100 years ago in Spokane: Ban on ‘enemy aliens’ separates family from soldier son

The rule barring “enemy aliens” from being within a half-mile of Fort George Wright had an unintended consequence. It meant that Rudolph Blume, of Hillyard, could not visit his son, a Fort George Wright soldier, without a permit.

Blume was a native of Germany. He had lived in the U.S. for 37 years but had not yet received his naturalization papers.

He was still, in the government’s eyes, an enemy alien.

However, Blume went to the federal courthouse and applied for a permit allowing him to approach the Army post.

He said he didn’t mind the inconvenience.

“If you were in Germany you’d have more red tape than that,” he said.

He immediately took the streetcar to the fort and visited his son.

From the labor beat: Spokane’s professional chefs met at a banquet and discussed an issue close to their hearts: shorter hours.

One chef said they typically worked “10 to 14 hours every day of the year.”

Another said, “When we go home our babies are asleep and when we get up to go to work they are asleep.”

The president of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Chefs said, “We do not want to work hardships for our employers, but to work for both their interests and our own.”