Jim Kershner’s This day in history » On the Web: spokesman.com/topics/local-history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A Los Angeles “divine healer” came to Spokane and held what might be called a mass healing in a Spokane “gospel tabernacle.”

The Rev. G.N. Eldridge told the crowd that he was “not here to work any miracles” but intended “simply to show that faith in Christ is the only doctor a person should have.”

One woman testified that she had been “cured instantly of cancer by simply praying to God.” Another woman said she was cured of a “general breakdown” after three days of prayer. That woman happened to be the preacher’s wife.

A number of people attended solely out of curiosity. When the preacher asked anyone to leave who could not “enter into the spirit of the gathering,” a number of people walked out.

Toward the end of the evening, Rev. Eldridge asked everyone who wanted “divine healing” to come forward. About 20 women and several men responded. Then they spent the rest of the evening in prayer.

Nobody was cured right away, reported The Spokesman-Review, but the preacher assured reporters that “cures would surely follow.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1954: The Senate voted to condemn Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy, R-Wis., for conduct that “tends to bring the Senate into disrepute.”