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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Four men filed complaints with police about two “lady barbers” in Spokane who allegedly overcharged them for extra services.

The men said the lady barbers talked them into paying $2 and $5 – a high price by the day’s standards – for shaves and “rubs of the scalp and face which bore fancy names.”

“The blond woman charged out $2, but the brunette $5,” said one of the men, visiting Spokane from Indiana. “I guess blonds haven’t as much nerve as the dark ones. I never did so want to cuss as when I got that bill, but their sign said ‘lady barbers,’ so I held my tongue and loosened my roll.”

Apparently, a man did not cuss in front of a “lady,” even a lady barber.

From the railroad beat: A significant improvement, grade separation, was underway in downtown Spokane.

Grade separation was, in essence, the elevation of the railroad tracks through central Spokane. For many years the city had begged, pleaded and at times demanded that trains not rumble through downtown at street level, causing traffic jams and accidents.

“I am glad to see that the Northern Pacific is about to resume work on the grade separation project, which will terminate a situation always dangerous and uncomfortable,” City Commissioner C.M. Fassett said. “The expenditure of millions in Spokane will materially aide business conditions.”