Compiled by Don Hoiness from archived copies of the Bulletin at Deschutes County Historical Society.

100 Years Ago

For the week ending

Oct. 20, 1918

Germany ready to make unconditional surrender

WASHINGTON — Walter Rogers, directing the cable press censorship of the United States, today issued this statement: “Apparently European news centers are full of all sorts of rumors regarding the attitude Germany will take regarding the President’s communication. Press cable censorship will not prevent their entry into this country. But your attention is called to the dangers which may arise over emphasizing such reports and playing up such rumors will affect the Liberty loan and public attitude toward the war.”

LONDON — Amsterdam reports that Germany has accepted all of Wilson’s conditions are believed here to be approximately correct. The Exchange Telegraph company’s Amsterdam dispatch has stated it is being reported in Berlin that Germany has accepted all of the conditions imposed by President Wilson, provided the interests of the German people are safeguarded.

The Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant publishes a telegram from Hamburg saying that Germany has capitulated. There is a persistent revival of the rumor that the Kaiser has abdicated. Balfour declared that “Germany’s overtures are sincere. They come from people who have given up.”

America sunk within harbor

AN ATLANTIC PORT — The transport America, laden with troops, sank at her pier here this morning. The vessel sank in 26 minutes and it is believed that the seacocks had been left open, although the real cause will not be known until she has been raised.

She was a vessel of 22,600 tons and next to the Leviathan in size, and was the former German liner Amerika.

The troops aboard the vessel when she commenced to sink were forced to flee for their lives so hurriedly that many of them were forced to leave their equipment behind.

It has been announced by the navy department that the vessel will be raised.

Germany ready for peace if guaranteed that Alsace-Lorraine will remain hers

Germany’s reply to President Wilson will be that Germany will evacuate Belgium and France provided that peace negotiations are started in neutral countries before the evacuation is completed and provided that the allies will give assurance that German territory, including Alsace-Lorraine and Polish Prussia, will not be demanded.

During the peace negotiations German troops are to remain in Russia and Romania.

75 Years ago

For the week ending

Oct. 20, 1943

Panicky Japanese die in leaps over cliffs

With Australian troops in New Guinea — Panic stricken Japanese troops leaped headlong over the edge of a 150-foot precipice to their deaths when Australian infantrymen stormed their mountain positions one night this week.

The Australians driving down Ramu River valley toward the enemy coast base at Madang, charged up the steep slopes of a mountain ridge under cover of darkness and bayoneted the surprised Japanese in their foxholes.

Crazed with fear, many of the surviving Japanese dived head first over the edge of the cliff.

Propaganda, say Nazis as air forts pass

Military police troops, just back after escorting huge numbers of axis prisoners to the United States from North Africa said today the German prisoners only laughed and shouted “propaganda, propaganda” when told of the bombing of German industrial centers and the surrender of Italy.

The soldiers said the Germans were unbearably cocky — that they were so convinced the convoy would be torpedoed on the way back they stayed close to the life preservers most of the time.

Cpl. Steven Crowley said the Nazis were so sure the Americans were only trying to impress them that they even cried “propaganda” when a huge armada of flying fortresses passed over the convoy as it left the North African port.

Millican region scene of battle

Fourth Corps Maneuver Headquarters, Oregon — At least a good skirmish was expected to develop today on the “Oregon battlefront” following activities of advanced reconnaissance patrols of both the Red and Blue armies as their sixth tactical maneuver problem got under way.

The Red army under command of Brig. Gen. Bryant E. Moore, was strung out in the vicinity of Horse Ridge, west of Millican. Nearby the guns of the Blues were believed concentrated along Highway 20, east of Brothers.

50 Years ago

For the week ending

Oct. 20, 1968

Astronauts send 3rd telecast

The Apollo 7 astronauts today performed the third act of their telecast “orbiting road show,” showing home viewers how they operate their spacecraft and prepare their meals in orbit.

The astronauts put on their third live television show after receiving clearance to pass the halfway point in Apollo’s 11-day flight and amid growing optimism its superb performance so far will lead directly to a flight around the moon in December.

“This is your captain speaking” said Commander Walter Schirra as the picture from Apollo’s little five pound camera showed up on home screens. “You can unfasten your seatbelts and relax and we will make your flight enjoyable for you.” Then Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham matter-of-factly discussed the intricate systems of the spaceship built to take men to the moon, prepared a meal with dehydrated food and Apollo’s hot running water, and took advantage of the occasion to discuss some minor problems with ground controllers, pointing out the problem areas to them as they talked.

Astronauts continue mission, watch Gladys

The Apollo 7 astronauts, boosting chances for a Christmas moon flight with each orbit around the Earth, swung high over the eye of Hurricane Gladys today and photographed it sprawled spectacularly off the western coast of Florida.

“Man that’s really a spinner,” said Walter Schirra as the moonship swept over the vortex of the storm.

The astronauts were heading down the home-stretch of Apollo’s 11-day trial run with nothing more than head colds and their food to complain about. Donn Eisele said they were as busy as “squirrels in a cage” observing and photographing the storm.

“It’s a very spectacular view,” said Schirra of Gladys. “There are a lot of broken clouds around the edges of it, but it tightens up in the center to a real tight vortex.”

Jackie to marry Greek billionaire

Mrs. John F. Kennedy will marry Greek shipping billionaire Aristotle Socrates Onassis within the next few weeks it was announced today.

The announcement came as a surprise to some of the Kennedy family’s closest friends. Onassis has been a friend of the family for many years and he has played host to Mrs. Kennedy, on his palatial yacht in the Mediterranean, but their relationship until just recently seemed no more than platonic.

25 Years ago

For the week ending

Oct. 20, 1993

Barney comes to the rescue

A 4-year-old girl says she alerted her family to a middle-of-the-nights fire because a big purple dinosaur told her to.

“Barney says if you smell a fire you gotta go get your mommy” Danielle Suttle said Tuesday.

When Danielle smelled smoke at about 4 a.m. Monday she awakened her parents. Fire officials said the child’s quick action saved the lives of Danielle, her parents and her 1-year-old brother.

The fire was contained in the kitchen where it started.

“I think she should be commended for her adult-like actions in an emergency situation” fire department spokesman Paul Mettes said.

Barney, a singing purple dinosaur, preaches wholesome values to children on public television.

“Obviously a story like this warms out hearts,” said Beth Ryan, spokeswoman for the Lyons Group, the Dallas-based company that created Barney.

Czar, family to get proper burial

Seventy-five years after the Bolsheviks executed Russia’s last emperor and his family, the government plans to give Czar Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra and three of his children a proper burial.

Sergei Filatov, President Boris Yeltsin’s Chief of Staff, made the announcement Wednesday, one day after Moscow officials urged the government to remove the bodies of Soviet Founder Vladimir Lenin and other communist leaders from Red Square.

The proposed burials are part of Russia’s efforts to come to grips with its past, efforts that have gained new impetus following Yeltsin’s bloody crackdown on pro-communist and nationalist opponents early this month.

“We have to rebury the remnants of the czar’s family,” Filatov said at a news conference Wednesday. “Today it is becoming a painful question.”

Nicholas abdicated in March 1917, ending three centuries of Romanov rule. He, his family and their servants were shot to death in Yekaterinburg overnight on July 16-17, 1918, apparently on Lenin’s orders.

The whereabouts of the bodies remained a mystery until July 1991, when skeletons of five females and four males were excavated from a pit near the city.

British geneticists said last year that the bones were almost certainly those of the czar, his wife and three of their five children. The other skeletons were identified as those of three servants and the family doctor.

Remains of the youngest daughter, Anastasia, and the heir, Alexei, have never been found. Stories have persisted that Anastasia survived and escaped abroad.

Filatov gave no indication where the bones would be buried. Russian czars since the time of Peter the Great are buried in St. Petersburg.

As for Lenin, whose mummy is displayed in a mausoleum, Filatov said the government should “proceed in a consistent manner” and decide what to do with Lenin after the Czar’s family is brought to rest.