Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane police had no trouble nabbing Gertrude Calkins, 24, at the Northern Pacific depot.

She was the one wearing trousers, an overcoat, a cap and a pair of men’s shoes “three sizes too large.” When she and her gentleman friend stepped from the train, police stepped up to arrest them.

“The girl only blushed and admitted she was a woman,” said the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

Her friend, a saloon-owner from Crescent City, Calif., had apparently had a quarrel with his wife and had become infatuated with Calkins. So he and Calkins decided to “elope.”

He said he couldn’t figure out why they had been arrested, “unless it’s because I’ve got too much money.”

Authorities weren’t quite sure either. No charges had yet been filed.

When a reporter asked Calkins why she was dressed that way, she saucily replied, “Gee, I don’t see why a fellow can’t wear what he wants to in this country.”

From the government beat: Wenatchee announced a proposal to replace Olympia as the new state capital. Boosters said Wenatchee’s main attribute was that it was “in the exact geographical center of the state.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1782: The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.