100 years ago in Spokane: ‘Enemy aliens’ banned from vicinity of military installations

New wartime rules banned “enemy aliens” (meaning mostly Germans and Austrians) from living within a half-mile of a military installation.

In Spokane, that meant Fort George Wright and the Spokane Armory. Dozens of Germans and Austrians in Spokane lived within those two circles.

However, the law had a key loophole: Enemy aliens could apply for permits allowing them to stay.

On the first day for submitting applications, 33 people showed up at the courthouse. They submitted their photos and other relevant information, aimed at proving they were no threat to military security.

Most had German names. The federal marshal was reviewing the applications.

In a related story, one of the applicants, Charles Krupa, a Great Northern fireman, was cleared of charges being an enemy alien in possession of weapons. He was able to convince authorities that the three rifles in question actually belonged to his landlady, Mrs. Viola Hodges, who “previously ran a shooting gallery.”

From the Japanese beat: The Great Northern railroad agreed to supply city water to a disease-shattered “Japanese colony on the south bank of the Spokane River east of Division Street.”

This “colony” consisted of old boxcars and shacks used as workers’ housing for men working in the rail yard. The workers had been using untreated water from the Spokane River, which spawned an outbreak of typhoid fever.

The city subsequently condemned the housing, but agreed to rescind the condemnation if the Great Northern installed city water.