Tuesday, July 25, 2006 Looking Back is a regular feature of the Modoc Record, a weekly newspaper, published in Alturas, California. The following is transcribed from the July 13, 2006 issue. Looking Back 112 Years Ago –1894 DOC LUNSFORD and Eli Sunnyfrank have been about the town with banjo and accordion making music for the joy of all. They returned to town with a bountiful supply of several hundred trout and many weighed more than three pounds. 92 Years Ago – 1914 C.A. BALLARD has purchased an auto machine to campaign about the county seeking votes as tax collector…. Nettie Harris, Superintendent of Schools, will not campaign for re-election, this seems sensible to us, inasmuch as the good superintendent does not have opposition…. Special weekend train rates to Fairport on Goose Lake have been arranged…. There is much activity in the High Grade mining camp, although it recalls to mind the miserable collapse of this venture two years ago. It was the wrong kind of crowd then that chose to mine the public rather than the mineshafts….. There is a rumor about that a free Carnegie Library will be built in Alturas…. William Lunsford informs us that while he was driving from Adin to Lookout he saw an eruption of Mt. Lassen and that black smoke towered half a mile above the peak. 72 Years Ago – 1934 THE NCO and SP buildings in Alturas have been leased by Charles Miller of Klamath Falls and will be outfitted to install a molding and box factory…. Supervisor W.J. Dorris is starting the grading and guttering of the Alturas-Canby road by way of the south side of Pit River…. Mrs. Nora Nichols, a teacher at Lookout, has been awarded a $500 a year retirement income by the state of California…. Cliff McCartor has been awarded the contract to haul MUHS students from south Fork to Alturas…. Bill Mayben, the jeweler, has been given a government permit to buy up old gold and is paying cash. 52 Years Ago – 1954 EDGERTON LUMBER Company is leading the newly formed Little League with a 6-2 record over second place Cedarville Rotary, 5-3…. The big guns at the Rifle and Pistol Club’s running deer shoot Sunday were Elmer Rhyne, Fred Bailey, Roland and Glenn Sherman, Don Rachford and Monk Marsters…. High winds are prevailing in Modoc this summer and the fire danger is extremely high…. Bob Peterson, manager of the White Pine Lumber Company, reported that 90 men have returned to work there this morning despite the d\fact the strike has not been settled. 32 Years Ago – 1974 BUILDING ACTIVITY over the last 12onths (fiscal) in Modoc didn’t achiever new records, but it was active, healthy and produced the third largest building record in the county since the building permit procedure was adopted by the county in 1962. The estimated amount of new county construction totaled $1,300,466 and was achieved through 372 building permits. The county collected $9,931 in fees from permits…. Moving to a full four day show the Modoc District Fair has announced new open hours for the buildings during the August 22 through 25 centennial observance…. Modoc County assessed evaluation soared 12.2 percent for a total of $45,792, 646. Fred Bailey winning second place in the running deer shoot hit me. Fred died just a couple of weeks ago at age 83. He was one of the finest athletes produced by MUHS. The War stopped any efforts for a basketball scholarship for Fred. He was a large, jovial, and rather loud man. I knew him all of my life and he helped me in many ways during our high school years. His entire family was reflected in Fred, which included his older brother, Doug. Boy, how those two did mix it up at times over various disagreements with one another. Ollie, their mother, just hoped that the house would not be destroyed during some of these fracases. I knew most of those mentioned in that little article, including Roland Sherman and his son, Glenn. I have mentioned Don Rachford before. They are all gone now, and it doesn’t seem possible that so many good people have departed this earth. See you all again next week, I hope. Ron Morgan .