Looking back: Two children die at school when ice on pond breaks and police say spouses kissing in cars contributes to traffic jams
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Nov. 25 to Dec. 1 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
ST. ANTHONY– Two Pocatello teenage girls escaped from the state industrial school at St. Anthony, The Rigby Star reported on Nov. 29, 1912.
Etta Pendry, 17, and Adeline Hansen, 16, were sent to the state industrial school the week before they made their getaway. They escaped on Nov. 28, 1912, and still hadn’t been found by the following day.
“Word was received by the sheriff’s office in this city last night to be on the lookout for the girls,” The Rigby Star wrote.
The news outlet reported the two maids escaped from an upstairs window using a rope. It wasn’t clear if it was a rope made out of clothing that had been torn into strips, or a real rope given to the girls by someone on the outside.
The article explained why the two girls were sent to the state industrial school in the first place. It said an officer followed the “giddy girls” to the home of a foreigner, where they were found drinking beer and enjoying themselves.
“Before the officer could arrest them, however, the (foreigner) slammed the door in the officer’s face, locked it, and received a knock-down blow in the face for his pains,” the paper stated. “The delay was sufficient, though, and the girls escaped.”
The teenagers were captured the next morning, and the young man was fined $25 for interfering with an officer.
It’s not clear at what point in the story this happened, but the article also briefly mentioned they made their way to Idaho Falls where they met their “lovers” and were married.
1926-1950
ROBERTS — Two children drowned at school during recess after the ice they were playing on broke, The Rigby Star reported on Nov 28, 1940.
LaMar Christensen, 8, and Jerry McCarthy, 7, both of Roberts, were sliding on ice on a pond at the back of the school building when the tragedy occurred.
“The pond is an excavation made for sand at the time the new gymnasium was erected during 1939, and had filled with sub-water,” the article reads. “Owing to the fact that air holes appeared in the ice, the children had been warned not to slide on the ice by the school principal, stated coroner Olof Jensen.”
Christensen was the son of Orin Christensen and Helen Kuharski. McCarthy was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jack McCarthy.
McCarthy’s body was recovered from the water by Opal Staker about 30 minutes after the accident. Christensen’s body was found by Hugh Johnson about 1.5 hours after the accident.
Boats and hooks were used in recovering the bodies. The water was between 10 to 12 feet deep.
“Delray, a son of Bishop Paul Holm, also went into the water when the ice broke at the same time the other two were plunged into the water, but he managed to save himself,” The Rigby Star stated.
Max Thornock, 16, witnessed the accident and immediately took off his shoes and coat and jumped into the water to try and rescue the children.
“He found the water too deep and too cold and was assisted to shore by his father with the aid of a long pole, after making a valiant attempt at a rescue,” the article mentioned.
Sheriff Fillmore and Jensen went to the scene as soon as they were notified of what happened. Jensen ruled it an accident and said there would be no inquest.
1951-1975
POCATELLO — Kissing in cars was being blamed for contributing to traffic jams in Pocatello, the Idaho State Journal reported on Nov. 25, 1954.
The article explained that when a wife drops her husband off at his work, they kiss goodbye in the car, which causes the cars behind them to back up in a line.
“It’s getting to be quite a problem at the entrance in the railroad shops when hundreds of men go on shift,” police officers R.L. Fackrell and R.W. Bevans said.
The Journal said the officers “approve of all this devotion among spouses” but believe “like any good thing, there can get to be too much of it.”
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A Pocatello man was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and abusing an officer, the Idaho State Journal reported on Nov. 27, 1977.
Brian C. Meyers was accused of yelling at a passing motorist and his family and screaming obscenities at an officer who approached him for questioning.
Police claim they had to physically subdue Meyers to make an arrest and then had to mace the suspect because he allegedly started kicking the side window of the patrol car. He continued to “pour out a stream of foul language.”
Meyers was jailed on $300 bond, pending arraignment on the misdemeanor charges.