100 years ago — 1922

Milton City’s new engine arrived Wednesday from the factory at Beloit, Wis. It is a Fairbanks-Morse, of the semi diesel type, three hundred horsepower and weighs thirty tons. The gigantic machine is about twenty feet long by six feet in width, and is one piece of solid iron, with the exception of the shafting, pulleys, etc. It was no small task to move the huge thing from the car to the foundations, a distance of about one hundred feet. The job was accomplished by means of blocking made of railroad ties and other heavier timbers, over which it was moved on rollers, Gilbert Thomas using his Fordson tractor in the place of a capstan. Any kind of fuel oil, from gasoline to crude oil, can be used to run it. The expert is to be here this week to direct its installation. All users of electricity from this plant will rejoice to know that they have something to depend on when the water wheel fails.

50 years ago — 1972

Muscle shirts on boys, and blue jeans on girls. Are these grubbies? No, said a McLoughlin High School committee from the student council which attended the regular meeting of District 3 school board Tuesday night. The committee was accompanied by more than 50 students. The student protest began last week, said school Supt. Edward Miller, when four students were sent home for wearing apparel the school principal considered to be in violation of the student dress code. Last fall a code was reviewed by faculty and students. Teacher Jack Williams, one of the members of the Milton-Freewater student-faculty committee, was asked to define the word “grubby.” “It wasn’t easy,” said Williams. “But we finally decided grubbies are clothing that is ragged, dirty or unkempt, and clothing which is disruptive in school.” Lee Monthie, president-elect of the student body, said that a school poll showed 89.5 per cent consider muscle shirts “not disruptive,” and 92.5 don’t think blue jeans on girls is disruptive. The students, said Monthie, propose that the school administration leave the matter of dress to the students and their parents.

25 years ago — 1997

After almost 20 years of service, Amtrak’s Pioneer trainline decided to shut down its Chicago to Seattle run. Originally, it was supposed to cease to exist Nov. 10, 1996, but a six-month reprieve was granted by Amtrak, which agreed to let states affected by the shutdown search for ways to win additional money for the line. It didn’t work. In March, the company announced that without state support, the Pioneer line would stop running May 10, and this time, there would be no stay of execution. Sue Stein, who lives in Rhinelander, Wis. and her aunt, Jean Liegel of Sun City Center, Fla. booked passage aboard the Pioneer on its last day. “It’s just been a fantastic trip,” Stein said about her first train ride. “It’s the friendliest train I’ve ever been on,” Liegel said.