April 18, 2005 Looking Back is a regular feature of the Modoc County Record, a weekly newspaper, published in Alturas, CA. The following is transcribed from the March 31, 2005 issue. Looking Back 97 Years Ago � 1908 ALTURAS youths seem to be getting out of hand. Several windows have been broken in the high school. This is a piece of malicious mischief, which should be severely punished�. B.F. Lynip plans to install piped water into his new house. 87 Years Ago � 1918 YOUNG BOYS of Modoc with .22�s are being recruited to kill ground squirrels on ranches and farms where the rodents are destroying crops meant for our boys overseas�. The depot at Willow Ranch was destroyed by fire and the loss is estimated at $2,500�. Temperatures ranged from 11 above to 62 above this week. 67 Years Ago � 1938 MODOC Supervisors are continuing to search for means to recover losses in the county during the December great flood. The state appropriated $5 million for counties suffering flood damage, but so far has refused to give Modoc County any of it�. High water is everywhere in Modoc. To date this year, the total rainfall is seven inches, and storms last weekend closed all roads out of Alturas. 42 Years Ago � 1963 A COMMITTEE studying the possible unification of Modoc Schools has declared that more time is needed to make a study of the proposal and��not jump into something that will be impossible to get out of.��. Elizabeth Polson was acclaimed the county spelling champ and Kitty fox is county math champ. Both are from Newell Elementary, as has been the case for three successive years. During the big Flood of 1937-38, I lived on Tank Hill and the water came about 40 feet from our house. I worked on weekends at the Lowell and Williams Grocery then, so made my way to the store to do whatever needed to be done. We had many canned goods that had lost their identity, and we were still sandbagging the entrances. Later there was a big Mystery Sale on unlabled canned goods. We worked pretty hard and consequently hunger appeared. Don Smith went to the meat market, operated by Arthadeus Rachford, and sliced a rather large amount of salami for himself. I helped myself to some of the salami, and then got a little more and pretty soon the big pile of sliced salami had disappeared. Don was beside himself over the disappearance of his salami, and searched high and low for the culprit that ate it. Nobody snitched on me and I never confessed. This transgression still rests uneasily upon my mind some 67 years later. In those days a quart of milk cost a dime, and you could by a berry pie from the Polly Ann Bakery for 30 cents; I used to have a great lunch of berry pie and a quart of milk, and still made myself 10 cents profit for the day. See you all again next week, I hope. Ron Morgan