100 years ago: Doctor called for laughing theatergoer

From our archives, 100 years ago

Miss Serena Folger, 19, a Colville nurse, laughed so hard at the comedy film “His Auto Ruination” that she “became hysterical and began to scream for a doctor.”

A doctor subsequently arrived and calmed her down. He pronounced her ailment as “auto-intoxication,” although it was not clear whether that was a joking pun. Probably not, because he also said her condition was brought on by heart trouble.

As Miss Folger was being escorted out of the theater, she asked for a rain check so she might see the remainder of the film.

The doorkeeper gave her the rain check, but only with the understanding that next time “her laughter would be subdued.”

From the war beat: With the U.S. on the brink of war against Mexico, at least 100 men rushed to sign up at the National Guard recruiting office in Spokane. The National Guard units here and elsewhere across the country had already been mobilized for possible service on the Mexican border.

“The armory was a hive of industry from 7:30 a.m. yesterday and will continue so until the guardsmen leave for American Lake, south of Tacoma. … There was a continuous round of drilling.”