100 years ago
1925: Despondent over debts that he could see no way of paying, 鈥淲oo Chung,鈥� whose real name was Woo We Kin, late Friday night or early Saturday morning committed suicide by shooting himself in the right temple while lying in his bed in the rear of the Coconino Chop House, of which he was one of the owners under the firm name of Woo Chung. True to the precepts of Confucius, that all debts and contracts must be scrupulously met and to the ages-old custom among the Chinese that he who cannot pay must make the blood sacrifice, the supreme gift, his own life, it became evident during the investigation following the discovery of Woo鈥檚 lifeless body that at least for several weeks he had been reconciled to paying in the only way left and had made his preparations with care. The Chinese code of honor leaves no alternative. It is pay or die. True, now and then 鈥� though very rarely 鈥� one of that nationality does default on his debts and then hasn鈥檛 the moral courage to go through with the blood payment. But it is doubtful if there is any other nation that has as clear a record for honesty as the Chinese. Woo was his own judge and jury.
Whether the county shall build a concrete dipping vat will likely be one of the questions to be decided at the meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Many vats have been and are being built for dipping cattle in compliance with the orders of the state veterinarian and in the effort to hurry lifting the cattle quarantine now in force against a large cattle area in the state.
75 years ago
1950: A better world or no world at all is the choice facing mankind, in the opinion of the noted scientist Dr. Robert A. Millikin. He was the principal speaker at the 64th annual commencement exercises of Arizona State College at Tempe last night. He said: 鈥淗uman well-being and all human progress rest at the bottom of two pillars, the collapse of either one of which will bring down the whole structure. These two pillars are the cultivation and the dissemination throughout mankind of spirit of religion and spirit of science, or knowledge. The job of civilized man is not to try to suppress the growth of knowledge but rather to exercise his own growth and at the same time to win as large a fraction of mankind as possible to the free choice of the good way rather than the evil way.鈥� Degrees were presented to 830 students.
Photo caption: WINSLOW DOESN鈥橳 FORGET! 鈥� Gov. Garvey and Steve Hale, Winslow pharmacist, last week presented nurse dolls to Betty Tillman and her baby stepsister, Janice Myers, shown here with the girls鈥� mother, Mrs. J.L. Myers, all of Winslow. Betty is recovering from polio at St. Monica鈥檚 Hospital, Phoenix. Baby Janice has already recovered from the same disease. Eight months ago, Betty was stricken and rushed to Phoenix. There the miracle of modern medical science kept the breath of life in her and started her on the road to recovery. Last week, Steve Hale went to Phoenix and took the dolls to the youngsters, plus a stack of personal notes for Betty from school chums in Winslow.
50 years ago
1975: In mid-April, Ricky Jenkins spotted a useable envelope in a ditch near Flagstaff鈥檚 Christensen School. He picked it up and hit the jackpot 鈥� for someone else. The envelope, brown with a window, contained a U.S. Income Tax Return check for $2,523 made out to a Flagstaff couple. Ricky, 11, son of Mr. and Mes. Richard Jenkins, a little fifth grade student at Marshall School, knew he鈥檇 found something big. He asked his friend, school bus driver Steve Rice, what to do. 鈥淚 thought I鈥檇 better return it,鈥� Ricky said this week, 鈥渟o I gave it to Steve. He took it to the police department." "He knew it was worth a lot of money,鈥� Rice said, 鈥渂ut he didn鈥檛 know how much. And he asked me.鈥� Rice turned the check over to Flagstaff police. The following day, the rightful owners had their money back, unaware it even had been in their mailbox. Apparently, it blew out shortly after delivery. Ricky doesn鈥檛 get an allowance yet. The most money he鈥檚 seen in one place is $10. The check鈥檚 owner never thanked him personally for returning the instrument, but he did thank Rice. Ricky received no reward for his honesty. He wouldn鈥檛 have received any recognition if it hadn鈥檛 been for his friend Steve, who thought his story should be told. He still looks for useable envelopes.
25 years ago
2000: Illegal transient campfires are suspected to have caused several recent fires on Mars Hill, including a 2-acre blaze on city land, which ignited south of Lowell Observatory Tuesday afternoon and burned for about an hour. Flagstaff Fire Department public information officer Joe Murray said officials found evidence of several illegal campfire sites in the area. Campfires on city property are permitted only in designated fire circles in city parks. A backpack and suitcase were also located in the area.
The first of three open houses on the Regional Plan Use and Transportation plan is tomorrow, and U.S. Forest Service officials are likely to be on the hot seat over their reluctance to manage forest lands as open space adjacent to the urban growth boundary. Another concern is likely to be lighting from development near Observatory Mesa. The open house will include more than 30 posterboards detailing all the major points of the plan, handouts to get a better picture of what is going to be talked about and staff from the city, county, Forest Service and Arizona Game and Fish to answer questions. One focus is likely to be the 鈥渘eighborwoods鈥� areas surrounding Flagstaff 鈥� some 20 square miles of Forest Service land designed to act as a buffer strip between developed areas and untouched forests.