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

100 years ago in Spokane: Survivor of avalanche tells harrowing tale

From our archives, 100 years ago

Miss Lillian G. Hubbard, of Spokane, told the harrowing story of being one of the few surviving occupants of the Great Northern diner car swept away by an avalanche in the Cascades. She said when she saw the roof of the dining car torn away, she thought, “Is this another Wellington disaster? Will it be fatal for me?”

Her next memories were a jumble. She saw two men in the front of the car buried under a great wall of snow and timber and “the air full of flying tables, bottles, dishes and snow.”

She never lost consciousness but felt a great crushing pain on her chest. That turned out to be a woman whose ribs were broken and who was screaming in pain, and a porter was lying across them both. She was trapped there nearly an hour before a young Spokane man pulled her through a window to safety.

Minutes later, “there was some kind of explosion and the car was ablaze.”

From the policewoman beat: The city announced its guidelines for choosing Spokane’s first policewoman. Candidates for the civil service exam had to be between 25 and 35 years of age, not under 5 feet or over 5 feet 10 inches, and weigh 115 to 200 pounds.

Some members of the civil service commission said “feminine massiveness was an asset” in dealing with unruly female prisoners. Others, however, argued a small policewoman would be more useful in undercover detective work.