Looking back: Deputy sheriff killed by inmate, warning issued for sleighing in streets and city Christmas tree hit by city worker

Withers IGA Foodliner, owned and operated by David Withers, Rexburg 1959. | Courtesy photo
IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Dec. 12 to Dec. 18 in east Idaho history.
1900-1925
POCATELLO — A deputy sheriff was shot and killed in an attempted jail break in Pocatello, according to the Blackfoot Idaho Republican.
The local paper wrote on Dec. 18, 1914, Charles Moore, a federal prisoner and bootlegger from Blackfoot, shot Engene Taylor.
“Taylor entered the jail and passed into the outer corridor for the purpose of letting the prisoners out to take their regular bath,” the article states. “When he entered the corridor, he locked the door to the outside behind him, and then opened the locks that let the men (out) from their cells.”
After the men “thronged the open space,” Moore fired two shots at Taylor. He was hit by a bullet that “penetrated the stomach, under the heart, and did not come out.”
“At this juncture, a Greek prisoner grabbed the hand of Moore and prevented him from further pulling the trigger,” the Blackfoot Idaho Republican explained.
Sheriff Lowry ran to unlock the steel door before hitting Moore twice over the head with his gun “putting him out of commission.”
Prisoners said the gun was smuggled to Moore and he’d been planning the shooting for several days.
1926-1950
REXBURG — Youth who were seen “playing in the street on sleighs” and “catching passing automobiles” would be arrested, the Rexburg Standard said on Dec. 15, 1942.
“A number of complaints have been received by motorists who have almost hit the youth,” the Rexburg Standard mentioned. “In some cases cars have had to run into the curb to avoid an accident.”
The paper said in cold weather not only is a car windshield frosty and visibility is “not the best,” but roads are icy and stopping is difficult.
“Should a sleigh rider come in front of a car, even though the driver was going slow, it would be difficult to stop and an accident would occur that might injure the sleigh rider seriously,” the article reads.
Officers asked parents to cooperate with them in warning their children of the dangers of sleighing in the streets.
1951-1975
RIGBY — A truck collided head-on with a Christmas tree located in the center of Main Street, The Rigby Star wrote on Dec. 13, 1951.
Oliver Braeger, of the city department, was on his way to repair a broken fire hydrant on Main Street when he crashed into the tree.
“Bright lights of an oncoming car, together with the fact that the wind shield was fogged over, were contributing causes of the crash,” The Rigby Star noted.
The paper added, “Oliver took a lot of good natured ‘ribbing’ at the hands of his co-workers, due to the fact that he assisted in erecting the tree.”
1976-2000
PRESTON — A mother high-centered her car on railroad tracks as a train was approaching, The Preston Citizen said on Dec. 16, 1976.
Judy Harris said she was about to cross the tracks when she noticed a “slow moving” Union Pacific freight train heading in her direction.
Harris told the paper she knew she could make it across the tracks but she didn’t know the crossing was narrower than at most crossings.
“Whether the look of the tracks distracted her or she turned too sharply, she isn’t sure,” the paper explained. “What she was sure of, however, was the fact she had run off the crossing onto the tracks and high-centered with a freighter only seconds away.”
Harris jumped out of her car and reached back for her two-year-old daughter and baby who had fallen on the floor “screaming bloody murder.”
“In what must have seemed like an eternity but was only seconds later, Brian Hyde, manager of Intermountain Farmers in Preston, and Boyd Weeks, area farmer, came upon the scene,” the article reads. “They lifted the small car, one wheel at a time over the tracks and to safety much to Mrs. Harris’ continued astonishment.”
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Source: eastidahonews.com