100 years ago in Spokane: School board considers bond to upgrade facilities

From our archives, 100 years ago

The Spokane School Board said it would need a bond issue of at least $500,000 to remedy crowded and unsafe conditions at many of its schools.

For instance, children in a portable building at David Bemiss School were “compelled to sit in a room that varied from 44 to 56 degrees.” Board member John G. Rogers said he was there one morning when the temperature was 20 degrees.

Over at Lowell School, the grounds “looked like a barn yard.” The lighting was bad, the drinking fountains unsanitary and the children had to trudge through snow, slush and rain to get to the two portable buildings.

Another board member said children in his area had to walk from 42nd Avenue to Seventh Avenue in order to take manual training classes, since Lowell School had no manual training room. Frances Willard School had no manual training room, either.

From the court beat: Marie Wilkinson, a former vaudeville singer and actress, and daughter of a Whitman County judge, was on trial for arson after a fire destroyed her Spokane home.

The fire marshal testified he found kerosene scattered in various rooms. However, her attorneys implied her house was destroyed “by her enemies.” She was recently divorced from William Wilkinson, who immediately married her sister Faye, 15.

Marie Wilkinson appeared in court in a “black velvet hat and gown trimmed in fur.” She had not yet been called to the stand.