SALKUM

The following program was heard by a very appreciative audience Sunday evening at the Community church in Salkum: Congregational songs; accordian solo, Ellis Harms; vocal duet, Bud Foister and Helen Keenan; devotions, Rev. E. L. Whisler; solo "The Holy City," Ellen Hammill; announcement and offering; sermon, Rev. Harry Coates of Chehais [stet]; solo, Ellen Hammill, The community extends its thanks to Rev. Coates and Rev. Whisler for their services on this occasion.

The Friendship Circle of the Salkum Community church will meet at the home of Mrs. Wm. Damron Thursday afternoon. All interested women in the community are urged to attend. These ladies are undertaking many worth-while projects and your assistance will be appreciated.

The Salkum Garden Club will meet this Friday afternoon at 1 o'clock (promptly) at the home of Mrs. Sam Stewart. Members will please bring a friend and be prepared to take part in a Christmas table or mantle decoration, or to demonstrate a gift wrapping, using your own flowers, etc. Gifts, value of which should not exceed 15 cents, will be exchanged. Bulbs or plants make ideal gifts for this occasion.

Wesley Kennedy Post No. 77 and the ladies' auxiliary gave a very successful card party last Saturday evening at the Ethel Grange hall. The second party of the series will be given the evening of December 14. The nominal charge for admission covers the card party, dancing and refreshments at the close of the evening. All are welcome.

Salkum Union No. 347, I. W. of A., will hold itsfirst meeting in the new union club house (the former Chehalis Mill Co. office building), Friday evening. Members of the union have spent much time this past week-end removing partitions, building benches, and getting the rooms in shape for the meeting. A service pole was set so that lights can be brought in from the highway. Many general improvements will be made in the near future.

Mrs. L. M. Brooks has returned from a motor trip to points in West Virginia Mrs. Brooks was away six weeks, during which time she visited numerous relatives in the east, returning by the southern route.

The Ben Woods and John Gormall families spent Sunday in Olympia, where they visited Mr. and Mrs. James Stewart, former eastern friends.

Ott Collar of Klamath Falls, Oregon, is visiting local relatives.

Vernan Clark has purchased the fourth house in the mill row, and is now occupying it. Mr. Talbott states all of the houses formerly belonging to the Chehalis Mill Company in that section have been sold. Those down on the mill flat have been either sold or rented to various individuals.

Mrs. Wm. Miller and Mrs. E. Bratcher have returned from Oregon, where they have been visiting the Elmer Lee family at Lebanon, and George Anderson family in Springfield. The trip was made with Earl Older, a former Salkum resident.

Robert Branch writes a very interesting letter to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Branch. Excerpts taken from the letter, which is the first received since the local boys landed in the Philippine islands, are a follows: "We liked the trip over, as we were not seasick. We didn't know that there was so much water in all the world. We landed at Corregidor, at the entrance of Manila bay, and after several days Denzil Miller and myself were sent to Fort Drum, while Kenneth Schoonover remained at Corregidor, at Ft. Mills. The money here is strange. It costs a peso, one dollar of this money, which is 50 cents in American money, to mail an air mail letter. The Filipinos do all the work here; laundry, make beds, shine shoes and all the kitchen work. We pay them ten pesos per month, which is $5 in our money. The food is good, and so are the beds. I can't see where anything is cheaper here, except the native products. It is warm here and it is hard for us to realize that we landed in the Philippines November 1. I'll bet it is cold at home now. Just missed seeing Herbert Wallace in Hawaii. His boat was anchored just out of Hawaii, and the boat Bob DeGross was on had left the night before for Frisco."

The Christmas seal sale is progressing nicely, although some of the assistants have not reported to the local chairman. Those disposing of at least one block of stamps this week include Mrs. Cleve Seney and Keet Le Compte.

Since the first seal was sold in the United States by Miss Emily Bissell in Wilmington, Del., in 1907, volunteers have been the backbone of Christmas seal campaigns for funds to fight tuberculosis. Many of these workers return year after year to do their bit in the fight against the great white plague. It is not how many of the seals you can use, but what sort of a contribution you are willing to make to help eradicate this dread disease. Let us get behind this drive and go over the top, and do it now, today.

Source: The Advocate, 5 December 1940, page 13. Microfilm available at Washington State Library, 6880 Capitol Boulevard South, Tumwater, Washington 98512

Transcribed by Kathryn Lester