100 years ago in Spokane: Civic, union leaders question giving jobs from women to returning soldiers, sailors

Now that the war was over, men were beginning to question whether married women should be holding down jobs.

During the war, married women were hired in many traditionally male jobs because of manpower shortages. Now, civic leaders and union officials were suggesting that these jobs should be given to returning soldiers and sailors.

A Spokane County commissioner said that women, if their husbands were employed, “should quit and make room for the soldiers, not only in the courthouse and the city hall, but all over Spokane.”

A group called The Sons of Democracy vowed to bring the issue up at their next meeting.

From the court beat: Frank Hinkhouse, a Grant County farmer, was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a fine of $4,000 for making pro-German and disloyal statements during the war. These were violations of the federal Espionage Act of 1917.

Another farmer, William Clodius, was convicted on similar charges and fined $100.

From the basketball beat: The Spokane All-Stars basketball team had to tromp through 3 1/2 miles of snow on an unbroken trail to make it to their game in Otis Orchards.

They had planned to get there by auto, but the snow made that impossible. So the team’s manager took his players to Flora by rail and they hiked the rest of the way.

If the players were exhausted, they didn’t show it. The Spokane All-Stars beat Otis Orchards 18-12 in what was described as a “battle royal.”