50 Years Ago

January 9, 1958: Alberton Gym Opens Friday—Alberton School Superintendent Elmore Smith welcomes all county residents to attend the open house at the school's new gymnasium on Friday evening, Jan. 10. The 120-foot by 75-foot new addition is adjacent to the old school building and it is incorporated into the older structure.

The first basketball game scheduled for the new $107,000 facility will be played the same night by long-time rivals, Alberton and Superior. The conference game will start at about 8 p.m. following the junior high squad match.

Gas Tax To Drop—A one-cent reduction in the Montana state gasoline tax, from seven cents to six cents a gallon, will be come effective January 16, 1958. This is the first reduction in the state gas tax in the state's history.

L.J. LaCombe dies In Spokane—Lester J. "Nick" LaCombe, 52, was laid to rest in the Superior Cemetery Tuesday following funeral services in the Methodist Church. Nick passed away in the veteran's hospital in Spokane on Jan. 3.

Lester was born in Superior on Feb. 16, 1906, the son of William J. LaCombe and Irene Pelkey. He attended school in Superior where he was a star athlete. He went to work for Mountain States Telephone as a young man and was employed as a lineman until he entered the Army. He served in the Signal Corps in Africa, the Mediterranean Theater and Europe. Following WWII, he was employed by the civilian coastal defense installation in California. He was married to Edna Tolley in Portland on Nov. 1, 1947, and they lived in Hamilton, Superior and Spokane.

Survivors include his widow, Edna, of Superior; step-children Mrs. Cecelia Robb of Spokane, Mrs. Norma Kelly of Boise, Mrs. Mary Merrill of Albany, Georgia and Ray Tolley of Spokane; brother Clarence "Jumbo" E. LaCombe of Superior; and sisters Dorothy Hoffschildt of Oakland, California and Florence Hawley of Long Beach, California. He was preceded in death by brother William "Bud" J. in 1949 and sister Mable in 1911.

Elisha W. Amburs of DeBorgia Passes—Elisha W. Amburs, 79, passed away at Mineral hospital Saturday. Burial is to be at Perry, Oklahoma beside his wife who died in 1928. Elisha was born Aug. 16, 1878, in Wichita, Kan. He married Carrie Nicholas in Colorado in 1900. The family lived near Malta for more than 30 years where he worked as a farmer. He moved to DeBorgia 14 years ago but, because of poor health, he has resided at the hospital for the past year.

Elisha is survived by his sons, James, of DeBorgia and Jake of Seattle; his daughters Mrs. A.M. Barrett of Wagner, Mrs. Orville Brown of Leavenworth, Washington, Mrs. Edward Phares of Harlem and Mrs. Charles Koon of Great Falls; sisters Mrs. Myrtle Nicholas and Mrs. Gertrude Gary of Wichita, Kansas and Mrs. Alice Brown of Colorado; 17 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. In addition to his wife, Elisha was preceded in death by three sons.

25th Wedding Celebration—Mr. and Mrs. Joe Magera and Mr. and Mrs. John Magera and children spent Sunday afternoon at the open house party at the Charles Frey home at Tarkio on Sunday. The occasion was Mr. and Mrs. Charles Frey's 25th wedding anniversary.

State Taxes Changed—Income tax payers will notice a change in the rate imposed by the state of Montana on their 1957 income. The personal exemption is now $600 for each individual. A man and wife get $1,200 exemption, plus $500 for each child dependent. Persons over 65 get a double exemption and blind persons an addition $600 exemption. Tax rates are one percent on the first $1,000 after exemptions, one and one-half percent on the next thousand, etc. up to $7,000. All over that is a flat five percent.

Nuptials—Miss Vurnia Garlene Stone, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George C. Stone of Superior, and Richard G. Warnken, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ted Warnken of Superior, were wed Saturday at the Methodist Church. Richard is a 1954 Superior High School graduate and completed his military service in the Navy. He is now employed by the Diamond Match mill. The couple is making its home at the Carl French home on the east side of Superior.

Miss Hazel Pettit, sister of Mrs. Henry Moen of Superior, was wed to LeRoy Lake of Seeley Lake on Saturday. The couple plans to make their home in Missoula where Mr. Lake is employed as a logger.

At the Strand: Bob Hope stars with Vera Miles in "Beau James;" And the exotic "Island in the Sun" with James Mason, Joan Fontaine, Dorothy Dandridge, Joan Collins and Michael Rennie; plus "He laughed Last" with Frankie Laine and Lucy Marlow.