Looking back: Attempted break-in to county’s ‘booze vault,’ 105-year-old pioneer dies and fire mysteriously ignites inside pizza restaurant

Second place parade winner in “Church Group” (was the) Rigby Community Church float on building model citizens. Caption dated June 21, 1951.| Courtesy The Rigby Star IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of June 23 to June 29 in east Idaho history. 1900-1925 BLACKFOOT — An unknown person attempted to break into the county’s “booze vault,” The Bingham County News reported on June 29, 1916. Deputy Sheriff Thompson was woken from his sleep by someone tampering with the lock on the county’s booze vault in the basement of the courthouse. Thompson got up, turned on the light, and looked out of a window where he saw the person escaping in a southerly direction. When Thompson went to the entrance of the “booze department,” he found an empty Winchester cartridge from which the lead had been extracted, and the powder that was supposed to be used for blowing off the lock was on the floor. “The officer says he could have shot the fleeing miscreant if he wanted to, but assures us that the next man who attempts to tap the booze cellar and is seen will surely get a dose of buckshot in his legs,” the article reads. 1926-1950 TWIN FALLS — A 105-year-old pioneer died in Twin Falls, the Rexburg Standard reported on June 28, 1934. Horace Hart, who “came in this district” when the Twin Falls strip was first opened in 1905, died in the county hospital following a brief illness. He would have turned 106 years old on July 20. Hart was born in Oneida County, New York, on July 20, 1828. Hart enlisted in the Civil War as a member of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry Regiment. He served the entire four years of the war, and was wounded in the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Fredericksburg. His horse was shot in the Battle of Gettysburg. After the war, he re-enlisted and served as a member of military escorts sent westward to protect pioneers. The paper said recently, his birthday was the occasion for a community celebration. An organization also dedicated a tree in his honor. Hart never got married and had no known relatives, according to the paper. 1951-1975 RIGBY — A Rexburg man attempted to break into a local jail, The Rigby Star reported on June 23, 1960. “Something new in crime was noted at the Jefferson County Court House Sunday morning,” the paper wrote. It explained that around 2 a.m., Ron Eggleston, Rigby state patrolman, went into the courthouse and caught Kenneth Simmons attempting to get into jail. Simmons had smashed in two plate glass windows with a waste basket and his fists. Simmons ended up being held on a drunken charge, given a 30-day sentence in jail and fined $50. 1976-2000 POCATELLO — The cause of a flash fire that charred the interior of a pizza restaurant in Pocatello was unknown, the Idaho State Journal reported on June 23, 1977. The fire happened at Red Baron Pizza just before 2 a.m. Sunday, and about 20 minutes after employees closed up for the night. When firefighters arrived at the cinder-block structure at 1005 S. 5th, flames were seen leaping about the swamp cooler on the roof. The blaze was put out in about an hour. “It’s a mystery. I’d like to know what happened,” Pocatello Fire Marshall Willet O. Downey stated. Downey said there wasn’t much structural damage, although one wall was separated a few inches from the roof because of “some kind of explosion.” He mentioned the possibility of a natural gas leak was explored but the gas company didn’t find any problems with the lines. He said he didn’t know whether to suspect arson or “other causes,” and pointed out how much time had been spent trying to determine the cause was unusual. “The front wall bulged out,” he said. “As if contained vapors had ignited and expanded. But nobody heard an explosion in the area.” He mentioned trucks driving north on Fifth Avenue sometimes backfire, so people “might not have paid any attention to a blast” if one occurred. Downey hadn’t received any word from the restaurant’s management on when or if the establishment would open again. The post Looking back: Attempted break-in to county’s ‘booze vault,’ 105-year-old pioneer dies and fire mysteriously ignites inside pizza restaurant appeared first on East Idaho News.
Source: eastidahonews.com