Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Members of Spokane’s board of health pronounced themselves to be “in despair” because nobody was taking their urgent warnings seriously.

First, Spokane’s school authorities were ignoring a compulsory-vaccination law, aimed at preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

Second, the board of health had ordered the city water department to “clean the reservoir every two weeks” during warm weather. Yet the water department had cleaned it only twice all summer.

“The board of health is wondering what its standing is,” said the Chronicle.

Meanwhile, five out of nine members of one Spokane family died of typhoid fever. The rest were confined to their home.

From the outdoors beat: A 13-year-old boy from Marcus, Wash., near Kettle Falls, killed a bear cub with the only weapon he had at hand: a fishing pole.

The boy was on the Columbia River fishing for salmon when he clubbed the bear to death.

More from the outdoors beat: Meanwhile, the Marcus sheriff landed a salmon that demonstrated the prodigious size of the Columbia River salmon run in the vicinity of Kettle Falls. He landed a 50-pound fish that the paper called a silver salmon.