100 years ago today in Spokane: Judge J. Stanley Webster beats Congressman C.C. Dill in mid-term election

Judge J. Stanley Webster knocked off the region’s incumbent U.S. congressman, C.C. Dill, by about 3,000 votes.

Democrat Dill had not yet conceded, saying (incorrectly, as it turned out) that “I expect the final returns to elect me.”

Dill had been waging an uphill battle through the entire campaign, after being widely criticized — if not vilified — for his vote against the declaration of war. Webster painted Dill as disloyal.

Democratic President Woodrow Wilson was not running in 1918, as I incorrectly stated in Sunday’s column. This was a midterm election. The early returns for the Congressional elections indicated Democratic victories. Republicans regained control of both the House and the Senate.

From the accident beat: John T. Huetter, 52, “one of the best-known contractors in Spokane,” died when he fell from a flour mill he was building in Cheney.

He was president of the Huetter Construction Co., which built a number of commercial buildings throughout the region, including college buildings in Cheney, Lincoln School, the Spokane Theater, and parts of Gonzaga University.

He had planned to retire after finishing the flour mill in Cheney. After his accident, he was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital, where he died. He was the builder who laid the foundations for Sacred Heart Hospital.