Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

Spokane school authorities were dealing with a troublesome problem: late-night beer parties on the roofs of schools.

In fact, a “celebration” took place on the roof of Holmes School, involving mostly boys but a few girls as well. 

“One boy took bottled beer from the cellar at his parents’ house for the celebration,” said the paper.

At Stevens School, the partiers not only climbed onto the roof but also broke into some rooms and “soiled” some desks and chairs.

The superintendent of buildings and grounds went on night watch in an effort to “head off the merry makers.” Later, some plainclothes policemen were called in to keep vigil. Apparently, they nabbed some of the miscreants, who were using fire escapes to climb onto the roofs. Instead of taking the kids to court, school officials decided to appeal to the parents of the youngsters involved. 

From the dope beat: The doctor at the Spokane County Jail had planned to release a number of “dope users” because a new federal law restricting the sale of certain drugs had gone into effect.

He released one girl, but she landed right back in jail, having resumed her habit. She told the doctor “dope can be secured as easily as ever.”

So the doctor decided not to release any other dope users until he was convinced they had broken the habit.