Jim Kershner’s This Day in History

From our archives, 100 years ago

The Eagles’ “Mardi Gras Carnival,” the culmination of the big convention of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, created a “riot of confetti and costumes” on downtown streets.

This event featured four parades, each apparently with a different theme. The list of Mardi Gras costume winners was long, including C.L. Lehman, “woman impersonator.”

From the cannon beat: Dutch Jake Goetz and his famous cannon were involved in two mishaps during the parades. One came when a horse took fright at the noise and plunged to the ground, injuring its rider. 

The other came when a real shell was somehow mistakenly substituted for a blank. The shot penetrated a window on the upper floor of Spokane’s Empire State Building, narrowly missing the occupants.

From the weather beat: The forecaster at the local weather bureau reported that the high temperature in Spokane that day was 96 degrees.

However, he said, the relative humidity was extremely low at 6 percent.

“The secret of Spokane’s immunity from sunstrokes is strikingly shown today,” the forecaster said.

“The dry air makes the heat endurable. Deaths from heat are occurring daily in other cities at temperatures lower than here. As the temperature goes up here, the humidity decreases.”