100 years ago

Refinement of details and not new or unique design won out when the Curtiss army racer crossed the finish for a world’s record in the Pulitzer airplane classis here recently.

Lieutenant L. R. Maughn’s record of better than 206 miles per hour averaged for 155 miles around a closed circuit, with 15 sharp turns, and his unofficial record of 248 miles per hour on straightaway are matters of aeronautical history. But, few people realize that these records were made with an engine less powerful than the Liberty, and that there were machines in the race whose engines greatly exceeded the winners 375 h.p.

Lieutenant Maughn’s speed was such that a hole in the wing would have meant ripping off the wing cover as if by explosion. The speed caused him to throw his ship on its back in an endeavor to circle the pylons which marked the turns.

50 years ago

The operations manager of the new $10 million Lamb-Weston potato processing plant southwest of Hermiston says his firm expects to be a responsible member and a good citizen in the community.

Leroy Fletcher, 38, who heads up the Lamb-Weston operation at Hermiston, says the processing firm recognized its responsibilities to its employees, the community and its suppliers.

Lamb-Weston is a widely known name in food processing. The firm was established in Umatilla County and has a large plant at Weston. The Hermiston unit will be its fifth facility.

The new plant, that will be under five acres of roof, will be a compliment to the industry and the people who work there, said Fletcher in discussing the facility that will produce nearly 150 million pounds of french fries a year from more than 200,000 tons of potatoes that will be furnished by growers in the region.

25 years ago

If you’re serving time behind prison bars, you probably have plenty of time to kill by doing laundry.

At the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, they literally have tons of dirty clothes, linens and commercial laundry items that need cleaning everyday. And even after winning a big contract to clean food sacks for the JR Simplot Company, prison officials would not mind having more for their inmates to wash.

The Pendleton prison is upgrading its industrial-sized laundry facility as it attracts more commercial customers for its services. The improvements are the first in a long time, said Bob Pace, laundry shop supervisor at the prison.

“This next year there will be some of the biggest improvements in the laundry that we’ve had in at least the past 30 years,” Pace said.