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100 years ago in Spokane: A toddler walked into the Spokane police headquarters and demanded a teddy bear

 (S-R archives)

A 3-year-old boy toddled into the Spokane police headquarters. There, he answered every query with two words: “Teddy bear!”

This was actually his second visit in a week, which explained his answer.

The first time the boy wandered into the police station, the jail matron took him under her wing and allowed him to play with a teddy bear until he was returned to his parents.

The second time, the little boy apparently returned in search of some more teddy bear time. However, nobody at the desk remembered the name or address of his parents, so he was allowed to play with the bear again, until his parents called headquarters (presumably in a panic).

From the labor beat: A state labor conference in Olympia settled on a new minimum wage for women working in hotels, restaurants and lodging houses of $14.50 a week.

The women workers had originally asked for $18, but they agreed to a compromise in order to secure a six-day work week.

Some of the employers were adamantly opposed to this provision. Some hotel owners said they would replace the women workers with men if they were “arbitrarily required to grant women one day of rest in seven.” Some of the employers refused to even take part in the vote.

From the transit beat: Most of the protesters who vowed to walk to work instead of taking Spokane’s streetcars were growing weary.

“The walkers are returning,” said officials of The Washington Water Power Co.

They had originally vowed to walk as a protest against a streetcar fare increase.

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