taken to Lewis County Jail After Robbery Marked by 'Dumbness' in August 1942

Aug. 26—Two "young" bandits were being held in the Lewis County Jail after they held up and robbed a "girl attendant" of a service station west of Centralia on Aug. 25, 1942. The two men had been arrested by the state patrol less than two hours after the robbery. The men were Dewey Bise, 25, of Bremerton, and J.C. Steedley, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa.

Credit for the "speedy" arrests was given to the attendant, Joan Eckerson, the 17-year-old daughter of "Mr. and Mrs. Harold Eckerson," whose quick actions assisted the police.

"Although threatened and ordered to remain in the rear of the station as the men left, the girl glimpsed the license number of their car and immediately rushed to a neighbor's home and telephoned Centralia police, providing not only the license number, but an excellent description of the machine and of both men," The Chronicle reported.

Police eventually found the two "bandits" about 5 miles south of Chehalis. While both initially declined to talk, one of them eventually provided "considerable information" to the officers. Eckerson later went to the jail to confirm their identities. A 17-year-old girl had been in the car with Bise and Steedley at the time of arrest and was also being held, though her name and other details were not provided by The Chronicle.

In a section of the The Chronicle's story headlined "Dumbness Is Their Downfall," it was reported the Bise and Steedley, in "an act of dumbness," had returned to the area after fleeing the service station, even driving by the station a second time, causing Eckerson, by then talking to friends gathered at the station with her, to point at the car an exclaim, "Why, there goes the car now!"

The robbery earned the two men "a little less than $45," The Chronicle reported. At the time of the robbery, the pair had entered the station and began purchasing items, raising Eckerson's suspicion when they began looking over the station carefully.

"I was bending over the counter making out the bill when something hard nudged me in the back. One of the men said, 'Okay, sis, hand it over!' The girl, a senior in the Centralia High School, said when she turned and saw a pistol pointed at her she thought she was having a bad dream," The Chronicle reported.

As the two prepared to leave, they reportedly considered taking her with them before eventually ordering her to the back of the station, telling her to keep quiet until after they had left.

"All the time both of them were extremely nervous," Eckerson said. "I thought for sure the one holding the gun was going to drop it or shoot me by accident."

Saturday, Aug. 27, 1932

—Five Centralia men confessed to stealing "a quantity" of wine from a Grand Mound home. Appearing before Judge John Wilson of the Thurston County Superior Court, the five men were given suspended sentences of no less than two years. "It may not be against the law to drink up your neighbor's wine, but if you enter his home when he is absent and carry it away in his fruit jars, it's second-degree burglary," The Chronicle reported.

—An advertisement by Mullen's Variety Store on North Tower Avenue offered brooms for only $0.19. "BROOMS! BROOMS!" the ad read, limiting the sale to one broom per customer.

—An advertisement for the Southwest Washington Fair announced an admissions fee of only $0.25 for the weekend of Aug. 27 and 28. "S.W. Fair Prices Reduced" the ad read, adding, "THE EXHIBITS ARE BETTER THAN EVER."

—The United Rail Freight Employees announced their annual picnic would be at Alexander Park in Chehalis on Sunday, Aug. 28. Between 150 and 200 people were expected to attend. The organization decided to hold their picnic at the park due to Chehalis' "central location" between Seattle and Portland and because of the park's "facilities for all-around sport."

—Hector McDonald, a state college livestock specialist, served as a judge for swine and sheep at the Southwest Washington Fair. McDonald "complimented the local entries highly and suggested that many of them would rank high if exhibited at the Pacific International Livestock Exposition at Portland later in the season," The Chronicle reported.

—A four-room house on Market Street in Chehalis was listed for rent at $10 per month. The house was described as containing a laundry, garage and woodshed and was only half a block from the junior high school.

—The 24th annual Southwest Washington Fair was scheduled to close on Sunday, Aug. 28. The largest attendance for the week was anticipated, in part due to the decision by fair officials to cut the price of admissions in half. All exhibits were to remain open until 6 p.m. Among the activities held on Saturday was the "mutt show," which was sponsored by the Centralia Kiwanis Club. Children who entered their dogs in the mutt show were admitted to the fairgrounds for free.

Thursday, Aug. 27, 1942

—Marvin Kelly, 22, was killed instantly on the afternoon of Tuesday, Aug. 25, when he was struck by a load of pilings falling from a truck at the Western Timber Company's pole cutting operations near Mayfield. A Mossyrock resident, Kelly had been operating a steering trailer when a bunk chain broke. After becoming confused, he jumped in the way of the falling logs and was crushed, Sheriff James Compton was reported as saying by The Chronicle. Kelly was survived by his wife, Carlene, and their two children, Bobbie, 5, and Alice, 2.

—Lewis County residents were "called upon today to supply their biggest effort so far in buying war bonds and savings stamps," The Chronicle reported. The effort was being made to meet the county's September goal of raising $250,000 for the purchase of a "medium bomber" for the Army. At the time, the Air Force was still a part of the Army and not a separate branch of the military. The announcement for the new goal was made following a meeting on Aug. 25 in Chehalis, during which the Lewis County War Savings chairman, Centralia Mayor Ray Sprague, met with the committee. The new drive followed the successful fundraising drives by Chehalis and Centralia that resulted in the financing of two new tanks for the military. "Every community is expected to assist," The Chronicle reported. The goal to raise the $250,000 in funds was to begin on Sept. 1 and continue for 30 days. The amount required Lewis County to surpass the county's previous fundraising record of $230,444 in July of 1942.

—Washington state was reported as facing a teacher shortage for the upcoming 1942-1943 school year. A total of 415 teaching positions still needed to be filled, including 218 at the elementary level, 48 at the middle school level and 149 at the high school level.

—Earl Warren, the future chief justice of the United States who would write the Supreme Court decisions in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawing school segregation, the 1966 Miranda v. Arizona decision granting criminal defendants "Miranda rights" and the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision legalizing mixed-race marriages, easily won the 1952 Republican nomination for governor of California on Wednesday, Aug. 26, with over 90% of the vote. Perhaps more impressively, the Republican California attorney general came close to defeating the Democratic incumbent, Gov. Culbert Olson, in the Democratic primary, winning 258,042 votes to Olson's 315,449. Warren was reported as calling the results "eloquent evidence the people ... will not stand for another four years of Olsonism," The Chronicle reported. In the November election, Warren would easily win the election by 16 percentage points, and was eventually elected to three terms as governor before being appointed chief justice by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1953.

—Residents of the Twin Cities were able to observe an "infrequent astronomical rarity" on the night of Aug. 25 when a total eclipse of the moon occurred. "The night was practicalloy cloudless and householders had only to peer from a window or their porch to have a grandstand seat," The Chronicle reported. The eclipse lasted for 96 minutes.

—Tommy Severns, 4, was hospitalized after falling from a tree on Monday, Aug. 24. "The child fell from a plum tree and struck the lower part of his chin on a barbed wire fence," The Chronicle reported. Tommy, who was in shock after the fall, received a severe cut on his chin as well as back injuries.

—Edwin Huber, a Chehalis resident, had arrived at Corsicana Field, Texas on Aug. 26 where he was expected to begin flight training. His training was expected to allow him to become a second lieutenant.

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 1952

—The names of two Lewis County residents were among the men in the Defense Department's list of new Korean War casualties. The Chronicle reported Staff Sergeant Pete Balfour Jr., of Salkum, and Private First Class Martin Herman, of Mossyrock, as having been wounded, and not killed, in the war.

—Eastern Lewis County was featured in the Saturday edition of The Evening Post. Margaret Felt, whose husband operated a logging camp near Mineral, wrote the feature, titled, "I'm a Gyppo Logger's Wife." The feature was well done, according to The Chronicle, and included colored photographs. "Mrs. Felt emphasizes that in such a logging business, the boss' wife isn't just along for the ride. She's expected to 'carry her own weight,'" The Chronicle reported. According to The Chronicle, a "gyppo" is an independent logger.

—Two Longview men were injured Monday, Aug. 25, when their car was in a collision with a logging truck near Tenino on "Chein Hill," now called "Chaenn Hill," following a name revision on July 14, 2022. Richard Colkitt and Wallace Willett, both 24, crossed the center lane, running into the logging truck as it headed north. Colkitt, the driver, suffered a shattered knee, face cuts and a shoulder injury while Willet suffered internal injuries. The car was totaled.

—The Twin City Central Labor Council was scheduled to host an open meeting on Thursday, Aug. 28, with Republican candidates for national, state and county offices expected to speak. The event was the second of its kind sponsored by the council, which sponsored a similar event for Democratic candidates the previous Tuesday. Congressman Russel Mack was scheduled to appear and Gov. Arthur Langlie was invited but it was unclear if he would be able to attend.

—A total of 54 cows were sold at auction for more than $33,000 at Hamilton Meadows Farm near Chehalis earlier on the week of Aug. 27. The cows brought in an average of $613 each, about $200 more than at the previous auction held two year before. Art Hamilton, the owner of the cattle, said he still owned 150 cattle, and planned on hosting another auction in two years.

—Centralia College registrations showed 35% of students as being from Centralia, with another 25% being from Chehalis. Another 10% of students came from Winlock and Rochester, each with 5% of the school's students. A total of 65% of students were men and 35% were women.

—A campaign ad for Darwin Cunningham's campaign for state Senate outlined the Republican candidate's campaign platform. "I am opposed to any increase in state taxes whether it be a graduated income tax, an income tax upon a flat rate basis or an increase in retail sales tax," said Cunningham. "I will work for economy and efficiency in our state government in order that the necessity for increased taxation will be eliminated."

Monday, Aug. 27, 1962

—Seven school districts were scheduled to begin school on Tuesday, Aug. 28, while other schools, including Chehalis and Centralia, were to begin the following week. Among the schools opening on Aug. 28 were Boistfort, Onalaska, Pe Ell, Toledo and Vader. Centralia, Adna, Morton, Mossyrock, Oakville, Rochester and Tenino were scheduled to open their schools on Sept. 4, while Chehalis was scheduled to begin classes on Sept. 5.

—A collision between two cars left five "young people" injured on the evening of Sunday, Aug. 26. The injured individuals were Ellis Ekberg, 18, of Chehalis; Katie Louis Snodgrass, 15, of Raymond; Judy Stemkoski, 16, of Pe Ell; Kenneth Couch, 18, of Raymond and Wilbur Davison, of Chehalis. No age was provided for Davison. All five were released from the hospital later on Sunday evening.

—Attendance at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair remained high over the weekend of Aug. 25 and 26. On Saturday, Aug. 25, attendance reached 66,488 before declining slightly to 60,383 on Sunday, Aug. 26. The weekend numbers brought the total number of visitors to the fair up to a total of 6,749,129 people.

—Chehealis won the sweepstakes ward for the Outstanding Future Farmers of America chapter at the Southwest Washington Fair, winning 2,887 points to Onalaska's second place finish of 2,842 points. The point totals were based on individual contests held throughout the fair by members of the various local chapters. The story did not specify what the sweepstakes entailed.

—Attendance at the Southwest Washington Fair hit 48,437 visitors, 18,498 people below the 1961 fair's record 66,935 person attendance. Despite the lower attendance, the fair still brought in $7,506 more in revenue from admissions fees than in 1961. According to Fair Manager Pual Creighton, the drop in fair attendance could be the result of several factors, especially the ongoing World's Fair in Seattle.

—Chehalis residents won most of the awards at the Southwest Washington Fair Rose Show, though Richard Bowman of Tumwater came in first place. Bowman won a total of nine blue ribbons at the event.

—A five-room house on Seventh Street in Chehalis was listed for $7,000 in The Chronicle.