100 years ago in Coeur d’Alene: Mailman swapped boat for ice skates to traverse frozen lake

Lake Coeur d’Alene residents were taking advantage of a record-breaking cold snap.

The surface of the lake was “dotted by bonfires of numerous skating parties that, so far, have defied the cold weather.”

The temperature dipped to 14 below zero and the “thinnest ice on the lake is said to be three inches thick.”

For the first time in history, the patrons of Lake Coeur d’Alene’s marine postal route received their mail not by boat, but by ice skate. The skating mail carrier said he completed his route in about one-third of the time it takes him to cover it by boat.

Spokane was experiencing record cold as well, with the thermometer hitting 9 below zero – the coldest February reading in more than two decades.

This created an unprecedented rush for heating fuel, which, in that era, meant wood and coal. Some local dealers said they believed that about 50% of the coal and wood bins in Spokane homes were already empty. They were delivering wood and coal as fast as they could.

Spokane’s children were not deterred by the cold. They were “coasting” (sledding) on snow-covered hills all over the city.

This resulted in one serious accident, when M.J. Burns, 67, a city watchman, was making his rounds at Sixth Avenue and Cowley Street. A “flying” bobsled, loaded with young people, crashed into him and hurled him many yards away.

He was in serious condition with a broken leg, injured shoulder and possible skull fracture.