100 years ago in Spokane: Cigar-store betting markets accurately predicts city council race

Spokane Mayor Charles A. Fleming was reelected by a comfortable margin in a relatively “quiet” city election.

The only result that raised many eyebrows was the election of county treasurer John H. Tilsley to the city commission (city council).

“Tilsley’s strength, evident in every part of the city, was a surprise even to his friends,” said The Spokesman-Review.

It was not a surprise, however, to the local cigar-store betting markets, which had predicted a Tilsley victory days before the vote.

From the accident beat: Farmer George Holland was hauling a wagonload of wood from Deep Creek to his home east of Spokane when he approached the Great Northern railroad crossing on Sunset Boulevard. He heard the train whistle and decided to “whip his horses” and cross ahead of the train.

He miscalculated.

He and his two horses were struck by the train and instantly killed.

From the war beat: For the fourth time, Spokane said farewell to a contingent of local army draftees, headed off to training camp and, eventually, to the European trenches.

A reporter on the scene noted the “large number of foreign-born citizens or sons of parents who owed allegiance to another flag not long ago.”

“Tender words and parting bits of advice were often couched in language unknown to the American-born.”