Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Mayor W.J. Hindley, in his capacity as the official city censor, wanted to “expunge all European war pictures from the local theaters.”

Hindley said he feared that newsreels shown at Spokane theaters could incite “outbursts of enthusiasm by supporters of the different armies,” leading to “possible riots.”

He cited one incident in which a “large attendance from men of foreign birth,” showed “considerable animation at times.” In another incident, footage of the British fleet caused “an outburst for a time that was hard to control.”

From the lawsuit beat: J.J. Polvin, a blind Spokane man, said he was near the intersection of Washington Street and Sprague Avenue when he was “excited by noise due to a circus parade.”

He “lost his way” and ended up too close to the parade. A Gentry Brothers Circus wagon ran over his foot, crushing it and throwing him backward.

He filed a lawsuit against the circus, asking $2,500 in damages.

From the divorce beat: Emma Irene Allen was granted a divorce from her husband, attorney Frank Allen, because, among other things, he wouldn’t take her to the theater. But apparently he took other women.

“On one occasion, I told him I wished him to go see a play which was much talked about, but he refused,” she testified. “He later told me he saw the show on the night in question, and advised me I should go and see it.”