Looking back: Woman found lying unconscious on highway and baby saved from drowning
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Oct. 24 to Oct. 30 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
IDAHO FALLS — A 22-year-old woman was found unconscious by the side of a highway, according to an article in The Rigby Star that was originally shared in the Idaho Falls Post.
The article, dated Oct. 27, 1921, said J.A. Siever of Ucon was on his way to Idaho Falls when he found Lela Churchill of Leadore on the highway.
“Mr. Siever discovered the girl on the curve in the highway three miles north of town, with her head lying on the paving and her feet on the embankment,” the paper explained. “He rushed her to a hospital.”
When Churchill regained consciousness, she told hospital employees she had “started out for a walk on the highway” when she was struck by a car driving without lights. She explained the car “passed on, leaving her by the roadside.”
Churchill was staying at the Porter Hotel. Her mother was notified of the incident and left Leadore to be with her daughter. The paper said Churchill’s injuries were not serious.
1926-1950
IDAHO FALLS — Local retailers were encouraging the public to start Christmas shopping early, the Idaho Falls Post Register announced on Oct. 25, 1936.
“This warning comes fully eight weeks before the holidays,” the article reads. “Conditions now are such that delayed buying will be decidedly to the disadvantage of the buyer.”
The Post Register explained that for the first time since 1919 and 1920, the “present market is a seller’s market.”
“Stocks are hard to obtain from factories with many factories being many weeks behind on filling orders due to a number of industrial conditions that has caused a widespread shortage of finished supplies,” the local paper said.
Cotton and textile goods were reported by merchants as “extremely hard to obtain” while “other stocks are somewhat difficult to procure.”
“With goods hard to obtain now and with prices somewhat higher than they have been, early buying is wise at this time as increased prices bound to come later will be offset to some extent,” the article states.
It continues, “At least make selections and have goods laid away. People who wait will have less selection and probably will pay more.”
1951-1975
RIRIE — The “quick thinking” of a three-year-old boy and “quick action” of his mother saved an 18-month-old boy from drowning, The Rigby Star said on Oct. 24, 1957.
The two siblings were playing on a road outside their home with a dog when the 18-month-old ended up in the Hill Side Ditch in Ririe.
Michael, the three-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Poore, went into the house to tell his mother, who was using the telephone, that his little brother, Stewart, “is in the ditch.”
“Running from the house, the mother found the little boy head down in the ditch 100 yards from the Poore home, against a pump in the ditch,” the paper described.
The mother pulled the “unconscious little boy from the ditch, wiped the mud from his nostrils and applied artificial respiration and revived him.”
She then rushed him to a doctor in Ririe who explained the baby had “breathed in some water, but the quick action of the mother and his brother saved the little boy from drowning.”
1976-2000
SALMON — An argument inside the men’s bathroom at the Owl Club in Salmon ended with an exchange of gunshots in the parking lot.
The Salmon Recorder Herald wrote on Oct. 27, 1977, the fight was between Owen Lemaster, 29, and Jerry Brazzell, 26.
Lemaster was struck in the upper shoulder by a bullet from a .357 high-standard revolver and was taken to the hospital. According to Sheriff William Baker, Brazzell fired the gun four times and Lemaster fired a 30-06 rifle once.
Brazzell was charged with assault with intent to commit murder in a complaint signed by the prosecuting attorney. Lemaster was charged with assault with a deadly weapon.
At Brazzell’s arraignment, he pleaded innocent, and his bond was set at $1,000, which he posted and was released from the Lemhi County Jail.
Lemaster, who was listed in good condition at the hospital, was going to be arraigned once he was discharged.