Looking back: Arco man lives to tell story of being trapped in abandoned mine shaft and two men fined for selling beer on Sunday
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IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Aug. 5 to Aug. 11 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
BLACKFOOT — Lightning struck a large stack of alfalfa and set it on fire, The Bingham County News reported on Aug. 5, 1921.
The stack contained over 50 tons of alfalfa belonging to Berkley Larson. Neighbors gathered together to help as soon as they noticed the fire, “which was almost as soon as the fire started, as everyone was looking about to see where the lightning that preceded the deafening crash had struck.”
“A bucket brigade was started but the fire had got too much headway and the entire stack was consumed by the flames,” the paper stated. “A derrick which was standing at the stack was dragged to a safe distance, otherwise the hard labor of many days would have been a total loss.”
1926-1950
ARCO — A 50-year-old Arco miner spent six days and nights in an abandoned mine shaft and “lived to tell of his hazardous experiences,” the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Aug. 5, 1932.
Ole Meddaugh was found in the shaft by a rescue party which began searching for him when he failed to appear “after an absence of several days.” The mine shaft was 45 miles east of Arco.
Meddaugh said he descended into the shaft on a 60-foot rope and lowered himself the remaining 40 feet to the bottom on the shaft timbers. When he tried to ascend, the timbers gave way right as he reached the rope.
“He saved himself from falling to the bottom by clinging to a projecting rock,” the article reads. “He was unable to reach the dangling rope, however, so he sat down to await rescuers.”
The article continues, “Except for exposure and hunger, he was reported little the worse for his harrowing experience.”
1951-1975
IDAHO FALLS — Two men were fined for selling beer on Sunday after entering guilty pleas, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Aug. 7, 1951.
“Fined were Oscar Matson, $100 or 30 days, and Roy LaVerne Lindsay, $25 or 10 days, on a city warrant signed by Lt. Lowell Cramer, detective,” the Post Register said. “They were accused of violating the city ordinance at the Matson Service Station, South Yellowstone Highway.”
The paper mentioned that “sale of Sunday beer is prohibited by state law outside of incorporated cities and villages” but the city “several years ago, enacted a law along the same lines.”
1976-2000
POCATELLO — A nine-year-old boy “escaped serious injury” after he lost control of his bike and fell in the path of an approaching truck, the Idaho State Journal reported on Aug. 10, 1977.
Police reported Todd Strong was southbound and carrying a milk container over his bike’s handlebars when he fell.
A truck driven by Billy Henson, 42, of McCammon, “swerved and narrowly missed the boy, but smashed the bicycle.”
Strong was treated for abrasions at the local hospital and released. There were no reported citations.