100 years ago in Spokane: School Board expresses skepticism for commissioner’s intent to double teacher salaries

The U.S. commissioner of education said he wanted to double the salaries of teachers within the next five years, and the president of the Spokane School Board expressed sympathy for the idea.

“Whether or not the salary should double over the next five years is a matter of speculation,” said the board president. “One thing is certain – a greater demand is going to be made on our public schools. There is going to be a branching out into industrial lines, and for this work higher paid men and women are going to be necessary. Teachers are not now paid in proportion to other workers …”

The commissioner warned that “many of the better teachers” were leaving the profession and were being replaced by men and women of “less native ability, less education and culture.”

From the army beat: The “shell” of Company 1 of the Washington National Guard landed in New York, where it would soon be demobilized. This had been the first company of Spokane soldiers to leave for the front after war was declared.

It was just the “shell” of the company, since most of the original members had long since been sent to other units – or been killed or wounded.

Only when the ship arrived in New York did word arrive that Capt. Henry Wise, the original commanding officer, had been severely wounded in the foot at Argonne and was still recovering in France.

One of the officers said that mud was one of the scourges the men had to put with in Brest. “We got used to pitching our tents in mud, rolling up in our blankets and sleeping in mud and walking caked with it from head to foot.”