Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Thousands of Spokane residents signed recall petitions aimed at Mayor Hindley and two of the three city commissioners, Fairley and Fassett. 

The recall petitions were filed by the city’s central labor council and appeared to have the support of many of the city’s unions, which had been at odds with the mayor and the council.

However, Fairley said, it was not organized labor that was out to get him but “socialistic agitators.”

Adding to the intrigue was the fact that many of the signers of the petitions were associates of the city’s third commissioner, D.C. Coates.

Lawyers were at work trying to determine the “legal status of the petitions.” The state and the city had different recall procedures on the books, and there was some confusion about what the next step would be.

From the desperado beat: A “desperado” named Cecil Pettyjohn, from Dayton, Wash., was shot and killed in The Dalles, Ore., after he went on a shooting rampage. He held up several people and fired shots at many others on the roads and farms nearby, injuring one. Neighbors warned one farmer that the bandit was headed for his place. The farmer watched the man approach the house, and when the bandit raised his rifle to shoot, the farmer shot him first.