100 Years Ago

Aug. 10, 1921

The finding of the body of a girl of about 25 years of age with wrist watch bearing the letters “R.G.H.” and wearing on the lapel of the coat a pin with the letters “O.R.T.” (Order of Railway Telegraphers) establishes without doubt that the body is that of Miss Ruth Hart, Pendleton girl, who was aboard the Alaska at the time it went down. T.F. O’Brien, local O.W.R. & N. agent, received a wire last night telling of the finding of the body and is certain that it is that of Miss Hart, who was for the past seven years employed as operator at the local office. The tanker Oleum arrived today in San Francisco with the body.

50 Years Ago

Aug. 10, 1971

A case of bubonic plague was reported today by Umatilla County Health Officer Dr. Alton Alderman. “There is no cause for public concern,” said Dr. Alderman. The disease is not communicable from person to person. It is spread by fleas on rodents. The case was discovered rapidly by the attending physician. The young boy suffering from bubonic plague is getting well, said Dr. Alderman. “The government will be sending in a team of men to trap animals and get fleas from them. They won’t discover anything they wouldn’t have found before the case was reported,” he said.

25 Years Ago

Aug. 10, 1996

Burn it now. That seems to be the wishes of most folks living near the Umatilla Chemical Depot, according to a survey released today by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on community attitudes toward the destruction of chemical weapons. Intercept Research Corp., of Tigard, called 300 Hermiston residents, and 100 each from Pendleton and the Tri-Cities, and asked opinions on the proposed chemical weapons incinerator at the depot, where nearly 12 percent of the country’s chemical weapons are stored. The survey is good news for proponents of incineration. Area wide, 81 percent of the respondents agreed an incinerator was needed to safety dispose of the stockpile, with 84 percent of Hermiston residents, 72 percent of Pendleton residents, and 81 percent of Tri-Cities residents.