100 years ago in Spokane: Construction of Kirtland Cutter-designed Deaconess Hospital begins

Work on the new Deaconess Hospital on the south side of Fourth Avenue at Post Street was beginning.

“Plans for the building, which is to be fireproof throughout and will include the very latest ideas in hospital construction, were prepared by Kirtland Cutter and Edwall Baume.”

Baume said it will be “one of the finest” hospitals in the Northwest. It would have 212 beds, “and some of the rooms will have private baths.”

The project was undertaken because of a chronic shortage of hospital beds in Spokane.

From the marital beat: The Spokane Daily Chronicle launched a syndicated column with a startling topic: “How Would You Tame a Wild Husband?”

It was a series by writer Kathleen Fox, “well-known portrayer of married life,” who had written a syndicated fictional series about a woman and her “wild” husband, Mr. Crittenden Hayes.

The first installment contained the following passage:

“I make no secret of the fact that I was and still am selfish in that I wanted my husband to keep on being my husband, for I loved him above all men. Also I knew that he loved me. … But I realized that it would be utterly impossible for me to live with the lion that made his lair in my house unless he sheathed forever his claws. For I was afraid of the claws and dreaded them. However, remembering how hunters have told that they met the king of beasts face to face in the jungle and stared him out of countenance, I did not let my husband know that I feared him. This audacity, superinduced by fear, frequently proved to be a protection.”

The story was to be continued for the next 19 weeks.

From the silent film beat: Seena Owen, who was from Spokane, had a leading role in “Riders of Vengeance,” a western thriller that was opening at a Spokane theater.

“The story revolves around Cheyenne Harry, who makes a solemn vow to avenge the blood of this people,” the Chronicle said in describing the film’s plot. “In the scenes of the drama he fights Indians, outlaws and officers of the law, finally winning out and taking for his reward the love of a pretty woman.”