Arrow-right Camera
Subscribe now

This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.

100 years ago in Spokane: A streetcar merger was brewing, but it would be up to voters to decide

 (Spokane Daily Chronicle archives )

One of the two remaining obstacles to Spokane’s streetcar merger was removed when officials and bondholders of the Spokane Traction Co. approved the merger deal.

Now it would be up to the voters to approve it in May.

D.L. Huntington, head of The Washington Water Power Co., confirmed his company would control the new company, to be known as Spokane United Railways.

He said the two companies would not physically connect the tracks into a single system until the voters weighed in.

From the court beat: Charles Conley was on trial in police court for drunkenness when the judge asked him to tell his story.

“I had a cold and took a couple of drinks to cure it,” Conley said.

A skeptical prosecutor asked: Did that work?

“No,” Conley said. “I don’t feel good today at all.”

The judge sentenced him to 15 days in jail.

From the lake beat: Winter was finally loosening its grip on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The partially iced-over lake was no longer safe to walk on.

Boats were running daily from Coeur d’Alene to Harrison, and the route to St. Maries was expected to resume soon.

“The smaller boats are pushing their way through the ice to points in some of the bays.”

Also on this date

(From Associated Press)

1924: Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. (Hitler was released in December 1924; while behind bars, he wrote his autobiographical screed, “Mein Kampf.”)

More from this author