The Colville examiner. [volume] (Colville, Wash.) 1907-1948, 1917-07-28
THREE BUSINESS PIONEERS

This summer marks the 9th year
that Colville has had a railroad, and
there are but three men in business
here today who were in business in
1S9o-Frank b. Goetter the druggist
John b. Slater. the veteran attorney;
Thomas Aspend, the pioneer barber.
Several Colville residents We're here in
business in 1890, but are not now di-
rectly engaged The triumverate of
business pioneers after % years to-
gether on the same Main street. give
every evidence of being able to with
stand several decades more
AS historians and raconteurs these
three men are not questioned by any
man-yet it is noticeable that ASpend
is generally picked to tell the story,
Slater to write it, and Goetter to verify
it. Whether this custom has grown
up by secret agreement among the
three, can not be learned, but Goetter
is never the first one to tell the story,
and Aspend has always refused to write
one, hence it is presumed that some
agreement was reach I'd by the early
vigilance committees that would for
ever perpetuate the stories of Colville
is uniformity. And the things that
4
could all be written on your collar
button.
From entirely outside sources it is
claimed that Tom Aspend came to the
Colville country something less than "A
hundred years ago, when Kettle Falls
was only small creek running through
the farm of old Erasmus Kettle. Tom
is alleged to have started operations
with pair of sheep shears and a water
bucket, cutting and scraping his way
to fame and fortune through the sue
ceeding years, until he now has
home on the banks of Colville creek,
and BARRIERS only when he Is not hunt
ing or fishing. During the 27 years in
which he has been disguised as Col
vile barber he estimates that he has
done more clearing than any other
resident of this county-16,0ll acres
to be exact. Figuring the space shaved
on three men as about one square foot,
Aspend finds that in q years he has
cut 1901 acres of whiskers. in various
stages of growth but as this figure
only counts "once over" it may be
that he has actually cleared the area
of several counties Toms father and
mother are still alive in Norway, his
father aged "a, his mother SO. lie
came to this country when a boy, but
he claims that his trip to Colville In
1890 over the first railroad was consid-
erably rougher than while crossing the
ocean. And judging from the present.
there Is no reason to doubt this state
ment, for even in early days 1t was not
the custom of steamships to suddenly
dodge trees or rocks while traVelihg
in a supposedly due course, ana the
water was not roughly underlaid with
bonded Indebtedness Of so much per
mile In order to make a longer route
John B. Slater has enjoyed marked
and varied career during the history
of Colvile. Born in the west, he came
here before Colville was really entitled
to be called a town. As postmaster,
Judge, prosecutor, lawyer, newspaper
publisher. news writer and historian he
has for nearly a third of a century been
the reposa tory for all facts and figures
associated with people and events In
this section-and the wonder Of 1t Is
that today IL he can get one hand In
his pocket and the other draped over
chair or counter, he can give you In
detail the history of practically any
tory. Sometimes. in the stress OF
events and numerous important occur
rences, he has taken time to write
down few things which no one else
can read or understand, but this has
really been a useless action, for his
memory has ever been so naturally at
tuned to the sequence of events that
its neatly labeled rows Of figures and
names are at all times available to
tongue or pen. In the early days 1t
was his privilege to drive the last OF
the band of horse thieves from this
county-which by the way was a real
county at that time, covering a goodly
share of eastern Washington. He has
written more obituaries-accompan
with pleasure or sorrow as the case
happened to be-than any other man
In the county, and Is today hale and
sufficiently hearty to handle a few more
IL necessary. He was among the very
first to exploit the wondrOus resources
of this county, and his work has not
ceased in that line. He was the first
to give written publicity to the Electric
Point mine, making the then difficult
journey on foot to learn the exact facts.
and within a few days after his return