By STAN STAPP

ONE OF MY EARLIEST childhood memories was being allowed to watch my big brother, Milton, hand-feeding his little letterpress in the pantry of our home at 3915 Woodlawn Ave. I was four years old at the time and my mom told me to sit on a stool, and not run around the room, else I might get hurt. And for good reason.

The heavy iron press could injure you if you got in its way: the large rotating flywheel with curved spokes was capable of breaking an arm or leg; the platen that met the type-form halfway could, if you failed to promptly remove your hand after feeding it a piece of paper, squash it to the thickness of paper; composition rollers that inked the type (and anything else in its path); and other gears and levers.

Milton was 19 at the time, turning out job printing for our dad, Orrill, and his Stapp School of Music. Then, in November 1922 (after moving to 4203 Woodlawn) Milton began printing a weekly shopping paper for the Meridian District, called "Meridian & 55th St. Shops." Circulation: 1,000.

It was the start of the Wallingford Outlook (later the North Central Outlook) and now a third cousin of the present Outlook. I learned to operate the press at age of 12, and at one time turned out a little paper of my own, The Magnet. Its motto: "Picks up the good, leaves the dirt."

I was reminded of all of this while reading a story in the Herald about Paul C. Hunter, of 4131 Greenwood Ave. N, a publisher of small books. Included in the article, written by Mike Dillon, was a photo of his press, which looked exactly like ours: an 8x12-inch Chandler & Price platen press, made in 1904. About 30 years ago I'd sold our press to some people on Whidbey Island, I believe. Could it be ours? I had to see for myself!

So I got in touch with Hunter, and stopped by to see his operation, which he calls Wood Works. I'd not known him before, but he recalled me in earlier days when he wrote for the Helix underground paper, of which much of the graphics operations were performed at the Outlook.

Hunter works out of his basement (as we did for many years) turning out "chapbooks" instead of newspapers. These are small books, several hundred copies per run, typeset by hand, and hand bound with needle and thread, rather than glued or stapled. He often illustrates the books with block prints, which he hand carves out of maplewood. (I used to hand carve linoleum blocks, but without Paul's artistry.)

Hunter's press turned out not to have been ours - but like ours in every other way except one: he operates it with a wooden foot pedal which he'd made himself. Ours was originally operated with a foot pedal, but early on had been motorized. We'd kept the foot pedal around, though, "just in case." Finally, during World War II, we gave it to the government for scrap metal.

Hunter's basement is full to overflowing with interesting stuff, including other printing equipment, an 1881 paper cutter, and a number of musical instruments which he makes or repairs.

I enjoyed the quality of his work and of being around an old print shop and printing tools I no longer possess. And even the opportunity of checking the back of a printed page to see the slight impression made by type (as in days of yore) as opposed to today's smooth touch of offset printing.

And where else could I put my hands on some quoins and a quoin key, a type high gauge, gauge pins, gripper fingers, makeup, mallet and planing block? All are items I used to live with daily for years.

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MEMORIES of Earl Larrison, a schoolmate of mine, came back to me while reading a recent article in the P-I. The story, relating the experiences of Kevin Li in attempting to "bring back" the purple martins to the Puget Sound area, mentioned Larrison's studies of that bird in the 1940s. Larrison also wrote 19 books about birds, flowers and natural history, and was a University of Idaho biology professor for 35 years.

As a young man, residing in Wallingford at 1420 N. 48th, Larrison became concerned with the future of the purple martins at Green Lake. There was a big tree at the southeast corner, not far from his home, that annually attracted some 5,000 of the birds - one time 12,500. And there was talk that a third bathing beach might be constructed nearby, attracting hundreds of swimmers who might frighten the annual return of the purple martins.

In order to convince me that this would be a bad thing to do - "and aren't two swimming beaches enough?" - Larrison invited me to walk around the lake and to specifically view the purple martins' tree.

Larrison died in 1987, not long after I'd talked to him on the phone about "getting together" the following summer. In 1989, Dorothy and I, while on an Audubon birding expedition to Wenas Creek near Ellensburg, viewed a tree which had been dedicated to his memory, and named "The Larrison Tree."

I recall that he and I demonstrated our future talents early on in our class at Interlake Grade School: He made the best Bird Book; I produced the class weekly, typewritten at home and pinned on the bulletin board.

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EVER HEAR OF SDART - Seattle Disaster Aid & Response Teams? Neither had I until recently when Dorothy and I joined up. They are groups of neighbors who have gotten together and organized themselves to deal with disasters such as earthquakes, wind storms, winter storms, and fire. There are some 200 such groups in Seattle, and it is hoped that other neighbors will start one of their own. (Call SDART at 233-7123 for information.)

The area of our team is both sides of 33rd and 34th avenues NE, from NE 70th to 75th. About 30 of us got together recently at the home of Pat Kotson to hear how SDART operates, and to volunteer for specific dates.

We ended up with a Block Coordinator, six Response Teams, and a 48-page book filled with suggestions for making one's home safer in an earthquake - and what to do should we actually have one.

The six Response Teams and a brief outline of their duties are:

First Aid, sets up first aid station, cares for physical and emotional needs of neighbors, reports to Block Coordinator.

Safety & Security, shuts off natural gas, electricity and water as needed, ropes off hazards such as lines, broken glass and falling bricks.

Light Search & Rescue, conducts door-to-door search of all neighbors, rescues any trapped neighbors and coordinates use of OK/HELP cards.

Sheltering & Special Needs, sets up care center for children and adults, coordinates way for all neighbors to participate in the recovery of neighborhood.

Communications, listens to EAS radio station and shares critical information with group, and gets injury and damage information from one Block Coordinator and takes it to amateur radio operators at community center.

Damage Assessment, conducts quick survey of damage, conducts detailed assessment of damage, and gives reports to Block Coordinator.

Dorothy is on the First Aid team, I am on Communications.

The biggest challenge is going to be keeping up one's interest until the Big Quake comes - which the experts are sure will hit Seattle one day.

Whether that is tomorrow, or 30 years away, no one knows.

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WHEN GEORGE HURLEY died Nov. 2 at the age of 92, the Seattle Times referred to him as an "ex-lawmaker who championed a liberal message," and the P-I characterized him as a "fiery populist." I knew Hurley in 1954, when he was a Democratic candidate for the 32nd District Representative (then centered in Wallingford) and who stopped by the Outlook office a number of times, to place ads or offer news stories about his candidacy.

One time, upset about allegations he was a Communist Party sympathizer and had attended Communist Party meetings, Hurley wanted to assure me that such was not so. He was fearful we might inadvertantly accepts an advertisement that made such a connection.

As I had no way of knowing whether or not he was a Communist, and no one had ever proved differently, I assured him I would carefully check to see that no one would spread such allegations in the Outlook. Not only was I protecting him, but covering myself. Falsely calling someone a Communist (at least in those days) was illegal.

Hurley lost his race in the 32nd, but previously and later had won several other races. Part of his program was championing social security, wanting to lower the age limit to 50 for women, and 55 for men.

Before entering politics he had played baseball in the major leagues, mainly on farm teams - but his sports career ended after losing sight in one of his eyes when struck by a baseball.

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WHILE RESEARCHING 1954 Outlooks for the Hurley item I came across a couple of other important events, at least to me: the first issue of the Greenwood-Aurora Outlook (our sister paper); and the first accident photo that Phil H. Webber ever took for the Outlook as a free-lancer for $5. Later, he became our staff photographer, as did his replacement, Cole Porter. Both are currently top photographers for the P-I and Times.