Imperial Valley press., 1941-01-01
Earthquake Rated
Best News Sfory
For Valley in 40
lContinued from Page Onel

GdSG SIlcD
Little case broke and supplied copy
at frequent intervals for weeks and
months to come until both Mrs. Lii
liam Richards and John Little went
TO the penitentiary for shortages
In the city water department.
Just two days after the Little
case first broke into print, two U.
S. Navy bombers collided in mid
air in the mountains near the Kane
Springs road. 1t was an all-night
job. covering that crackup, so trle
newsmen remember it, even if the
public forgets.
February Dull
February was fairly dull as new
stores went, and the next gocd
yarn was on March 28 when CAL
eXico staged its Desert CavalcSde.
Cavalcade was a plenty good horse,
put maybe it wasn't ever really
ridden out in print. The best story
OF that celebration was how Calexi-
CO. smaller than rival cities, grab
bed the bull by the horns and put
on a celebration that made any
thing thrown previously by other
and larger cities look mighty puny.
Tragedy showed prominently in
the news columns again in April
when on the fourth day of that
month lovable and beloved Judge
John D. Baker was found dead in
his courtroom at Imperial. a self
inflicted bullet wound in his head.
That story for the moment turned
popular attention away from the
coming city elections in El Centre
that had developed into a torrid
race hinging largely upon the go
regime" as opposed to two states OF
new candidates.
The -Eratton-Heil slate
won and as a result personnel of
the city offices changed materially,
with appointments of new police
chief and a new engineer.
Remember?
Early in March there occurred
something that was really much
more news afterwards than before.
That was the memorable jaunt to
Punta Penasco.
April II found another big news
break when the first inklings leak
ed out that all was not kosher in
the El Centre Production -Cre(lit
association. w. E. Walters, secre-
tary, resigned along about this time
as we'll as Paul Atwood. Walters
was later indicted and sent to the
penitentiary.
About the same time as the Little
trials were progressing with one
sensation after another Former
Police Chief Sterling Oswalt added
to the interest of the news-reading
public by going on trial in Los An
geles in the long-drawn-out Yama-
toda kidnapping case.
The Winner.
Then along came the earthquake
on May l8 and for a time there was
not other horse in sight. Old Earthly
blanketed the bunch
1t wasn't until Sept. Is that
something really new popped up
That was the day that President
Roosevelt set Oct. 16 as Registra-
ton Day for the nations young
men. That had sufficient repercus-
sions in Imperial Valley to make
it local as well as national
story. and it was good horse, too
Middle October also produced
another fast horse in the All Am
erican canal celebration that saw
the first water come through the
big ditch. November and December
too, produced big stories in con-
nection with the Imperial Irriga-
ton districts refunding program
and December carried another ira
gic note with the death of young
L. E. Sinclair. jr., of Calipatria in
an airplane accident in Mexico
A local story that got a lot
of national attention was the
phoney Brawley bull fight that took
place Nov. 30. And also the heavy
rains of late December. The arri-
val of the 18th U. s. Cavalry to
camp north of Seeley ranked high
among the fall stories and lesser
lights of the same period were the
automobile deaths of Mr.. and Mrs.
Nathan West Of Hollywood and
the capture" Of more than a score
OF valley persons who Strayed
across the border into Mexico one
Sunday afternoon.
Yes, those were all pretty fair
yarns. But you can't compare
them with Old Earthquake. That's
like matching Black Beauty against
Man o. War.