Looking back: Men fined for selling ‘wormy fruit’ and well-known citizen suffers strange brain malady
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Oct. 10 to Oct. 16 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
BLACKFOOT — A fruit inspector filed complaints against two people after finding worms in pear boxes at a grocery store.
The Rigby Star ran an article on Oct. 14, 1909, by the Blackfoot Republican that said inspector W.T. Hawkey “condemned” two boxes of pears at Hunter’s Cash Grocery.
“(Hawkey) filed a complaint against Mr. Hunter for dealing in wormy fruit and against Peter Anderson, a blacksmith who lives in the Dippel Addition, for selling wormy fruit,” the article explains. “The men were fined $25 a piece.”
Hawkey told the paper this was the second time he found wormy fruit at Hunter’s Cash Grocery.
“He had excused (Mr. Hunter) for the first offense, instructing him in the law, and giving him a chance to protect himself thereafter,” the paper said.
Hawkey mentioned that people were not obeying the law in regard to spraying their fruit trees and “this is one of the inevitable results.”
“Some spraying is done at the wrong time,” Hawkey stated. “It should be done while the blossoms are in full size and sprayed from all sides. … If the whole town depends upon one man to do its spraying, some will necessarily be done out of season because the blossoms are only full for a few days.”
1926-1950
POCATELLO — A well-known citizen was suffering a “strange malady of the brain,” The Rigby Star announced on Oct. 13, 1927.
Samuel Trude, a nephew of the Chicago millionaire Judge A. S. Trude, and superintendent of the Railroad Ranch in the Island Park country, was in “grave condition” at a local hospital.
“Owing to the popularity of the young man … he has attracted a great amount of attention and concern in eastern Idaho,” The Rigby Star stated.
Samuel was getting ready for a hunting trip when he was “stricken.” The paper said his condition was puzzling a Chicago specialist who was a guest at the A.S. Trude Ranch.
The specialist stayed with Samuel at the Railroad Ranch for two days before deciding that Samuel needed to be rushed to the hospital in Idaho Falls.
At the time of publication, it wasn’t clear what happened to Samuel or what his diagnosis was once he got to the hospital.
1951-1975
IDAHO FALLS — Idaho Falls Police recovered all the guns and most of the ammunition stolen from the local National Guard armory, the Idaho State Journal reported on Oct. 14, 1954.
The guns — two .45-caliber submachine guns, seven .30-caliber carbine rifles and four .45-caliber Colt automatic pistols — were found on the west bank of the Snake River below Idaho Falls by two boys.
The thieves had not been caught. Officers said the investigation was ongoing.
1976-2000
POCATELLO — Pocatello Police accused four children between the ages of seven and 10 of second-degree burglary, according to the the Idaho State Journal’s Oct. 10, 1977, newspaper.
A boy, 10, and his brother, 8, plus another boy, 7, and his sister, 8, were charged after being discovered hiding in the basement of a building. They had allegedly been seen tearing open three 90-pound sacks of concrete.
A four year old who was with the other four children when they were apprehended was not charged due to his age.
“When the father and mother of two of the suspects arrived at police headquarters after being summoned by police, they tried to leave with their children in defiance of police orders,” arrest reports mentioned.
The reports also said, “The husband physically interfered with police attempting to stop the wife from leaving with the children.”
The adults were placed in the Bannock County Jail on a $200 bond on charges of obstructing an officer. Their children were turned over to other family members, a police officer said.
The other suspects were released to their parents pending further court action.