Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The Spokane Parks Board announced plans to build several public swimming pools and public bath houses. Safety was the primary reason.

“The river looks so good to older children that they cannot resist the temptation to wade into it also,” said a parks official. “They are soon into the current and another death is reported. We have decided that the only thing to do is to make swimming pools at the edge of the river.”

The board planned to erect concrete dykes at several locations along the river where river-water pools could be constructed. They also planned to build enclosed bath houses.

From the Father’s Day beat: A kindly city jailer decided that even imprisoned fathers deserved a Father’s Day celebration. He gave each prisoner a rose from his own garden.

The prisoners thanked him by warbling a song, titled “What’s the Matter With Father,” with voices described as “husky from long devotion at the shrine of Bacchus.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1972: President Richard M. Nixon’s eventual downfall began with the arrest of five burglars inside Democratic national headquarters in Washington, D.C.’s Watergate complex. … 1885: The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor aboard the French ship Isere.