Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

A 16-year-old mother walked into the Great Northern Hotel with her blue-eyed 2-week-old baby.

The mother asked Mrs. Catherine Gillis at the desk if she would watch the baby for a short time while she did some shopping. Mrs. Gillis said she would be happy to do so.

Yet when night fell and the mother still had not returned, Mrs. Gillis became alarmed. She called police, who were searching the city.

The mother left some clothes for the baby, but no identifying notes or cards. Police were concerned that the mother had abandoned the child.

When Mrs. Gillis was asked what she would do with the baby, she replied, “Oh, I think I will keep him; he is so sweet.”

From the police beat: Miss Anna K. Swanson, assistant county charity commissioner and the only female Spokane County deputy sheriff, was delivering a speech at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon.

While there, she received the news: She was fired. 

The county commissioners said “we decided to abolish the position … to hold down expenses.”

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1947: The Senate joined the House in overriding President Harry S. Truman’s veto of the Taft-Hartley Act, designed to limit the power of organized labor.