Looking back: Fire chief’s car bursts into flames; and teen rescued six hours after falling into hole in Snake River Canyon

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Sept. 22 to Sept. 28 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

BLACKFOOT — A husband who had beer and whiskey in his possession for his sick wife was arrested, The Bingham County News reported on Sept. 23, 1915.

Mrs. Carl Raedeker became sick and Dr. Mitchell advised that her husband, who was harvesting in the Lost River country, come home to be with her.

“Knowing that his wife, on the advice of her physician, longed for a drink of beer, he got off the train at Arco and purchased three bottles of beer and a pint of whiskey, which he placed in his grip,” the paper explained.

When he got off the train in Blackfoot, he was seen by G.L. Brawley. Brawley pointed him out to deputy sheriff Thompson as a bootlegger.

The officer searched the man and found the beer and whiskey in his possession, and arrested him.

“The boy did not know he was committing a crime by having liquor in his possession for a sick wife, and was surprised at his arrest, as he has never been suspected of bootlegging,” the article stated.

1926-1950

IDAHO FALLS — A local fire chief’s car caught on fire while he was sleeping during the night, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Sept. 23, 1932.

“Like fate and the weather, fire is apparently no respecter of persons,” the paper wrote.

The fire destroyed chief Julius Marker’s upholstery in his red car, the top of his car and it melted the windshield. The car was parked in his driveway when the blaze broke out.

At some point in the night, a woman who had seen the burning car when passing his house called him to tell him what was going on.

Marker and a neighbor boy grabbed a garden hose and began to extinguish the flames. The fire was put out by the time the fire department arrived. It’s not clear why the car started on fire.

1951-1975

TWIN FALLS — A 16-year-old boy was hauled to safety after spending nearly six hours trapped in a spot in the 400-foot wall of the Snake River Canyon near Shoshone Falls, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Sept. 25, 1951.

Roger Huntinghouse told his rescuers he slipped into a hole one-third of the way down the canyon’s sheer sides while attempting to get down to the canyon floor. He said he couldn’t climb up or down.

Jack Duncan, 27, and Gene Titmus, 15, were working at the Idaho Power Company generating plant across the river and heard the teenager’s cries for help.

They set up floodlights so they could see the canyon wall, then the two of them slid down a rope from the top of the canyon to rescue Huntinghouse. They got him out of the hole and helped him to safety.

Huntinghouse was not injured except for some scratches and bruises.

1976-2000

ST. ANTHONY — A trial for an 18-year-old man charged with second-degree murder got underway only to have the defendant immediately change his plea to guilty, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Sept. 28, 1977.

Curtis M. Withington, who had been living at the Youth Services Center in St. Anthony, was charged with killing Dallas Chalfant, a council timber cutter, in November 1976.

His body was found Dec. 4, 1976, near Island Park. He had apparently been stabbed in the heart. Chalfant had been reported missing about a month earlier by his employer.

Withington pleading guilty caught both the judge and Fremont County prosecuting attorney by surprise. The prospective jurors who had been summoned were dismissed.

Withington’s attorney, E.W. Pike, refused to make any comment on the plea change. Sentencing for Withington was set for Oct. 17, 1977. The charge carried a minimum 10-year sentence.