100 years ago in Spokane: Group pushes for laws to make auto travel less perilous

From our archives,

100 years ago

The Inland Automobile Association urged the passage of several new laws – including a law banning drivers under 16 – in an effort to make auto travel safer.

The proliferation of autos had made driving more perilous than ever, and the association was trying to get a handle on the situation.

It also proposed a law preventing drivers from “leaving their machine standing, with the engine still running, without a competent driver in the seat.” This was apparently an attempt to prevent auto thefts, joy-riding and accidents caused by empty autos left running.

A third proposal called for “every chauffeur to wear an official badge, furnished by the secretary of state,” while operating a vehicle or soliciting patronage.

From the art beat: The Spokane Daily Chronicle ran an editorial declaring that Spokane needed more art if it wanted to be a great city.

It praised a series of new murals, recently commissioned, as a sign that “Spokane shall continue moving forward, gaining not merely in size, in wealth, in industry,” but also “in beauty, in culture, in refinement, in broader, deeper, grander ways.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1941: The Imperial Japanese navy launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The raid, which claimed about 2,400 American lives, prompted the United States to declare war against Japan the next day.