Remember When for the week of 07/09/19
120 years ago
Sounding like a spokesperson for modern-day Republicans, railroad magnate Eramus Gest complained to the California State Board of Equalization that taxes should be levied on income “so millionaires would be willing to spend their money on improvements.” Gest, the executor of the estate of Charles Moran, took over the operation of the Nevada, California and Oregon railroad when Moran, the railroad’s founder, died in 1897.
The small, private railroad had laid tracks from Reno, Nevada, to Amendee in Lassen County. Complaining about the railroad’s $330.89 tax bill, Gest said, “I don’t think a railroad has not earned as much as a postage stamp in 10 years should be assessed for anything.”
Although Gest said the railroad planned to expand its rails past Susanville to Alturas and eventually to the Columbia River, Gest said his company earned only $6,691.51 last year and from that small profit he had to pay interest on a $1.4 million investment.
70 years ago
Foresters, livestock and ranchers were discussing a modern program of forest and rangeland management, which would yield the largest volume of high-grade timber and the maximum amount of feed for domestic livestock and wild game.
The panel concluded California’s expanding population called for an increase in production from public rangelands.
They proposed clearing brushlands and replanting with grass species using both fire and mechanical methods.
45 years ago
The night shift at the Coin Lumber Company Sawmill was discontinued. In a letter to employees, managers at the sawmill said due to depressed conditions (as a result of poor housing starts) the day shifts would also be discontinued when lumber supplies were cut — most likely the November — and the company was not decking logs for operation during the winter months.
While the facility was closed, the company hoped to add a second site to the sawmill to double production when it reopened.
30 years ago
The Lassen County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to ban the desecration of the American Flag.
A ruling by the United States Supreme Court, which said such laws were unconstitutional, prompted the resolution. One Susanville resident spoke out against the resolution, saying, “You’re going to destroy the Constitution.”
A supervisor responded, “What makes the country great is freedom of expression, but burning the flag is a means of expression which should not be protected by the First Amendment.”
Copies of the resolution were sent to President Bush, Senator Alan Cranston and Governor Pete Wilson, as well as all of the boards of supervisors in the state.
25 years ago
The proposed Dyer Mountain Ski Resort was the talk of Westwood. The mountain, owned by the Roseburg Lumber Company, was the subject of studies back in 1991.
The lumber company said it had “an open mind” about the project while studies were being completed. One area of concern was the environmental impact a resort would have on Mountain Meadows — a habitat for many species of birds at the base of the mountain.
15 years ago
Fire officials threw everything they had at a 12-acre fire that erupted on Susanville’s South Street.
The blaze broke out in a shop at the end of South Street on the south side of the dirt of Hobo Camp Road. The cause was still under investigation.
It grew to more than 12 acres before it was contained.
The Susanville Interagency Fire Center committed 17 engines, two water tankers, one dozer and four hand crews to the blaze.
Last year
Overcoming stiff competition, local dancer Hailey Gregor, 16, nabbed a highly sought after spot at the New York City Rockettes Summer Intensive program.
Gregor, a Susanville City Kickette and JandJ Performing Arts dancer, competed against more than 5,000 dancers across the world for the spot at the New York City
Rockettes Summer Intensive program, where dancers train beside Rockettes at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
“I was so surprised when I found out I had made it. It goes to show that even in a small town, big things can happen and dreams come true,” said Gregor.