Jim Kershner’s This day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The Spokane Realty Association floated a new and wonderful idea that could “bring thousands of tourists” and “hundreds of thousands of dollars” into Spokane every year.

They wanted to convert the peak of Old Baldy into a park. And they wanted to build a fine auto road to the summit of the mountain, also known as Mt. Carlton.

For that purpose, the association declared their intention to buy 160 acres of the mountaintop from Francis H. Cook.

By the way, Old Baldy and Mt. Carlton would later become known by another name: Mount Spokane.

From the editorial page: A Spokane Daily Chronicle editorial attempted to make the case that “promiscuous charity may do as much harm as good.”

The editors suggested that “random giving” just encourages pauperism. Instead, the paper suggested that holiday charitable giving should be placed on a “scientific basis, where all cases are investigated in a thorough manner.”

Only then can givers be certain that “the loafer” and “the grafter” don’t “fatten upon the food they are pilfering from the deserving poor.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1900: The first major U.S. automobile show opened at New York’s Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Automobile Club of America.