Looking back: Boys shoot man, Menan Co-Op burglarized and legislator found dead
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IDAHO FALLS — Every week, EastIdahoNews.com is looking back in time at what life was like during this week in history.
This week is Oct. 4 to Oct. 10.
1900-1925
LEWISVILLE — Four Lewisville boys appeared in court after shooting a man with pellets, according to The Rigby Star.
Griffiths, Stallings, Chadburn and Jensen were on their way home from a hunting trip on Oct. 5, 1918, when the incident occurred.
“The boys thought it would be great sport to shoot over the top of a (man’s) tent in the rear of Frank Goody’s premises,” the paper wrote.
It was dark outside and the boys couldn’t see where they were shooting, but they “intended to shoot over the tent to frighten its occupant.”
Goody was standing at the tent entrance at the time the shots were fired. He was hit once in the neck, the breast and “the fleshy part of his leg to the bone.”
Two of the boys plead guilty, were fined $50 and were released from custody. The other two boys were only witnesses.
1926-1950
REXBURG — The Idaho and Montana Lumber Company and Sawmill opened in Rexburg on Oct. 4, 1937, The Rexburg Standard reported.
The company, operated by W. H. Smead and son Burton Smead, had 40 men show up for work on the first day. The organization moved from the Ashton area, the paper explained. The mill was located near the railroad tracks in the northwest part of Rexburg.
“Much scouting around was done before selecting this city as a favorable location for this industry,” The Rexburg Standard stated. “The location is ideal for this sort of a business as it is close to the canal and Teton river, and a large pond is kept full of water for the floating of the logs.”
The paper said the logs were shipped from the West Yellowstone country. The mill handled Douglas fir, spruce and pine.
“The Standard extends their congratulations to this new enterprise,” the article reads. “It is a great asset to the city and will aid the community in numerous ways.”
1951-1975
MENAN — The Menan Co-Op storeroom was burglarized at the beginning of October 1951.
The Rigby Star explained in its Oct. 4, 1951, newspaper that the safe was cracked and $500 in cash was taken. The thieves also took four new car tires and 12 boxes of rifle shells including .30-06, .270’s and .25-35 sizes.
“The job was undoubtedly done by professional safe crackers, is the verdict of the sheriff’s office, following an investigation, as the safe was ‘punched,’” the paper explained.
State highway patrolman Cyril Roberts noticed three men in a light green 1941 Dodge car in the vicinity the night before the break in. Officers in the southern part of Idaho were on the lookout for a car with California license plates for questioning.
“Tracks of footsteps at the station revealed one of the men implicated had an unusually large foot, corresponding in measurement to one at a recent break-in at Idaho Falls, according to officers,” The Rigby Star noted.
1976-2000
IDAHO FALLS — State Representative James F. Infelt, D-Idaho Falls, was found dead in his home at the end of September 1976, the Idaho State Journal wrote in its Oct. 4, 1976, newspaper.
Infelt, 71, died of natural causes, according to the paper. It said he had been in good health but suffered a heart attack three years prior.
Infelt was born Oct. 8, 1904, in Iowa and moved to the Gem State in 1945. He graduated from Grinnell College with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and earned his master’s degree in education and administration from the University of Chicago.
He founded the Idaho Falls YMCA and the YMCA youth camp at Palisades. Infelt was the executive director of the Idaho Falls YMCA for 26 years.
“In Idaho Falls, Mr. Infelt was active in community life,” the paper said. “He founded the Fallsmen Barbershop Chorus, was a member of Friends of the Library, was a member of the Home Health Nursing Advisory Committee, was active in Community Chest, and was a member of the Governor’s Department of Health and Welfare Advisory Committee.”
In 1974, Infelt was elected to the Idaho legislature from District 30. He served on the education and health and welfare committees.
Infelt was survived by his wife, Vera, one daughter and a grandchild. The memorial service was in Idaho Falls and the burial took place in Iowa.