Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The seniors of Lewis and Clark High School were seeking the loan of a baby.

They needed it for their senior class play, “Six Little Houses.”

“The baby, which must not be over a few months old, plays an important part in the production,” The Spokesman-Review said. “She is a noisy and troublesome creature that makes the life of the old maids of the play extremely miserable.”

The seniors promised that they would pay a “reasonable rental” for the right baby.

From the political beat: Spokane’s women Democrats were still stewing over a letter that implied they would not be welcome at the party’s annual Jefferson Day banquet because there would be drinking, cigar smoking and “rocky” (risque) stories.

The women responded by planning their own Jefferson Day event at the Davenport Restaurant’s Hall of Doges. However, some of the women were not happy about that plan, either, saying they refuse to attend “an old hen party.”

Meanwhile, the male chairman of the Jefferson Day committee was backtracking, saying “the banquet will be decorous and in keeping with the amenities of gentlemanly conduct.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1921: Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax, at 2 cents a package.