Jim Kershner’s this day in history

From our archives, 100 years ago

The Spokesman-Review’s editorial page noted that an American businessman, home from abroad, reported that several German officers told him that Germany was determined to draw the U.S. into the bloody European war.

“We will not let you keep out of the war,” said one German officer. “We cannot afford to have the United States remain at peace. This war will leave all the combatants exhausted, financially and commercially, and if the United States is permitted to stand alone as the only great power remaining at peace, it will become the world’s leading commercial nation, and that is not to be permitted.”

The paper said it hoped that these and similar statements were “only the loose and superficial opinions of a few individuals.” Yet if they weren’t, Germany was sorely mistaken if it thought that the U.S. would enter the war “foolishly,” in “a way to benefit Germany.”

From the court beat: The story of F. Lewis Clark, a rich Spokane financier, came to a close with a probate hearing in Spokane.

His death by drowning in Santa Barbara, California, was not disputed, despite the fact that his body was never found. He was grievously ill when he apparently fell or jumped from a pier.

In the probate hearing, his half-million-dollar estate was awarded to his widow and son.