Jim Kershner’s this day in history
From our archives, 100 years ago
A contingent of 75 Greeks and Bulgarians from Spokane boarded a train to volunteer for the bloody war raging in their home countries.
They were on their way to fight the Turks, also known as the Ottoman Empire.
They planned to parade through the streets of downtown Spokane, headed by a Bulgarian band, prior to boarding the train. All Greek and Bulgarian stores in Spokane were scheduled to close from noon to 2 p.m. for the parade. The Balkan “patriots,” as the paper called them, were headed for Sofia, Bulgaria.
The conflict came to be known as the First Balkan War. It led to the Second Balkan War a year later, which led to World War I.
From the accident beat: Herbert J. White, the proprietor of the Brown Hotel at Second and Post, drowned while hunting from a canvas boat on Cold Springs Lake, outside of Coulee City. Witnesses on shore said they saw White’s boat capsize. He tried to swim but was weighed down with shotgun shells and heavy hunting clothing. The witnesses had no boat and were unable to go to his rescue.
Also on this date
(From the Associated Press)
1938: Nazis looted and burned synagogues as well as Jewish-owned stores and houses in Germany and Austria in a pogrom that became known as “Kristallnacht.”