Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Washington Water Power streetcar conductors thought they had foiled what the paper called “patriotic young Americans” who had placed explosive “caps” on the rails. The conductors attached pine boughs to the front fenders to sweep the caps off the rails.

However, the mischievous boys figured out that if they placed the caps on curves, the sweeps would miss them. This ploy worked “to the intense satisfaction of every lover of big noise.”

From the regatta beat: Twenty thousand people descended on Coeur d’Alene to watch a big Fourth of July motorboat “regatta.”

Motorboats raced on a 3  1/2-mile course.

Crowds from all over the Inland Northwest watched from grandstands. They also listened to patriotic orations and marching bands.  

The organizers immediately announced that they would repeat the regatta next year because this one had proven to be one of the biggest and most successful events ever staged in the city.

From the picnic beat: The headline read “Colored People Enjoying Picnic,” as 150 delegates of the Northwest Coast Baptist (Colored) Association convention took time off from their church work to hold a Fourth of July picnic at Spokane’s St. Paul Baptist Church.