100 years ago in Spokane: Park Board president assails Christmas tree harvesting from parks

From our archives,

100 years ago

Aubrey L. White, president of the Park Board, was fuming over what the paper was calling a “tree slaughter.”

The problem?

Men and boys were cutting down Christmas trees in parks all over the city, without permission. For several years, it had been necessary to hire special watchmen in the city parks to try to prevent these Christmas tree thieves.

It wasn’t enough. Now White was asking school authorities to step in and remind boys that cutting trees without permission was illegal.

“Many people do not even go to the trouble to get outside the city limits to cut their trees, but tackle the first trees handy, without making any attempt to ascertain who the owner of the property is,” complained White.

From the secretarial beat: Miss Margaret B. Owen of New York was coming to Spokane schools to demonstrate her world championship skills – as a typist.

Miss Owen was crowned the fastest typist in the world in a New York business show. She averaged 136 words per minute for an hour. It was the second time she had won the contest.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1944: The U.S. War Department announced it was ending its policy of excluding people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast.