100 years ago today: 21st Infantry headed to Hawaii amid tensions with Japan

The 21st Infantry at Fort George Wright was ordered to Hawaii.

Army officials gave no details about the reasons for the move. However, two other stories on the front page of the Spokane Daily Chronicle might provide a hint. Both stories detailed rising tensions with Japan, one over disarmament, and the other over the deportation of Japanese workers from America.

Meanwhile, the 58th Infantry, currently at Camp Lewis (Fort Lewis) near Tacoma, was ordered to take the 21st Infantry’s place at Fort George Wright.

From the fugitive beat: Harry Lewis, alias Harry Payne, a convicted mail robber, was at large after he sawed his way out of the Yakima jail.

He had robbed at least three post offices and had served time at the federal prison at Leavenworth.

Federal authorities warned that he was “desperate” and that he will “not be captured alive.”

From the wild man beat: Residents near Ford, Idaho, near Worley, were hunting for an insane “wild man of giant stature who roams the woods stark naked, howling and dancing.”

They believed he remained in hiding during the day and prowled at night in search of food. He had been encountered several times by workmen who said he “yelled and danced” and then darted away into thick underbrush.

A search party found footprints that measured 12 inches in length and were four feet apart, “indicating that the man is of enormous size.”