100 years ago in Spokane: French opera singer hoped to go fishing while in Spokane

From our archives, 100 years ago

Mme. Emmy Destinn said she was happy to be appearing in Spokane partly because of her unusual hobby – unusual, at least, for a French operatic diva.

She was a “great fisherwoman, especially with rod and line.” She was, in fact, “particularly devoted to all outdoor sports.” However, she had been “absolutely unable to hunt game since the war began.”

Hunting wasn’t the only aspect of her life threatened by the European war. Her fiancé, the French-Algerian baritone Dink Gilly, was interned on parole at an estate in Straz, Bohemia. She had not seen him for two years. She hoped to return to Bohemia and get permission to visit him.

She was performing at the Auditorium Theater along with violinist Roderick White.

From the religion beat: A man and a woman from St. Paul’s Colored Baptist Church were baptized in the Spokane River.

About 100 people gathered to watch the ceremony, which was accompanied by gospel singing.

The water was cold, yet the woman remained in the water long enough to say a short prayer while her husband “made earnest utterances in the language of tongues.”

Both retreated to a nearby house to change into dry clothing.