100 years ago in Spokane: Demobilization heralds end of war

Spokane was already making plans for what it called “The Great Home-Coming.”

The Army announced that demobilization would commence quickly, and the Spokane Chamber of Commerce was already working on a grand parade in which “regiments of victorious and battle-scarred soldiers” would march down Riverside Avenue.

The army said that “returning divisions would be brought as near as possible to the districts from which they were recruited.”

The Army also announced that 200,000 men in training camps would be immediately demobilized and would be back in their homes within two weeks. No more troops would be sent overseas.

Any plans for a giant Spokane “home-coming” parade were provisional, since the ban on all public gatherings remained in effect.

From the football beat: The University of Idaho football team scored in the final quarter to beat Gonzaga University, 13-7.

The Gonzaga team scored in the first five minutes and was ahead for most of the game, which was played in Moscow.

From the flu beat: Spokane was certainly not alone in suffering from the Spanish influenza epidemic.

An official from the California board of health estimated that the Spanish flu death toll in that state would exceed 10,000.