History in the Week of June 3
Madera County Historical Society
One hundred years ago, the city fathers cast jaundiced eyes toward the balcony of the Yosemite Hotel, shown here in the lower left of the photo. Although the balcony appeared safe enough, looks were deceiving. It was on the verge of collapsing, so the City Council ordered it torn down.
50 Years Ago
Week of June 3, 1968
MADERA MARINE DIES OF HEAD WOUNDS IN VIET — Marine Pvt. Richard L. Incrocci, 21, of Madera, died of head wounds in Vietnam May 26. Pvt. Incrocci, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gasper Incrocci, entered the Marine Corps in May of 1966. He was sent to Viet Nam last July. Other survivors are his widow, Joanne and infant son, Richard Joseph; a half-brother, Robert Pannell, also serving in Vietnam; a sister, Mary Lewis; a niece, Donna Lewis; and two uncles and aunts, Mr. and Mrs. John Incrocci and Mr. and Mrs. Lafayette Pannell. Military services are pending at the Jay Chapel.
DISTRICT 3 RACE DRAWS 4; DISTRICT 4 DRAWS 2 — Voters in Tuesday’s election will have a choice among four candidates in supervisorial district 3 and two candidates in district 4. Running to replace L.C. Thompson in district 3 are Aubrey K. Baker, farmer, Elmo Del Bianco, restaurant owner, Benny Garibay, grocery clerk, and Lester Gendron, attorney-at-law. All four are Madera City residents, although Baker has farm property in several different areas. District 3 is comprised primarily of the central areas of Madera. Voters in district 4 will have a choice between incumbent supervisor Herman Neufeld, Ahwahnee grocery storeowner, and Roger Belden, a farmer.
MADERA RADIO STATION BOMBED — Two Molotov cocktails were thrown through the window of Madera radio station KHOT Saturday night causing an estimated $16,000 damage. G.L. McCarty, assistant ranger with the California Division of Forestry reported $12,000 damage to equipment and $4,000 to the building. Robert L. Moran, owner of the station said, “I don’t have any idea of whom of why anyone would want to destroy a public facility like this.” About 90 percent of the station’s some 7,000 records were destroyed in the blaze, which scorched the interior but did not ruin the vital console and transmitting equipment.
TWO DIE IN HIGHWAY CRASH — Two men were killed and a third injured when a stolen car veered off Highway 99 and smashed into a tree north of Avenue 16 early Sunday morning. Dead are Ronald Alfred Beaupre, 28, of New York City, and Johnny Redwine, 19, of Planada, a sailor stationed aboard the USS Marshall. Both men were thrown from the car. Two minutes after the accident, Redwine’s body, which landed on the Highway, was run over by a car passing the scene. The driver, James Roscoe Smith, 22, told patrolmen he thought he had run over a rock or a piece of the wrecked car. Officers said it is unknown whether Redwine had still been alive prior to being run over.
VALEDICTORIAN, SALUTATORIAN NAMED BY MADERA HIGH — It has just been announced by Alex MacDonald, Madera High principal, that the highest scholastic honors for the school’s graduating class of 1968 go to Debra Roberts and Charles Anderson. Miss Roberts, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Roberts, has been named valedictorian of this year’s senior class. Anderson, who is salutatorian, is the son of Mrs. Sherry Anderson of Carmel and Floyd Pierini of San Leandro. Miss Roberts and Anderson will be specially recognized at exercises Tuesday night at Memorial Stadium. 100 Years Ago
Week of June 3, 1918
$100 FINE FOR INTOXICATED RANCHER — Another local rancher has paid the penalty for driving an automobile while in an intoxicated condition. John Harris, a well-known rancher who resides here was arrested yesterday by Deputy Sheriff A.W. Clark and locked up until the late evening. The court informed Harris that owing to the shortage of farm help and the demand for food, he would withhold the jail sentence, but added that should he ever appear before him again on a similar charge, he would be given a straight jail sentence. This is not Harris’s first offense, according to local officers, but it is the first time they have been able to catch him.
YOSEMITE HOTEL PORCH TO BE CONDEMNED — Declaring that the old porch awning about the Yosemite Hotel building is unsafe and a menace to life, the board of city trustees will hold a meeting tonight for the purpose of declaring it a public nuisance and ordering it removed. The porch is supported by posts set on the edge of the sidewalk, and a number of times these posts have been knocked out and the porch has threatened to come down. The building is the property of Mrs. Tillie Brown, and while she has been asked to remove the porch before, she has claimed that the expense of making the repairs would be too great a burden at this time.
JOHN ENNIS NOT WOUNDED; ORIGINS OF THE MYTH — The story regarding the injury to John Ennis, a Madera County boy now with the army in France, which was reported in the Mercury yesterday, is not true. The story originated through Arnold Fogderude and was transmitted to the Mercury. Young Fogderude has wanted to join the service but was turned down as being physically disqualified. While visiting the Ennis home last week, Mr. Ennis remarked in a joking way, “I don’t see what you want to go for, as John will soon be coming home with one leg off and one ear shot away.” Fogderude spread the story, which he had heard, and it was soon in general circulation, including the pages of the Mercury.
WOMEN MILKERS WANTED — There is a call to arms from Davis. Women are wanted in the dairy industry. They want women who will take a two-week’s course in practical dairying and will then go out to the farms. The only expense will be room and board, which is from six to eight dollars a week at the college dormitory. At the end of two weeks they will be ready to take a position. Milkers are paid from fifty to seventy-five dollars a month. Here is an all-the-year-round way to serve the flag. Free the men and conserve the butter fats; that’s making munitions. The white suit of the women milkers is a uniform of national service.
INDIAN LADY BADLY BITTEN BY DOG — An old Indian lady by the name of Mrs. Delingo was badly bitten by a dog near her home in North Fork. It is feared that the dog may have been afflicted with the rabies. After he had attacked the old lady, he was shot by a couple of neighbors who cut off the head and sent it to Madera. Mrs. Delingo was walking along the road when she was attacked. The dog was so vicious that when he had once fastened his teeth in the woman’s arm, she had to pry his mouth open with her other hand. Taylor Teaford was one of the parties who helped to kill the dog, and at the same time, three other dogs on the same ranch were shot.
