100 years ago in Spokane: American troops and supplies must move quicker to World War I front to stop victory by Germany, says Sen. C.C. Dill

Congressman C.C. Dill gave a detailed update on the war to his constituents at a People’s Forum in Spokane.

He said that England and France had gone long past the stage of “enthusiasm” for the war, replaced by “only a grim determination to win the war.”

When asked what the Germans thought of the war, he said that a captured German officer claimed that “the Germans would defeat the French and English before Americans could arrive in sufficient numbers.” The officer said “you can’t get any considerable number here before 1919.”

Dill was apparently concerned that the officer had a point. He said it showed the need for more ships to transport men and materiel to Europe. For every man sent abroad, he said, it was necessary to send 15 tons of supplies.

Dill was apparently quite well-informed on the war. He mentioned that he had engaged in conversations with British prime minister Lloyd George, Sir Arthur Balfour, the king of Belgium, the archbishop of Canterbury and France’s Marshal Joseph Joffre.

From the bird beat: Three members of the Spokane Bird Club conducted a winter bird census in the Long Lake area.

They saw 13 different species, which they identified as robin, kingfisher, white-breasted nuthatch, “slender-billed” nuthatch, “bigney” nuthatch, pied-billed grebe, magpie, flicker, chickadee, crossbill, golden crowned kinglet, junco and western goldfinch.