100 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Dec. 3, 1911

Coe re-elected by 81 majority

By a majority of 81, Dr. U.C. Coe was yesterday reelected mayor of Bend over J.N. Hunter. The vote was: Coe, 189; Hunter, 108. The total vote cast was 297, all of which were counted by the judges.

Smoker to be given tomorrow evening

A smoker and get-together meeting of the Commercial Club will be held tomorrow evening at the club rooms, and every member and anyone else who is interested in the development of Bend are urged to attend. There will be music by a number of the best players in the city, and the ladies of the Library Club will serve coffee and sandwiches. A full report will be made by the manager, and the affairs of the club will be fully discussed and action taken on important matters. It is expected to be one of the most interesting club meetings of the year.

McKay is director

The special election to choose a successor to fill the unexpired term of Millard Triplett as director of the School Board was held Saturday. Clyde McKay was elected almost without opposition and by a large majority. The only other candidate was N.P. Smith, who asked that his name be withdrawn.

Lights are fine

The new arc lights are in use now and are a great improvement over the old lights. The are very brilliant and make the business part of town very bright at night. The two on Greenwood Avenue near the depot are a great addition to that part of the city.

Record sales made

The real estate sales of the Bend Co. during November broke all previous records. These figures show the quickening effect the railroad has had on Bend realty.

75 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Dec. 3, 1936

Skyliners enjoy skating on lake

Skating Skyliners, taking advantage of phenomenal weather and a full moon, skated on the glass-like surface of Devils Lake, high in the Century Drive country, Saturday night, with some 35 Bend residents joining in the fun. Two large bonfires were built on the shores of the high mountain lake and skating was enjoyed until about 10:30 p.m. With the glare ice reflecting the full moon and tall jackpines crowding down to the lake’s edge, the setting for the skating party was beautiful and unique, reports Myron H. Symons.

With clear weather still prevailing, the ice on Devils Lake attracted many more skaters on Sunday. However, it is not necessary to drive into the mountains to find excellent ice, Symons explains. Tumalo reservoir is covered with slick ice. There is only one dangerous spot on the Tumalo reservoir, in the vicinity of the channel. Open water exists there and skaters are being cautioned against approaching that place.

Ski enthusiasts able to resist the lure of the ice ponds “turned to” at the Skyliners’ new playground on upper Tumalo creek Sunday and just about completed the small ski jump. Although intended for youngsters, this jump is expected to prove quite an attraction to grown up Skyliners this coming winter.

Claims 200 miles on gallon of gas

A “mystery” carburetor which, its inventor claims, will enable an automobile to travel more than 200 miles on a gallon of gasoline, is being secretly tested, it became known today.

The inventor is Charles Nelson Pogue of Winnipeg, Manitoba and his backers include John E. Hammel, millionaire Canadian mine promoter.

A car equipped with Pogue’s carburetor, it was said, is being driven continuously, day and night, over Ontario roads.

W.D. Herridge, former Canadian minister to the United States, and a brother-in-law of former Canadian Premier Richard Bedford Bennett, is interested in the invention. He has arranged handling of world-wide patents.

Pogue, who until recently conducted his experiments at Winnipeg, claims he can step up the carburetor to give 400 miles to the gallon, but Hammell is counting, he says, on 200 miles per gallon, “at least for start.”

Pogue has reported exhaustive tests made with a popular low-priced car, equipped with the new carburetor, showed an average mileage of 216 miles per gallon of standard gasoline.

50 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Dec. 3, 1961

Train ‘held up’ by young ‘live wires’

With the coming of the railroads in 1911, Bend passed from its infancy to a period of youthful exuberance.

The next few years were crowded with feverish community activity, much of it directed by a group of young “live wires” who were bent on telling the Bend story to as wide an audience as possible.

If they were given sometimes to stunts which our more sophisticated age finds odd, it must be remembered that Bend at the time was only a few years removed from a wilderness and scarcely known to exist by the outside world.

The activities of those guiding the town’s destiny were aimed largely at “putting Bend on the map”.

One of the more elaborate stunts came to be known locally as “The Great Train Robbery.”

The year was 1913. One Sunday afternoon in late August an excursion train puffed south toward the new town on the Deschutes. Aboard were some 60 persons from Seattle who were being brought in for a look at the opportunities afforded in the area.

Suddenly, a few miles north of Bend a masked gunman jumped from a clump of brush and began waving a red flag. The engineer, duly warned ahead of time, jammed on the brakes and brought the train to a screeching stop.

A motley band of “train robbers” rushed from hiding and quickly swarmed over the train. Passengers blinked, gaped and then, catching the spirit of the occasion, became cooperative “victims.”

News accounts record that there were several hand-to-hand encounters and one spectacular chase in which an intended victim suddenly took to his heels, only to be pursued, caught and “rolled” in approved Western fashion. Several innocent excursionists were even “clubbed to death.”

There was, of course, much shooting (of blanks) and brandishing of six-shooters, along with ear-piercing whooping and hollering.

Perpetrators of the train robbery had the foresight to have a movie camera handy when the shooting started, so the hold-up was captured on film for later showing to a wider audience.

When the robbers tired of the game and the victims were recovered from their “side-splitting” laughter the train moved on to Bend where several days special entertainment of a less strenuous nature awaited the visitors.

Silly? Perhaps. Still stunts such as this were reported widely and the publicity they received played a special part in the development of Bend.

The “robbers” were members of the Emblem Club, a colorful organization which took a leading role in early-day promotion of Bend.

25 YEARS AGO

For the week ending

Dec. 3, 1986

Bachelor expands service offerings

The days when hamburgers were one of the few choices on the menu and skiers had limited options when purchasing lift tickets are over at Mt. Bachelor.

That’s because Mt. Bachelor has joined the ranks of ski resorts throughout the country that are competing for a skier population that has shown little growth in recent years.

Skiers who made their way to the resort this past weekend could — if they wanted — purchase lift tickets for only the three easier, shorter chair lifts, for half or all day.

Those who were “skied out” by lunch time could turn their all-day ticket in and receive a credit toward the purchase of their next ticket. And children 6 and under could ski free.

Skiers who ate at one of the four lodges could choose among pizza, pasta, Mexican food or deli sandwiches.

The “abundance of choices” was there because as the baby boomers have aged, Mt. Bachelor has found it must offer more amenities to attract skiers. They want to get the best value for their dollar.

The master plan, which will take about 16 years and $60 million to complete, calls for such additions as a second summit lift, a lodge on the eastern flank of the mountain and a village-like main lodge area.

The resort is in the midst of phase one of the three-stage plan. The most visible addition is the four-person express lift.

The Pine Marten lift will replace the Black Chairlift. Resort officials say it will shorten lift lines because of its speed and increased carrying capacity.

The master plan also calls for gradually replacing the other eight existing base lifts with express chairs.

The inauguration of Pacific Southwest Airlines service between the Redmond Municipal Airport and the San Francisco area also will aid Mt. Bachelor in its competition for skiers.

A direct air link between Central Oregon and California will allow skiers who normally would fly to Lake Tahoe and Colorado to visit Mount Bachelor.

“We couldn’t compete with the Tahoes” without Redmond-to-San Francisco, said Kiza Stratton, the resort’s communication manager.

Getting new skiers to the slopes also is a goal of the resort.

Packages, which include lessons, rentals and lift tickets, are offered at a low cost to first-time skiers, she said.